Chapter 15: The Whitening Cream Takes the Market by Storm

Yesterday, after a full day of busyness, Gu Wenran didn’t wake until nine in the morning. Seeing the warm meal before her, she ate and then went up the mountain to gather herbs.

With the onset of summer approaching, the days grew hotter by the hour. Gu Wenran found it unbearable to endure life without air conditioning, so she had been sleeping in her special space at night these past few days.

Besides gathering herbs on the mountain, Gu Wenran mostly stayed home making whitening cream and rarely appeared before the villagers. As a result, no one had yet seen her slimmer figure.

“Is anyone home?”

Hearing a knock, she opened the door to find Qin Fangfang standing outside, pushing a bicycle.

“Fangfang, what brings you here?”

“Sis Wenran, I came to deliver your orders.”

“Come in quickly.”

Gu Wenran brewed a bowl of sweet soup with several red dates.

Qin Fangfang looked at the red date tea with admiration. Red dates were hard to come by and usually only bought for postpartum confinement. This bowl held seven or eight red dates, showing how considerate and thoughtful Gu Wenran was.

Qin Fangfang loved making friends with people like her.

“Guess how many orders I brought.”

“How many? Twenty?”

“Fifty. Forty are female factory workers, and ten are my close friends. I’m getting married in a few days; when you come, I’ll introduce you to some big clients.”

“Alright, I’ll definitely come. Have you booked your bridal makeup yet?”

“Makeup? I’ll just do it myself casually.”

“That won’t do. You only get married once in a lifetime—you have to look beautiful. I’ll come early that day and do your makeup for you.”

Qin Fangfang trusted Gu Wenran deeply and insisted on paying.

“No need. Just consider this a reward for introducing big clients. Stay for lunch; I’ll cook something good for you.”

“No, I have work later. You can wait to give me the stuff when I get married. Let them be anxious and realize how good our product is.” Qin Fangfang had been to school and knew the value of scarcity marketing.

“Alright, I won’t keep you. When you have time, come over for a meal.”

After Qin Fangfang left, Zhou Qing came out from the inner room.

“Wenran, who was just here?”

Zhou Qing had hesitated to come out earlier. She was a married-out daughter who had returned home after a divorce. Her sister-in-law hadn’t rejected her and treated both her and Yaya kindly, so she wanted to help.

“A friend of mine. Sis, we’re about to strike it rich.”

Zhou Qing didn’t know about the whitening cream and looked at her in confusion.

Seeing Zhou Qing’s stunned expression, Gu Wenran hugged her, laughing with joy.

“Sis, our family can finally build a house.”

Building a house was a big deal in the village; it required at least a few hundred yuan to get started.

“Wenran, you’re still sleepy. Go back and rest some more; I’ll cook.”

Gu Wenran knew Zhou Qing didn’t believe her. When she brought the money back, it would surely astonish them.

Lately, Gu Wenran had been busy making whitening cream, while Zhou Qing handled the household chores. No one complained.

After two days of hard work, the whitening cream was finally finished, but there were no suitable bottles to package it.

“Mom, I’m going to town. No need to make lunch for me.”

Gu Wenran hurried to the supply and marketing cooperative.

“Comrade clerk, do you have small porcelain jars?”

Zhang Shanshan had seen Gu Wenran before—back then she was dark and overweight. Now she looked fairer and thinner.

“No, what are you packaging? My cousin makes porcelain jars.”

“For face cream. Could you introduce me to him?”

Zhang Shanshan had heard a whitening cream had recently become popular in town. Maybe this was the person behind it—she decided to take a chance.

“Sure, I’ll find someone to cover my shift.”

The two went to Sanmao Alley and knocked on a door.

“Who is it?” a young man’s voice called from inside.

“It’s your cousin.”

Wang Bai opened the door to see his cousin standing outside with a young woman.

“Why aren’t you at work? What brings you here?”

“Brother, what about those unsold porcelain jars? This lady wants to have a look.”

“Wait a moment.”

Wang Bai took out the porcelain jars. The previous customer had rejected them for being too small.

Gu Wenran admired the delicate and exquisite craftsmanship of the jars—clearly, a lot of effort had gone into them.

“How many do you have? I’ll take them.”

Wang Bai looked at her in shock. There had been 300 jars made, and when the other party backed out, he thought they’d be stuck with them. He never expected someone to want to buy them.

“The minimum price is two mao each. I have 300 now. If you want, I’ll throw in some extras.”

“Pack 50 for now. I’ll come back in a few days to get the rest.”

“Okay.”

Gu Wenran handed over ten yuan, and Wang Bai gave her the packed jars.

As she was leaving, Gu Wenran gave Zhang Shanshan some whitening cream as thanks for her help.

Back home, Gu Wenran filled all the whitening cream into the exquisite porcelain jars. The cream’s beauty and quality reached perfection—each angle radiated a captivating elegance, like a precious work of art.

“This is much better than the snow cream sold at the supply cooperative. Selling it for five yuan would be a loss.”

Gu Wenran had been so busy with the whitening cream she forgot to share the new items with everyone.

She carried the package to Zhou’s mother’s room.

“Yaya, come here. Auntie bought you new shoes.”

Zhao Yaya hid her little black feet shyly.

“Come try them on quickly. I specially chose pink ones, and there are two pretty hair clips.”

Zhao Yaya held the clips, unwilling to part with them, examining them carefully.

Zhou Qing hurriedly stood up and handed the shoes back.

“Sis, you can’t accept gifts. Living here is already enough trouble. How can I let you spend money on me?”

“Sis, this is your home. If you don’t live here, where else? Marriage doesn’t mean your mother’s home isn’t yours.”

Hearing this, Zhou Qing’s heart warmed. Usually, daughters-in-law don’t want their natal families to come back after marriage, but her brother had found a good wife.

If Zhou Sinian heard this, he’d probably leap off his sickbed, saying, “She’s the one clinging to me; I never wanted to marry her.”

“Thank you, sis.”

Gu Wenran braided two pretty little buns on Yaya’s head, which made Yubao clamoring to let his hair grow long. Finally, he settled down after being promised some chilled watermelon juice.

Hu Ailian sat at the edge of the kang, watching everyone so cheerful and harmonious. She had never imagined Gu Wenran would treat her family so well, and her previous grievances simply faded away.

Within this family, Gu Wenran felt warmth and happiness—a feeling she had never known before. In this moment, she was truly happy, content, and filled with the warmth of human kindness.