Xia Xiaolan knew the coat sizes by heart, having only sold three pieces so far.

“Yes, we have it in stock. Sister, you want another one?” asked the young woman, who was Xiao Qin.

After Old Cheng showed off the coat at work, several young people at the bureau wanted to buy one. However, Xia Xiaolan hadn’t set up her stall yesterday, and she hadn’t come this morning either. Xiao Qin started to worry when she couldn’t find anyone to ask – Liu Yong was supervising renovations, and Li Fengmei had gone out to sell goods without returning even for lunch, leaving her door firmly locked.

She wasn’t buying for her husband’s colleagues but wanted one for her brother. Her brother was in his early twenties and recently looking for a potential match. The coat made people look particularly distinguished – it looked good on Zhu Fang, decent on her husband, and since her brother wasn’t short either, Xiao Qin figured it would suit him well too.

“I’ll take another one in navy blue, small size.”

Xia Xiaolan immediately perked up at this business coming to her door: “You’re already a returning customer, I’ll give you the same price as yesterday.”

Xiao Qin hesitated: “Could it be a bit less?”

Every shrewd merchant has a keen eye, especially when selling clothes. Once you show your interest early on, how could a merchant back down? Xia Xiaolan responded with utmost sincerity, “I really can’t go lower. I sell it to others for 140 yuan.”

Xiao Qin had asked Zhu Fang about it, but fearing it might affect Xia Xiaolan’s business, he had insisted he bought it for 140 yuan.

Xiao Qin paid 138 yuan, and though it was only 2 yuan less, she still felt like she got a good deal.

After paying, Xiao Qin took the coat straight to her parents’ home. The women workers at the National Cotton Mill worked in three shifts, so their working hours weren’t fixed. Regular workplaces hadn’t even finished for the day yet.

Xia Xiaolan’s business picked up during after-work hours.

The railway bureau employees had money, and the train attendants were tall and handsome – Xia Xiaolan’s instincts were right. This style of coat seemed tailor-made for them.

It was more fashionable than their uniforms, high-end merchandise suitable for any occasion.

People between 20-30 years old particularly liked it – younger ones found it too formal, while older ones thought it wasn’t dignified enough.

As the saying goes, “A tree dies if transplanted, but a person thrives with change.” Having moved to a place with potential consumers, Xia Xiaolan’s stockpile of men’s coats gradually sold out. During this process, she felt the impact of Reform and Opening Up. Although Shangdu wasn’t comparable to coastal cities and reform moved slower here, changes were happening… People were learning to spend money, dress up, and accept new fashions.

Before heading to Yang City again, Xia Xiaolan wrote back to Zhou Cheng.

This time she was prepared. Shangdu was famous for its yellow beef, but braised beef wouldn’t keep long. Xia Xiaolan dried the beef she bought on a small stove, processing it into fragrant beef jerky before sending it to Zhou Cheng.

She wrapped the jerky tightly in kraft paper and included the 870 yuan from Zhu Fang in the envelope, packaging them together.

Their guessing games had created distance between them, so Xia Xiaolan decided to ask Zhou Cheng directly about what had happened in her letter.

She emphasized in her letter that she preferred an equal, respectful relationship, though she wasn’t sure how Zhou Cheng would react.

Before Xia Xiaolan’s package to Beijing had even left Shangdu’s borders, Xia Ziyun received another telegram from home at Beijing Normal College.

They asked if she was coming home for winter break.

Xia Ziyun smiled while holding the telegram. Da He Village was poor, Anqing County was poor, and even Shangdu, the capital of Yunan Province, couldn’t compare to Beijing. Having finally escaped her impoverished rural background, Xia Ziyun felt no nostalgia for her hometown. She believed deep down that she belonged in the big city.

The dormitory conditions at the Normal College weren’t particularly good, with several people squeezed into bunk beds.

But even such dormitories were far better than the Xia family home in Da He Village. Even though she was favored enough there to have her room, that dim environment with its dirt floor that could never be completely swept clean… having to watch every step in the courtyard to avoid chicken droppings – why return to such a poor countryside?

But she did need to go back once.

In one semester, apart from the initial money she brought to school, her family had only sent money once.

Xia Ziyun hadn’t spent the money on herself – Wang Jianhua’s family lived in difficult conditions at the farm, so she had given them the money to help his parents live more comfortably. According to Wang Jianhua, his parents were very pleased with her, which gave Xia Ziyun some satisfaction.

Even the most formidable people can be won over by small acts of kindness in times of need.

She had spent over a thousand yuan on Wang Jianhua’s family, achieving effects worth far more than that amount.

Wang Jianhua didn’t have much money either and wanted to visit the farm during winter break, hinting at taking Xia Ziyun along. This was essentially meeting his parents, how could Xia Ziyun not take it seriously? She couldn’t go empty-handed, and besides, they would need money for expenses traveling from Beijing.

Zhang’s Snack Shop made at least several hundred yuan monthly, which should have sustained her through university, but since she left Anqing, her parents’ attitude seemed to have changed somewhat.

Xia Ziyun tossed away the telegram. She had thought being excellent enough would completely change her parents’ mindset.

But people ultimately have their interests, and with a younger brother, her parents would naturally want to save some money for him. The money earned from Zhang’s Snack Shop couldn’t all go to her. Xia Ziyun thought she wasn’t entirely foolish either – if she had any profitable business opportunities in the future, she would keep some reserves for herself.

Xia Ziyun wasn’t too worried about making a living. If Reform and Opening Up continued, she would have plenty of ways to make money in the future.

Currently, her thoughts were mostly occupied by matters concerning Wang Jianhua, with the remainder split between academics and social connections at school. University wasn’t easy – though not as grueling as high school with its burning the midnight oil, Xia Ziyun still needed to invest considerable effort to achieve excellent results in final exams… She wanted to balance academics, romance, and social relationships. After jumping from the small town of Anqing County to Beijing, Xia Ziyun discovered just how many clever people there were.

She had ranked among the top few at Anqing No. 1 High School to get into university.

But in her current class, she couldn’t slack off in her studies, and her grades were only average.

Was there such a gap in intelligence between people?

Xia Ziyun didn’t want to admit this, believing instead that she wasn’t spending enough time on her studies. But what could she do? She had to spend time maintaining relationships around her. She was among the first few freshmen to join the student union, and the name “Xia Ziyun” carried weight not only among new students but was also noted by teachers.

Xia Ziyun walked back, occasionally greeting familiar classmates.

Returning to her dormitory, she mixed Wang Jianhua’s dirty clothes with her own. Washing clothes in winter made her hands too cold, and Xia Ziyun had developed chilblains on her little finger – numbed by the cold during the day but itchy and painful at night.

“Ziyun is too good to her boyfriend!”

“She’s excessively considerate…”

“Doesn’t he care about Ziyun at all? Washing his clothes even with chilblains on her hands!”

These were her roommates’ comments, all feeling it wasn’t worth it for Xia Ziyun.

Xia Ziyun didn’t argue – only she knew whether it was worth it or not. They say only those who endure the bitterest hardships can rise to the top – was washing clothes in cold winter such a hardship? If she hadn’t gotten into university, she’d still be stuck in a place like Da He Village, probably washing dirty clothes for the whole family in cold water.

“I just feel for Jianhua. He has so many major courses and has developed dark circles from staying up late. Since I’m washing my clothes anyway, helping him with some chores isn’t a big deal… It’s nothing new, I’m used to doing this kind of work back home.”

Her roommates fell silent.

Wang Jianhua was indeed promising, with top grades in their college, and professors in the department valued him highly.

Another roommate who also came from the countryside spoke up for Xia Ziyun, “Isn’t this just like what we regularly did back home? Even in the dead of winter when rivers froze over, we had to break the ice to wash clothes, all ten fingers red like carrots. Ziyun and her boyfriend support each other. I heard that when some girl confessed to him recently, Wang firmly rejected her and made his stance clear!”