The 1970s: Married First, Fell in Love Later-Chapter 157 - 156: Collecting the Stall Management Fee

Chapter 157: Chapter 156: Collecting the Stall Management Fee

Shiyi looked at Xue Yue blankly, large teardrops brimming in his eyes. "Mommy, Shiyi won’t wet the bed anymore."

Xue Yue shook her head. "You just drank too much water before bed last night. If we drink a little less from now on, you won’t wet the bed. Now, do you want to say sorry to Big Sister Daya?"

Shiyi turned to look at Daya, who stood to the side, at a loss. "Big Sister Daya, I’m sorry. Shiyi was wrong." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Daya quickly shook her head. "It’s okay, our Shiyi is still little!"

Shiyi turned back to Xue Yue. "Mommy, Big Sister Daya forgave me."

Xue Yue smiled and nodded. "Big Sister Daya works very hard. How about we buy her a present some other day?"

Shiyi nodded. "Okay."

After putting the child to sleep, Xue Yue and He Lang finally began to go over the day’s earnings.

They had sold thirteen of the 25-yuan dresses (with the first one going for 18 yuan), three of the 28-yuan dresses, and two of the 15-yuan shirts, bringing the total to 432 yuan.

"The 25-yuan dresses cost us 9 yuan each, the 28-yuan ones cost 10, and the 15-yuan shirts cost 6. Subtracting our cost of 159 yuan, our profit is 273 yuan," He Lang read from his notebook.

Xue Yue covered her mouth. "You earned over 200 yuan in a single afternoon? Isn’t that profit margin a little too high?"

He Lang shook his head. "I went to the department store this morning. The dresses they’re selling—which I don’t even think are as nice as mine—go for over forty yuan. Just think about their profit. We may have earned over 200 yuan, but once you factor in the round-trip fare to Yangcheng, shipping, and labor, it’s not that much. Besides, it’s still warm enough to sell dresses now. In another month or so, they won’t sell at all. I have to sell all the dresses I brought back this month, so I plan to go every day starting tomorrow."

Xue Yue had calmed down by now. "We sell them cheap, but we sell a lot, so the profit naturally adds up. Take a water bottle with you when you go tomorrow. It’s been hot these past few days, so don’t get sick from the heat."

He Lang nodded.

The next day, after breakfast, He Lang pushed his handcart to the market. He had just finished setting up his clothes when a man in a work uniform with a red armband came over.

The man stood with his hands behind his back, eyeing He Lang sideways. "Who said you could set up here? Don’t you know you have to pay a stall management fee to have a spot in the market?"

He Lang was stunned for a moment but quickly recovered. "Brother, I just got here yesterday and didn’t know the rules. Please don’t take offense. Just tell me how much I need to pay, and I’ll make it right."

Seeing that He Lang was being straightforward, the man didn’t give him a hard time. "It’s three yuan a day to have a stall here."

He Lang took out ten yuan and handed it over. "I’m new here, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of each other. Please, take the extra and buy yourself a drink, Brother."

The man glanced at He Lang, then reached out and took only six yuan. "Take the rest back. I don’t fall for that." Then, with his hands behind his back again, he went off to collect money from someone else.

He Lang smiled and took back the remaining four yuan.

A short while later, the auntie from yesterday returned, and she had brought two people with her.

"This is the place. This is where I bought the one for my Yingzi. The clothes aren’t expensive at all! They’d cost several tens of yuan in the department store. This young man is very honest."

He Lang greeted her with a smile. "Auntie, did that dress fit your daughter well? You can exchange it if it doesn’t."

"It fits, it fits! My daughter loves it. Why, she wore it out today and a crowd gathered around her. They wanted to buy one too, so I brought them here."

He Lang smiled at the two young women. "Please, take a look for yourselves, ladies. If you like one, you can hold it up to see how it fits."

The two of them liked several pieces and hesitated over which one to choose. In the end, they each bought two. After seeing them off with a smile, He Lang took two pairs of white socks from his bag and pressed them into the auntie’s hand.

"Auntie, thank you for bringing people to support my business. I didn’t have these socks yesterday. They’re the most fashionable style right now. See? The edges are lace. Here are two pairs, one for you and one for your daughter."

The auntie looked at the free socks in her hand, grinning from ear to ear. "Don’t you worry. If anyone else wants to buy clothes, I’ll send them your way."

He Lang nodded. "Okay."

Sure enough, many more people bought clothes today than yesterday. A large portion of them had seen someone wearing a dress bought from He Lang, asked for the location, and come to find him.

He sold more than half of the clothes he brought today, and his profit shot up to over six hundred yuan.

While Xue Yue was delighted, she was also a little worried about He Lang. "Your voice sounds a bit hoarse. Didn’t you drink the water you brought?"

He Lang said helplessly, "I was too busy to even think about drinking water."

"That won’t do. You’ll have a sore throat in a few days if you keep this up."

He Lang had truly never talked so much in a single day. He had to explain everything to every person who came by, and he’d never realized before that just talking could be so exhausting.

"Can you manage on your own?"

He Lang nodded. "For now, it’s manageable. It’s just that when it gets crowded, I have to keep my eyes on the clothes constantly. I’m worried someone might swipe a dress, and I’m also worried I’ll forget to take the money."

Xue Yue sighed. "It would be great if you had someone to help you."

He Lang thought for a moment. "I’ll keep doing it myself for now. If it really gets to be too much, I can send a telegram home and have Little Chen come over."

"Little Chen? Would he be able to come?" Xue Yue was worried Gao Cuiyun wouldn’t let Little Chen come, since their hometown was quite far away.

"We’ll see what he thinks then. If he’s willing, he can come. If not, I’ll get Shitou to come over." ’If I didn’t have to consider that Shitou’s mother is getting old, he’d actually be an excellent choice.’

Xue Yue nodded. "You decide."

The next day, Xue Yue put on a new dress herself and went to school.

From the moment she stepped onto campus, people were secretly checking her out. This was exactly the effect Xue Yue was going for.

She remembered He Lang saying yesterday that many people bought the clothes after seeing someone else wearing them and thinking they looked good.

Xue Yue figured university students would be a good customer base, so she had deliberately chosen to wear one of He Lang’s dresses to school today.

On campus, a bolder classmate stopped Xue Yue to ask where she bought her dress.

Of course, Xue Yue pointed them toward the market. After all, He Lang’s was the only stall selling clothes there right now.

When she entered the classroom, she caused another stir. Wei Yuyang’s gaze froze when he saw Xue Yue walk in. As she drew closer, he lowered his eyes, hiding the emotion within them.

Song Wenli looked Xue Yue up and down. "Xue Yue, your dress is so beautiful! Where did you buy it? Was it expensive?"

Xue Yue shook her head. "Not expensive, it was 28 yuan. It’s at the market near our school."

Song Wenli reached out to touch the fabric of Xue Yue’s dress, a flash of envy in her eyes. "Twenty-eight yuan... that’s—not exactly cheap!"

’If I bought the dress,’ she thought, considering the money she had on her, ’I’d only have a few yuan left.’