On the other side.

"Comrade Lü, your current location isn't ideal. There's a prime spot not far from the front desk that's empty. I just spoke with the front desk supervisor, and you can move there now."

The woman in charge of the lottery box walked up to the young master surnamed Lü, who had a dispute with Zhao Youcai, with a smile. Lü also smiled broadly.

"Thank you so much, comrade. We were just about to go get the materials and set things up. It won't be a problem for us to go now."

After speaking, he immediately directed the group behind him to move the things to a different location, while he himself took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention and pinched the woman's buttocks hard.

"My little darling, I'll treat you to a good meal after the Thousand Ears Festival."

The woman walked away, her face flushed with shyness and timidity, swaying her hips.

Only after the woman was out of sight did the man surnamed Lü spit out a curse, rub his hand hard on the empty table beside him, as if he had just touched something dirty, showing utter disgust.

Before figuring out exactly what happened, Factory Manager Niu wouldn't reveal the matter. Instead, he asked a close friend to investigate secretly.

...

Before we knew it, the day of the Thousand Harvest Festival's official opening arrived.

Just as Zhao Youcai's team had anticipated, no one walked toward their booth.

It's really too far.

Foreigners are not willing to travel this far just to see a booth that has been kicked out so far away.

After all, in their view, the Chinese had investigated their preferences long ago in order to please these wealthy foreign powers.

The items they liked were placed in the most prominent positions, while the items they wouldn't even bother to glance at were relegated to the perimeter.

A morning passed, and Zhao Youcai began to get a little anxious.

We can't just wait like this!

"You've all participated in the Thousand Ears Festival, are there any rules against mobile displays?"

Just like the difference between street vendors and itinerant peddlers, there were also peddlers who roamed the streets and alleys in ancient times.

Factory Director Niu and the others shook their heads. Just to be on the safe side, they carefully reviewed the handbook of precautions that the Thousand Harvest Festival had given to all of them.

Once it was confirmed that there was no explicit prohibition or rule against mobile sales, Zhao Youcai's smile instantly spread across his face.

Immediately, they were divided into two groups and sent to sell and attract customers, each carrying a different style of hair clips and hair ornaments, as well as a four-piece enamel set (cup, saucer, bowl, and saucer) packaged in a high-end gift box.

He himself stayed behind at the booth with the rest of the staff to ensure that anyone could entertain interested customers who came to the booth.

The man surnamed Lü looked extremely unpleasant at that moment.

They finally managed to get a better location by using underhanded methods, and all the foreigners around them bought something, but their booth alone hasn't made a single sale yet.

Just as I was getting angry, I saw a group of people who had a particularly good relationship with Zhao Youcai and who had been humiliating him on the train carrying things and walking around in front of the booth, just like passersby among the foreigners.

Every now and then, foreigners would stop him and ask how much these things cost, which would only make Mr. Lü angrier.

He had originally planned to grab the foreigners by the collar and beat and humiliate them in front of them, but when he thought of the warnings from those people before the Thousand Harvest Festival, and the fact that his family had told him no less than ten times not to embarrass himself at the Thousand Harvest Festival, Mr. Lü could only grit his teeth and go through the proper channels to report them to the front desk.

"If we can sell our products by moving around like this, what's the point of having exhibition booths? If everyone follows suit, foreigners will only think that we Chinese are unruly and lack manners, which will only make China look bad!"

The group of people who had been chatting happily with the foreigners, promoting their products and directing them to their booth, were all warned and returned to their booth dejectedly.

After learning the whole story, Zhao Youcai raised an eyebrow.

I suspect someone might be targeting me, but then I think maybe I'm overthinking it.

In Zhao Youcai's mind, people are very united these days. It's normal for there to be some friction in daily life, but when facing foreigners, they should always stand together.

"Perhaps what we're doing is indeed unfair, but we can think of another way."

Standing in front of the booth, everyone felt a sense of unease as they watched as no foreigners came.

"When we proactively went out to showcase our products, many foreigners came up and asked questions. How come no one has come after all this time?"

Zhao Youcai sighed, thinking to himself: It's all because this booth is too far away.

I don't know what the people who arranged the booths at the Thousand Harvest Festival were thinking, that they would add such a special booth that is in the middle of nowhere.

Is it because there are too many delegations invited to participate in this exhibition, so many that they can't fit them all?

This lousy location is practically right by the front door!

It wasn't that Zhao Youcai wasn't hardworking, or that he didn't know how to use the people he knew. It was just that everyone was very busy; even Zhang Aihua's father, with whom he had a particularly good relationship, was busy patrolling.

Zhao Youcai's assigned booth wasn't even within the designated exhibition hall area; it would be a miracle if any acquaintances passed by.

"We can't just wait like this; we have to think of something!"

Zhao Youcai's eyes lit up instantly, and he immediately prepared hot water and started making instant noodles.

"I refuse to believe that such a delicious aroma can't attract those foreigners!"

Unlike decades later, modern exhibition halls and booths don't have as many walls or other barriers, so the smells can travel very far.

Those foreigners might not want to go any further after walking halfway, but if they run into a few gluttonous blond-haired boys and girls, they might actually be drawn over.

The factory managers finally started to get their act together and began helping to prepare instant noodles.

The aluminum lunchboxes they brought for making instant noodles weren't enough, so Director Qin of the enamel factory gritted his teeth and took out all the small enamel basins he was selling.

Sure enough, the aroma wafted quite a distance, and sure enough, several foreigners followed the scent and came looking for it.

"Oh my goodness! This is all so delicious!"

"Oh David, look! There are some beautiful headdresses here. How about we buy some to share with our loved ones?"

...

Although the store has opened successfully, there are still too few customers and not enough items have been sold.

This couldn't go on. Zhao Youcai frowned and pondered for a moment, then came up with a new idea.

"They only said we couldn't do mobile sales, they didn't say we couldn't visit other booths to offer help, right?"

Almost as soon as Zhao Youcai finished speaking, everyone suddenly realized something and immediately smiled.

"Great idea! Let's split up and get to work immediately, and try to fill the entire exhibition hall with the aroma of instant noodles as quickly as possible!"