“Who is it?”
“It’s me. The boss of a female attire shop on West City Nan Road. Are you making a trip tonight, master?” smiled Shu Yan.
“Why are you calling so late? You need to let me know in advance if you need to use the car,” said the chauffeur nonchalantly with a cigarette in his mouth.
“My shop ran out of some inventory and I need to go get some more. Are you full already?” Shu Yan was worried.
She had taken a second trip to City Hang previously and also used this chauffeur. It’s the middle of the night. She wouldn’t dare to get into someone else’s car with just her by herself.
“I am going to City Hang tonight but two people already reserved my car. If you want to split, I will need to get their consent first.” The chauffeur didn’t care either way. He got paid the same amount one way or another.
“If you can please ask for me, I’d love to join them.” Shu Yan felt that they would, for sure, agree to it.
There was no reason for them to decline. One more person meant less expenses for everyone. Sure enough, the chauffeur called her back right away.
“Where are you right now? Should I pick you up at West City Nan Road?”
Shu Yan, “No, I am over on Fuqian Street by City Nan University. Do you know where that is?”
The driver said, “I do. Where are you at? Give me your address and I will come over.”
“Why don’t I go and wait for you in front of the bus stop on Fuqian Street?” Shu Yan thought about it for a little bit. The bus stop on Fuqian Street was probably the best landmark.
“That works. I will be here in about half an hour.”
Shu Yan quickly hurried home and bathed. She changed into a set of casual clothes and a pair of flats. She tied her hair up into a ponytail. She still had about 10 minutes or so, so she pulled out all the money she had received today and counted them.
She had a promotion today so she had a lot of big bills. Shu Yan counted it quickly and she had 6,000 yuan. This wasn’t 2019. 6,000 yuan was a lot for 1992. Of course, there was a possibility that it was only because she had a promotion today. There was no guarantee that she’d make this much everyday going forward. She had conservatively estimated that even at 1,000 yuan a day, she could make at least 500 – 600 yuan. Subtracting rent, utilities, and wages, she would still make 10,000 yuan a month. That was profiteering for sure.
She folded up the bills neatly and placed it close to her body. Merchandising today would cost quite a bit.
Fuqian Street was quite busy at this hour. Many were still dining out after dinner. The chauffeur arrived shortly after Shu Yan arrived at the bus stop.
“This was too last minute. You should let me know sooner next time. You won’t be that lucky every time.”
“Yes, you are right. I wasn’t very experienced at it. It won’t happen again.” Shu Yan smiled, nodded and greeted the other two in the car. “You two are going to City Hang for merchandising as well?”
“Yes, we are. You have a shop on West City Nan Road?” They had overheard the chauffeur earlier when he was on the phone.
“Yes, you?” Shu Yan looked at their outfits. They weren’t very fashionable, but they were pleasing to the eyes.
“We are over at City Bei, a little bit away from you,” said one of them with a smile.
City Bei and West City Nan Road were not the same. They sell mostly inexpensive clothing there. Their pricing was lower than that of West City Nan Road and their clientele were mostly bargain-hunting housewives and students.
Shu Yan was a newbie in the field, and she asked them many questions. Not being on the same street meant no competition, so they didn’t hold back much when they answered her inquiries and Shu Yan was able to learn a lot from them.
“You have to go get merchandise quite often, right? You want to split the ride going forward?” There used to be four of them. Now one of them closed up shop and went back home and the other one wouldn’t be needing merchandise for a while, leaving just the two of them. Now there’s Shu Yan who was not a competitor and could split the cost, it was definitely a good addition.
“Sure.” Shu Yan was just worried about finding others to split the ride. She had asked around quite a bit during the remodeling, but all the ones she had asked already had their own groups.
It was only 1 AM when they arrived at City Hang. The three of them found a spot to rest. After a full day of running around, Shu Yan was exhausted. “It’ll be awhile before the market opens up. Should we get a room to get some rest?”
Shu Yan wanted to go, but she felt bad leaving the others behind.
“Nah. Forget about it. The market will be opening up in a couple of hours. Why waste the money unnecessarily?” These people were of Shu Yan’s parents’ generation. That generation was known to be thrifty and hardy; there was no way they’d shell out the money for a hotel.
