"Sister, please take me with you!" Chu Xiang said, tugging at Chu Yu's arm and pleading.
Chu Xiang was young, but steady in character. On the first day Chu Yu sold Night-Shining Sand, Chu Xiang didn't know she would succeed, but she still went up the mountain early to shovel the Night-Shining Sand back, just in case her sister was tired after a long day outside and had to go up the mountain to get home.
Chu Xiang felt sorry for her older sister, and Chu Yu naturally wanted to guide her younger sister in the right direction. School is an ivory tower, where only textbook knowledge can be taught; more learning should come from social practice.
"My truck is used for hauling goods, so I can't give you a ride."
“You don’t need to take me with you. I can just run after your car. If you think I’m too slow, you can go ahead by yourself. I know where Deyang is. It’ll only take two or three hours to get there.”
Chu Yu had earned some money, but she couldn't bear to let her younger sister go. So she gave Chu Xiang a dollar and told her to take the bus to Deyang. The Rongtai bus to Deyang departs from the county town at 6:40 and arrives at Shanguan Village around 7:00. People in the countryside would go to the roadside early to buy tickets.
"When you get to Deyang, look for me near the department store. If you really can't find me, go to the entrance of the pharmaceutical factory or the municipal hospital to find Mom and Auntie. Take care of yourself and don't get lost," Chu Yu instructed.
Chu Xiang is 16 this year, so she understands this principle.
"Sister, should I bring the thermos? You'll definitely get thirsty when you're out in the sun at your stall, it'll be convenient to have a thermos with you."
"No need, I'll just buy a soda from the roadside if I get thirsty."
"Soda is so expensive."
Chu Yu smiled and said, "Alright, no need to save money for me. I have enough money to support you!"
In her previous life, Chu Yu also sold small commodities at a stall when she was in college. In the days before online shopping was developed, she would buy things wholesale from the internet and sell them at the stall to make a profit. She could earn three or four hundred yuan a night. The best-selling items were consumables like socks.
Find a tattered bed sheet, stuff the goods inside, and if you encounter city management officers, tie a knot and run away.
These days, bed sheets weren't cheap; you needed cloth coupons to buy them. People in the countryside cherished their belongings, and a set of bed sheets and duvet covers could last for decades.
No matter how much money Chu Yu makes, he can't take Uncle Shu's bedsheets to a street stall. People cherish things like treasures, and you put them on the ground, stepping on them and rubbing against them. How can you feel comfortable looking at them like that?
She found several unused fertilizer bags in the kitchen, cut them open, cleaned the inside with laundry detergent, and sewed them into rectangles.
I specifically chose white fertilizer bags because white doesn't absorb color easily, and with the buttons facing up, the color and style are clearly visible. If I had used a sack that was a yellowish-brown, I would have needed a magnifying glass to find it.
He found another useless cloth bag to keep for collecting money, packed his tools, and rode his bicycle to Deyang.
Dragging goods naturally slows down the pace. When Chu Yu arrived in Deyang, he looked through the glass window of a watch shop near the department store and saw that all the clocks were pointing to 8:30.
She tidied her hair by the glass. Setting up a stall is another form of sales, and appearance is very important. Just as she finished tying her hair up, the owner of the watch shop came out carrying an enamel teacup.
Chu Yu smiled at the other person, and the owner made a "please" gesture. After a while, he came out again and said in a friendly manner, "I have mirrors in my shop, you can come in and look at yourself."
Chu Yu was too embarrassed to ask for someone else's things, so she quickly refused.
At 8:30, the area in front of the department store was packed with people.
Deyang Department Store was built in 1958. Originally, it was only two stories high. It was renovated a few years ago and three stories were added. Now it has five stories.
The city is mostly comprised of single-story and tiled houses, making the department store stand out. Locals love to shop here, and it's a source of pride to talk about things they bought at the department store.
At the entrance of the department store, the sun was blazing, the crowds were dense, and the air was filled with the smell of sweat.
Chu Yu parked his bicycle to one side, blocking the way, to create a space of two or three square meters for himself. He laid the fertilizer bag upside down and, with a "whoosh," dumped all the buttons onto the fertilizer bag.
The sound attracted the frequent glances of passersby.
In 1983, many self-employed individuals appeared on the streets and alleys of Deyang. People no longer regarded self-employed individuals as fierce as they had in the first two years. However, most people still believed that being a self-employed individual was shameful, as it was not as respectable as being a person who relied on the state for pensions and had a guaranteed food supply.
Chu Yu, such a young and beautiful girl, has to rely on setting up a stall to earn money to support her family, which shows that she is being dragged down by her family. People's eyes are filled with more sympathy for this young girl.
Chu Yu wasn't oblivious to it, but she didn't take it to heart. She earned money through her own abilities, openly and honestly! She wasn't inferior to anyone else, so why should she feel inferior? These people just didn't understand that small businesses could also make big money. Apart from smuggling home appliances, cigarettes, and other trades written into the law, how many industries could make ten times the profit?
Even a flawed button will do!
Chu Yu wasn't in a hurry to sell them; instead, she took some time to arrange the buttons according to their styles.
Acrylic glass, nylon plastic buttons, metal buttons, shell buttons, and plastic buttons.
Then, further subdivide by color, grouping similar or identical colors together: red, yellow, green, blue, transparent, etc.
Buttons are like rubber bands; if you just put them on the ground, they'll attract a girl's attention. What's more, Chu Yu's selection of buttons is truly comprehensive; she has every kind of button that has ever appeared on the market!
Normally, department stores or supply and marketing cooperatives sell buttons in batches, selling them one batch at a time. Good buttons are in short supply and sell out before customers can even choose them. This leads to situations where it can take six months or a year to collect enough buttons of a particular color.
This is the first time I've seen so many buttons laid out together for me to choose from.
Sure enough, two young girls were drawn to the attention, and they pushed each other, holding hands as they came over.
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