Thirty-nine ordinary friends
Li Wei and Luo Da arrived at the place they had agreed upon with Dong Hui, who was already there. Li Wei observed her expression from afar, guessing that things were going well. Otherwise, she could have just called to let them know; there was no need for her to come in person, and there was no need to be so polite with a child like herself.
Sure enough, although Dong Hui still had some psychological reservations about doing business with such young children, she decided to give it a try. There was no real loss; at worst, if the goods didn't sell, it would only be a few dozen yuan. But now it seemed she didn't have that worry. The hair accessories she delivered to her brother's shop last week sold very well, and her brother even asked her to order more.
Li Wei was quite pleased to hear that Dong Hui was willing to cooperate, but after hearing Dong Hui's conditions, she couldn't help but sigh inwardly that people nowadays really lack experience.
Dong Hui's conditions were simple: Li Wei had to lower the price by another ten cents on top of the original wholesale price. Li Wei had originally planned for exclusive agency, payment methods, discount amounts, and so on, but Dong Hui didn't mention a single one of them. Truly, a novice like her, please be kind.
Li Wei believed that Dong Hui's point was most likely a way of leaving her room to negotiate. After a moment's thought, Li Wei said, "Aunt Dong, let's not talk about the price yet. First, the cost of different styles of hair accessories is different, so we can't have a uniform price like before. Second, the price will vary depending on the quantity you buy. Like when we first met, if you only bought ten or eight, would I sell them to you at that price? We need to make small profits and sell more. It's not worth it if we sell too few. Besides, I don't have to worry about selling my hair accessories now, don't you think?"
Dong Hui already knew this kid had some skills, but she didn't expect him to be so eloquent. However, upon closer examination, his words made sense, so she put aside her contempt and said, "I'm still most concerned about the price. Tell me your thoughts."
Li Wei took out the prepared price list and handed it to Dong Hui. The price was, of course, non-negotiable. She already knew Dong Hui's retail price when she went to buy fabric with her grandfather; the profit margin was already high enough. Her own price was like a small leak in a dam; once Dong Hui's sales volume increased, she would become too powerful and the leak would widen, which was clearly not the outcome she wanted. In her later life, her company had encountered this situation; in times of fierce competition, they even forced some distributors to operate at a loss to maintain market share. Li Wei wouldn't do that to anyone now; she didn't have the resources or the inclination for such vanity projects.
Dong Hui was surprised after reading Li Wei's agreement and began to think about it seriously.
In fact, Li Wei's agreement was very simple. She divided the current hair accessories into two categories: the simplest fabric ones and the beaded ones. The price remained the same as her original retail price, which was slightly higher than the wholesale price she originally sold to Dong Hui. Of course, this was difficult for Dong Hui to accept, and she was prepared for Dong Hui not to accept it. At worst, she would still sell to her at the old price, but she would inevitably have to put in some effort to find a few more people to sell them on her behalf.
However, the following terms were very tempting and increased the likelihood of Dong Hui accepting them. In essence, Li Wei set quantity limits for each delivery, starting with 500 units at the minimum, with a slightly lower price. Then, for every 300 units increased, the price decreased slightly, and so on, until it reached 3,000 units at a time, which was Dong Hui's target price. This gave Li Wei room to negotiate, averaging less than 50 cents per unit. It was specifically noted that cash was required for delivery.
What surprised Dong Hui the most was that there was a certain discount each month based on the amount of goods purchased. This made Dong Hui feel that there must be someone behind this kid guiding her. He was treating her like a slave. The whip was money. But she both hated and loved this whip. If she could reach the sales target, the profit would indeed be quite considerable. She couldn't help but be tempted.
Li Wei, however, clearly didn't give her any room for negotiation: "Aunt Dong, if you think it's acceptable, we'll proceed according to the regulations. If not, we'll stick to the old method of setting a price on the spot. Whatever the price is, that's what we'll do." She didn't need to waste her energy on those who lacked vision and decisiveness. Once the market opened up, it was uncertain how many times she'd be able to come out.
And clearly, Dong Hui does have some guts. Otherwise, she wouldn't have bought so many hair accessories the first time. Bargaining was inevitable. In the end, Li Wei reluctantly revised some of the initial data, which was within her expectations.
From Dong Hui's perspective, short-term benefits are more practical. Who knows when the child will stop making hair accessories? She could just give her a little nudge. Then Dong Hui asked for another one for herself. If the child keeps making them, at least she'll have some proof, right?
It seemed both sides had reached an agreement. Li Wei took out the field flowers and samples she had brought and let Dong Hui choose. This time, Li Wei numbered the mass-produced field flowers with uniform colors and gave a portion to Dong Hui for easier management and ordering.
The two made an agreement. It would start from the next order. This time, Li Wei kept the original price for Dong Hui. Even the packaging bags were brought by Dong Hui herself. Wow. Thinking back to how, more than ten years later, you'd get a bag with every little thing you bought. Li Wei felt this was truly a golden age for selling things. People weren't picky at all. How wonderful!
After Dong Hui left, Li Wei checked the weather. It was almost noon. She hesitated for a moment between going to eat first and going to the music store to see the handsome young man. In the end, she chose to eat. After all, if she was lucky enough to bump into the handsome young man, she planned to linger at the music store for a while.
After a proper meal as usual, Li Wei looked at Luo Da, who hadn't finished eating, and thought that of all the children, Luo Da was the most reliable to take out. He wouldn't wander off or cause trouble, he was quiet, and he could be very useful in crucial moments. He was practically an essential item for home, travel, business, and even fighting! Although sometimes he was a bit disobedient, a bit unsafe, and a bit...
After lunch, the two arrived at the music store just in time for lunch. Upon entering the store, Li Wei glanced around but didn't see the boy playing the piano. As she looked around, she heard a gentle voice coming from a corner of the room: "Little sister, is there anything you want to buy?"
Li Wei turned around and saw the boy she had been longing for walking out of the storeroom door in the corner of the house. He had rolled up the sleeves of his plaid cotton shirt and was wearing white woolen gloves, seemingly having just finished some work. He had a warm, homely feel to him. He clearly recognized Li Wei as soon as she turned around and smiled, "Hello, we meet again! Hehe."
Li Wei blinked and nodded repeatedly, momentarily forgetting what she had originally planned to buy. Luo Da nudged her, saying, "Sheet music."
Just now, she was chattering away while buying hair accessories, but now she's acting a bit silly. Luo Da really disliked Li Wei's dazed look. However, looking at the young man whose appearance, mannerisms, and speech were clearly a level above everyone he had ever met, Luo Da seemed to understand something, yet not quite. Regardless of whether he understood or not, he just couldn't stand Li Wei's silly appearance.
Li Wei was brought back to her senses by Luo Da's nudge, and hurriedly said, "Oh, right, I'd like to buy a sheet music for the erhu, a beginner's version with simplified notation, do you have any?"
The boy walked up to the shelf where sheet music was displayed, glanced at it, picked up a book at random, and handed it to Li Wei: "This one, this one is more suitable for beginners with no foundation."
Li Wei glanced at the 'Erhu Beginner's Tutorial,' the content seemed suitable, but she couldn't think of anything to ask, so she paid. Not wanting to leave so soon, she inquired about guitar prices. She knew how to play guitar; she'd studied it for two years in college and had originally planned to buy one later, but now it seemed she had to do it sooner. So she bought a navy blue guitar, and her wallet was almost empty. Under Luo Da's utterly disdainful gaze, she had no choice but to leave, deciding to buy guitar tabs next time! Also, she couldn't bring Luo Da along anymore; it felt like this little brat had seen right through her, which made her feel very bad, extremely bad.
Sigh, how come she's so small? When will she grow up?
Li Wei was quite happy to have finally seen the person she wanted to see. When she got home, her parents weren't back yet; her aunt and cousin were playing in the yard. Li Wei greeted her aunt, gave Da Hu some snacks and candy, and then washed up, planning to take an afternoon nap.
When Li Wei came out of the shower room, she found that Luo Da, who had already gone home, was there again, practicing his punches and kicks on the sandbag. Da Hu was excitedly messing around on the side. Li Wei sat down, drank a glass of water, watched for a while, and before Luo Da completely lost his temper, she picked up Da Hu and took him back to her aunt who was in the workshop watching the dough rise. She then went back to her room to sleep.
Days passed, and the production of hair accessories steadily increased. Encouraged by Rosa, Grandpa Luo's small shop also started selling hair accessories a little over a month later. That wasn't all; seeing that the hair accessories were selling well and the profits were considerable, Luo Chaozhong would frequently go to various small shops and even stores to wholesale hair accessories. By the time Li Wei was on winter vacation, Grandpa Luo had actually sold more than Dong Hui that month, surprising and delighting Li Wei. She hadn't realized Grandpa Luo was so capable.
Li Wei's two-story house was renovated by the end of October, and the whole family happily moved in. To Li Wei, the renovation was rather simple: cement floors, whitewashed walls, wooden windows, plywood-covered radiators and wainscoting—truly unremarkable. However, the egg-yolk yellow mosaic tiles on the facade were pleasing to the eye.
The steamed bun workshop was built in a large courtyard that was purchased separately behind the small building. The first floor was used as a raw material warehouse, office, canteen, etc. The parents also lived on the first floor, and the children lived on the second floor. Li Wei asked for a room for herself, and the twins shared a room. However, Li Lianhui often slept on the first floor with his mother. Soon after, Li Lin also went downstairs, leaving only Li Wei.
Li Wei disliked the distance between the new house and the school, so she often went back to her old house to stay with her grandparents. When winter came, Cheng Min was worried about her father always coming home in the dark, so she persuaded her mother to come and stay with them. However, the old lady wasn't used to apartment buildings, so she ended up staying in Li Wei's old house, which was at least better than her grandparents' house. The old lady was much better at managing the household than her daughter; besides sewing, she didn't have many chores, but she kept the house clean, tidy, and warm, and she always provided good food and drink for the old man. Li Wei especially liked staying with them. So, apart from Li Lin's occasional absences, the homework group was usually complete.
The martial arts group, in particular, has been relentlessly disciplined by Luo Da. Luo Da's skill level is now significantly higher than the others. He always learns from Grandpa Cheng first before teaching the others, displaying the demeanor of a senior brother, and his underlings are very obedient. They dare not disobey. When Luo Da beats someone, he never bluffs like Li Wei sometimes does some warm-up exercises to scare people. Luo Da strikes without hesitation, showing no mercy. His face is taut, seemingly radiating a murderous aura.
Sometimes, Li Wei would peek out the window and chuckle to herself, thinking, "Great! Now that someone else is taking over disciplining the kids, I can relax so much. It'll also let the little rascals know how gentle I really am, and how little difference there is between hitting someone and tickling them."
Once, Li Wei watched Luo Da beat up Luo Er. Luo Er's face looked like a bitter gourd, but he didn't dare to utter a sound. Li Wei was enjoying the spectacle when Luo Da's thieving eyes glanced over, startling her. She quickly shrank back. Then she realized something was wrong. How could an adult be afraid of a child? Besides, she hadn't done anything wrong; it was too embarrassing. She hurriedly climbed onto the windowsill to look out again, but unfortunately, Luo Da didn't look this way, leaving her no chance to subdue his arrogance with her gaze. Frustrated!
Li Wei also had a good relationship with Zhou Qing from the textile factory. During the last shipment of fabric in winter, she specially asked her second uncle to bring two pork hocks from their own farm—perfect since her second uncle was slaughtering a pig for the New Year. Seeing how considerate Li Wei was, Zhou Qing was quite pleased. He secretly got her second uncle a large roll of ruined fabric; it wasn't good for anything else, but it would be perfect for making hair ornaments. Li Wei was also happy; the pork hocks hadn't been a waste.
The only thing that Li Wei regretted this year was her aunt Cheng Fei. Her once youthful and rosy face had become much thinner, and she didn't seem as energetic as before. It was probably because she was tired from studying, since she would be taking the college entrance examination next July.
Li Wei secretly wondered if Ding Anping was too busy juggling dating and studies. Ding Anping's mother was no pushover. Taking a moment, she pulled her aunt aside to secretly inquire, "Auntie, did you and your boyfriend have a fight? You don't look well. Don't let it affect your college entrance exam." She wondered if her aunt had failed her college entrance exam because of a relationship.
Cheng Fei glared at Li Wei and said, "What do kids know? Ding Anping and I are just ordinary friends. Don't talk nonsense." She turned and walked away, shaking off Li Wei. Her aunt was keeping a tight rein on things.
Li Wei looked at her aunt's slender figure in her cotton-padded coat and muttered, "Just friends? Then why do you look so haggard!"
However, after careful consideration, Li Wei seemed to glean some insights from her aunt's words. First, her aunt's relationship with Ding Anping wasn't going well, and she suspected the problem lay with Ding Anping's mother. Second, while her aunt didn't actually like Ding Anping, he was pursuing her persistently, causing her distress, but surely not to the point of looking haggard? Third, they were indeed still just 'ordinary friends,' so why was she looking so haggard?
This is outrageous! Whenever the topic of "ordinary friends" comes up, Li Wei always thinks of that classic, clichéd plot from later generations: "I only see you as a younger sister." She never expected to hear it come from her aunt's mouth today. Can't you just call them friends? Why insist on calling them "ordinary"? And they ended up as an ordinary couple? Is there anything more ordinary than that?
It seems that in this vast and complex world, no one can escape worldly concerns.
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