Chapter 23

The boss hesitated.

The girl in front of him was asking for a pretty large quantity. Most of the people he usually dealt with only bought in small amounts—it was rare to see someone this generous in buying.

His wholesale prices were a bit higher than others by a few yuan, so his turnover wasn’t as quick. If she could manage to sell all the stock, then she’d surely come back for more.

Gritting his teeth, the boss finally nodded. “Alright, seven yuan it is. If you sell well, remember to come back.”

“Of course.”

“Uh…” The boss looked at Su Wan, then pulled out a pair of stockings from beneath the stall. “Do you want these? They’re all from Hong Kong.”

Su Wan’s eyes lit up. “Stockings?”

“I’ve got three hundred pairs in stock. If you can take them all, I’ll give them to you at 1.3 yuan per pair. I’m barely making anything on them.”

These had been sitting in his inventory for over a month—he just wanted to get rid of them.

Su Wan nodded. “Alright. I’ll take them at 1.3 yuan each.”

She also picked up 50 butterfly-style chiffon tops, 30 pairs of men’s slacks, and 50 shirts.

After calculating the total, it came to 3,890 yuan.

She didn’t have enough cash on hand, so Su Wan borrowed 800 yuan from her mother.

After paying the boss and packing all the clothes into bags, Su Wan and the other two carried the goods out of the wholesale market.

“Are we heading back now?”

As they stepped out of the market, Zheng Aifang quickly asked her daughter.

Seeing that it was still early, Su Wan bit her lip and nodded. “Yes, we’ll go back. Let’s sort the clothes tonight and make a simple clothing rack…”

She hadn’t even finished speaking when she noticed someone selling electric irons at the market entrance.

“How much for the electric iron?” Su Wan asked the vendor, pointing.

“Eighty-nine yuan each—no coupon needed.”

At the time, purchasing appliances usually required a coupon.

But due to the rapid development brought by the reform and opening up in Guangzhou, many goods could be bought without coupons now, though the prices were slightly higher.

Su Wan had a little over a hundred yuan left. She bought an electric iron and three train tickets for the trip home, leaving her with just over 20 yuan.

By the time the three of them got off the train with all their bags, it was already dark.

They carried their large bundles along the road where the military often passed, walking and waiting at the same time.

After about ten minutes, they finally saw the military vehicle coming—driven by Wang Bin and Xu Weiguo. They waved them over and helped them get in.

When they got home and brought in all the stuff, Li Cuihua was stunned.

She hurried over to help move things. “Why did you buy so much? I thought you weren’t coming back today!”

“We were planning to stay the night in Guangzhou, but since it was still early, I figured we’d head back so I can start selling tomorrow morning.”

She was planning to start selling early the next day—first trying in front of the factory. If that didn’t work, she’d move to the city center.

Seeing that she had a plan, Li Cuihua didn’t say much. She quickly went to make dinner, and Zheng Aifang joined to help.

Su Wan pulled Su Jianguo aside to help her build a clothes rack. They wrapped cloth around wooden rods to make it look less shabby.

She plugged in the electric iron and started ironing clothes. After finishing about a dozen, they called her for dinner.

Su Wan folded the clothes neatly, turned off the iron, and went to eat.

They had a simple dinner. After washing up, everyone went to bed.

When Su Wan took off her clothes and got into bed, she realized that Chen Yuan hadn’t fallen asleep yet—he was lying there staring at her wide-eyed.

“Did I wake you?”

Chen Yuan shook his head. “I thought you weren’t coming back today. Didn’t expect you to return so late.”

“I had to hurry back to sell the clothes. This is my first time doing wholesale. I want to sell them while the weather’s still cool. That way, I’ll know what styles to choose next time.”

She really was bold in her selections. These knit tops weren’t commonly seen in the market yet. According to the boss, they were export goods—and they did look very fashionable.

It was a gamble.

She had already learned while chatting with her sisters-in-law that the weather usually didn’t warm up until late April. This was the perfect time to sell spring clothes.

Of course, part of her confidence came from her memory—she remembered there would be heavy rains in 1983, with persistent drizzle lasting a while. People wouldn’t wear short sleeves until late April or early May.

She was exhausted from the whole day. After chatting with Chen Yuan for a bit, she fell asleep before he could even finish his sentence.

Chen Yuan heard her steady breathing and knew she had dozed off.

He reached over to adjust her blanket and looked at her thin, pale face, feeling a twinge of heartache.

He didn’t know how she ran her business, but she had lost so much weight in just over half a year—she must’ve worked really hard.

Leaning down, he gently kissed her forehead, tucked in the blanket properly, and then went to sleep.

The next morning, Su Wan got up early. She wore a knitted top with a knee-length skirt, and put on a pair of sheer stockings. Her legs looked long and straight, and the nude-colored stockings made it look like she wasn’t wearing anything—smooth and elegant.

After breakfast, she brought the wholesale clothes out with her. Su Jianguo and Zheng Aifang came along.

They arrived at the factory gate and set up the rack before 7 AM.

There weren’t many people heading to work yet, so she hung up the freshly ironed clothes and pants.

Some of the young girls arriving early for work had seen her earlier and came over right away when they saw the new clothes.

They looked at the outfit Su Wan was wearing, then back at the clothes on the rack, their eyes lighting up. “Are you wearing that same sweater?”

“Yes, this is an export knit sweater. You can wear it on its own or as a jacket. It looks great with jeans or a skirt,” Su Wan explained, holding the sweater and jeans up to one of the girls. “See? Looks great like this. Perfect for the weather right now.”

“So pretty! How much?” one girl asked eagerly, unable to take her eyes off the clothes.

“The knit tops and chiffon shirts are 39 yuan each. Jeans are 32.”

When she said the prices, the girls froze.

One of them muttered, “That’s expensive. Stalls on the street don’t charge that much. These prices are almost like the department store’s.”

“Ladies, these are all factory-grade goods made for export. You can see in these fashion magazines—the models wear these exact styles,” Su Wan said, pulling out a magazine she had gotten from the boss. It showed both the knit tops and chiffon shirts—some paired with jeans, others with fitted skirts and stockings—looking incredibly trendy.

The girls were transfixed.

At the time, most people relied on magazines to learn about fashion.

One girl who was still hesitant suddenly pointed to Su Wan’s legs and asked, “Are you selling those stockings too?”

“Of course I am! These are the trendiest items around. Ten yuan a pair, and they’re from Hong Kong. Totally worth it,” Su Wan said with a confident smile.

While she was talking, more and more girls gathered around.

When they heard there were stockings for sale, the crowd practically exploded with excitement.

After all, Guangdong was at the forefront of reform and opening up. These girls had seen celebrities on TV wearing stockings—they looked so elegant. Stockings could shape the legs, cover imperfections, and were basically every girl’s dream item.