Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Chapter 216 Setting up a stall at the morning market
"Brother, do you have a lot of classes this semester? Mom and Dad won't let me leave school, and neither of you have come to see me!"

Chen Ruiyu turned back to look at her with affection. "I'm studying political science and law. There's been a lot going on in the first semester. I was planning to visit you during the National Day holiday, but didn't you say you had plans with your roommates?"

Knowing she was in the wrong, Chen Xinyue stuck out her tongue and chuckled awkwardly.

Arrived at destination.

Chen Ruiyu got off the bus first and helped them with some of their luggage.

The four of them walked into an alley, turned a corner, and finally arrived at their destination.

The view that came into view was a secluded farmhouse. Next door lived an old lady, her son, daughter-in-law, grandson, and granddaughter. It was a lively place with many people. Their courtyard was a bit smaller, with a kitchen, a small living room, and two bedrooms.

Chen Ruiyu led them into the house and explained, "The landlord of this house is the old lady next door. We inquired and found that the old lady and her family have a good reputation in the area and are easy to get along with."

The rent isn't high. One room is currently filled with goods, and the old lady helped clean out the other room so it's ready for immediate occupancy. They have a heated kang bed here, which is very warm at night, and the blankets are readily available.

If you don't mind, you can use it; if you do mind, use your own.

After listening to Chen Ruiyu's introduction, Tang Jing's eyes lit up with joy. "I've slept on a kang (heated brick bed) since I was a child, it's great!"

Zhou Miaoqing walked around the room, excitedly grabbing Chen Xinyue's hand and jumping up and down, "Xinyue, that kang (heated brick bed) is so big, it could easily sleep five people!"

Chen Ruiyu pointed to another room, "It's the same over there, but it's full of goods now. Starting tomorrow, A-Kang and I will move here. We'll stay in the room next door. It'll only be for a week. Whether we make money or not, we have to go home."

Chen Xinyue nodded emphatically.

That day, the three girls moved the goods to the living room. After sorting them out, they discovered that the goods included not only clothes and shoes for men and women in their twenties and thirties, but also children's clothing, all kinds of beautiful and festive children's clothing, and down jackets.

They all loved it, not to mention those who wanted to buy the clothes.

Besides clothes, there were also some electronic watches and skincare products, all from common brands on the market. However, these are usually sold in regular stores now, so it's unclear where Xu Jian got these goods from.

After discussing what they wanted to sell, the group quickly went to bed.

They got up before dawn the next day.

There was a morning market right outside the village, so they took their clothes out and set up a stall in a quiet, empty spot. The clothes hangers and other items were also mailed to them by Xu Jian.

All the same style.

Once it's hung on a bamboo pole, people quickly come over to ask about the price.

Tang Jing and Zhou Miaoqing were extremely flustered, but fortunately Chen Xinyue was able to keep the situation under control. The two observed silently for a while and saw that Chen Xinyue had made two deals in such a short time.

A surge of excitement welled up inside me, and I mustered my courage to begin greeting the guests.

The three stalls were quickly surrounded by people who came to the market. They were so busy that they didn't pay attention to anything else. When they came to their senses, they realized that the sun had already come out.

The morning market is packed with people right now.

They were only stunned for a moment before they were surrounded by customers buying things.

After all that busy work, the number of people in the market dwindled by 11 a.m.

By this time, they had sold almost all of their stock.

The three of them were starving, and Chen Xinyue said, "Let's pack up and go back to eat something. We can come out again this afternoon if we want to set up a stall."

"Okay, okay," Tang Jing and Zhou Miaoqing also wanted to go back and check on the business situation today.

The three quickly packed their things and returned to their rented room shortly afterward.

Chen Ruiyu and Xu Kang had just finished cleaning their room.

Everyone greeted each other for a while.

The three girls went back to their room and counted the money in their bags one by one.

"I have four hundred and fifty-six yuan and eighty cents here," Tang Jing said dryly, her mind blank.

Did she really earn all this money? You know, my parents work hard all year round back in our hometown, and in the end they probably only save up a few hundred yuan. And now she's earning so much in just one day!
Zhou Miaoqing was greatly encouraged and quickly counted her bag. After calculating, she found that she had earned about 420 yuan from her stall, which was a little less than Tang Jing's.

However, it's understandable, since Tang Jing sells clothing for young girls and mature women, while she sells shoes.

A person might buy several outfits, but is unlikely to buy several pairs of shoes. Fortunately, she sells both men's and women's shoes, so her customer base is wider.

After the two finished counting, they both turned their attention to Chen Xinyue.

Chen Xinyue calmly began to calculate the accounts, and the final turnover was as high as 560.

Both of them found it hard to believe.

"Xinyue, you sell children's clothing and skincare products, how come you make more money than us?" Zhou Miaoqing couldn't understand.

Chen Xinyue winked mischievously, "Because women's and children's money is the easiest to earn! Women love beauty, and adults love their children and are willing to spend money on them, right?"

The two of them gave her a thumbs up at the same time.

Tang Jing immediately gave two-thirds of the money she earned to Chen Xinyue, saying, "Xinyue, we agreed before that I have no capital, so I will only take one-third of the turnover. You can count it."

Zhou Miaoqing quickly counted the money and gave two-thirds to Chen Xinyue.

Chen Xinyue took the money and said to them, "You each have a little over a hundred yuan now, which can be used as capital. You can use this hundred yuan to buy goods from my brother. Starting tomorrow, all the money you earn will be yours. If you don't want to take the risk, you can continue with our cooperation method today. It's your choice."

The two exchanged a glance, and without a second thought, handed over a hundred yuan to Chen Xinyue, saying, "We're taking the goods!"

Having witnessed the bustling scene at the stalls today, they naturally know how to make the best choice.

Chen Xinyue was delighted. She took the money and went to the next room to tell Chen Ruiyu and Xu Kang what had happened.

The next day, the five people set up their own stalls. Although they were next to each other, they each sold their own things and did not affect each other.

Their five stalls offered a wide variety of clothing, shoes, socks, and skincare products for men, women, and children of all ages.

This attracted many people who came to the market.

The day's sales were similar to the first day, or even a little more. It's probably because nobody knew about it on the first day, but after a day of buzz, many people came to visit.

In the following days, business at the stall got better and better, so good that Zhou Miaoqing didn't want to go home.

Although Zhou Miaoqing's family wasn't as poor as Tang Jing's, both of her parents worked and had a fixed monthly income. It wasn't easy for them to send her to university; it was just a facade. She wanted to repay her parents, but her own abilities were limited, and her family still had to worry about her. Now that she had finally found a chance to make money, and a lot of money at that, she was reluctant to give it up.

After two days of internal struggle, she called home.

Zhou's mother was overjoyed to receive her daughter's call and kept asking, "When will you be home?"