Zhang Huaxiu's parents were already in bed. Wu Xiuyue was still cleaning up. Hearing noises, she was about to wash her hands and prepare some food for her sister-in-law.
"Sister-in-law, my boss wanted to discuss something with you," said Zhang Huaxiu as she stopped her sister-in-law and took a step aside so Wu Xiuyue could see Shu Yan behind her.
"I came over because I have a huge favor to ask," said Shu Yan directly. "The shop ran out of a lot of our inventories. I wasn't well prepared enough and probably need to head to City Hang overnight to restock. I can take care of everything except I'd like to see if you can help me drop my two kids off at school tomorrow."
Shu Yan was okay leaving the kids home by themselves on the weekend. Jingjing was a good girl and she could take care of her little brother. But going to school? Shu Yan worried about the two of them going by themselves.
Kidnapping was still commonplace in the future when there were surveillance cameras all over. So many children got lost at this day and age. Shu Yan had already heard of a few kids being lost just during the short amount of time after she had arrived at City Nan. She wasn't willing to take the chance. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to them.
"Oh, you had me worried. That's nothing. You could just have Xiuxiu relate that for you. I have to head that way anyway." Wu Xiuyue extended her invitation to Shu Yan. "You must be hungry too. I am just about to heat up some food for Xiuxiu, why don't you join us?"
"Well, I wasn't going to take that for granted. I know you are busy as well. I only asked for your help because I have no other options. Regardless, I want to thank you in advance. I won't stay for dinner. I need to go and let my kids know and start heading out to City Hang. Please take care of my kids for me. I will talk to you later."
"It's no trouble. Don't worry about it. You are leaving tonight? Are the kids going to be okay staying home by themselves? Would you like Xiuxiu to bring them over? They can spend the night with my son," said Wu Xiuyue as she walked Shu Yan to the door.
"No, it's alright. The kids can sleep by themselves. I will have them wait for you in front of the grocery shop. I should be able to make it back by the afternoon," said Shu Yan with much appreciation.
It was difficult having two kids with her. Shu Yan regretted a little that she had launched her business too soon. She should have waited until she had better arrangement for her kids before she had started.
"No, no. It's okay. I will pick them up from your place." Wu Xiuyue walked Shu Yan all the way to the stairwell.
***
The two kids were already in bed. Both of them were in their pajamas, and they had already taken baths. Jingjing was such a good child. Not only did she bathe herself, she even helped her brother with his bath. She could already help out a lot. She was already such a mature child that Shu Yan couldn't believe her ex-husband's family could still find faults with her. These people had no idea how good they had it.
"Mom?" Ye Jingjing didn't cry or fuzz when she was woken up but gave Shu Yan a slight smile.
"Jingjing. Mom had to go to City Hang for more merchandise and won't be able to get back by tomorrow morning. I had talked to Zhang Chenghan's mom. She will be here to pick up you and your brother tomorrow morning and take you to school. Here's $10. Go get some breakfast with your brother tomorrow and keep the rest for lunch. I remember there's a noodle place by the school. You can go there. Don't go somewhere too far from school."
"Okay. I understand," said Ye Jingjing docilely as she put the money away safely. "Mom, are you taking off now?"
"Yes, in a little bit." Shu Yan smacked herself on the back of her head. She had really forgotten. She hasn't even called up the chauffeur yet. He might not even be available tonight.
She put her bag down and went over to the grocery shop. They were already closed, so she had to go over to a hotel she had stayed at previously. They had a public phone there as well. She needed to have a phone installed in her shop. It was too inconvenient without one.
"Here for a room?" asked the boss when he saw Shu Yan.
"No, I need to make a call." She first called the chauffeur's home number. His wife answered the call and told Shu Yan that the chauffeur had already left. Shu Yan had to call his page and he returned her call within 7~8 minutes.
"Who is it?"
"It's me. The boss of a female attire shop on West City Nan Road. Are you making a trip tonight, master?" smiled Shu Yan.
"Why are you calling so late? You need to let me know in advance if you need to use the car," said the chauffeur nonchalantly with a cigarette in his mouth.
"My shop ran out of some inventory and I need to go get some more. Are you full already?" Shu Yan was worried.
She had taken a second trip to City Hang previously and also used this chauffeur. It's the middle of the night. She wouldn't dare to get into someone else's car with just her by herself.
"I am going to City Hang tonight but two people already reserved my car. If you want to split, I will need to get their consent first." The chauffeur didn't care either way. He got paid the same amount one way or another.
"If you can please ask for me, I'd love to join them." Shu Yan felt that they would, for sure, agree to it.
There was no reason for them to decline. One more person meant less expenses for everyone. Sure enough, the chauffeur called her back right away.
"Where are you right now? Should I pick you up at West City Nan Road?"
Shu Yan, "No, I am over on Fuqian Street by City Nan University. Do you know where that is?"
The driver said, "I do. Where are you at? Give me your address and I will come over."
"Why don't I go and wait for you in front of the bus stop on Fuqian Street?" Shu Yan thought about it for a little bit. The bus stop on Fuqian Street was probably the best landmark.
"That works. I will be here in about half an hour."
Shu Yan quickly hurried home and bathed. She changed into a set of casual clothes and a pair of flats. She tied her hair up into a ponytail. She still had about 10 minutes or so, so she pulled out all the money she had received today and counted them.
She had a promotion today so she had a lot of big bills. Shu Yan counted it quickly and she had 6,000 yuan. This wasn't 2019. 6,000 yuan was a lot for 1992. Of course, there was a possibility that it was only because she had a promotion today. There was no guarantee that she'd make this much everyday going forward. She had conservatively estimated that even at 1,000 yuan a day, she could make at least 500 – 600 yuan. Subtracting rent, utilities, and wages, she would still make 10,000 yuan a month. That was profiteering for sure.
She folded up the bills neatly and placed it close to her body. Merchandising today would cost quite a bit.
Fuqian Street was quite busy at this hour. Many were still dining out after dinner. The chauffeur arrived shortly after Shu Yan arrived at the bus stop.
"This was too last minute. You should let me know sooner next time. You won't be that lucky every time."
"Yes, you are right. I wasn't very experienced at it. It won't happen again." Shu Yan smiled, nodded and greeted the other two in the car. "You two are going to City Hang for merchandising as well?"
"Yes, we are. You have a shop on West City Nan Road?" They had overheard the chauffeur earlier when he was on the phone.
"Yes, you?" Shu Yan looked at their outfits. They weren't very fashionable, but they were pleasing to the eyes.
"We are over at City Bei, a little bit away from you," said one of them with a smile.
City Bei and West City Nan Road were not the same. They sell mostly inexpensive clothing there. Their pricing was lower than that of West City Nan Road and their clientele were mostly bargain-hunting housewives and students.
Shu Yan was a newbie in the field, and she asked them many questions. Not being on the same street meant no competition, so they didn't hold back much when they answered her inquiries and Shu Yan was able to learn a lot from them.
"You have to go get merchandise quite often, right? You want to split the ride going forward?" There used to be four of them. Now one of them closed up shop and went back home and the other one wouldn't be needing merchandise for a while, leaving just the two of them. Now there's Shu Yan who was not a competitor and could split the cost, it was definitely a good addition.
"Sure." Shu Yan was just worried about finding others to split the ride. She had asked around quite a bit during the remodeling, but all the ones she had asked already had their own groups.
It was only 1 AM when they arrived at City Hang. The three of them found a spot to rest. After a full day of running around, Shu Yan was exhausted. "It'll be awhile before the market opens up. Should we get a room to get some rest?"
Shu Yan wanted to go, but she felt bad leaving the others behind.
"Nah. Forget about it. The market will be opening up in a couple of hours. Why waste the money unnecessarily?" These people were of Shu Yan's parents' generation. That generation was known to be thrifty and hardy; there was no way they'd shell out the money for a hotel.
The clothing market opened up at around 4 AM and the three of them rushed inside to grab merchandise. After her first experience, Shu Yan was able to get a lot of the ones that she liked. At around 5 AM, Shu Yan arrived at the place where the older woman had taken her the first time.
Her business the day before made her feel very confident. She was much less conservative this time. Jeans and jean jackets were extremely popular and she took them in sets of thirties and fifties.
"Well? They were good, right? And you didn't believe me when I told you last time," teased the boss lady of the wholesale shop when she saw Shu Yan grabbing in such quantity.
"Of course I believed you; otherwise, I wouldn't have bought any. I didn't take too many last time as this was my first time opening up my own shop and I had no idea how much was a good amount. There is something else that I want to discuss with you. My shop is quite far away from here. What say I give you a call next time and you have them send it to me directly?" Shu Yan asked the two women on her way. They came here twice a week. Shu Yan didn't think she'd be able to handle that. Once a week would probably be the most she could handle.
"Not a problem at all," replied the boss lady with alacrity.
Shu Yan went over the next few shops and made the same request. Mainly, these styles were extremely popular and went very fast. If she could just make a call and have them sent, she wouldn't have to make a trip to City Hang the very last minute like she did today.
On their way back, Shu Yan was so tired she couldn't even talk anymore. She slept all the way back to City Nan. She got back at around 9 AM. Shu Yan let out a long sigh of relief and had Zhang Huaxiu and Yingying, who were cleaning at the time, to come get the clothes.
"I brought a lot back with me. Come and help me have them sorted out." When the customers started to come, they wouldn't even have the time to sort them out.
"Boss Lady, you brought back quite a few new styles." Yingying looked inside the bag and there were styles that she hadn't seen before.
"Yeah, I saw them so I thought I'd grab some of them. Let's sort them out by category first. I'll make them into sets." Shu Yan took a sip of hot water and joined them in sorting out the merchandise.
While they were hanging up the new styles and replenishing the ones that were sold out the day before, customers continued to come in. Shu Yan only had two people giving out flyers around the boutique and had everyone else helping out at the shop.
After the rush was over and the number of customers slimmed down, Shu Yan gave Zhang Huaxiu a heads up before she went into the storage room, laid out a knitted bag, and laid down on it.
She'd collapse if she didn't get some rest.
She rested for about an hour before she felt a little better. Shu Yan had Xiuxiu go to get lunch before she sat down in front of the cash register and started going through the books.
"Hey there, Boss Lady. I see business is good!" It was Le walking in as she twisted her waist left and right.
"It was alright. Not as good as yours." Shu Yan closed up the books and casually tossed it into a drawer. She smiled slightly and asked, "How come you have time to swing by today?"
Ever since she found out that Shu Yan was opening up a women's clothing store, Le had stopped coming over. Nor did she talk to Shu Yan when they ran into each other outside. Shu Yan didn't pay her any attention. That's fine. They didn't need to talk to each other. She didn't really see any particular reasons why she'd need to.
"I saw that some of your racks were emptied yesterday. My business was nowhere close to yours. We are neighbors after all. Maybe you can give me some hints and tips." Le leaned against the cash register as her eyes darted back and forth around the shop.
"You know that I know nothing. You are my senior in this field. I should be asking you for hints and tips." Seeing that Xiuxiu had returned with lunch, Shu Yan didn't want to waste more time being diplomatic with her. "We are about to have lunch. You haven't had lunch yet, right? Want to join us?"
"No. You eat. I will just look around."
Shu Yan didn't expect her to shamelessly pretend that she didn't get the subtext for her to go. Le walked back and forth looking at the clothes and even started touching some of them.
Fuyu's Note: VCL will be continued on . The translator for this novel will not be changing. She's just moving her translations to her new site.