I never realized before just how crafty Qi Lei could be.
This guy is definitely a born profiteer!
First, he went through the entire underground shopping mall, visiting every wholesale stall that sold socks to get a feel for the market.
In the eyes of the other two guys, it was completely unnecessary!
In 1998, although the commodity economy was already quite developed, it was still relatively limited.
Especially in a small place like Shangbei, the types of socks accepted by ordinary people were just a few.
There were three main styles for summer: low-cut socks, athletic socks, and women’s long and short pantyhose.
There were also three materials: nylon, cotton, and polyester.
And three more aspects: quality, color, and pattern.
With so few options, was it really necessary to visit every single stall?
But Qi Lei didn’t skip a single one. He even took out a small notebook and meticulously recorded the prices, styles, and quality of each stall.
After running around for over three hours, Tang Yi and Wu Ning were so exhausted they could barely lift their feet.
Finally, Qi Lei shortlisted a few wholesale stalls as potential options and began asking each one for detailed information.
And the way he asked about prices was downright bizarre—utterly exasperating.
At the first stall, the owner was a young woman who was quite arrogant. Seeing Qi Lei dressed like a student, she couldn’t be bothered to pay him any attention.
It couldn’t be helped. The old underground mall was like this not just in the ’90s but even a decade later. The vendors weren’t worried about business; their stalls were so busy that customers had to queue up just to get in.
Even though it was already noon, the stall was still packed with people—some were out-of-town wholesalers, while others were just browsing and buying small quantities.
Qi Lei finally found an opening and squeezed up to the young woman. Pointing to a few items in his notebook, he got straight to the point.
“How much for these nylon socks and these athletic socks?”
The woman was impatient. Why didn’t he just pick up a sample and ask?
She glanced down. “Whoa!?”
His notebook was filled with dense writing. After finally making out the two types he was pointing to, she casually quoted the retail price: “Two yuan forty, three yuan fifty.”
Her attitude was poor, but the prices weren’t unreasonable. In Shangbei, these two types of socks usually retailed for 3 to 5 yuan, so the wholesale mall’s prices were fair.
“Oh.”
Qi Lei responded innocently, still studying his notebook without looking up, then turned and walked out.
“Hey!?” The woman was furious. “Whose unlucky kid is this? If you’re not buying, why are you causing trouble?”
Qi Lei pretended not to hear. Under the bewildered gazes of Tang Yi and Wu Ning, he left the stall, wandered around for a bit, did nothing, and then went back in, still holding his notebook.
“How much is the wholesale price for this… and this?”
It was the same two types of socks, but this time he was asking for the wholesale price.
The woman saw it was him again and thought, “Is this kid crazy?”
But she had indeed quoted him the retail price earlier.
Without further ado, she said, “Wholesale is one yuan eighty, two yuan fifty.”
The nylon socks were 60 cents cheaper, and the pure cotton athletic socks were a full yuan cheaper.
“Oh.” Qi Lei lowered his head and walked out again.
The woman felt like rushing over and scratching his face. She muttered angrily, “Whose brat is this? Doesn’t act like a man at all!”
Meaning Qi Lei was too indecisive and inefficient.
Qi Lei remained his usual self, acting as if the comments weren’t about him, and walked away without even pausing.
After wandering around outside for about ten minutes, he came back again.
“If… if we buy in bulk…”
Before he could finish his sentence, the young lady truly lost her patience.
She was so busy she hadn’t even eaten, so how could she have time to deal with a bratty kid?
She raised her voice and shouted, “Are you buying or not?”
Qi Lei blinked his big eyes, “I don’t know if I’m buying yet! I have to ask the price first!”
This infuriated the young lady, “Get out! I don’t have time for you!”
That was just the service attitude of that era—take it or leave it!
Qi Lei wasn’t willing to give up, “Sister, don’t be angry. My mom is busy over there and can’t get away, so she sent me to ask. I don’t really understand either—she told me what to ask, so I’m just asking!”
The young lady glared, “What’s with your family? Why is buying stock so complicated? Did the whole family come out or something?”
This drew quiet laughter from the customers in the shop—it was indeed rare to see someone bring a child to purchase wholesale goods.
And Qi Lei still wore that infuriatingly cute expression.
“No choice! My mom is buying a lot of stuff and can’t handle it all.”
The young lady was defeated. This little brat was shameless—she couldn’t scold him or hit him.
It seemed that if she didn’t handle this kid properly, she wouldn’t be able to do business.
Gritting her teeth, she said, “What don’t you understand? Ask!”
Qi Lei was delighted, “My mom asked me to find out what the price would be for bulk purchases.”
“Bulk purchases?” The young lady raised her eyebrows. How much bulk could he possibly mean?
Socks, after all, weren’t high-volume items. Heilongjiang Province wasn’t a major wholesale hub like Guangdong or Zhejiang—it was mostly local retailers coming here to stock up.
Most of them were small-scale vendors setting up street stalls. Buying five or ten pairs of a single style already counted as wholesale. They’d take them back to sell, always afraid of getting stuck with unsold inventory.
After all, summer goods would sit for over half a year if they missed the season, and by the next year, the styles would be outdated.
So it was tricky. Despite the many customers, aside from retail sales, wholesale purchases were usually just a dozen or several dozen pairs.
She looked at Qi Lei and said, “For orders of twenty pairs or more per style, you can get another ten cents off.”
Another ten cents off would make the unit prices 1.7 and 2.4 yuan.
“Oh.” This time, Qi Lei didn’t turn and leave immediately. Instead, he smiled sweetly and said, “Then I’ll go back and tell my mom. Thank you, sister!”
The young lady relaxed—finally, he was leaving!
And the resentment in her heart had been gradually worn away by Qi Lei. Her tone softened, “Go on. Next time, you can call me Sister Zhou or Sister Tao.”
She watched Qi Lei leave the shop, didn’t think much of it, and went back to her business.
Meanwhile, after Qi Lei left the store, Tang Yi looked at him suspiciously, “What’s with you going back and forth? Got diarrhea or something?”
Wu Ning also scoffed, “So indecisive! Just go in and ask the price. If you’re buying, then buy. If not, forget it. What’s all the fuss about?”
The two had been watching from outside for a while, and this guy was acting like he had a problem.
But Qi Lei just smirked coldly, “Hah, it’s not that simple! With your immature look, she’d totally rip you off!”
Wu Ning retorted, “Bull!”
Qi Lei couldn’t be bothered with him, “If you don’t believe me, go try it yourself. We’ll meet back here later.”
With that, he started visiting the second shop, again going in and out, in and out. It took several trips before he finally got the bottom price.
By the time he returned to Zhou Tao’s shop, an hour had passed. He saw Wu Ning and Tang Yi gritting their teeth, looking furious.
They had actually listened and gone to try it themselves.
Claiming they were buying athletic socks for the school team, with the same specifications Qi Lei had inquired about, they boldly asked for fifty pairs.
However, the salesgirl, seeing they were just two young boys, raised her eyelids and quoted a price significantly higher than what Qi Lei had been offered—almost reaching the retail price.
The two refused to believe it and went to other stores, only to find similar situations. Seeing they were just kids easy to fool, none offered a low price.
Fuming, the two sat there sulking for a long time. “Damn it! Not a single decent person among them!”
Tang Yi: “Her chest is pretty big, so how come she’s not a good person?”
To this, Qi Lei only shook his head silently. This society was far from what they could comprehend in their student days—it was much more complex than they imagined.
…