Chapter 111: This Business Is Way Too Good

Chapter 111: Chapter 111: This Business Is Way Too Good

"Yun Zhen, over here!"

Arriving at the entrance of Jiuzhou Mall, Yun Zhen heard Grandma Sun’s voice from afar. Looking up, she saw the elderly woman waving at her.

"Grandma Sun, did you change spots today?"

Grandma Sun had set up her stall in a new location. Yun Zhen walked over to her.

"There are many vendors at the entrance of Jiuzhou Mall every day, so the stalls aren’t fixed. You have to grab a good spot yourself. I came at five this morning and saved the space next to me for you. This side is closer to the mall, so there’s more foot traffic," Granny Sun said with a smile.

"Thank you, Grandma Sun," Yun Zhen thanked her sincerely.

Granny Sun asked, "Why are you carrying a blackboard?"

Yun Zhen didn’t understand why Grandma Sun called the green board a "blackboard," but she explained anyway, "You can write on this. Since the items I sell change every day, I didn’t think it was necessary to make a dedicated signboard. It’s much more convenient to write the product names and prices on this, and I can just wipe it clean when I sell out."

Granny Sun nodded. "Did you bring chalk?"

"Chalk? Do you mean this powdery stick?" Yun Zhen reached into her bag and took out a finger-length white piece. She had tested it before; writing on the board did indeed leave a trail of powder, making "chalk" a very fitting name.

Granny Sun replied, "That’s the one. Do you need me to help you write?"

Just then, several girls around sixteen or seventeen years old walked over.

"Grandma, I want two ten-yuan portions of popcorn."

"Grandma, I’ll take three five-yuan portions. I want a mix of strawberry and chocolate flavors."

"Grandma, give me ten yuan worth of taro-flavored popcorn."

"I want five five-yuan portions of popcorn, original flavor."

What unfortunate timing—Granny Sun was suddenly swamped with customers.

Yun Zhen remembered that she still hadn’t eaten the popcorn Grandma Sun had given her; it was sitting safely in her mind’s treasure land. The mutton last night had been so delicious that she had completely forgotten to give the popcorn to her mother and Little Bao. "Grandma Sun, go ahead and serve your customers. I’ll write the signboard myself."

"If you can’t write it, I’ll do it for you after I finish selling popcorn to these folks," Granny Sun offered.

Yun Zhen agreed. "Okay."

She picked up the chalk and used a piece of paper to wipe the board completely clean, writing out her inventory:

Handmade wooden hairpins: 100 yuan each.

Wooden fridge magnets: 100 yuan each.

Solid wood double-layer jewelry boxes: 300 yuan each.

Crochet dolls: 120 yuan each.

After careful consideration, she had decided to raise the price of the crochet dolls. Once she finished writing, she inspected her work. The characters were inconsistent in size but weren’t crooked or sloppy. The item names and prices were perfectly legible.

Glancing over, Granny Sun praised her. "Your handwriting actually has a nice sense of design. It’s not so rigid; it’s much more interesting than mine."

Yun Zhen blushed. Her handwriting really wasn’t very pretty, but fortunately, the names and corresponding prices were clear at a glance.

Just as she finished setting up her merchandise, several girls dressed in traditional Hanfu walked over. They crouched in front of her stall, inspecting and touching the items.

One of the girls in a yellow Hanfu asked, "Did you make all of this yourself?"

Yun Zhen revealed a warm, friendly smile. "Everything here is entirely handmade, which takes a tremendous amount of effort. The heads of the wooden hairpins are carved bit by bit with a graver. The small ornaments on the wooden fridge magnets are all polished and carved by hand with a small knife. While the solid wood jewelry boxes might not be as delicate as those made from other materials, they retain the original grain of the wood. They’re simple, elegant, and rustic. Whether you buy one for yourself or as a gift, it’s very respectable.

"The crochet dolls are also handmade from material kits I bought. They’re much more exquisite than the ones sold online."

When Yun Zhen finished speaking, the young girl picked up two wooden hairpins. "These hairpins have quite a bit of weight and texture in the palm of the hand. I really like the design of your hairpin heads. Instead of pursuing pure refinement, they have a kind of natural wildness. It gives off a very strong forest aesthetic." Pointing at the display, she continued, "I’ll take three hairpins. I want the cloud pattern, the peach blossom, and the scrolling vine pattern for the heads."

Yun Zhen pulled out a newly purchased small bag and packed them up for her.

The girl’s companions were also influenced and ended up buying one to three wooden hairpins each. Two others were more interested in the wooden fridge magnets and chipped in together to buy six of them.

After they left, another customer approached. This time, it was a young man. He had red lips and white teeth, wearing a white shirt and black pants. His hair was meticulously styled, making him look both capable and handsome.

He studied the stall for a long time before speaking. "Little Miss, I want a solid wood jewelry box—specifically this longevity lock style. I’ll also take two wooden hairpins. I want the Lan Hua and little rabbit designs for the heads."

Customers came and went. As Yun Zhen sold her goods, she kept a close eye on the time. She still had to go to Sister-in-law Liu’s vegetable stall in the afternoon and was terrified of delaying her work.

Granny Sun watched as Yun Zhen’s stall was surrounded by layers of young people. "It seems young folks these days are very interested in handmade goods. It hasn’t even been an hour and a half, and you’ve already sold almost everything. You only have a few wooden hairpins and crochet dolls left."

Although Yun Zhen was frantically busy, she was ecstatic. Barring any accidents, she would definitely be able to sell out all her goods today as well.

Sure enough, after another hour or so, only two crochet dolls were left from all the merchandise she had brought.

"The last two crochet dolls! One hundred and twenty each!" Yun Zhen shouted.

A few minutes later, a young woman bought both of them as a bundle.

"Her business is way too good." Several surrounding stall owners peered over at her stall, whispering among themselves and making no attempt to hide their gossip.

"Why don’t we sell wooden hairpins too? We can order a batch online and claim they’re handmade."

"This girl probably bought her materials online too. It really is easy to make money off young people. Just feed them a few lies, and they’ll all believe it’s purely handmade."

"You might have misunderstood the little girl. I just watched her stall for a long time. Regardless of anything else, those solid wood jewelry boxes definitely aren’t bought online. No matter what, the ones online will always have a few iron screws connecting them. This is especially true for the clasp structure connecting the lid to the box—online sellers always prefer using metal materials. But the boxes this girl is selling use clasp structures made entirely of pure wood."

No matter what others speculated, Yun Zhen had sold out of her goods. She bid farewell to Grandma Sun and headed to Sister-in-law Liu’s vegetable stall to work.

After finishing her work, she went to the farmers’ market and calculated her daily earnings: 72 yuan from collecting scrap, 110 yuan from two part-time jobs, and 14,100 yuan from selling woodwork and crochet dolls. Added to her previous savings of 105,240 yuan, her current total was 119,340 yuan. Right, there was also the 50 yuan for helping Brother Yang deliver meals, bringing the total to 119,390 yuan.

Before heading home today, she only bought two bags of flour. At 60 yuan a bag, two bags cost 120 yuan. Two hundred catties of rice at eighty cents a catty cost 160 yuan. In total, she spent 280 yuan, leaving her with 119,060 yuan.

She found a two-yuan shop. Unlike the ten-yuan shops, the cheapest items here cost only two yuan. The shop was situated in a secluded alleyway, making it difficult for the average person to find.

"Excuse me, do you have any crochet material kits?" she asked.

The owner, who was in the middle of watching a movie, heard her voice and replied, "Ten yuan a pack, seventy-two colors."

That was much cheaper than the ten-yuan shop. Yun Zhen did the math; it was even cheaper than buying online. She was overjoyed. With this shop, she figured she would no longer have to trouble Li Mei to buy things online for her every time. She always felt guilty bothering her friend so often.

She pulled out a hundred-yuan bill and handed it to the owner. "I want ten packs!"

The owner took the money and brought out ten crochet material kits from a dusty warehouse. The outer packaging was covered in a layer of grime—no wonder it was so cheap. Fortunately, the contents inside were clean.

Her savings had now become 119,050 yuan.