"What happened?" Aunt Xiao asked.
Wen Qing: "I'm not quite sure either."
A group of people had already squeezed over and were shouting enthusiastically, "I don't want just a white shirt, I want the whole outfit, plus shoes."
"I also want a complete set including shoes."
"..."
Wen Qing and Aunt Xiao were surrounded. Zhang Xiuying couldn't squeeze in front of Wen Qing and shouted, "Make way, make way, Lao He! Lao He! Come here quickly!"
Old He rushed over from inside the store and led Zhang Xiuying through the crowd.
"Wen Qing, you've finally arrived," Zhang Xiuying and her husband said with a smile.
"Sister Zhang, Boss He," Wen Qing greeted with a smile.
Zhang Xiuying stared at the bicycle piled high with clothes and shoes and asked, "How many clothes and shoes are there in total?"
"Two hundred sets of clothes and fifty pairs of shoes," Wen Qing said.
“Then I’ll take them all!” Zhang Xiuying said decisively.
Aunt Xiao was taken aback. Wen Qing had told her that each of the two shops wanted fifty sets, totaling only one hundred sets. She wondered if bringing two hundred sets was too much. She never expected that one shop would want all of them.
The clothes Wen Qing makes are so popular!
“That won’t do,” Wen Qing refused decisively.
"Why?" Zhang Xiuying asked, puzzled.
Wen Qing smiled and said, "I promised another company that I would give them fifty sets of clothes and twenty pairs of shoes."
Zhang Xiuying thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll take 150 sets of clothes and 30 pairs of shoes. Is that alright?"
"Okay," Wen Qing said.
The surrounding voices were constant, urging people to buy clothes and shoes. Zhang Xiuying and Lao He had no choice but to take the clothes and shoes off Wen Qing's bicycle and sell them on the spot.
"I want a set. I just paid."
"I'll pay you now."
"Boss He, here's the money, give me one set."
"I want one too..."
"..."
Old He collected the money, Zhang Xiuying packed the clothes and shoes, and Wen Qing helped watch over the bicycle.
Aunt Xiao leaned closer to Wen Qing and said, "They buy clothes and shoes from us for seventeen yuan each, and they sell them for twenty yuan each. They make three yuan profit on each set."
Wen Qing whispered, "If you can't make money in business, who would do it?"
"They're making way too much money."
Wen Qing lowered her voice: "We earn more than them."
Aunt Xiao then fell silent.
After dealing with more than forty customers, Zhang Xiuying and Lao He were covered in sweat, but their faces were full of smiles.
Zhang Xiuying asked Lao He to watch over Wen Qing's bicycle, clothes, and shoes. She then invited Wen Qing and Zhang Xiuying into the shop, pulled them into a room, and poured them water and offered them candy, showing great hospitality.
"Don't fake it, don't fake it. You've come all this way, have some water." Zhang Xiuying said with a smile, then turned and went into her small bedroom: "Wait a moment."
"Okay," Wen Qing replied, then said, "Aunt Xiao, have some water."
"Hmm." Aunt Xiao picked up her white tea mug and drank some water.
A short while later, Zhang Xiuying came over with paper, pen, and a small black leather bag. She first thanked Wen Qing and Aunt Xiao for bringing the clothes, and then went straight to settling accounts with Wen Qing.
After Zhang Xiuying scribbled on the paper, she handed it to Wen Qing to look at.
It says on it:
A white Dacron shirt costs seven yuan, 150 shirts, totaling one thousand and fifty yuan.
Plain-textured trousers cost six yuan, 150 pairs, totaling nine hundred yuan.
The shoes cost four yuan each, and there were twenty-five pairs, totaling one hundred yuan.
Deposit: Negative 100 yuan.
Total: 1,950 yuan.
Zhang Xiuying asked, "Wen Qing, do you think I'm right?"
Wen Qing nodded: "No problem."
Zhang Xiuying immediately opened the purse and took out a wad of one-hundred-yuan bills.
Aunt Xiao was stunned, shocked. How could Zhang Xiuying spend money like that! She turned to look at Wen Qing, who was calm, as if she could handle things better than her, a woman in her forties.
Aunt Xiao steadied herself.
Wen Qing remained calm. In this era, China's clothing, food, housing, transportation, and daily necessities were slowly awakening and starting to move forward. It was not difficult for someone like Zhang Xiuying to start a small business and become a millionaire.
Ji Yanjun was able to easily become a millionaire while studying and doing business, which was also inseparable from his intelligence and hard work.
"One thousand nine hundred and fifty yuan, please count it." Zhang Xiuying handed a wad of money to Wen Qing.
Aunt Xiao's eyes widened in disbelief. One thousand nine hundred and fifty yuan! Good heavens! She'd done so much tailoring work and still hadn't earned as much as Wen Qing had in just this short time—one thousand nine hundred and fifty yuan! Aunt Xiao's heart pounded.
Wen Qing calmly took the money and counted it: "Sister Zhang, that's right, 1,950 yuan. I'll keep the money."
"Keep it," Zhang Xiuying said with a smile. "You should keep making these clothes. Who knows, I might need more in a couple of days."
Wen Qing smiled and said, "These clothes won't be finished for long this year."
"Why?" Zhang Xiuying asked in surprise.
Wen Qing said, "Autumn in Nanzhou only lasts for a little over two months. By the time it's late autumn and early winter, it's already cold to wear these clothes and shoes."
"You mean you're going to make thick clothes?" Zhang Xiuying asked in surprise.
“That’s right. Once we finish making the autumn collection for Feng Qing by the end of next month, we’ll start making the winter collection,” Wen Qing said.
"Are the styles the same?" Zhang Xiuying asked.
"Of course they're different."
“That’s great! Go ahead and do it. But you must try buying it in my store!” Zhang Xiuying was very enthusiastic.
"Okay," Wen Qing said with a smile, implicitly confirming the next business deal.
After Wen Qing and Zhang Xiuying reached an agreement, they prepared to deliver clothes to the next store. Just as Zhang Xiuying dropped Wen Qing off at the store, two more customers came in to buy clothes for Feng Qing.
Zhang Xiuying asked Lao He to entertain them.
Wen Qing turned to Zhang Jie and asked, "Sister Zhang, where did you buy that black leather bag you were holding just now?"
Zhang Xiuying was taken aback: "You mean a leather bag for carrying money?"
"right."
"It was a gift from a manufacturer, so what?"
Wen Qing said, "What I meant was, I don't think I've ever seen a bag with a zipper in our city."
"Zippers?" Zhang Xiuying reacted for a moment: "You mean zippers? They sell them in our city too. There's a shop in the big market that sells them, but they don't sell well."
"Where exactly in the big market?"
Zhang Xiuying told Wen Qing the specific address, and Wen Qing thanked Zhang Xiuying again and again. Then she pushed her bicycle and went with Aunt Xiao to another shop on the pedestrian street.
As soon as they left Zhang Xiuying's shop, Aunt Xiao said, "Wenqing, you have so many hundred-yuan bills in your hand. You should check them too. What if there are counterfeit bills?"
Wen Qing smiled and said, "Aunt Xiao, don't worry. Zhang Xiuying knows how to distinguish real from fake money better than we do. She makes a profit when we sell our clothes to her. Not only will she not give us counterfeit money, but she will also treat us very well."
"Since it's so profitable, why don't we just open our own shop?" Aunt Xiao asked.
Wen Qing smiled and said, "The store will definitely open, but now is not the time. Now is the time to expand the brand's reach."
Aunt Xiao nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.
By then, they had arrived at another shop. After receiving the clothes and shoes, the shop owner readily gave them 630 yuan and ordered another 50 sets of clothes and 50 pairs of shoes, which made Aunt Xiao extremely happy.
Half an hour ago, Wen Qing's bicycle was full, but now it's empty. The difference is that Wen Qing now has at least 2,580 yuan in his pocket. 2,580 yuan!
Aunt Xiao admired Wen Qing from the bottom of her heart. Wen Qing was not only kind-hearted and quick-witted, but also skillful. She earned more than 2,500 yuan in just one week. Aunt Xiao's heart was still pounding at this moment.
"Aunt Xiao," Wen Qing called out.
Aunt Xiao snapped out of her daze, looked up, and saw that Wen Qing had already gotten on her bicycle.
"Get in the car," Wen Qing said.
Aunt Xiao then jumped onto the back seat of the bicycle.
The two returned the bicycle and got their deposit back. Instead of leaving to return to the county town, they headed towards the Nanzhou City Market.
"Aunt Xiao, are there any people in your village who know how to use a sewing machine?" Wen Qing asked.
Aunt Xiao: Yes, quite a lot.
"Are they willing to work in the county town?" Wen Qing asked.
Aunt Xiao was taken aback: "Wen Qing, do you mean you want to hire people?"
“Yes,” Wen Qing said. “We’re going to buy five sewing machines now.”
"You bought so much, haven't we already handed over our clothes?" Aunt Xiao asked.
Wen Qing smiled and looked at Aunt Xiao: "They will want more Fengqing dresses."
Aunt Xiao was taken aback: "Will they sell?"
"Of course they'll sell. What you're seeing are just the people in the city buying clothes. You have to know that people in the counties below the city, like the tailor shop across from ours, all get their goods from the city. If one set of clothes sells well, people in all the counties will naturally rush to buy it. Let alone two hundred sets, even two thousand sets might not be enough to meet demand."
Aunt Xiao was stunned by Wen Qing's question: "You really want this much?"
Wen Qing smiled and said, "Aunt Xiao, if you don't believe me, we can wait and see."
As Wen Qing was talking in the sewing machine shop, she had already looked at various brands of sewing machines yesterday, and today she was going to discuss the price directly with the owner.
The final price was 175 yuan per Butterfly brand sewing machine, and ten machines were purchased for a total price of 1,750 yuan and delivered to the county town.
Wen Qing and Aunt Xiao followed the sewing machine shop's truck to Aunt Xiao's tailor shop.
When ten Butterfly brand sewing machines were delivered to Aunt Xiao's tailor shop, they attracted the attention of many passersby.
What happened to Aunt Xiao's tailor shop?
"So many sewing machines, all new."
"It's Butterfly brand, too."
"What are they trying to do?"
"..."
Passersby were talking about it.
Yao Shiling and Bao Hong were making shoes when they were startled to see the truck parked in front of Aunt Xiao's tailor shop.
As soon as I stepped outside, I saw two men carrying a sewing machine and walking into the store.
Bao Hong immediately blocked their way: "What are you doing? What are you doing?"
“Yeah, what are you doing?” Yao Shiling chimed in.
"Mom! Baohong! That's the sewing machine I bought, let them in." Wen Qing jumped down from the back of the car.
"Wen Qing." Yao Shiling walked over and whispered, "Why did you buy a sewing machine? Don't we already have two at home?" After Yao Shiling finished speaking, she looked at the car and saw that it was full of sewing machines. She asked in surprise, "Did you buy them all?"
Wen Qing smiled and said, "Yes."
"You, you..." Yao Shiling was too shocked to speak. Aunt Xiao came over and said, "Sister-in-law Wen."
Then, Aunt Xiao told Yao Shiling about how she and Wen Qing went to deliver the goods.
After hearing this, Yao Shiling was speechless, staring at Wen Qing in disbelief. After a long while, she finally asked, "Did you really make that much money all at once?"
Wen Qing nodded.
Yao Shiling felt like she was dreaming. More than 2,500 yuan! She had never seen so much money in her life. After the shock, Yao Shiling quickly pulled Wen Qing aside and whispered, "Wen Qing, it's not good for others to see you bringing back ten sewing machines so openly."
Wen Qing smiled and said, "Mom, I want them to see this."
"Why?"
“That way, when I post job advertisements, more people will apply,” Wen Qing said with a smile. “We’ll select the best candidates.”
“They’ll talk nonsense,” Yao Shiling said.
Wen Qing smiled and said, "Mom, don't worry. Everyone gets talked about behind their backs, and everyone talks about others behind their backs. Time will tell, won't it?"
"That's what they say, but..." Yao Shiling hadn't finished speaking when she heard a "bang" as the sewing machine bumped into something. Yao Shiling quickly stepped forward: "Slow down, slow down, this is really expensive."
Wen Qing smiled.
Indeed, it was true; the news that Aunt Xiao's tailor shop had just bought ten sewing machines spread throughout the entire county almost immediately.
Previously, Wen Qing's skills had already spread throughout the county town, and now with ten more sewing machines, everyone began to speculate again.
"Didn't they say that Aunt Xiao's tailor shop's business was being stolen by the tailor shop across the street?"
"That's right, why is Aunt Xiao's tailor shop buying sewing machines? Ten of them at once, costing almost two thousand yuan."
"Where did the money come from?"
"I heard it was Wen Qing's money."
"Where did Wen Qing get the money?"
“I heard that for the past week, the people at Aunt Xiao’s tailor shop have been working overtime to make shoes. There are more than a dozen people working together. They must have made money from the shoes.”
"A dozen or so people?"
"right!"
"Is Aunt Xiao's tailor shop now quite wealthy?"
"Don't you know? The tailor shop is ostensibly owned by Aunt Xiao, but I heard that when Aunt Xiao's son was sick, Wen Qing took over the shop. So now the shop actually belongs to Wen Qing! That means those ten sewing machines were bought by Wen Qing. If Aunt Xiao had money, she would have bought them long ago, wouldn't you say?"
"That makes sense!"
"..."
Liang Wenhua and Ji Ningzhi were strolling in the market when they overheard the group of middle-aged women's discussion.
Ji Ningzhi pouted: "Nonsense, that brat is as poor as a ghost."
Liang Wenhua glanced at her and asked, "How do you know she's poor? Your brother didn't give her any money."
Ji Ningzhi immediately became interested: "Mom, you don't know yet, do you? Brother and she have broken up. Look, she doesn't even know that Brother went to another province this time."
"You broke up?" Liang Wenhua asked.
“That’s right. When we lived in the dorm, we all ate in the cafeteria. She and Wan Min, a poor student in our dorm, ate sweet potato pancakes with pickled vegetables. Tsk…” Ji Ningzhi said with a look of disgust: “That sweet potato pancake was so long that you couldn’t even bite it, and that pickled vegetable had been pickled for who knows how many centuries, yet the two of them ate it with relish.”
Liang Wenhua rolled her eyes at her: "You're not allowed to say these things in front of your dad and your brother."
"I know, I know," Ji Ningzhi said with a smile. "My brother will be back from Dongzhou soon, so should I go and invite Sister Fangfang over for dinner?"
"Go."
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