Lin Xia asked again, "What about the Eastern House? Did they have anything to say?"
Qian Chunli and the others had been itching to complain, but now with Lin Aiguo returning home unexpectedly, how could they not take the chance to speak up?
Lin Qiu curled her lip, "Would those old ladies ever be left out? On the surface, they were advising Dad, but they didn't hold back in adding fuel to the fire. If I hadn't directly said I'd listen to Dad and go to the soy sauce factory, he definitely would have gotten furious and lashed out!"
She had learned to be more cunning now, knowing to read people and act accordingly.
After gauging the reactions of everyone, Lin Xia had a clear picture in her mind.
Seeing her sister's exhausted face, with dark circles under her eyes, Lin Qiu understood that the journey hadn't been easy.
Feeling sympathetic, she said, "Sis! You should lie down and sleep for a bit! We can chat after you've woken up!"
"Alright! I'll take a nap!" Lin Xia, after all, hadn't slept well on the bus, dozing off and on throughout the night.
A good rest would do her good, especially since she was still planning to go out and sell scarves later on. How could she manage without being well-rested?
Selling for the first time, she had absolutely no confidence in her heart!
With a jumble of feelings, Lin Xia closed her eyes.
Seeing her sister asleep, Lin Qiu tiptoed around and placed all the food inside the red box, covering it with clothes, and then quietly left the room.
Lin Xia felt like she had barely dozed off when she suddenly woke up in a daze. Glancing around the empty room and sitting up to look at the clock on the box, she saw it was nearly ten.
She hadn't expected to sleep this late, initially only intending to rest her eyes for a moment!
Lin Xia hurriedly got up, changed into clean clothes, washed her face, and braided her hair into a long plait. She greeted Xiaoqiu with a burst of energy and left the house.
Lin Xia rode her bicycle, carrying a large handmade cross-body bag to go sell scarves.
In fact, on the train, she had thought things through extensively. She obviously couldn't sell near her own workplace or in the neighborhood; she still had to go to her job for the time being.
After scouting several locations, she marked a few factories.
The first stop, the Chopstick Factory One.
She chose this place because, firstly, there were many female workers at the chopstick factory, and secondly, she didn't know anyone there.
At eleven o'clock, when the chopstick factory ended their shift, a little while later, male and female workers poured out of the wide-open factory gates, many pushing bicycles.
Looking around, there were more women than men!
Lin Xia had already secured a strong position, standing by the entrance of the chopstick factory with four scarves—white and red with golden threads—draped over her arm, highly noticeable.
Young women and brides saw Lin Xia standing out like a sore thumb, the red and white scarves shimmering in the sunlight with their golden threads, catching the eyes of passersby, who instinctively glanced over or stopped to look.
At this time, people typically shopped at supply and marketing cooperatives or state-run department stores, so while they found it strange, they still took a closer look in secret.
Lin Xia cleared her throat and began her pitch, "Scarves for sale!"
At first, her voice was small and shaky, but after calling out twice, she felt much better and could shout with more ease, "Scarves for sale!"
"How much?" asked a few women who stopped in front of Lin Xia, one of whom, a woman in her thirties, was the first to inquire.
"Three yuan!"
The woman smirked, "That's way too expensive!" While she complained about the price, she didn't move away, her eyes still fixed on the scarves draped over Lin Xia's arm.
Lin Xia immediately understood that she was interested and hurriedly smiled and explained, for her benefit but also for everyone else to hear, "Sis! These scarves sell for three yuan and twenty cents in the provincial capital! Look at the gold thread shimmering in the sunlight, they're really eye-catching! You can't find these for sale in our city!"
One of the young women, clearly very concerned with her appearance, immediately set down her bike stand and approached Lin Xia, "You know what? These are actually really pretty!"
Another echoed, "That's true! The red one is so beautiful!"
"The white ones look good, too! They match the complexion!"
...
Everyone then surrounded Lin Xia, chattering and asking questions, and of course, there were those who wanted to haggle. Lin Xia rebuffed them all by saying that in the provincial city they sell for three yuan and twenty cents each.
Once the first person took out money to buy, Lin Xia made her first sale, and then others followed suit.
Among the onlookers, there were those who hesitated and those who wanted to buy but hadn't brought enough money. Lin Xia made an appointment with them to come back tonight after work.
When Lin Xia left the entrance of the chopsticks factory, she couldn't count how many scarves she had sold or how many were left.
By this point, it was definitely too late to go home and check.
Lin Xia rode to a secluded corner, where she finally felt safe enough to park her bike and crouch down to check how many scarves were left and how much money she had made.
And boy, she almost jumped for joy!
Only 12 scarves left!
Lin Xia had bought a total of 30 scarves back, which meant she had sold 18 in just that short time over lunch!
Lin Xia checked the money nervously to see if there were any discrepancies. After subtracting the change in her pocket, it was exactly the amount for 18 scarves—54 yuan!
If she made a profit of five mao per scarf, she had earned 9 yuan! Of course, that was gross profit—she hadn't deducted the cost of her train ticket yet.
But this was more than enough to make her heart thump wildly with excitement. She realized that doing business could indeed make money quickly!
Her first thought was that she had brought too little!
Could she sell all 12 remaining scarves that evening?
But she didn't have anything to regret, after all, it was like feeling the stones to cross the river—she didn't know if she could really sell them once she got back. What if she had brought too many and couldn't sell them? Wouldn't she look foolish?
Moreover, the scarves were highly seasonal. It gets cold early in Lin District, turning chilly at the drop of a hat, which was why she was so anxious to rush to the provincial city.
If she missed this window of time, in a little while, she'd be moving on to selling knitted scarves directly.
With immense joy in her heart, Lin Xia hummed a tune and happily rode back home.
Lin Qiu had prepared dinner; spotting Lin Xia's return, she came out of the house with a beaming smile, "Sis! Where have you been? Why are you back so late! Come inside and eat after you wash your hands!"
"Didn't do much! Just wandered around for a bit!" Lin Xia definitely couldn't tell Lin Qiu about it yet.
She silently gestured towards the closed door of the Eastern House. Lin Qiu nodded, showing two fingers.
Lin Xia then understood that two people had come back: Qian Chunli worked at the food factory and usually didn't come home for lunch, so it must have been Lin Yu and Lin Qiang, the siblings, who took their meals into their room to eat.
Having figured out the situation at home, Lin Xia cheerfully washed up and then entered the Western House, where Lin Chun and Lin Dong were eating.
"Why are you just getting back! Come and sit down to eat!" Lin Chun called Lin Xia over.
Lin Xia sat down with a giggly smile, looking at the two of them and felt ridiculously happy.
She really wanted to share her excitement with someone, but with two annoying people in the Eastern House, and Lin Dong being the kind who takes things seriously, once she told him, she was afraid he'd get distracted from his studies. So she had to contain her excitement and wait for a chance to talk to her elder brother Lin Chun alone.
Lin Chun glanced over, guessing in his mind but not asking due to the presence of his younger brother.
Lin Dong leaned in close to Lin Xia and chuckled softly, "Big sis! Thank you for the pen! I really love it! How did you know I was just wishing for a new pen?"
He had come back from school today to find his second sister secretly giving him a new pen, saying it was from their eldest sister.
At that moment, he was thrilled!