Chapter 5 Hair Tie and Hair Bun Business

After dinner, the serious-looking girl gathered everyone together, not even sparing Jiang An who was hiding in the closet.

"Aunt Wu, it's almost the end of the year, everyone is busy preparing for the New Year, why isn't our family making any moves?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Lifang paused for a moment, then lowered her head in embarrassment, "Xiaxia, the textile factory pays wages on the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, at that time..."

"Aunt Wu, Xiaxia didn't mean it that way. I have an idea to make money. Would you like to hear it?"

"You? Ha!"

Jiang Chao, that scoundrel! He gave the original owner a few pieces of coal and thought he was a kind and gentle man, but who would have thought his mouth was so venomous.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, she continued, "For the New Year, we want to wear new clothes. Xiaxia wants to earn money to buy a new outfit herself. I saw a lot of new hair ties and hairbands in a magazine. They were all so pretty, and I was tempted to buy them."

“The textile factory has the most scraps of fabric, and the styles are also very diverse. Aunt Wu, let’s spend some money to buy a sack, and also get some rubber bands and elastic bands. We have a sewing machine at home, so we can imitate the rubber band hair ties in the magazines. We can choose a place with a lot of people, set up a stall, and Xiaxia is beautiful and has a sweet tongue. Are we worried about not being able to sell them?”

"This... Xiaxia, Auntie has never run a business before, doesn't have any spare money, and doesn't have the time to sew rubber bands!"

principal?

Before he left, Director Liu secretly slipped him five yuan.

Selling goods?

Before the apocalypse, Yunxia was the company's top salesperson.

Sewing a rubber band?

Looking down at her chubby little hands, Yunxia was at a loss.

"A sewing machine... I know how to use it."

A deep, cool voice sounded from the side, and Yun Xia turned her head to stare at Jiang Chao in disbelief.

"What... you're surprised I know how to use a sewing machine?"

Jiang Chao instantly went from being a contrarian to a partner in the "rubber band selling business," and Yun Xia quickly shook her head and gave him a sweet smile.

"Aunt Wu, Xiaxia has five yuan, which can be used as capital to sew rubber bands. With Brother Jiang Chao here, An'an and I can help out. Please... agree, okay?"

Five yuan is not a small amount for the Wu family. Even though the money was paid by Yunxia, ​​it still could not dispel Wu Lifang's worries and, for the first time ever, she resisted her coquettish offensive.

Acting cute and charming didn't work, so Yunxia secretly gave Jiang Chao a wink.

"Mom, Teacher Li said that the reform is sweeping across the country. The rubber bands that are popular right now only appear in magazines. If you make a copy, you won't have to worry about sales. Once they become widespread, everyone will be selling them at stalls, and you'll end up with a lot of unsold stock."

Young man, at such a young age, you have such foresight; I truly admire you.

"After collecting scraps for a year, I have five yuan in my hand. Combined with Xiaxia's, it's enough for the rubber band business. Mom, don't you trust me to do things?"

Jiang Chao, who was in charge of making decisions at home, had spoken up, so Wu Lifang reluctantly nodded, gave some instructions, and after settling on the quantity of fabric scraps, she led Xiaxia back to her room to sleep.

The textile factory leader was easy to talk to. Wu Lifang originally planned to buy a sack of scraps of cloth for two yuan, but the leader waved his hand and said that scraps of cloth were not worth much. He would sell her two sacks for three yuan, and she could choose the style and material she wanted.

Meanwhile, Yunxia and Jiang Chao went to the tailor shop and, after much pleading and flattery, finally bought four yuan worth of rubber bands and two yuan worth of elastic bands at wholesale prices.

With all the materials purchased, the family divided the work and worked diligently together. Even the youngest, An'an, was assigned the task of sorting hair ties and hair bands.

...

Four days later, Jiang Chao, carrying a large cloth bag, followed Yun Xia to the bustling People's Square.

Choose a place with high foot traffic, lay down a layer of felt, and neatly arrange the rubber bands on it.

Yunxia picked out a pink hair tie with beads, put it on her pigtails, and excitedly ran into the crowd.

The beads swayed with her movements, a beautiful sight that captivated the eye.

"Young lady, where did you buy your hair tie? It's so fashionable, I've never seen it in a department store before!"

The woman, who was having a headache from her daughter's antics, couldn't help but step forward and ask.

Yun Xia, whose acting skills were on point, was taken aback at first. She touched the hair tie on her head, blinked her innocent big eyes, and said naively:

"These... I bought them from that stall over there for five cents a pair. It really hurt my wallet, but it was worth it for the beauty!"

After saying that, his face beamed with pride, as if he were wearing a special hair tie and was the most dazzling person in the entire People's Square.

Now, the little girl, who was already envious, couldn't sit still any longer. She grabbed the woman's hem with her little hands and shook it from side to side. Seeing that her mother was frowning and refusing to let go, she stomped her little feet and started to make a fuss.

"Auntie, the hair tie is very durable and won't break even after a year. It's a great deal. With the end of the year approaching, why not buy one for your sister to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new? It's all about good luck. Wearing a new hair tie makes you feel like a completely different person."

"Besides, there are many styles on the stall, and this one is relatively expensive. Maybe my sister will choose the more affordable one later."

The woman thought about it carefully and realized that the little girl made sense. "Little girl, you have a sweet tongue. Here, have a piece of candy. Look at her, and then look at you. You dare to throw a tantrum in the square. Don't you have any manners?"

Instantly, Yunxia received a huge eye roll from "Nannan." "Other people's children" are destined to be a childhood trauma for every child.

Yunxia smiled awkwardly, took the White Rabbit milk candy with both hands, thanked her, and quickly fled with cheerful little steps.

In the 1980s, before "shills" were common, Yunxia, ​​with her delicate hair ties and cute appearance and eloquent speech, attracted batches of young girls to pester adults to come to her stall.

...

After running all morning, Yunxia, ​​whose legs were sore from running, found an open space, plopped down, tilted her head back, squinted her eyes, and enjoyed the sunshine.

After an unknown amount of time, a shadow suddenly appeared overhead.

The sunlight was gone, which made her very sad. She opened her eyes and saw a lecherous old man staring at her with a sly smile.

"Uncle, you're blocking the sunlight."

"Little girl, why are you wandering around alone? Where are your parents?"

With a very heavy accent, unlike a local, Yunxia realized that someone wandering around alone must have been secretly observing for a long time. After figuring this out, Yunxia's expression became serious.

"Mind your own business, get out of the way, don't block the sun."

Seeing that he didn't move, Yunxia got up and turned to the left, intending to leave, but he blocked her way.

"Little girl, Uncle has some candy, do you want some?"

As he spoke, he took out a White Rabbit milk candy from his pocket and waved it in front of the little girl.

"Get away from me, or I'll call the police and have you thrown in jail."

When his coaxing tactics failed, a ruthless glint flashed in the lewd man's eyes. He picked up Yunxia, ​​covered her mouth, and took large strides, showing his eagerness to escape.

Tai, it was my first time setting up a stall, and before I even had a chance to count the money, I ran into human traffickers. I was so unlucky.

He used his hips to push his body down, straightened his thighs, and pointed his toes, kicking hard in the groin.

The weakest point was attacked fiercely, and the man was in excruciating pain. He no longer cared about the little girl in his arms, so he casually threw her aside and curled up, clutching his sore spot.

"Hey buddy, are you alright?"

The square was crowded, and the two were making quite a racket, so a concerned man stepped forward and asked them what was wrong.

"My dear, are you alright?"