"Why are you in such a hurry? Your brother-in-law wouldn't cheat you, would he? You wouldn't make much money selling the pants from the store anyway, so you might as well find another source of goods!"

Zhang Xuemei wondered to herself if she could open an online store too.

"How can that be the same? I don't need to stock up on pants from my brother-in-law's shop, so there's no pressure. I just sell them whenever there's an order."

"How much money can you make this way? I'll help you design your online store now, and then you can find some new, easy-to-sell products. Take it slow, and if it takes off, you can become rich."

Xu Minghan jokingly told his brother-in-law that the first batch of merchants who started on Taobao could basically make money as long as they persevered, since the next ten or twenty years would belong to e-commerce.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xueshan became excited. "Then, brother-in-law, can you help me decide what I should sell?"

"Yes, we should buy some of the local products that are abundant or well-known. Of course, you should sell them at a lower price at the beginning."

"Then let's sell shoes. Aren't there many shoe factories in the counties next to Tianshui City? I see they all sell to the outside world, for adults and children. Let's find some time to go and take a look!"

Zhang Xuemei suddenly interjected, saying that the shoes produced by their local shoe factory were not only stylish but also of good quality, and would definitely be very popular if they could be sold online.

"Shoes are not a bad option, but if someone buys the wrong size, they'll have to exchange them, which will add to the shipping costs and is a hassle."

Just like Zhang Xueshan himself, when he goes to the store to buy shoes, he has to try them on again and again. Different styles of shoes have different sizes. Shoes are not like clothes and pants, where you can't wear them if they are even slightly uncomfortable.

"What's the trouble? When you're selecting your shoes, try to choose the standard sizes. If some shoe styles run large or small, make sure to write that clearly on the page. Just mention it when someone places an order."

“Your third sister is right, selling shoes can really be a good business. Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll go with you to the shoe factory sometime. Since you have this idea, let’s get started.”

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Xueshan realized that he didn't have anything else he wanted to sell, so he decided to just sell shoes.

So she smiled and nodded, "Then I'll have to trouble you, brother-in-law. By the way, you also helped me with the shop design you mentioned before, right?"

"Don't worry about that, I'll find someone to do it, but you'll have to pay for it yourself."

"That's for sure, it's not like I'm short of money right now."

...

However, in the end, the task of decorating the online store fell to Zhang Xuemei. Everyone became interested after the suggestion was made, and except for Xu Mingwan and Zhang Xuemei, the others went to check it out.

This time, they plan to visit shoe factories, clothing factories, and underwear factories to find cheap and suitable sources of goods to open an online store. There's no need for rent or utilities, so it's a great deal!

So Zhang Xuemei had no choice but to painstakingly find someone to design her online store. Since she planned to sell her maternity and baby products online, the general style had already been decided, and all she needed to do was find a professional designer.

However, to save money, she decided to look for jobs at universities, since students generally offer better value for money.

"Third Sister-in-law, are we just going to stand at the gate and not go in?" Xu Mingwan had been dragged to the university town by Zhang Xuemei early in the morning. They had agreed on the way that they were going to find design students, but what was the point of just standing at the gate and not going in? Didn't they see the security guards at the gate giving them strange looks?

"Oh dear, I was wrong. We're too early. It's only 8:30. I wonder if these college students are even up yet." Zhang Xuemei and her companion took a taxi directly over. It wasn't far to begin with, which is why they arrived early.

"Not only that, Third Sister-in-law, didn't you check the calendar? Today is Sunday, they have time off and no classes. Maybe they're all sleeping in. Why don't we ask the security guard? It's better than just standing here like an idiot."

Xu Mingwan was also helpless, not knowing whether the security guard would let them in or not.

“Ah, that makes sense. Let’s go ask him then,” Zhang Xuemei said as she was about to head towards the security room when she saw a boy with a black backpack and a buzz cut come out of it.

So she quickly walked a few steps and asked with a smile, "Excuse me, can I ask you something?"

"Hey, what are you doing? I've been watching you for a while. You've been lurking around outside, and you don't look like good people. Don't disturb our students. Get out of here, or I'll call the police. Don't think I'll let you off just because you're girls."

The security guard at the gate saw Zhang Xuemei approaching the male student and striking up a conversation, and immediately rushed over. Trying to deceive the student right under his nose? No way!

"No, sir, you've misunderstood. We're not bad people."

"You think you're not? Do you think bad people can have words carved on their faces?" The security guard wasn't easily fooled. He reached out and pulled the male student behind him, glaring at Zhang Xuemei and the other man.

Zhang Xuemei never expected that she would be mistaken for a bad person one day, but after realizing what had happened, she immediately explained, "Sir, we do wholesale clothing at Yongqing Market. We just wanted to find a student who knows computer graphic design to do some work for us. Of course, we will pay him."

"What kind of work do you need to find students to do?" The security guard looked incredulous. In his eyes, Zhang Xuemei and Xu Mingwan were like human traffickers trying to abduct male college students.

"Grandpa," Zhang Xuemei said, both amused and exasperated, "we want to open an online store, but we don't know how to design it ourselves. College students know a lot, so we thought we'd give it a try."

"An online store? You mean an online store on Taobao?" Chen Yao suddenly asked. He had originally planned to go out and find a part-time job, but unexpectedly, he found one right at his doorstep as soon as he graduated.

"Yes, you know this?" Zhang Xuemei looked at Chen Yao with surprise.

Chen Yao nodded. "I've been looking into it. I studied graphic design, so you've come to the right person. How about we find a place to talk things over?"

Although he is only a sophomore and doesn't know anything about online store design, he won't let go of any opportunity to practice. At most, he might work a little slower and charge less money, but that's not a big problem.

"Young man, are you really going with them?" The security guard looked at him with some concern. Although he was a young man, who said that human traffickers only kidnap girls? Maybe some people like young men with delicate skin.

"Don't worry, sir, everything's fine. I'll report back to you when I get back to school. If I'm not back by tonight, just call the police." Although Chen Yao didn't think he would be scammed, he figured it would be safer to have the old man watching over him.

Zhang Xuemei couldn't stand it anymore and said directly, "Alright, forget about finding a place. Can you take us into your school? We'll go inside and find a place to talk." This way, she wouldn't have to be responsible for the safety of such a young man.