Chapter 17: Taking Risks to Make Big Money

“Alright!” After washing her hair, Yi An’an reached out to grab the towel on her shoulder.

Zhan Nanhui handed the towel to her.

“Thanks!” Yi An’an said, drying her hair with the towel.

Zhan Nanhui quickly returned to his original seat and lowered his head to continue reading his book.

To dry her hair, Yi An’an brought the charcoal stove into the shed. The shed was nice and warm.

She sat in front of the stove, combing her hair while thinking about pickling vegetables tomorrow.

After a day of pickling, she could sell the salted vegetables the day after tomorrow. She also planned to make a few hair accessories. At least then, she wouldn’t have to worry about food money for the week.

But earning just a few bucks at a time wasn’t a long-term solution. She needed a way to make big money.

Yi An’an thought of the self-study book Chen Sisi was holding earlier that day. She remembered back then, that set of self-study books was impossible to get. The government only printed a portion of them, like Algebra, and they were distributed through Xinhua Bookstores. People would line up all night and still not get a copy.

The book Chen Sisi was holding today was exactly the Algebra volume from that series.

It seemed she had really misunderstood Zhan Nanhui the other day—Chen Sisi had gotten the set as well.

There were only about half a month left before the college entrance exams. If she could find someone to collaborate on printing, even selling a few copies would make more money than selling pickled vegetables.

With her mind made up, the next day Yi An’an took the set of four Algebra books and went to the town to look for a printing factory.

“This is a state-run printing factory. We only print official publications, not for individuals. You better leave and go wherever you can!” The gatekeeper, upon hearing she wanted to print books on her own, pushed her out.

Yi An’an frowned and was about to explain when a man’s voice came from behind, “What’s going on so early in the morning?”

The gatekeeper quickly stepped up and explained, “Director Feng, this woman came here making trouble, saying she wants to print her own books!”

The man, around forty or fifty, was the factory director. He was dressed like a cadre and had ridden in on a bicycle. He glanced at Yi An’an.

Yi An’an stepped forward quickly, stated her purpose, and took out the set of Algebra books.

Director Feng’s eyes lit up as soon as he saw the book.

“Where did you get this book?” he asked urgently. “This is a treasure! I’ve been camping out at the provincial bookstore for three days and still couldn’t get one. How did you manage to get it?”

He looked at the book again and paused. “Wait, this isn’t from the recent reprints. This is an old edition?”

Yi An’an nodded. “It’s from my family. I heard students preparing for the college entrance exam are desperate to get this book, so I thought of working with Director Feng.”

Director Feng quickly said, “Oh, I’ve been looking for this book! You really came at the right time. How many copies do you want to print?”

Yi An’an looked at him. “Shall we go inside to talk?”

Director Feng immediately invited her in.

As she entered, Yi An’an gave the gatekeeper a glance. The gatekeeper smiled helplessly.

Director Feng had long been searching for this book. The paper and ink were ready—only typesetting was needed.

After calculating, he found that even if the factory workers worked day and night to typeset all four books, it would take a full week. So he decided to print only one volume. That way, a sample could be ready by tomorrow, and they could print 200 copies a day—up to a maximum of three days.

There were only about 5,000 students registered for the exam in the whole county. Yi An’an priced the book at 10 yuan per copy, a price the average person couldn’t easily afford.

“Isn’t this price a bit high?” Director Feng asked.

“It’s not. We’ll print only 600 copies—10 yuan each, just 6,000 yuan in total. We split the profits 50-50. You handle the printing, I’ll handle the sales. If you’re worried about risk, this has nothing to do with the factory,” Yi An’an said.

Director Feng paused, finally understanding what she meant.

“There’s not enough time to get authorization for the book, so we have to take a risk. You’re running a state-owned factory and can’t break the rules. But I’m just an ordinary citizen—I’m not afraid. So I’ll take the risk and give you 50%,” Yi An’an said.

Director Feng hesitated. This Yi An’an was really bold!

But 3,000 yuan—that was nearly half a month’s revenue for the factory. He was also thinking about long-term cooperation.

After all, this year’s exam would be followed by next year’s. This self-study series was the only one of its kind on the market and incredibly valuable.

Even if they couldn’t get official publishing rights, secretly printing a few copies for sale would still be highly profitable.

“But I won’t be able to explain it to the factory…” Director Feng said quietly.

“You can label it under another project…” Yi An’an stepped closer and whispered to him.

People in the 70s and 80s were too honest, but Yi An’an had plenty of ways to make money.

Director Feng was still conflicted, but finally nodded while looking at the book.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—3,000 yuan was no small amount. He had to give it a try. More importantly, his own daughter was taking the exam this year. He had been trying to get the book for her, and for her future, he was willing to take the risk.

That night, Yi An’an didn’t go home. She stayed at the factory, watching the workers typeset and print.

The next day, the typesetting was done, and production began quickly.

Yi An’an took the ten books printed that morning and moved to a small alley near the bookstore. As soon as she saw people walking out of the bookstore, she approached them with the books. Even though the price was high, the books sold quickly—all ten were gone in no time.

Afraid of drawing attention from the bookstore staff, Yi An’an changed locations for the next batch, selling books while moving around. By evening, all 200 copies printed that day had been sold.

To reassure Director Feng, Yi An’an immediately handed over 1,000 yuan.

Director Feng’s hands trembled as he held the money.

As a printing factory director, he only made 50 yuan a month. This 1,000 yuan was equivalent to nearly two years’ salary.

And Yi An’an had made it in just one day.

“Let’s speed up the printing tonight!” Director Feng said. “You sold so many today, I’m afraid the bookstore will notice. Let’s shorten the timeline—print the rest tonight and tomorrow. That way, we’ll still print 600 books, but in half the time, which also cuts the risk in half.”

Yi An’an nodded.

She had originally planned to go home that night to check on her pickled vegetables, but now, that was impossible!

Yi An’an had been gone for a whole day and night, and Zhan Nanhui was starting to worry.

By dusk, he stood at the entrance of the village, watching the road from town, waiting for a long time. Unwilling to give up, he went to the bus stop.

The last bus—the only bus—had already arrived and left.

But there was no sign of Yi An’an.