Chapter 22

As expected, they only got standing tickets. They had bought them for the night, so they could return to the county overnight and save on accommodation.

However, this was also how they had come—meaning, they had not closed their eyes for two days and one night already. This night, they had to endure, and absolutely could not fall asleep.

On the way there, they could still afford to relax a bit, but on the way back, they were carrying a bag full of money.

Lin Qingping became the primary person under protection. Whether they were standing or found a gap in the crowd to sit on the ground, they always kept Lin Qingping firmly in the center.

They said they would take turns standing watch while the others caught a nap, but apart from Zhiyuan, who could actually fall asleep? The whole group kept their eyes wide open until dawn.

Early in the morning, they arrived at the county town. After getting off the train, they went straight to an acquaintance of Du Gen’s to collect the remaining 400 pieces of clothing.

Du Gen also asked the acquaintance to borrow a vehicle for them. This time, they were lucky and rented a horse cart for transporting goods.

Lin Qingping paid the rental fee, and the cart took both people and goods straight back to the village.

Lin Qingping also arranged with the cart owner to come pick them up early next Saturday morning to head back to the county again.

Finally, they were home.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief. The journey had been extremely tense. But no one went to rest. All eyes were on Lin Qingping.

Lin Qingping understood what everyone meant and took out all the money. They had not counted it once during the journey. There was an estimated amount in mind, but no exact figure.

When it was all laid out, both Liu Fen and Gu Dafu were dumbfounded.

“This… this… how is there so much money?” Liu Fen’s voice trembled.

“Right, Mom, this is just from selling a hundred pieces. There are still four hundred left.” Du Gen said proudly.

“Hurry! Count it quickly!” Liu Fen urged nonstop.

Lin Qingping began counting the money. After she finished, the total was over twelve hundred yuan.

“For these hundred pieces of clothing, we spent just a little over one hundred yuan to buy them.” Lin Qingping said with a smile. Though she had witnessed great things in her previous life, her heart was still brimming with joy at this moment.

“My goodness!” Liu Fen’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. When she saw the four hundred pieces of clothing they had just hauled back, she grew anxious. “Hurry! Hurry and sort those out too!”

Lin Qingping laughed. “Don’t rush, Mother. Everyone’s been up for two whole days and nights. Get some sleep first. Only after resting well will we have the strength to work.”

If it were up to Gu Youlian, she absolutely would not sleep—she would insist on continuing to work! It was still Du Gen who pulled her aside and insisted that she must rest. Only then did everyone return to their rooms to sleep.

In Lin Qingping’s room, Second Sister leaned her head against hers. She snuggled close, eyes full of admiration.

“Elder Sister, you’re amazing. I was really scared this time.”

Lin Qingping smiled and gently stroked her hair. “What if I had failed this time? What were you thinking when you were squatting in the Market Square?”

Second Sister looked a little embarrassed. “I… I’m not as smart as you, I couldn’t think of anything clever. I just thought… if we come back and the Gu Family doesn’t blame you and still acknowledges you as their daughter-in-law, then I’ll be grateful to them. I’ll work hard and try to earn the money back for them. But if they insist again that you divorce Brother-in-law, then we sisters will rely on each other. Still, we’ll work hard and pay them back. As long as we work hard, everything will be okay. As long as a person is diligent, there’s no dead end.”

Lin Qingping’s heart grew warm, and she gently scolded her: “Silly girl.”

Silly girl. It’s not that you’re not smart. You are very clever. It’s just that your sister has lived one more lifetime than you, and she knows every direction the era is heading.

Second Sister, after speaking, asked curiously: “Elder Sister, you’re doing such a big thing—does Brother-in-law not know? If he finds out, would he really not say anything to you?”

Brother-in-law? Gu Juncheng?

Ah, things had been so busy these past few days that she hadn’t even had time to knit that sweater for him. No, no matter how busy she got, she had to make time to finish that sweater!

As the two sisters chatted, they didn’t even realize when they both dozed off, drifting into sleep in a haze.

The next morning, when Lin Qingping woke up, she could already hear voices outside. She got up and went out, only to find that half of those 400 pieces of clothing had already been sorted!

Her mother-in-law and Gu Youlian were both hard at work.

“Mother, what time did you get up?” Lin Qingping couldn’t help but ask.

“I didn’t sleep all night!” Du Gen replied. “After you all went to bed last night, I got back up and worked straight through until now. Youlian didn’t sleep for the second half of the night either—she dragged me along to help your mother.”

“Health is the most important thing. Money can never be fully earned.” Lin Qingping said. In her previous life, she had worn herself out and gotten sick. Now that she had returned to the age of twenty, she still carried the calm demeanor of someone older.

“We were just anxious!” Liu Fen said with a smile.

They were all anxious!

Lin Qingping herself was anxious too, so she didn’t waste any more words and launched into the second round of revisions with great energy.

Seeing that Gu Youlian had rolled up her sleeves and was ready to dive in full force, Lin Qingping held her back for the time being. She kept a little vigilance in her heart and decided to revise the designs.

She made key changes to the shirts and coats. Don’t be fooled by how basic they seemed—there were plenty of places where thought and care could go: the collar, cuffs, hem, pockets, waistline, even the buttons. With a few clever design touches and tweaks, the garments could look completely different.

Gu Youlian exclaimed in admiration: “This really looks much better! Pingzi, how do you know so much?”

“Just figured it out by thinking a little.” Lin Qingping said casually.

In truth, she had to stay alert—especially because of that woman who had come at the end of last week to buy clothes.

As for Gu Youlian, she didn’t care about what kind of “just thinking” it was. Her own brain wouldn’t be able to come up with any of this no matter how hard she tried. So she stopped trying altogether and simply resolved to follow her younger brother’s wife and work hard!

By this week, everyone had more or less become skilled workers. After several days of busy work and efficient division of labor, they finally managed to complete the second batch of goods just in time before Saturday.

On Saturday morning, as arranged, the horse cart came to pick them up and brought them straight to the train station in the county town.

Over the past few days, worried that they might not get tickets, Du Gen had taken on the responsibility of running to the county every day, doing his best to ensure they would secure them.

At last, they set off with the clothes—and this time, also with two children. Yes, Lin Qingping had asked Gu Youlian to bring her daughter, Xiao Mai, along as well.

On Saturday night, the group once again boarded the train bound for the Provincial Capital, and they arrived early Sunday morning.

They didn’t even stop for breakfast. They headed straight to Market Square, quickly setting up their stall. During the setup, everyone found brief moments to take bites out of their dry flatbread.

At the same time, they noticed something. Outside the Shopping Mall near the Market Square—the same one that had looked down on them country folk—there was a long line of people waiting.

Meanwhile, at their own stall, the crowd they had expected to flock toward them wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as they had hoped.

Still, curious onlookers gradually gathered around, chatting among themselves.

“Wow, you actually came? Thought you wouldn’t show up!”

“Hey, listen, the Shopping Mall has your same clothing styles for sale now. Lots of people went there this week—even folks from other streets showed up.”

“Yeah, I heard a few different Shopping Malls started selling clothes just like yours. Some of them are even cheaper than what you’re offering.”

So that’s what happened…

Du Gen, being the quickest to react, immediately got angry. “Pingzi! That woman last time—she came to steal our designs! This is outrageous!”

Gu Youlian was furious as well.