Chapter 403 – Seeing Su Man Again
After exchanging pleasantries, Lu Xia and Jiang Junmo heard Qi Xiao ask while selling his goods, “Brother Mo, what brings you two here? Are you looking to buy something?”
Jiang Junmo shook his head, “No, we’re just here to browse around.”
Qi Xiao nodded, “Sure, if there’s anything you want to buy, let me know. I’m familiar with this area. By the way, do you need electronic watches? If so, I can offer them to you at cost price!”
Lu Xia shook her head, “No, we don’t need watches.”
Seeing that they were about to leave and he had some customers, Qi Xiao decided to close his stall after selling two more watches.
“That’s all for today. If you want one, come early tomorrow at the same time!” he announced before packing up his things.
Lu Xia was a bit surprised but didn’t say much.
After packing up, Qi Xiao carried his items and said to them, “Come on, I’ll treat you both to a meal!”
Jiang Junmo shook his head, “Next time. We had dinner before coming here.”
Qi Xiao didn’t seem disappointed and said, “Okay, then next time.”
Just as they were about to part ways, they heard commotion from the opposite side, where a crowd of people had gathered.
Lu Xia was curious and looked in that direction.
Qi Xiao explained, “That’s a stall selling clothes. The clothes there are quite nice. Would you like to take a look, Sister-in-law?”
“Oh?” Lu Xia became interested. “Are they better than the department store?”
“Much better!” Qi Xiao said excitedly. “The clothes there are all brought in from the south, and the styles are much more fashionable than what you find in the capital. They’re really impressive!”
As he spoke, admiration was evident in Qi Xiao’s eyes.
Lu Xia became even more curious and decided to take a look.
So, she followed the crowd and squeezed her way in.
Jiang Junmo, not wanting her to get separated, followed her.
However, when Lu Xia entered the area, she was stunned. The person selling the clothes was none other than Su Man!
“Suman?!” Lu Xia exclaimed.
Su Man, who was collecting money, looked up and saw Lu Xia, immediately flashing a smile.
“It’s you, Lu Xia! What a coincidence. Are you interested in buying some clothes? Feel free to browse, I’ll give you a discount.”
Once Lu Xia recognized her, she quickly regained her composure.
She couldn’t help but be impressed. Su Man had started her own business so quickly, truly living up to her role as the female lead.
Lu Xia looked at the clothes Su Man was selling and found the styles to be quite fresh and appealing.
“Alright, I’ll buy a few pieces.”
Su Man smiled and said, “Feel free to choose; they’re all new arrivals.”
“Great.”
Lu Xia didn’t hesitate and picked out six sets of clothes. She planned to give one to her aunt and each of her sisters-in-law and keep the rest for herself. Since there were no men’s clothes available, she didn’t pick anything for Jiang Junmo.
When it came time to pay, Su Man noticed the quantity of clothes Lu Xia was buying and raised an eyebrow.
Lu Xia smiled and explained, “I’m buying one for each family member.”
Su Man nodded and made a mental calculation. She decided to give Lu Xia a discount, which Lu Xia appreciated.
Seeing that Su Man was quite busy, Lu Xia and Jiang Junmo said their goodbyes and left.
Outside, Qi Xiao was still there and couldn’t help but laugh when he saw Lu Xia had bought so many clothes.
“Sister-in-law, do you also think her clothes are nice?” he asked.
Lu Xia nodded, “They’re indeed nice.”
However, she remembered something and asked, “Do you know her from before?”
Qi Xiao looked puzzled. “Yes, I do. Why do you ask, Sister-in-law?”
Lu Xia explained with a smile, “We also know her. We were fellow educated youth from the same village.”
“Oh, what a coincidence! I heard she’s also a university graduate. Your village’s educated youth are quite impressive!” Qi Xiao remarked, then continued to talk about how they had met Su Man in the past.
*
Chapter 404 – Jiang Junmo and Qi Xiao’s Business Dealings
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Originally, when he returned from the countryside, he heard that making money was faster in the south, but he didn’t inquire much into it. He boarded the train to the south with all his savings and borrowed money from friends.
As a result, when he arrived in an unfamiliar place, he almost got swindled out of all his money.
Fortunately, he met Su Man, who recognized him as a person from the capital after hearing his accent, and she helped him out.
Seeing that he seemed lost and clueless about his next steps, she pointed him in the direction of the profitable electronic products business. With her guidance, he found a source for electronic products and brought back a significant amount.
As expected, it was highly profitable. Electronic watches that were worth just a few yuan in the south could be sold for six or seven times the price in the capital.
He made a fortune!
From then on, he greatly admired Su Man. She also taught him many marketing ideas, like not releasing all the products at once and employing scarcity marketing. The idea was to always make others believe your product was in short supply so that they would rush to buy.
That’s why he decided to close his stall so quickly.
Lu Xia was surprised when she heard this. She didn’t expect their connection to be like this.
Afterward, Qi Xiao learned more about Su Man’s time as an educated youth, but they kept the conversation brief, avoiding more private matters, including anything related to Gu Xiangnan.
Once they left the area of the pigeon market street, the three of them parted ways.
On the way back, Lu Xia couldn’t help but express her amazement. “This is quite a coincidence! How can Su Man be so bold? A woman going to the south to source goods by herself.”
“She’s always been fearless,” Jiang Junmo replied as he pedaled the bike.
Lu Xia thought about it and realized that Su Man had always been daring. Even in the countryside, she often visited the black market alone and ventured into the mountains to hunt for wild game by herself. However, she always returned unharmed. That’s what having a female protagonist aura must be like – even if something bad happened, it would turn into something fortunate.
Thinking about this, Lu Xia didn’t dwell on it anymore. She was now aware that Su Man, the book’s female protagonist, seemed to encounter benefactors, intentionally or unintentionally, at just the right times.
Curious about Jiang Junmo’s friendship with Qi Xiao, she asked, “Are you close friends with Qi Xiao?”
“It’s okay, why do you ask?”
“Just a bit surprised. From what I heard about your past, I thought you didn’t have many friends. However, Qi Xiao seems quite close to you.”
Jiang Junmo gave a wry smile. “He’s very sociable. When we were kids, I couldn’t go out to play with others due to my health problems. So, I didn’t have many friends. However, I was good at academics, as I mentioned before. Qi Xiao used to run a business in our class back then. He shamelessly befriended me and sold my homework to others. He didn’t only sell it to our class but also to students from other classes, and he earned a significant amount of money.”
Lu Xia laughed upon hearing this. “So, you let him sell your homework like that?”
Jiang Junmo chuckled and shook his head. “Of course not. Since he was selling my homework, I asked for half of the money directly. When he disagreed, I threatened to tell the teacher. He had no choice but to agree.”
“Haha, so you guys were in business together?”
“But it didn’t last long. The teacher soon discovered the scheme, and Qi Xiao was forced to take full responsibility. Since I was always well-behaved, the teacher and parents couldn’t believe I would do such a thing. They thought I was led astray by him and ultimately blamed him. He got scolded by the teacher and received a beating when he got home.”
“Haha,” Lu Xia couldn’t help but laugh. “So, you got some consolation and sympathy from the teacher, right?”
Jiang Junmo nodded with a smile, “Pretty much.”
“Haha,” Lu Xia laughed again. “He was quite unlucky. Both of you made money, but he had to bear all the blame. Poor guy!”
Thank you for the chapter! Looks like to OGFL is doing well!