It must have been an illusion—his wife was younger than him and quite slender. When she wasn’t angry, she was so gentle!
If he went back, holding such a wife to sleep would be beyond wonderful.
Unfortunately, the dream he was having was about to end soon.
In the afternoon, Yang Yiyang used a bathroom break as an excuse to find a secluded spot and enter the space again, hoping to see what items she could bring out to exchange for money.
To earn money, she needed capital in hand.
She rummaged through all the cabinets in the entire room again but couldn’t find anything that could be quickly converted into cash here.
In the end, she had no choice but to turn her attention back to the box of hair clip crystal bracelets she had bought for the children.
With no other option, she took out a bracelet made of crystal and agate, along with a hair clip.
She realized she couldn’t rely solely on herself—she needed to develop a downline.
Right now, the only person she knew, trustworthy or not, was her cheap husband.
After returning to the ward, Yang Yiyang called Jiang Zihao over.
“Mom, can you take care of yourself alone for now? I’d like Zihao to accompany me for a walk outside.”
Upon hearing this, Mother Jiang thought the young couple wanted to nurture their relationship! Nowadays, everyone talked about free love and such.
Although she didn’t fully understand it, she was happy to see her son and daughter-in-law getting along well.
“Alright, you two go ahead. I’ll be fine—I can manage on my own.”
She then turned to her son and said, “Take Yang Yang around. It’s fine if you come back a little later.”
Yang Yiyang could easily guess what Mother Jiang was thinking.
She could only chuckle inwardly, “You’re overthinking this, really.”
Once outside, they found a quiet, open area with no one around.
Yang Yiyang asked, “Have you thought about how you’ll support your mother and me in the future?”
“You’ve seen it yourself—we used to rely on your father, but from now on, he might not be willing to support three freeloaders anymore.”
Jiang Zihao understood perfectly well, but understanding was one thing—he needed the ability to change things. What man would enjoy being called a freeloader?
Naturally, he was no exception.
Apart from petty theft and mischief, he had no skills. He couldn’t find a job, and he didn’t even like stealing or causing trouble.
But sometimes, to survive, he had no choice but to hang out with those unsavory friends—otherwise, they wouldn’t include him.
He knew he was helpless, but he had noticed that his wife was smarter and more capable than him.
“Wife, do you have any ideas? Tell me, and I’ll do whatever you say.”
Yang Yiyang knew that the college entrance examination would reopen in just over a year.
There would be plenty of money-making opportunities then, but the hardest part was the present.
She took out the bracelet and hair clip from her pocket.
“I found this kind of merchandise this morning, and I know where to get more. Do you think this can be sold? And for how much?”
Jiang Zihao took them and examined them—they were truly beautiful, sparkling like gemstones.
Yang Yiyang said, “These cost one yuan each to acquire. If it were up to you, do you think you could sell them? And for how much each?”
Exactly—she wanted to see if this old tool of hers had any talent for sales. Besides, wasn’t it time to train him? She needed at least one employee to boss around!
Jiang Zihao really did think it over carefully.
He said, “First of all, one yuan per piece for this kind of merchandise is really expensive, but it’s truly beautiful!”
"If my family were wealthy, I'd also be willing to buy such beautiful things for my children and women to wear."
"Then we can't go to the poor areas, only to places where the rich frequent. Besides that one place, there's also the department store."
Yang Yiyang didn't interrupt him. It was truly unexpected that he could identify the product's strengths and selling points on his own.
It seemed he had some brains after all, just no guidance or opportunities.
Yang Yiyang asked him if he knew how to proceed.
Jiang Zihao said, "I don't know. I've never sold anything before, and I don't know who to sell to."
Yang Yiyang explained to him how to find their target customers and how to observe who could afford to buy.
She also shared some sales techniques—what to say in response to certain questions.
Many questions couldn't be answered directly. For example, if someone said, "It's so expensive, can you lower the price a bit?"
The response should be: "Sister, look how elegant it makes you look, it really suits your refined taste," or "This came all the way from Shanghai, and there are only two left. If you miss out, you'll regret it later."
And so on with various sales pitches.
"Tomorrow, I'm going to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative up ahead to sell things. Do you want to come along?"
Only then did Jiang Zihao realize, "You traded with the people at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative for those things today?"
Yang Yiyang nodded.
"If you can sell this batch of goods or find someone to help sell them, once we have some capital, I can figure out other ways to make money."
Jiang Zihao asked again, "Can I take these few items you have now to the Black Market to sell? Don't worry, if they don't sell, I'll definitely bring them back."
After all, with such expensive capital, even if he lost himself, he couldn't lose the goods.
Yang Yiyang thought for a moment. "If you're going to the Black Market, it's best to find a round stick to string these on. If it's too dark inside and someone wants to look, you can buy a flashlight to shine some light on them."
Yang Yiyang thought about how there were still many old objects around nowadays. If they could acquire some, they'd strike it rich in the future.
"If someone wants to trade with old objects, exchange for them."
Jiang Zihao replied without thinking, "What's the use of those things? They can't be eaten or worn."
Yang Yiyang really wanted to crack open his head to see if it was filled with water.
Suppressing her anger, she said, "Haven't you heard the saying, 'Gold in troubled times, antiques in prosperous times'? These old objects will be very valuable in the future. Whatever they are, if you come across them, bring them back for me."
Jiang Zihao thought about how many had been destroyed in the past few years, and no one dared to keep them.
But then he figured, since his wife liked them, he might as well bring them back if he saw any.
"Various coupons are fine too, preferably grain coupons and meat coupons."
In the end, he couldn't find a stick, but he took a towel to string the bracelets on and clipped the hair clips to it.
Jiang Zihao then left.
Yang Yiyang returned to the hospital room to rest and keep an eye on her mother-in-law.
She had already made up her mind: later, she would visit some large factories to see if they had any defective products. If they did, she could purchase some stock and figure out a way to sell them later.
Making a profit from the price difference would be enough. If her mother-in-law really couldn't be tolerated by the Jiang Family, they would either separate or cut ties.
Then they could rent a house, have her mother-in-law cook, or find her a job to pass the time.
If she wasn't mistaken, there would be a fierce battle to fight upon discharge from the hospital.
So these next few days, she had to take good care of herself, eat well, and stay strong.
And that mother-in-law of hers, soft as dough, also needed some reshaping.
As she lay in bed thinking, she heard the hospital room door open, and a woman walked in.
"Mom,"
Then she started crying.
Yang Yiyang thought the woman had come to the wrong place.
She was about to ask, "Who are you?"