After sharing a meal at the Bai residence, Xia Xiaolan and Liu Fen took their leave.

Liu Fen thought they were just visiting a friend, unaware that Xia Xiaolan had already preliminarily convinced Bai Zhenzhu. With Peng City Special Zone’s rapid development, getting involved early in ’83 could be crucial – if they could establish a foothold there, what would Xia Xiaolan have to worry about in the future?

What exactly they would do still depended on Bai Zhenzhu checking out Peng City’s current situation.

Xia Xiaolan’s earliest memories of Peng City were from after the millennium. She hadn’t personally seen Peng City Special Zone in ’83, but she desperately wanted to witness it!

The clothing wholesale market was as busy as ever.

Autumn and winter clothing were fine, but summer short-sleeves were sold by the “jin,” and pants were counted by the “dozen.”

Even with limited capital on her first venture, Xia Xiaolan never bought cheap merchandise. Some jeans cost only 80 yuan per dozen, with wholesale prices of just a few yuan each. Whether Xia Xiaolan’s goods were export products was unclear, but their quality far surpassed those 80-yuan-per-dozen jeans.

Looking at it this way, her profits might seem modest, but the novel styles and solid quality meant her inventory always sold quickly.

Xia Xiaolan wanted to stock some cotton-padded coats.

Shang City winters could drop below zero, with bitter winds starting in November.

Light but warm cotton coats should sell well, and Xia Xiaolan wanted to try bringing back a batch. While wool coats were fashionable, they weren’t as warm, though she hadn’t given up on that market either.

But after walking around, she found no cotton coats at any stall.

After two visits, she knew these vendors would sell anything that customers wanted – they’d certainly find a way to source cotton coats. She decided to ask directly. Having made two purchases in a short period, proving her goods sold well, plus her memorable face, the wholesale vendors remembered her well.

“Cotton coats – how many do you want?”

It was the same vendor who’d sold her sweaters before. His goods were pricier than other stalls, but the quality and styles held up to scrutiny.

Though his stall had no cotton coats, his response told Xia Xiaolan there was potential.

“Depends on the price, style, and quality… If everything’s satisfactory, I’ll take 10 pieces first.”

Hearing Xia Xiaolan only wanted 10 pieces, the vendor became disinterested.

Ten pieces wouldn’t bring much profit, but Xia Xiaolan didn’t rush, continuing to browse his merchandise. While many stalls carried the same styles repeatedly, this vendor often had new designs that even met Xia Xiaolan’s standards. His supply source must be among the best domestic clothing manufacturers of ’83… at least in terms of fashion design leadership.

On her first trip, Xia Xiaolan had only 900 yuan capital and couldn’t buy much.

Her second trip saw double the capital, and this time with Liu Yong’s 2,000 yuan investment, her capital had expanded to 5,000 yuan.

Her purchases grew larger each time. Previously hesitant about expensive pieces, she now selected fashionable items without blinking. With substantial capital came confidence – she could now afford the cost of temporarily unsold inventory.

Seeing her calm and unhurried manner, the vendor thought for a moment and stamped his foot:

“If you come back tomorrow, I’ll show you some styles.”

At most he’d make another factory run – 10 pieces was a small order, but he hoped Xia Xiaolan would place larger orders later.

Xia Xiaolan looked up, “Let’s calculate today’s selections first.”

She had picked about 1,500 yuan worth of clothing. Though Liu Fen couldn’t articulate what made the clothes attractive, finding some styles too bold, she wouldn’t dare comment since Xia Xiaolan’s selections always sold.

After arranging a time with the vendor, Xia Xiaolan went to choose some pants elsewhere.

The outfit she’d worn last time to attract customers had been popular, especially the white leather shoes besides the wool short coat. The square-toed thick-heeled leather shoes had a special appeal, with several female customers eager to buy them – but she couldn’t exactly take them off her feet!

She planned to stock a few pairs of shoes this time.

Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t pass up any hot-selling items that could extract money from Shang City women’s pockets.

Hu City leather shoes were more popular, but Xia Xiaolan’s customers couldn’t tell the difference between shoes from Yang City. Pigskin shoes were stiff, and very cheap wholesale, but they didn’t breathe well and had large pores that looked cheap.

Cowhide was comfortable, and lambskin would be better… but the latter wasn’t yet common for domestic shoes.

However, shoe profits were thin. Take this year’s popular men’s “83 Shoes” – the retail price was only 19 yuan, with the factory price around 13 yuan, reportedly costing manufacturers over 12 yuan… The wholesale market price was 15 yuan. After selling expensive items, how much could she make on shoes that only yielded a few yuan profit each?

Leather shoes didn’t have as many variations as women’s clothing, with only a few fixed styles for both men and women.

Department stores sold at fixed prices, and people might not buy from Xia Xiaolan. She’d be criticized for charging 20 yuan when stores charged 19. Well, her current style hadn’t reached Shang City yet – with a wholesale price in the teens, adding about 10 yuan markup should work in Shang City.

Xia Xiaolan only bought sizes 36/37/38, which fit most women.

Liu Fen kept watching their bags, worried about theft.

Xia Xiaolan firmly insisted on selecting a complete outfit for Liu Fen. The sweater, wool coat, pants, and leather shoes cost over a hundred yuan wholesale. When had Liu Fen ever worn such expensive clothes? She’d left the Xia family with just a few worn garments!

It wasn’t until Xia Xiaolan made money selling eels that she bought fabric in An’qing County and had Li Fengmei make clothes for Liu Fen.

Liu Fen hadn’t worn new clothes in seven or eight years, let alone so frequently. She kept waving her hands:

“Mom has clothes, didn’t we just make some?”

“Those were for autumn, these are for winter!”

Xia Xiaolan paid directly. Her mother had no proper clothes – the two cotton jackets from the Xia family were patched repeatedly with blackened cotton inside. Besides the wool coat, Xia Xiaolan needed to buy Liu Fen two cotton coats to alternate.

Liu Fen couldn’t refuse Xia Xiaolan.

If buying meant buying, it was all Xia Xiaolan’s filial piety.

Since hitting her head and waking up, Xia Xiaolan had become filial and sensible. Liu Fen felt like she was living in a dream. Touching the new clothes she still wore, she prayed that if it was a dream, heaven wouldn’t wake her.

Why did Xia Xiaolan bring Liu Fen?

It wasn’t really to help carry goods – it was specifically to broaden her horizons, experience distant travel, buy new clothes, and taste Yang City delicacies. In late ’83, this was the highest-grade tourism treatment Xia Xiaolan could offer her mother. First-class flights and luxury cruises weren’t within her means, nor were they common domestically.

Even if they could afford plane tickets, where would they get county-level documentation?

Taking Liu Fen on a plane would terrify this simple rural woman – better to take things step by step.

Since the cotton coat procurement wasn’t confirmed, Xia Xiaolan stayed an extra day in Yang City. The next morning, she took Liu Fen for dim sum.