The following evening, He Wenlin took her bank card and 20,000 yuan in cash, and went to Sijiqing with her mother and He Shan, with Yang Gangyong driving them.

The front of the train can only seat two people, so He Wenlin and He Shan can only sit in the side carriage.

To make herself more comfortable, He Wenlin moved two small stools into the carriage. He's mother, who was a little carsick, sat at the front of the carriage, while He Wenlin and He Shan sat inside.

Although the roads are in bad shape now, there are no cars at night, so the journey was smooth and we arrived at our destination in two hours.

Although it was a little past 2 a.m., the place was already packed with people. He Wenlin was carrying tens of thousands of yuan in cash, and her mother was extremely nervous, fearing that she might encounter thieves or pickpockets.

With so many people around, these thieves are most likely to succeed.

"How about I keep the money?" Mrs. He whispered to He Wenlin.

"Mom, don't be so nervous. I'm just a kid. Who would believe I'm carrying a huge sum of money? Relax."

He Wenlin and He Shan both looked like students, and He's mother was dressed casually. To outsiders, they would all think that they were parents taking their children shopping.

"Linlin, what type of goods should we stock?" He Shan was actually very excited.

"Long underwear, socks."

He Shan: "Aren't you bringing in coats and stuff?"

"No, we only need thermal underwear and socks, mainly for our age group, with adults and children as secondary options."

He Wenlin was only doing this business once, so she chose products with relatively low costs, no size restrictions, and no particular style requirements.

Thermal underwear and socks are worn underneath, so customers don't care much about the style, only the size and price.

As for the fabric, it's not really that important for people who are still struggling below the poverty line.

Size and price are what everyone cares about most.

"Let's look around first," He Wenlin said. "It's a rare opportunity to come here, so if there's anything you like that you want to buy for your family, you can bring it along."

"Let's get down to business first. The goods are all in, then we can look at them and make our selections," said Aunt He. "I'll only feel at ease once the money is spent."

"That's fine, let's go look at the socks first."

The group went to the socks section together. Since they didn't know any familiar suppliers there, He Wenlin just randomly chose the largest store.

The store displays different styles, sizes, and colors for the same price, making it very convenient and easy to see at a glance.

"I never knew socks could be so pretty." He Shan's eyes were immediately drawn to the lace-trimmed socks next to her.

“These kinds of socks look good with skirts and leggings, showing off the lace,” He Wenlin said. “You can take a few of these, but only a few.”

He Shan's eyes widened: "Why? It's so beautiful, customers won't be able to walk past it and will buy it, right?"

"Because it's expensive, children can't resist it. But look at how many children in the countryside can go shopping in the city. It's all the adults who buy things. They don't care if it looks good or not, they only care about the price, whether the child can wear it, and how durable it is."

Actually, thermal underwear and socks weren't very durable at this time, probably because people didn't change them as frequently as in later generations. So, socks didn't last long; they would either expose the heels or the toes.

"Boss, can you lower the price? I need a lot," He Wenlin asked.

"Little sister, this is already the lowest price," the proprietress said. "People who come here at this time are all buying goods, not shopping."

"But those who want six or seven hundred pairs like me are still a minority."

For many shoe store owners and clothing store owners, socks are not their main product. They sell a few as a side product or give them away as free gifts, so it's rare to see them ordering hundreds of pairs at once.

Because of the large quantity required, we usually get the goods directly from the factory.

He Wenlin had previously considered going to the Zhucheng sock factory to get goods, but it wasn't on her way. If she made a special trip to Zhucheng, the gas money she would spend would be enough to cover the price difference, and she would also have to spend an extra day traveling back and forth. So she decided to just get the goods here instead.

"You really want this much?" The proprietress seemed unconvinced, looking He Wenlin up and down.

It's understandable that the proprietress was somewhat skeptical of He Wenlin's young age.

At this moment, Aunt He said, "We're together, this is my daughter. We want more, so can you give us a discount?"

He Wenlin pointed to the socks priced at one yuan in front of her and said, "I want five hundred pairs of these, and two hundred pairs of the men's style."

Then, pointing to the cheaper children's socks next to him and the more expensive men's socks next to him, he said, "I want two hundred pairs of these, and fifty pairs of these men's socks."

He Shan took out a pair of lace-trimmed socks that she had immediately taken a liking to and said, "Linlin, there's also this."

He Wenlin glanced at them and said, "Thirty pairs of these are needed."

As He Wenlin spoke, she took out the paper and pen she carried with her, quickly calculated the amount, and then handed it to the proprietress: "It's six hundred and ten yuan in total."

Aunt He: "Let's not go for 610, 600 is fine."

The proprietress quickly shook her head, speaking in broken Mandarin: "You're haggling too much. My cost price is more than that. You have to let me make a little profit."

Then he took out a calculator and started calculating as he pressed the keys: "I'll give you 80 cents a pair of these, 70 cents for children's socks, 1.3 yuan for men's socks, and 1 yuan for lace stockings. That's 795 yuan in total. You give me 790."

Aunt He: "It's too expensive."

"It's not expensive anymore, this is definitely the lowest price."

He Shan: "Auntie, Linlin, let's shop around a bit more, there are still many shops."

"Don't go, don't go, six hundred is really not enough, add a little more."

He Wenlin hesitated for a moment and said, "Then it's six hundred and twenty yuan. Give it to me now. If it's okay, pack it up for me now. If not, I'll look around some more."

"Little sister, there's really no way to make any money. How about this, we each compromise. You have to let me make a little bit, seven hundred yuan, round it up, okay?"

Penggeng He Shan pulled He Wenlin outside, saying, "Let's go, let's look around next door. It's not like this is the only place."

"This is really the lowest price. Even if you go elsewhere, you won't find a lower price. It's just that you buy a lot, so I'm giving you this price and I only make a little profit on electricity."

He Shan pulled the person two steps away. Since things had come to this, He Wenlin, seeing that the proprietress hadn't changed her mind, guessed that this really was the lowest price.

When it comes to bargaining, I'm not afraid of lowering the price; the real fear is that after I've bargained, the boss will agree to the price immediately.

He Wenlin stopped and nodded, saying, "Okay, please check and pack the goods."

He Wenlin paid seven hundred yuan, and then tied two large bags of socks to the cart, which Yang Gangyong pulled.

(Both the previous and next chapters have been revised. Please refresh the page to view them. Thank you!)