“I’m here to buy buttons. Your Director Big Belly already knows about it, so I thought I’d ask whether your factory director is around.”
Zhou Yuwei lowered her voice as she spoke.
Although this was still the era of the planned economy, as long as you had the right connections, it was still possible to quietly purchase goods and resell them.
Otherwise, where did people think all those street vendors got their merchandise from?
“The director isn’t here.”
Zhou Yuwei’s eyes immediately lit up.
“Then would it be convenient for you…?”
“How much merchandise do you want?”
At this point, she was just a young girl looking to buy stock. If she wanted merchandise, he could sell it to her.
It wasn’t as if she would be purchasing a huge quantity.
“I only have three thousand yuan. Please arrange whatever you think is suitable. It’d be best if there were more varieties.”
“Alright. You’re from Beijing?”
“Yes.”
“You planning to set up a street stall?”
He’d heard there were quite a few people doing that over there.
“To be honest, yes.”
“Then how about this? I’ll sell you three thousand yuan worth of the merchandise you want, and I’ll also give you another three thousand yuan worth of some new products our factory just developed. If you can sell them, then when you come back next time to buy stock, you can pay me for them. If you can’t sell them, just return them the next time you come.”
“Can I take a look at the buttons first?”
Opportunities that seemed to fall from the sky weren’t always blessings. Sometimes the pie might be delicious; sometimes it might be hiding danger. If she wasn’t careful, she could end up with serious indigestion.
“Come inside and have a look.”
Wu Xianjin led the way.
“Sure. Please, lead on.”
Zhou Yuwei followed him into the factory showroom.
There were all kinds of buttons on display, in every imaginable style.
Wu Xianjin opened a display cabinet and took out several newly designed buttons.
There were round metal buttons, high-end black crystal buttons, and even pearl buttons with a distinctly British style.
To be honest, he had developed these after studying foreign magazines.
Yet nobody wanted them.
They were obviously excellent products, but no one dared place orders for them.
“These are the ones you’re talking about?”
Zhou Yuwei picked up the buttons and examined them carefully.
“That’s right. What do you think?”
“They’re great.”
She nodded and agreed immediately.
“I should tell you in advance—these aren’t easy to sell.”
He wasn’t actually counting on this young girl to help him move the stock. He was merely giving it a try.
He wasn’t holding out much hope anyway.
After paying and collecting her merchandise, Zhou Yuwei carried two large sacks and left the same way she had come in.
“Director Big Belly, is that young lady really your relative?”
The factory accountant, Yu Jing, looked at Wu Xianjin curiously.
“Whether she is or not depends on how well she sells those goods before her next visit.”
Yu Jing laughed.
Outside the wall, Zhou Yulan paced back and forth anxiously.
Who knew what was happening to Yuwei inside?
What if someone mistook her for a thief and caught her?
The more she thought about it, the more nervous she became.
Just as she was considering climbing over the wall herself to look for her sister—
“Sis, are you still there?”
The moment she heard Zhou Yuwei’s voice, Zhou Yulan immediately responded.
“Yuwei? Is that you?”
“Sis, stand farther back. Don’t let the bags hit you.”
A sack suddenly flew over the wall.
Zhou Yulan hurriedly jumped aside.
A moment later, another sack came sailing over.
Watching from a distance, Wu Xianjin finally understood how she had gotten into the factory.
So she’d climbed in from here.
Still…
That young woman was astonishingly strong.
Each sack weighed at least dozens of pounds, yet she was casually tossing them over the wall as though they weighed nothing.
My, my…
“The world really is full of surprises.”
“Who would’ve thought such a beautiful young woman could be this terrifying? Truly, you can’t judge a person by appearance, just as the sea can’t be measured with a bucket. The ancients really didn’t lie.”
Wu Xianjin shook his head and turned away.
“Where did you get all this?”
Zhou Yulan stared at the sacks in disbelief.
“Of course I bought them fair and square inside.”
Zhou Yulan: …
And you call that fair and square?
The sisters hailed a three-wheeled cargo bicycle.
“To the train station.”
“Fifty cents.”
“Deal.”
Zhou Yuwei believed that money wasn’t meant to be hoarded endlessly.
When it needed to be spent, it should be spent.
Otherwise, were two young women really supposed to carry several heavy sacks all the way to the train station on foot?
Wasn’t that just asking for trouble?
Money was important, but the whole purpose of earning it was to make life easier.
Zhou Yulan had initially felt reluctant.
“Sis, if we spend this money, first, we won’t have to exhaust ourselves hauling these bags to the station. Second, we’ll get back to Beijing faster. And the sooner we’re back, the sooner we can start making money.”
Looking at the two enormous sacks, Zhou Yulan nodded.
In any case, she listened to Yuwei.
As far as she was concerned, Yuwei was the smartest person in the entire family.
On the train platform, people moved constantly in every direction.
Zhou Yuwei had Zhou Yulan board first.
Once Zhou Yulan found their seats, she opened the train window and reached out to receive the bags that Zhou Yuwei planned to throw up.
“Sis, stand farther back.”
Obediently, Zhou Yulan stepped aside.
Just as Zhou Yuwei hoisted a burlap sack onto her shoulder and prepared to throw it through the window—
A man suddenly crashed into her.
She immediately lost her balance.
The sack of buttons was about to come crashing down on top of her.
A large hand caught the sack.
At the same time, another hand grabbed her arm and pulled her upright in one swift motion.
Had he not intervened, Zhou Yuwei would likely have ended up either seriously injured or dead.
With so many people rushing back and forth, if she had fallen underfoot and everyone stepped on her, her life would have been over.
It took her quite a while to recover from the shock.
Then she heard a clear, gentle voice.
“Are you alright?”
She looked up.
The man had hair of medium length and exquisitely refined features. His appearance was remarkably distinguished.
That was no ordinary compliment.
After all, Zhou Yuwei had seen countless attractive people in her previous life, especially celebrities on television.
Compared with them, this man was not inferior in the slightest.
In fact, he possessed something they often lacked—a uniquely captivating scholarly elegance.
Their eyes met.
A trace of astonishment flashed through Shen Changfeng’s eyes before he quickly suppressed it.
“Are you alright?”
he asked again.
Zhou Yuwei shook her head.
“She’s certainly beautiful, but she’s not mute, is she? That would be a pity.”
The man who had been holding the sack couldn’t help commenting.
Why hadn’t she said anything for so long?
“Such a beautiful face, and yet…”
He continued rambling for several minutes without stopping.
The man wore a short flat-top haircut and looked exceptionally energetic.
His eyes were bright and lively.
His mouth, however, never seemed to stop moving.
“Changfeng, do you know sign language? Otherwise we won’t be able to communicate.”
Zheng Chenwen set the sack down.
“Weren’t we supposed to lift this through the train window?”
“Thank you.”
The words finally emerged from Zhou Yuwei’s mouth.
“Oh, so you’re not mute. I thought you were some kind of beautiful mute girl.”
Before Zheng Chenwen could continue—
Zhou Yulan, who had been terrified by what she had just witnessed, rushed over to Zhou Yuwei and grabbed her shoulders, inspecting her from head to toe.
“Yuwei, are you alright?”
She had been frightened half to death.
When she saw Zhou Yuwei get knocked over, her soul had practically left her body.
Even now, her eyes were still red.
“Sis, I’m fine.”
Zhou Yuwei quickly comforted her.
Zheng Chenwen walked over to Shen Changfeng and nudged him.
“What kind of luck is this? Not only did we run into a beauty, there are two of them. Looks like they’re sisters, too.”
He considered himself fairly immune to good looks.
After all, he’d spent years being subjected to Shen Changfeng’s face and had gradually become harder and harder to impress.
Yet the two women before him were genuinely striking.
The older sister possessed a gentle, graceful beauty.
As for the younger one—
Enchanting. Absolutely captivating.
Tsk, tsk…
That face was the kind that invited trouble.
While he was observing them, Zhou Yuwei was also observing the two men.
Standing side by side, one was dark and the other pale, making them stand out dramatically in the crowd.
After all, it was rare to find someone tanned that dark.
And just as rare to find a man whose skin was as fair as fresh tofu.
One of them was probably a soldier.
That much could be seen from his bearing and mannerisms.
As for the other…
Under Zheng Chenwen’s openly enthusiastic gaze, Zhou Yulan instinctively retreated several steps.
She really disliked having people stare at them.
“Yuwei…”
Zhou Yuwei immediately sensed her sister’s nervousness and fear.
She had noticed it before.
Her sister was especially afraid of being looked at by men and often kept her head lowered.
“Chenwen, help them load the sacks.”
“Sure thing.”
“There’s no need to trouble yourselves. We can manage ourselves.”
Just as Zhou Yuwei started to refuse, she saw Chenwen effortlessly swing both sacks into the train car.
“Thank you. We’ve really inconvenienced you.”
“It’s nothing.”
Zheng Chenwen waved a hand and grinned.
“Serving the people, after all.”
Toot—Toot—Toot—
“Hurry and board! The train is about to depart!”
The conductor shouted from nearby.
Zhou Yuwei said to them,
“Thank you. If fate allows us to meet again someday, I’ll definitely treat you to a meal and properly repay your kindness.”
They needed to get on the train quickly.
Who knew whether someone might steal their belongings otherwise?
Zheng Chenwen watched the sisters’ backs as they boarded.
“What’s going on with you?”
He nudged Shen Changfeng.
Shen Changfeng glanced at him.
“What do you mean?”
“Didn’t you just say it yourself? Serving the people.”
“Heh…”
Zheng Chenwen laughed outright.
Something was definitely off.
On the surface, Shen Changfeng seemed gentle and courteous, but in reality very few people or things ever caught his attention.
Zheng Chenwen had seen it clearly just now.
His gaze had lingered on that young comrade for several seconds.
Still, he didn’t think much of it.
They were merely strangers who had met on a train platform.
Who knew where the sisters were headed?
Whether they would ever meet again was another question entirely.
“Still not planning to return to your unit?”
“The old man told me to rest for a month. It’s only been a short while. I’m not going back yet. What about you? You’ll be reporting in after this trip, right?”
“Mhm. Uncle Chen wants me to go help him.”
“It’s about time. After spending two years gaining experience at the grassroots level, you’re heading back as the mayor’s secretary.”