Make a Fortune and Become Well-off [90] - Chapter 183

The young people who had gone out to work in the village were coming back one after another. Every household was lively, but the house of the Jiang family remained desolate, as none of the three children had returned.

Seeing the lack of excitement at the house, one of the neighbors teased Father Jiang, saying, “Big man, your children won’t end up like your uncle’s kids, passing exams and flying away to university, right?”

“They can’t stay in a small place like this. They have to fly to the big city. Didn’t you see those educated youths back in the day? They had to go back to the city, leaving behind husbands, sons, wives, and daughters. Yes, just look—who has returned?” Some elderly women in the village said with a laugh.

“It doesn’t matter if they fly away. I’m just afraid they’ll be like your old uncle’s son, Guoan. Once they fly out, they might never come back. Then raising the child was all for nothing.”

Even though Father Jiang was usually calm and collected, these comments unsettled him, leaving him feeling down, unable to muster any excitement for the New Year.

One of the couple was irritable all day long, constantly scolding and complaining, while the other sighed endlessly, lacking any motivation to do anything.

Father Jiang thought about going to No. 1 High School to check on things. If Jiang Bai and Jiang Ning didn’t come home, there might be something wrong. But what could be wrong?

Of course, nothing had happened to Jiang Bai. At that moment, he was carrying a large bag of winter clothes. He and Tong Jingang unloaded them from the roof of the minibus. They found an intersection in Shuibu Town, bought two clothes hangers, and set up their spot. One took out an iron to press the clothes, connecting a power strip from Aunt Jiang’s house. He filled the iron with water, smoothed the ironing board, and started ironing the clothes. The other unpacked the garments one by one, hanging them on the drying poles. Then, they turned on the speaker and pressed play on the recorder. Suddenly, Tong Jingang’s rough and booming voice echoed throughout the neighborhood, “39, 49—all sold for 39, 49!”

Shuibu Town didn’t differentiate between market days and non-market days. Every day was a market day. Young men and girls who had returned from working in other places all gathered in Shuibu Town—those getting married, engaged, dating, or going on blind dates. Whether they could afford it or not, they all had some money in their pockets and wandered through the market. The best time for business in Shuibu Town, when prices were highest, was the end of the year. People came to buy New Year’s goods, with many uncles and aunties crowding together, looking for deals. Normally, they couldn’t bear to spend money on eating or buying things, but at the end of the year, they consumed all they needed in one go.

As soon as Jiang Ning helped Grandpa Jiang get off the minibus, she noticed a commotion ahead, surrounded by a crowd of people. From within the crowd, Tong Jingang’s characteristic flat-tongued Mandarin rang out, “Jiangnan Garment Factory closed down! Bastard He, the factory director! Bastard He, the factory director, ran away with a young married employee!”

Just from the sound of his voice, one could imagine how greedy and lustful he sounded while shouting this. He was so excited that his voice nearly cracked.

In their area, most young people who went out to work were typically taken to garment factories, electronics factories, toy factories, and other places in the south. Regardless of whether they were boys or girls, after graduating from elementary or middle school, they would first learn to make clothes from their masters for a year, then start working in a garment factory the following year.

Just two days after returning from working at Jiangnan Garment Factory, the young people strolling around the streets of their hometown couldn’t help but wonder if their ears were deceiving them when they heard the announcements blaring from the loudspeaker.

Who went bankrupt and ran off with a young lady?

Their factory director had actually fled with an employee?

The loud, rough voice from the loudspeaker kept shouting rhythmically, “Bastard, director, bastard He, eat, drink, whore, gamble, eat, drink, whore, gamble. He took away 35 million, took away 35 million, took the young married lover and ran away. We have no choice but to use the clothes as wages to offset the original price of wages, which was more than 100, more than 200, more than 300. Lots of clothes, now all at 39, 49, all at 39, 49 yuan.”

Young people who had just returned from working at Jiangnan Garment Factory listened to what was being shouted from the loudspeaker. They could understand individual words, but they couldn’t grasp the meaning when they were put together.

When did their garment factory close down? It couldn’t have been in the past two days. Their factory director took away 35 million and ran away. 

Wait a minute! That was not right! Their factory director’s surname wasn’t He, but the director of the Jiangnan Leather Factory next door was named He or something like that.

They couldn’t help but approach Jiang Bai and Tong Jingang’s small stall.

That street was full of various stalls. Most people didn’t allow stalls to be set up in front of their homes, but Jiang Bai’s clothes stall was set up in front of Aunt Jiang’s house.

Aunt Jiang’s family operated a fruit shop that also sold some New Year’s goods. So, when people bought New Year’s goods, they still habitually went to check that store. They believed it was cheap, good quality, and not a scam. But with the reform and opening up, more people started buying New Year’s goods elsewhere. Many self-employed traders began to appear, and more people came to buy from private homes. As long as they didn’t cheat people, they would have regular customers who were willing to come to their home to shop.

At that time, Aunt Jiang’s door was crowded with people, all attracted by the sound of Jiang Bai’s loudspeaker. Some people, unable to squeeze in, went to Aunt Jiang’s shop first to see if there were any suitable New Year’s goods to buy.

Aunt Jiang’s father-in-law and mother-in-law were a little unhappy when they saw Jiang Bai coming over to use their power strip. With a sullen expression on Zhang Wanniang’s face, Aunt Jiang pretended not to notice and greeted her nephew with a smile, “Where did you get so many clothes to sell so cheaply?”

She found a power strip for her nephew and helped him with the wires. When she saw that he had brought an electric iron, she said, “You know how to iron clothes? Give it to me. I’ll do it.”

“No, no, Aunt, you go about your business. I’ll iron it.”

During the Chinese New Year, every business in Shuibu Town was very busy. Aunt Jiang had been working since morning and hadn’t taken a break. It was still early. Tong Jingang and Jiang Bai had discussed the night before that they would bring the clothes to Shuibu Town to sell after the holiday.

Tong Jingang’s brain was more active than Jiang Bai’s. Seeing that the clothes earned too little, he spontaneously learned to raise the price, increasing each item by ten yuan.

But that price was still better than the prices in the stores in Shuibu Town.

For example, down jackets and jackets were priced at 150 or 160 yuan each in the store. If someone didn’t know how to bargain, they’d buy at the original price. The merchant would make a ton of money on one piece. If they met someone who knew how to bargain, they’d cut the price in half and sell it for 78 or 71 yuan. They could still make twenty or thirty yuan per piece and still make a lot of money.

At the time, they saw a shop selling everything for thirty-nine or forty-nine yuan. Many young people and men who didn’t know how to bargain crowded at the door of Aunt Jiang’s shop, taking her business with them. Things had improved a lot, and Aunt Jiang’s mother-in-law smiled from ear to ear.