Xu Hongshan ate one fried egg after another, glancing at Xu Hongzhen's bowl as he ate, then looked reproachfully at Zhou Nianmei, "Didn't I say that cooking two for your third uncle would be enough? Look, he might not even be able to finish them all, what a waste! Right, third brother, how about I help you?"
Xu Hongzhen quickly covered his bowl with his hand and shook his head repeatedly, "Brother, no need, I can eat it." These eggs are small, one bite at a time, how could he not finish them?
Xu Hongshan looked at his third brother's bowl with pity. If only he could finish eating, he could help him out.
"By the way, I'll go see your sister-in-law tomorrow. Could you keep an eye on the fields for me these next few days? You ate four of my eggs, after all."
The egg in Xu Hongzhen's mouth suddenly lost its flavor. He regretted not being greedy and grabbing the hoe to leave instead of trying to eat that extra bite.
After Zhou Nianmei finished boiling the eggs, she immediately went out to make a phone call to Tianshui, quickly informing Xuemei's father-in-law that he was coming.
...
"Mom, Mom, something terrible has happened!" Xu Mingwan rushed in carrying soy sauce, her voice carrying even before she entered the house.
"What terrible thing has happened? Can't you speak properly? I'm perfectly fine!" Granny Liu took off her apron and glared at Xu Mingwan. She couldn't stand hearing such words.
"No, I just went to Aunt Xu's to buy soy sauce. She told me that someone who called himself Zhou Nianmei called and said my dad is coming tomorrow. Don't you think that's a big deal?"
"Your father?" Granny Liu frowned. What was the old man doing here? Why was he in Tianshui City instead of taking care of his few acres of crops at home?
"That's why I said something terrible has happened. My dad is definitely here to take you back," Xu Mingwan said confidently. Her dad definitely didn't want her mother to stay here, so he came looking for her.
Granny Liu angrily slapped her youngest daughter's hand, "What do you mean by arresting me? Can't you speak properly? I'm not a criminal."
Zhang Xuemei overheard her sister-in-law's words from inside the room. She came out with her child in her arms and said, "Mom, it's fine if Dad comes. He can sleep in the same room with Xiao Jiang and stay for a few days before going back!"
"Forget it, your dad's probably just causing trouble at home again. Let's wait until he gets here!"
"Then let my brother pick up Dad tomorrow, my sister-in-law and I are going to buy some goods."
"You've got a new business opportunity? What are you planning to sell this time?"
"I don't know yet, let's go take a look first," Zhang Xuemei replied. Actually, she had a general idea in mind. She wanted to buy some short-sleeved shirts to sell, but not the new styles. Instead, she wanted to buy the old stock that had been squeezed out. These clothes would definitely be cheaper than the new styles, and they would be perfect for her to sell.
"You go ahead, I'll take care of things at home." Granny Liu was happy to see them earning money again, and she was happy even if they had to take care of the children.
The next morning, Zhang Xuemei and Xu Mingwan went to the old wholesale market again, but this time they went straight to the first floor instead of the basement.
As soon as I entered, I saw that all the stalls were filled with all kinds of clothes. Now that it's April, the temperature is slowly rising, and the wholesalers have already put out short-sleeved shirts.
Zhang Xuemei randomly picked a shop, chose a simple style, and asked, "Boss, how much do I need for this one?"
The shop owner was unpacking and preparing to hang up the newly arrived clothes when he heard this and looked up at Zhang Xuemei and her companion.
Hmm, pushing a small cart with several black plastic bags on it, a standard wholesale setup, so I smiled kindly, "Young lady, you have good taste. These are all new arrivals this year. The short-sleeved shirt you're holding is ten yuan a piece, all one size fits all, minimum order of five. Do you want to take some? You can also take a look at other styles, they're all quite nice."
Ten yuan is too expensive. Zhang Xuemei was planning to go for a cheaper price, since she was going to have a clearance sale.
The shop owner watched Zhang Xuemei carefully examining the clothes on the stall without saying a word, and couldn't figure out what she was up to.
"Hey boss, do you have any cheaper ones? Last year's and the year before's are fine, I just want to buy some cheaper ones to resell."
"Oh, leftover stock? I do have some, but they're not all the same style, and some sizes are incomplete. Do you still want them?" The shopkeeper did have some clothes left over from last year, not many, only about a hundred pieces. They had been sitting in the warehouse. She wasn't satisfied with the price the people who cleared out the stock last year offered, so she didn't sell them.
"Do you have a sample? How much is it per piece? Let's agree on the price first, so you don't get it for free." Zhang Xuemei thought that this stall was so small, it definitely wasn't meant to be placed here. If they couldn't agree on the price, she wouldn't even bother looking at it.
"I'll give you a rock-bottom price, how about five yuan a piece? The materials are all good, but I can't do wholesale with just a few loose pieces." Last year, the person clearing out their stock offered two yuan a piece, but she couldn't bear to sell it.
Zhang Xuemei wasn't entirely satisfied with the price, but she didn't show it on her face. She simply asked the shopkeeper to bring the clothes over for her to look at first.
The owner asked someone to watch the stall for a while, then hurriedly ran outside. He returned in about two or three minutes, followed by a man pushing a black bag on a cart.
"Here it is." The shopkeeper opened the black bag, took out a few short-sleeved shirts, and handed them to Zhang Xuemei.
Zhang Xuemei took the clothes, examined them carefully, and touched them. They looked quite nice.
Without further ado, he directly stated his price: "How about three yuan and fifty cents a piece? I'll buy them all; I won't look at the others."
"Oh dear, how can you bargain like that? I'm clearing out this stock at a loss, how can you possibly bargain with me! No way!" The shopkeeper was displeased when he heard the price Zhang Xuemei offered.
"Never mind then, Xiao Wan, let's go." Zhang Xuemei put down the clothes in her hand, turned around and pretended to leave. This trick still works every time in the clothing market decades later, and it is naturally still useful in the current clothing market.
As soon as the shopkeeper saw Zhang Xuemei put down the clothes and was about to leave without saying a word, he immediately stepped forward, grabbed her clothes, and said with a smile, "Look at you, why are you in such a hurry? Never mind, I'll just consider it making friends. You can add a few cents, and you can take it for three dollars and eighty cents."
Zhang Xuemei didn't want to dwell on those few cents, so she readily agreed.
"Hey, girl, I still have some stock left, also short-sleeved shirts, how about 3.8 yuan for you?" The shopkeeper next door saw that Zhang Xuemei had bought the short-sleeved shirts for 3.8 yuan and was thinking of clearing out his own stock. For them, who were in the clothing business, clothes were worth less and less the longer they were stored.
Zhang Xuemei was just about to ask the boss to help her find some stock and check with the surrounding businesses when the person came to her door first.
She replied with a smile, "Sure, give me as many as you have! Big sister, could you also ask other stores if they have any left? I'll take them all."
But the clothes have to be good quality. Don't give me anything dirty or damaged, I'm going to return them. I'll be buying from here often in the future, so I don't want any unpleasantness.
"Don't worry about that, we can't do that. By the way, do you want some men's clothing? We have a men's clothing store upstairs, and we have quite a lot of stock!"
Last year, the prices for buying up inventory were generally low, so many people were reluctant to sell and kept most of it. If Zhang Xuemei wanted it, she could take it all.
"Of course I want it! Why wouldn't I? It's still the same price, I'll take as many as you have," Zhang Xuemei said with great enthusiasm.
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