Inside the residential compound, Xu Sheng, having just parked his electric bike, walked towards his apartment building, carrying his briefcase. As he reached the entrance, the aroma wafting in the air made him inhale deeply.
"Whose house is making soup? It smells so good!"
After saying this, Xu Sheng shook his head and chuckled, "It's definitely not ours. Gui Fen worked all day, so if she manages to make a stir-fry, that's good enough. There's no time for making soup."
As he spoke, Xu Sheng took another deep breath and followed the scent up the stairs.
The more he walked, the more puzzled Xu Sheng became. By the time he took out his key and opened his own security door, the aroma rushed out to meet him.
Li Guifen, in the kitchen, heard the sound of the security door opening and quickly brought the last dish, a soup, to the dining table.
"You're back! Go wash your hands. Today's soup is made with the ham sausage that Jingjing won. It smells quite delicious. Wash your hands and try it."
Li Guifen stood by the stove, speaking as she lifted the pot with both hands and placed it directly onto the placemat on the dining table.
As soon as the pot was down, Jingjing, holding her rice bowl, was already waiting. Li Guifen didn't tease her daughter for being so eager. Honestly, even she wanted to sneak a taste of the soup she had made.
She first served a bowl for Jingjing, adding a few extra pieces of vegetables and ham slices. Then came Old Xu's bowl, and finally, Li Guifen's own.
Xu Sheng had finished washing up and came out of the bathroom. Seeing the ham slices in his bowl, he swapped his bowl with Gui Fen's, saying with a smile,
"Gui Fen, you cooked this meal. You should eat more than I do."
Li Guifen looked at the bowl placed in front of her and couldn't help but smile.
"Try it. If it's good, there are five more left on the table. Tomorrow morning, I'll make soup for you to take to school and work. You can heat it up at noon, and have a hot soup to drink."
This time, neither father nor daughter refused Li Guifen's suggestion. Instead, they buried their heads in their bowls, slurping down the soup and eating the ham slices. Only after finishing everything in the pot did they remember to pick up their chopsticks and reach for other dishes.
"Burp~~"
Li Guifen, who usually ate little, was the first to let out a satisfied burp. Xu Sheng was about to laugh when he let out a burp himself before he could even speak.
"Hahaha, Mom and Dad are burping~~"
Jingjing, still laughing, couldn't help but burp too. Now, none of the three family members could laugh at the others. They sat at the dining table, happily chatting about what happened at work and school today.
...
Cheng Dong, a saleswoman at 99 Supermarket, was in her tenth year working there. The store she worked at was one of the first chain stores opened by 99 Supermarket.
Cheng Dong emerged from the supermarket's small storeroom and returned to the cash register at the entrance. Sitting behind it, she saw the Meimei sausage that hadn't moved an inch. Thinking of the ten cases of Meimei sausage stacked in the storeroom, she couldn't help but sigh.
"Boss Zhu is getting old. He does things on impulse. Although Meimei sausage is a new product from Meili Brand, there's no need to stock so much. It takes up space and wastes money."
As soon as she finished speaking, a female junior high school student rushed into the small supermarket.
"Auntie, do you still have Meimei ham sausage? Where is it?"
After finishing her meal, Jingjing realized she had promised her friend she'd bring ham sausage tomorrow. However, the remaining ham sausages at home had all been sliced by her mother to be cooked into soup the next morning. With no other choice, she had to take ten yuan and go to the supermarket outside the compound to look.
She tried several places but couldn't find this Meimei ham sausage. She wondered if it was exclusively sold at 99 Supermarket, so she ran two blocks to buy some.
Cheng Dong looked at the young girl standing there, panting, and quickly nodded.
"Yes, yes, it's in the middle, past this shelf. Ah, yes, that's right!"
Jingjing first picked up a package, which was cheaper at 8.5 yuan per pack. As she walked over to pay, she turned back and added another pack. She dug into her pocket and counted several coins, totaling seventeen yuan.
"Auntie, thank you."
As Jingjing was about to leave with her bags, Cheng Dong couldn't help but ask,
"Little girl, you're buying so much. Is this Meimei sausage good to eat?"
Jingjing heard her and nodded repeatedly.
"Auntie, it's delicious! It's the best ham sausage I've ever eaten!"
After Jingjing left, Cheng Dong looked at the full shelf of Meimei sausage and became curious.
"Boss Zhu has always been methodical in his work. Since he dared to stock up on the first batch of goods, maybe I should try it too?"
To satisfy her curiosity, Cheng Dong took a Meimei sausage from the shelf, paid for it at the cash register, sat back down, tore open the plastic wrapper, and started eating.
The moment she took the first bite, Cheng Dong's eyes widened. She instinctively took two more bites.
When she came back to her senses, an entire Meimei sausage was gone.
"Wow, Boss Zhu is truly Boss Zhu! Such delicious ham sausage. As long as people try it once, why worry about sales?!"
At the same time, the cashiers at the 99 chain supermarkets had similar feelings to Cheng Dong. Boss Zhu, you're so clever! httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
On Sunday evening, lying in her large bed, covered by a light down comforter, and listening to the occasional sound of cars passing by outside her window, Liu Chen opened the lottery system. She glanced at the number of lottery tickets floating on the turntable and her eyes widened at the figure displayed.
She had used up all the lottery tickets on Friday night. How could it now show two hundred and fifty-three?
Could it be that her mother's business had taken off after moving to the new wholesale market? Selling over two thousand items a day?
Liu Chen was startled by her own guess. Over two thousand items. That would be so busy! When she called Chen Long this afternoon, it didn't seem like they were that busy.
Late at night, the sudden appearance of over two hundred lottery tickets made Liu Chen unable to sleep.
"Knock, knock, knock."
The door to the master bedroom was knocked on from the outside. Liu Chen looked towards the door, raising an eyebrow. Who would knock so late?
"Who is it?"
"Me! Zhuzhu! Chenchen, I want to ask you something?"
Zhuzhu's strong voice came from outside the door. Liu Chen glanced at the time on her phone; it was 9:46 PM. Could Zhuzhu want to go out for a late-night snack?
Liu Chen opened the door and saw Mi Zhuzhu holding her phone, her face full of excitement. Seeing the door open, she started jumping up and down, holding her phone with both hands.
"Ahhh!!! Chenchen!!! Weibo said they're inviting me to some New Year's Eve party in Shanghai, with all expenses paid for flights and hotels! And they're giving me an award! Wow!!!"
As Mi Zhuzhu spoke, she illuminated her phone screen and handed it to Liu Chen.
Liu Chen looked down. The message was a private message on Weibo, and it also included the staff's phone number and QQ account.
"Weibo New Year's Eve Gala. Arrive at the designated hotel on December 29th for assembly, then participate in the hotel's annual meeting on the 30th to receive the Top 100 Weibo Influencer award trophy."
Looking at the words "Top 100" on it, Liu Chen looked at the excited Mi Zhuzhu:
"Top 100? Zhuzhu, how many Weibo followers do you have now?"
Mi Zhuzhu blinked and thought for a moment.
"I checked this afternoon, and it seemed to be five hundred and thirty thousand followers?"
Liu Chen looked at Mi Zhuzhu, somewhat surprised. Zhuzhu's fan growth rate was truly astonishing.
"Then you must be among the group with the most Weibo followers? But Zhuzhu, now that you have more followers, when you accept advertisements, you must protect your reputation. As long as your account is managed well, advertisements will never be lacking."
Mi Zhuzhu's face showed a thoughtful expression as she listened to Liu Chen.
"Chenchen, you mean, you think the Weibo app can last for many years?"
Liu Chen thought of Weibo, which was still very active before she was reborn in her previous life, and nodded.
"In my opinion, in terms of development momentum, no one can surpass Weibo for at least ten years."
"Ten years..." Mi Zhuzhu narrowed her eyes and thought, "Ten years later, I'll be twenty-eight? I'll probably be having children by then?"
Liu Chen, hearing Mi Zhuzhu's thoughts wandering off track, quickly steered her back,
"Let's focus on this Weibo Night first. It's a good opportunity to go. At least it's official proof of your popularity. And you can also see your favorite bloggers; it's rare to meet offline."
Mi Zhuzhu quickly nodded, but after nodding, her face showed some hesitation.
"But, it's my first time attending such a formal event, I'm a bit scared..."
"Scared?" Liu Chen was a little confused. "Zhuzhu, you get scared too?"
"Oh, you stinky Chenchen, can't I be afraid of anything? I'm afraid that when those bloggers see me, they'll discover that I'm actually just a very ordinary girl. I'm not tall, not thin, and not the most beautiful."
Hearing this, Liu Chen understood.
"Zhuzhu, do you post many selfies on Weibo?"
Mi Zhuzhu shook her head. "Not many?"
"Then Zhuzhu, what do you post the most on Weibo?"
A hint of confusion flickered across Mi Zhuzhu's face, and then she tilted her head slightly. "It seems I just share things I find good-looking, fun, or useful. Or I ask questions I don't understand to people who follow me?"
Liu Chen nodded.
"Exactly! So, your followers are following *you*, your joy, your sorrows, not your face or your figure. So why worry about these things?"
"Really?"
Liu Chen nodded. "Really! Besides, you're already quite good-looking. Don't believe me? Ask Lai Jielun!"
Mi Zhuzhu's face finally broke into a smile again, and she let out a long sigh of relief.
"Then I'll reply to the staff saying I'll go."
While Mi Zhuzhu was replying to the staff, Liu Chen began searching her system for the weight-loss pills and whitening cream she had stored before.
Mi Zhuzhu's features were actually very doll-like. However, even when she was thin in high school, she still weighed a hundred and ten jin. After starting university and having money, she never stopped drinking milk tea, and she had gradually gained back weight to one hundred and twenty jin.
Her photos usually looked cute, but if she appeared on television or was caught by someone with a keen eye at the event, she might look a bit chubby.
She spent one ticket to turn the weight-loss pill into a chocolate-like form and gave it to Mi Zhuzhu to eat. Liu Chen then found an excuse to give Zhuzhu the whitening facial cream, and only then, feeling reassured, did she see Mi Zhuzhu out of the room, lock her door, and go to sleep!