Make a Fortune and Become Well-off [90] - Chapter 155

Thinking about how, after the joint exam, some of the boys from Wuzhong might visit his sister’s store to buy clothes, he wished he could parade in front of all the boys at Wuzhong, showing off his outfits from every angle.

By the time the two morning exams were over, the students from Wuzhong had returned to their school for lunch, only to return to No. 1 High School in the afternoon. When they saw Jiang Bai again, they realized he had changed his clothes. His outfit was different from the one he had worn in the morning.

But he was still just as handsome.

Jiang Bai continued walking among the crowd, still full of energy. In an effort to showcase his outfits to their full effect, he went to the teaching building, returned to his class, and retrieved a pen from his seat.

At that time, the teaching building of No. 1 High School was filled with Wuzhong students.

Later that evening, after dinner, they returned to No. 1 High School for more exams. When they saw Jiang Bai again, they realized he had changed his clothes once more. Why did they remember his outfits so clearly?

Because the boys at Wuzhong didn’t pay much attention to Jiang Bai’s face, they focused only on his clothes. They assumed that his handsomeness came solely from his outfits.

After noticing Jiang Bai had changed his clothes three times in one day, they felt a mix of envy and judgment. They envied his wealth, assuming he must be rich to own so many stylish clothes. At the same time, they developed a new understanding of why he didn’t pass their Wuzhong entrance exam.

“If the students at No. 1 High School spend all day dressing up like that guy,” they thought, “how can they compete with Wuzhong?”

Wuzhong’s name carried weight as the best high school in the city. The teachers often repeated a slogan, “As long as you don’t die from studying, you will study until the end.”

Students at Wuzhong rose around five in the morning every day for a morning run, reciting texts and practicing English. Even at night, after returning to their dormitories, they recited quietly with the lights off.

The thought of students from No. 1 High School trying to compete with Wuzhong made them puff out their chests with pride.

Finally, after a full day of testing, the joint examinations were completed. Since the test papers were unified, it meant the performance rankings across multiple high schools would be clear once the results were released.

The exam took place on a Saturday, and a day off was granted immediately afterward. After weeks of hard studying, students were finally given a break—an entire day with no homework. The entire school exhaled in relief.

Since the break only lasted one day, most students from both No. 1 High School and Wuzhong High School opted to stay on campus rather than going home.

With the monthly exams and joint exams behind them, and no homework assigned, both teachers and students—exhausted from the intense study—were eager to rest. Many chose to go out shopping for relaxation.

Jiang Bai woke up early that morning, dressed neatly, and hurried to Jiang Ning’s store. He began by mopping the storr, tidying Grandpa Jiang’s bed, and carefully ironing clothes with an electric iron he had borrowed from Tong Jingang.

Wang Yong’s uncle had sent a large shipment of clothes last time. Even after selling one large package of clothes and two large packages of shoes, four more large packages of clothes remained unsold, and the final exams were fast approaching. Jiang Bai feared that if he didn’t sell everything before winter break, the store wouldn’t have any business after the New Year.

Among the four packages, two were winter clothes, and the other two were summer clothes from last year that had minor defects. Some were slightly yellowed, others had accidental stains, but they were all new. The leftover inventory hadn’t sold the previous summer, so Uncle Wang bundled them and sold them to Jiang Ning at a per-pound price.

Considering there were several summer clothes per pound, Uncle Wang charged only one yuan per pound.

Jiang Ning could still sell the defective clothes for five to nine yuan apiece, making a nice profit.

But Jiang Bai wasn’t aware of these details. He only knew that if the clothes didn’t sell by winter break, they’d be impossible to move later. After the Chinese New Year, who would still be buying new clothes?

He opened the store at seven in the morning, but not many customers came in at that time. Most of the nearby neighbors had already made their purchases, and the market was largely quiet.

Meanwhile, the students of Wuzhong were having breakfast in the cafeteria and hadn’t yet ventured out.

Jiang Bai waited patiently until eight o’clock when students from Wuzhong began trickling out of the school in pairs and small groups. He pulled out Jiang Ning’s loudspeaker, set it at the shop’s entrance, and hit the play button.

It was difficult for Wuzhong students to leave school, even once a year. They usually didn’t step outside the school gate, and when they did, they went home. Upon returning, they headed straight back to school. Therefore, it was rare to see students shopping on that street.

This time, they were truly exhausted. For half a month, they had been getting up at five o’clock and going to bed at eleven. They spent all their time studying, except for eating and going to the toilet. They didn’t even get a single day off.

But now, it was a rare holiday, one without homework. They couldn’t sit still in school. Except for a few top students who remained studying, most of the others either made plans to play football or simply wandered around outside the school gate, eager to have fun, no matter where.

As soon as they walked out of the school gate, they faintly heard, “29, 39, all 29, 39 on sale!” coming from not far away.

They saw a lot of people gathered there and curiously asked the guard, “Uncle Guard, what’s happening over there? It’s so lively. I see a lot of people going into that store.”

Although the guard rarely left the school, he still knew what was happening on the street. He even bought himself a new coat—a thick down jacket.

The guard had been injured in his youth, and his arms ached when it was cloudy or rainy. Wucheng often had rain in the winter.

At that moment, he was wearing the thick down jacket he had bought from Jiang Ning’s store. He smiled and said, “That’s a clothing store. All the clothes come from Jiangnan Garment Factory. The factory director of Jiangnan Garment Factory ran away, and the workers couldn’t get paid, so they took the clothes and sold them to cover their wages. The clothes are only half the market price. Now that it’s almost the New Year, everyone in the neighborhood is buying coats from there. It’s rare to find such good-quality clothes at such cheap prices. There isn’t a store like this even in the nearby villages.”