With a resounding success in her first battle, Jiang Ping sold nearly thirty pieces of clothing, earning an average of one yuan or one yuan and fifty cents per piece. After calculating the costs, she discovered that she had earned more than thirty yuan in that day!
Good heavens, that's almost a month's salary at Fang Hai!
Dong Ping's enthusiasm immediately surged. She continued her efforts, no longer setting up stalls at the market, but instead directly starting her rural work.
The next day, she was lucky. Although she had to visit six or seven villages to sell all the clothes she had brought, she managed to sell them all. Although she was so tired that her legs and feet ached, the thought of earning another thirty yuan gave Dong Ping a lot of energy.
But her luck ran out on the third day. She entered a wary village where some villagers suspected she was a child trafficker. No matter how she explained, it was no use, and they chased her away before letting her into the village.
Although she sold some items in the second and third villages, she encountered an unreasonable old woman. Even though she had told her that she was selling defective overstock, the old woman still grabbed at a crooked stitch on the clothes and accused her of giving money to a dishonest merchant. She pointed her finger at her and cursed, demanding a refund.
Considering that she was alone while the other woman had relatives and friends from the entire village, Dong Ping was willing to return the money in order to avoid further trouble. However, the old woman refused to return the clothes, which infuriated Dong Ping. Fortunately, the village's Party Secretary was fair and forced the old woman to return the clothes to her.
After this incident, Dong Ping realized that she was too weak and alone to sell clothes in the countryside.
Women are inherently vulnerable, and being alone, they are more susceptible to being bullied by malicious individuals!
Dong Ping went home early because she hadn't sold all the clothes.
She ran to Dongguan and called Xiaolong, who was working as a temporary worker in the cement factory's loading and unloading team, back home.
Xiaolong is only fourteen years old (by Chinese reckoning), but he has already stopped going to school.
Last summer, he graduated from elementary school but failed the entrance exam for junior high school. Dong Ping wanted to spend money to send him to school, but Xiao Long had never been good at studying since he was a child. Going to school was like being in prison for him, so he didn't want to study for even a day. No matter how Dong Ping threatened or tempted him, he wouldn't go.
Dong Ping was at a loss. Her child was already a teenager, had his own ideas, and was tall and strong, even taller than her. He absolutely refused to go to school, and she couldn't force him to go.
Even if you don't go to school, you can't just stay home and play. It's too chaotic outside now, with hordes of street thugs and petty criminals. If you hang out with these people, your life will be ruined.
I haven't seen Xiaolong's uncle, Fang Lu. He spends all his time eating, drinking, and having fun with those idle hooligans. First, he worked as a security guard and thug in a nightclub, then he sold DVDs. Now, I don't know where he got the money, he opened a nightclub. He smokes and drinks all day, acting like a scoundrel. He doesn't get married or find a proper girlfriend, and he only dates shady women.
Dong Ping thought to herself, "If this goes on for too long, he'll end up in jail too!"
Dong Ping was afraid that her son would also become a good-for-nothing hoodlum, so she used her family's connections to force him to work in the loading and unloading team of the cement factory where her younger brother worked. It was tough and tiring, but at least his uncle was watching over him, so he wouldn't go astray.
She had originally planned to wait until he was older, more mature, and more understanding before using her connections to find him an easier job. But now, the clothing business was so lucrative, she could get him out of the cement factory sooner! He could be her personal bodyguard and assistant!
Of course, Dong Ping couldn't tell him the real profits; the child was still young and unsettled.
The sudden wealth of a poor person has a huge impact on their entire being. Even some adults can't control themselves, let alone a child. If they get carried away by it and go astray, then they're doomed.
So before setting off, Dong Ping repeatedly did ideological work with Xiaolong: "Mom only earns a few cents per piece of clothing. We follow the path of small profits and quick turnover. Every penny we earn is hard-earned. We need money for rent, money for food and drink at home, money for your sister's schooling, and we also need to save money to buy you a house in the future."
“We can’t have our eyes on those two rooms at your grandparents’ house. Your grandparents favor your uncle, so those rooms will definitely be left to him. But our family of four can’t live in that rented room forever. Houses around here are getting more expensive every year. If we don’t work hard, we can’t keep up with the rate at which house prices are rising.”
“Your aunt is kind-hearted. She helped us out without holding a grudge. We have to seize this opportunity, otherwise we don’t know where we’ll be next time. Xiaolong, you will work with Mom in the business from now on. Let’s all work together as a family and strive to move into our new house as soon as possible.”
"Don't follow your uncle's example. Look at him, always wearing sunglasses, driving a motorcycle, surrounded by his cronies, acting all high and mighty, but it's all an act. He's almost thirty and still can't get married. What decent woman would be blind enough to marry someone like him? Do any of the relatives and neighbors around him envy him? They all despise him, looking at him like he's a bug."
"You should behave yourself and stop wasting your time outside. Also, stay away from those good-for-nothing classmates of yours. They are not good people and will get their comeuppance sooner or later."
"You better behave yourself, you know that!"
Xiaolong's ears ached from her nagging, and he kept nodding, "I know, I know, Mom. I'll definitely be fine and stay far away from those people!"
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