Xia Xiao Lan spoke with certainty, and Chen Xi Liang reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on:

“What… feel it, come feel the fabric!”

Chen Xi Liang was so anxious that his Yang City accent slipped out. His Mandarin was already quite good among Yang City locals, though he still had an accent. Seeing his nervous manner, Xia Xiao Lan watched as Chen Xi Liang hastily took down the coat and thrust it into her hands. She rubbed the fabric between her fingers.

“It is indeed good material.”

Chen Xi Liang wasn’t entirely lying. Based on Xia Xiao Lan’s experience from two lifetimes, it was likely a blend of cashmere and wool – some small factory with poor technology must have wastefully used cashmere this way!

Before Chen Xi Liang could get excited, Xia Xiao Lan frowned: “Good material doesn’t mean it’s cashmere. Eighty yuan wholesale is too expensive – I couldn’t possibly sell it back home. Give me a real price.”

Chen Xi Liang felt like he’d seen a ghost. When Xia Xiao Lan first came to buy goods, she dressed so provincially, clearly a country girl. Had she ever even touched real cashmere products? Yet she could definitively state this coat wasn’t cashmere.

One wanted to sell the coat, and one wanted to buy it – after negotiating, they finally settled on a wholesale price of 70 yuan.

Chen Xi Liang’s pained expression was like he’d lost his mother. In terms of acting ability, Xia Xiao Lan felt she wasn’t as naturally gifted as this young swindler. She relied purely on experience to gradually negotiate with Chen Xi Liang, who wouldn’t budge below 70 yuan before she finally agreed.

The coat came in two colors – black and navy blue (now called “navy blue,” but people then usually called it “marine blue”).

Xia Xiao Lan took 10 pieces of each color, in a complete range of sizes. While Chen Xi Liang was eager to get rid of this hard-to-sell style, Xia Xiao Lan remained bold yet cautious, refusing to stock too much. She was mentally prepared for the inventory to move slowly – not only was the style selective, but it was also the most expensive item she’d ever wholesaled. The retail price would need to be around 140 yuan, equivalent to three months’ wages for ordinary people.

While Chen Xi Liang thought Xia Xiao Lan’s winter coats weren’t selling, she turned around and ordered 30 more winter coats and 30 down jackets.

She ordered more men’s styles for winter coats, but the opposite for down jackets.

Just these three items cost nearly 2,900 yuan. After deducting shipping costs and her return ticket, she had only 1,800 yuan left for goods. Xia Xiao Lan completely passed on sweaters, regardless of how unique the styles were. She only took women’s wool coats and pants, skipping accessories like scarves and gloves. Leather shoes didn’t bring much profit, so she didn’t want to deal with sizes.

The variety of goods had gone from few to many, then from many back to few – this was the result of testing market response. Business couldn’t remain unchanged; constant adjustments were needed to avoid being eliminated by the market… Well, running a clothing business in Shang City was already a challenge.

In the blink of an eye, December arrived.

Sitting on the train, Xia Xiao Lan hesitated about whether to get off midway… As she had thought before, she should visit her previous life’s hometown. The first time, Zhou Cheng had said to meet in Yang City; the second time, Zhou Cheng had accompanied her south; the third time, she went with Fen Liu. It seemed there was never a convenient time to stop midway.

What about this time, when she was alone?

No, she was carrying lots of goods – nearly 5,000 yuan worth. If they couldn’t all reach Shang City station together, wouldn’t all these days of hard work be wasted?

Xia Xiao Lan convinced herself for this reason.

Feeling anxious about approaching home, she feared both not seeing “Xia Xiao Lan” in this timeline and not knowing how to face “herself” if she did. Perhaps it was because her current strength wasn’t enough, otherwise she wouldn’t be so conflicted.

Clatter, clatter, clatter.

The train passed through that midway station.

For the fourth time, Xia Xiao Lan endured over 30 hours in hard seats returning to Shang City with her goods.

Fen Liu and Feng Mei Li had calculated the time and were waiting at the train station. Shang City’s weather was still terrible these days, with bitter winds whipping across the platform. Feng Mei Li and Fen Liu wore bulky old padded jackets – though they dealt in clothing, they wouldn’t even spend money on a light, fluffy down jacket for themselves.

They couldn’t wear one even if they wanted to – the last batch had all sold out.

As the train slowly steadied at the platform, Feng Mei Li’s heart burned with excitement:

“This must be the train? Quickly, let’s find Xiao Lan!”

The colder it got, the better business became. Only after helping Xiao Lan run the stall once did Feng Mei Li realize just how many “wealthy people” there were in Shang City. Rural people only spent money on salt, seeds, fertilizer, and their children’s school fees, preferring to tough out any headaches or fevers. Making new clothes cost money; previously, fabric coupons were needed to buy clothes, and it wasn’t easy to save them – a year’s worth wasn’t enough for a complete outfit… Even though Liu Yong had given Feng Mei Li the 5,000 yuan partnership capital to manage, she wouldn’t spend 100 yuan on a wool coat!

City people were willing to spend though. They received monthly wages, and even boiler operators had an easier job than farmers digging in the soil. Though they were still careful with money, different work units had different benefits – some wages were only thirty-some yuan per month, others sixty or seventy, and in particularly profitable units, wages plus various bonuses could reach one or two hundred monthly.

For households with both spouses working and few dependents, buying a hundred-yuan wool coat just meant saving for two months. Good clothes were important for maintaining face, like new bicycles or Meihua watches… If everyone had something, you should try to have it too.

Even though Feng Mei Li had become self-employed, she remained conservative with spending.

Fen Liu was even more so – her daughter was already 18, but how many times had she handled money in her life?

Even though she could earn money now, after so many years of hardship, money seemed scarce when needed – how could anyone think they had too much saved? If she’d had money back then, when Xia Xiao Lan attempted suicide by hitting the wall, she wouldn’t have had to kneel and beg Old Lady Xia to take Xiao Lan to the hospital.

Fen Liu was even more frugal than Feng Mei Li. The money she saved wasn’t for herself but all for Xiao Lan.

Xiao Lan was different from her, of course – money in Xiao Lan’s hands could earn more money… Fen Liu wouldn’t spend a penny on herself, even feeling pain at using several cents worth of clam oil on her hands, but she never said a harsh word about Xiao Lan eating meat and fine grains.

As these two country bumpkins marveled at how wealthy Shang City people were, they kept looking around until they finally spotted Xiao Lan’s figure in the moving crowd.

“Xiao Lan!”

“There’s Xiao Lan!”

Though Xiao Lan had brought back a large shipment of goods to Shang City, only the two women from home came to meet her.

Liu Yong was delayed today by matters at the Deputy Factory Director’s home. The old man had injured his leg and needed to go to the hospital to check how the bone was healing. Liu Yong helped carry him downstairs on his back, wrapped the old man’s legs in a wool blanket, and let the relatives who came to help take charge of pushing the old man to the hospital, while he ran back upstairs to help knead dough.

Today the Deputy Factory Director, the elderly couple’s son, was coming home for dinner. The old lady had been busy since morning, buying meat and chopping filling. Liu Yong wasn’t skilled at cooking, but he had strength, so he was in charge of kneading dough.

His back injury hadn’t fully healed, but he didn’t let these people see any sign of it as he carried rice and coal briquettes, accepting all tasks without complaint.

Not all old ladies were like Grandmother Yu – hearts were made of flesh after all. This old lady felt she should do something for Liu Yong. After they finished wrapping the dumplings, she gave Liu Yong her word:

“Later, don’t say anything, just follow my lead.”

Liu Yong’s heart leaped with joy, though his expression remained uneasy. “This seems too much to ask…”

The old lady counted the round dumplings, “What’s there to be embarrassed about? Your wishes will come true eventually.”

Everyone knew the score – Liu Yong had no family connections yet didn’t take wages from the household, running errands all day. He did more considerate and reliable work than her Deputy Factory Director’s son, and even though he had his motives, he didn’t hide them. He was an honest man from the countryside trying to make a living in the city – if they could help, they would resolve his situation. The old lady hadn’t even thought about benefits; between people, it was about helping each other.

She just liked Liu Yong!