Gu Xiaobei has been extremely busy lately. With Lu Zhanguo away on assignment, she decided to simply stay in the small courtyard, allowing Ji Xiangdong and Bai Xiaolan to live in the staff quarters.
At the end of December, the boxes she had ordered from the cardboard factory - a total of twenty thousand - were delivered.
The boxes were brightly colored red with the four golden characters - 'Flourishing Age of Happiness'. Below these characters was an image of flowers blooming for good fortune. She folded one box up as a sample, and Qin Li and Chen Zhao both exclaimed in admiration, "It's so beautiful and impressive."
Gu Xiaobei smiled at their surprised faces, then told Xiao Hong and Xiuxiu, "You two go home tonight and see if any of your neighbors are willing to fold these boxes. Just like how I did it - fold it, insert the handle string, tie a knot, and there we go. We'll pay one cent per box."
