In the early morning, Lu Jiaxin went out for a walk and came back half an hour later to start reading English, following the tapes. It must be said that Lu Hongjun's assistant was quite thorough in handling matters, knowing that she bought a recorder to learn English, he even provided tapes with accompanying books. After yesterday's quarrel, it's uncertain whether the tutor will still come. But it doesn't really matter; the idea to hire one was only to avoid suspicion anyway.
Xue Mao was making breakfast in the kitchen when he heard her start reading the "bird language" and quickly stuffed cotton in his ears. After breakfast was ready, he carried it out to the yard and called out loudly, "Sis, it's time to eat."
"Coming..."
After eating, Lu Jiaxin went into the house, grabbed a canvas bag, and said, "Let's go, to Xiushui Street."
Xue Mao was perplexed; they were not lacking anything, so why go to Xiushui Street? The rice, flour, and cooking oil sent by Lu Hongjun were plentiful; the two of them couldn't finish it all in three months.
"We're not buying stuff, just taking a look."
Last time, she glanced around in a rush, but this time, she wanted to properly stroll around and see what the current fashion trends were. Since she was considering going into the clothing business, it was essential to understand the market first.
Xue Mao didn't want to wander around, finding it a waste of time and bus fare, but he couldn't argue with Lu Jiaxin and had to follow along. Fortunately, Xiushui Street was quite small at the moment, and even though Lu Jiaxin went into every store, it only took a morning to visit all the shops.
Lu Jiaxin observed carefully and noticed that many youngsters were wearing floral shirts and bell-bottoms. Hmm, it seemed these were the current trends. In addition, the young women wore clothes in various colors: red, pink, blue, green, and the like, all bright colors.
After looking at so many clothing stalls, she realized there wasn't a single one selling suits or professional sets, meaning this market niche was empty.
Stopping in front of a women's shoe stall, Lu Jiaxin squatted down, picked up a pair of leather shoes, and examined them. They were nicely styled but too thin for her. Her health was weak, and her hands and feet were always cold; she needed to wear thick shoes.
Lu Jiaxin asked, "Brother, do you have any thick leather shoes?"
At that time, it was not fashionable to call shopkeepers "boss"; instead, people used "brother" or "sister." It wouldn't be until the early '90s that calling someone "boss" became popular.
The man, seeing her dressed in long sleeves and trousers despite the summer heat, knew she must have a frail constitution. He said, "Sister, all my leather shoes are thin. If you want to buy thick shoes, go straight ahead to the crossroad, then turn right. That shop has all kinds of shoes."
Lu Jiaxin asked, "Brother, autumn is arriving next month; why aren't you selling autumn shoes? These thin ones, how can ordinary people endure them?"
The brother waved his hand and said, "It's still early for a weather change. It won't be late to sell them when the weather turns."
Lu Jiaxin continued to look at several more shoe stalls and found that none sold autumn or winter shoes, and there weren't many styles of leather shoes available either. By contrast, there were a variety of clothing styles.
After visiting a few stores, Lu Jiaxin found the shoe shop the brother had mentioned. Upon entering, she discovered it was a wholesale shoe store.
A tall, young man around seventeen or eighteen was running the shop. After looking Lu Jiaxin over, he asked, "Young lady, what would you like to buy?"
As for Xue Mao, he looked like an attendant, so the man did not greet him.
Lu Jiaxin twitched the corner of her mouth; she wasn't that much older herself to be comfortably called "young lady": "We want to buy winter shoes."
Upon hearing that, the tall young man immediately shouted into the back, "Brother Xiao Sheng, someone wants to buy winter shoes, bring out all the winter shoes we sourced from Hong Kong."
Soon, a slender young man brought out over ten pairs of thick leather shoes.
Lu Jiaxin picked up a pair of flat pointy leather shoes, which were nicer than the ones in the other shops. She felt the inside and asked, surprised, "There's only a layer of cotton inside; how can one wear such shoes out in the winter? The feet would freeze."
The tall young man laughed and said, "These shoes are indeed unsuitable for winter, but they're fine for autumn. Young lady, this is the latest fashion from Hong Kong."
"Now the most sought-after are Hong Kong goods, whether or not they are genuine Hong Kong goods depends on whether you believe it or not."
Lu Jiaxin thought the style of the shoes was okay but too thin, yet she still habitually asked for the price. Hearing they were eighty-eight, she was astonished; that was too expensive.
Xue Mao almost jumped up.
The tall young man said with a proud face, "Little brother, these shoes come from Hong Kong. Look how fashionable this style is."
"The style is nice, but it's not worth eighty-eight."
The tall young man argued, "Don't feel it expensive. The purchase price for these leather shoes is seventy, minus shipping and the cost of my food and drink on the way here, I'm only making a few bucks."
That was just talk; believing it would make one a fool. Lu Jiaxin inspected the shoes inside and out, then deliberately asked in Cantonese, "What place is this from?"
The tall young man was completely confused, "What are you saying?"
Lu Jiaxin put down the shoes, saying, "These shoes don't even have a brand. I'm speaking Cantonese and you don't understand; how can I know that these shoes are really from Hong Kong."
The tall young man's eyes nearly bulged out, "Big sister, you speak Cantonese?"
Lu Jiaxin hummed in response, "Big brother, I quite like these shoes, give me a fair price."
Grinding his teeth, the tall young man said, "If you like them, I'll let you have them for sixty-eight. They're made of little lamb leather, at sixty-eight I'm really not making much off you."
Lu Jiaxin smiled and said, "Big brother, conducting business should be done honestly. Your shoes are clearly made of synthetic leather."
The tall young man was shocked, asking, "What do you say? These shoes are not made of little lamb leather but of synthetic leather?"
Lu Jiaxin was speechless, not even he knew what material the shoes were made of; to not have been swindled was just luck.
The tall young man indeed did not understand, and he called Brother Xiao Sheng over, gave him a few quick instructions, then hurriedly rode off on a bicycle.
Little lamb leather and synthetic leather, the price difference is several times over. Just take these shoes; if they really were made of little lamb leather, they could be sold for at least forty to fifty; but if they were synthetic, you could get them for about ten bucks.
The lean young man said with an apologetic face, "Young lady, sorry, we are not selling these shoes anymore, you should look elsewhere!"
It wasn't certain yet whether the shoes were made of synthetic leather or little lamb leather, if they sold them cheap on this girl's say-so, they'd suffer a big loss.
Lu Jiaxin hummed and said, "These shoes are too thin, I'm afraid of the cold, they wouldn't stand up to autumn."
Brother Xiao Sheng was a straightforward person, "Little sister, if you're afraid of the cold you should buy cotton-padded shoes, get the ones made with monkey cotton, they're guaranteed to be warm."
Lu Jiaxin replayed it in her mind, then feigned disdain, "No, cotton shoes are too ugly, and they'll get wet instantly in the snow."
Brother Xiao Sheng suggested, "Then when it snows, buy another pair of waterproof leather shoes, wear leather shoes out, and cotton shoes at home."
Lu Jiaxin's interest piqued, she asked, "Isn't there any leather shoe that is thick, waterproof, and fashionable?"
Brother Xiao Sheng shook his head, indicating that there were no such shoes on the market for the time being.