On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Tang Yue planned to visit Mrs. Mo, but Mrs. Mo was nowhere to be seen in the village, and Mo Siyu was also gone.
She indirectly inquired from Tang Mingli, and heard that Mo Siyu had to leave unexpectedly.
"Xiao Yue, that’s odd, why are you inquiring about him?" Tang Mingli joked as he looked at Tang Yue, noting her well-developed figure, and commented non-stop: "Si Yu and I are of the same age, you are six years younger than me, although you are a bit younger, the age difference isn’t much."
"Little uncle, you should find yourself a little aunt first." Tang Yue glared at him and swiftly changed the subject by asking, "Little uncle, are you planning to continue renting a stall this year?"
"The rent for the stall has gone up, and moreover, it’s particularly troublesome to display clothes when it rains."
When it came to serious matters, Tang Mingli immediately dropped his joking demeanor and earnestly said, "I’m thinking of renting a shop on Xinlou Road. This way, there will be a permanent location, and we wouldn’t have to move clothes back and forth."
The clothes stock kept increasing, and the stall could no longer satisfy the demand.
Xinlou Road, for the next ten to twenty years, that would be the busiest street, even when Wangjiang County continued to expand, Xinlou Road remained the busiest street.
"Xinlou Road is great." Tang Yue immediately perked up and asked, "Did you find a shop there? It’s a pity I’m still in school, otherwise, I could help manage the shop."
"Just focus on your studies." Tang Mingli smiled warmly at her, making Tang Yue feel a bit uneasy.
"Xiao Yue, I did the calculations before the New Year, we’ve made quite a lot of money in the last six months, and your share of the profit is US$ 900," Tang Mingli explained: "I didn’t tell you before the New Year because I was thinking of letting you invest the US$ 900 back into the shop, and then share the shop’s future profits."
"Little uncle, that’s quite a lot of money for me." Tang Yue said with a laugh, then became serious and said, "Little uncle, I actually didn’t help much, I just helped sell some clothes. Taking so much money makes me uneasy; you should keep it."
"No way, without your ideas, how could I have made this money? Besides, I didn’t pay you for helping on weekends, this money is rightfully yours."
Tang Mingli refused, saying, "Xiao Yue, not to hide it from you, this time I am thinking of opening two shops next to each other, one selling children’s clothes and another selling women’s clothes. The women’s clothing profits will be shared with you, and for the children’s clothes, I won’t share."
"Oh, little uncle, how did you come up with the idea of selling children’s clothing?" Tang Yue, who was reborn, naturally knew that selling children’s clothing was very profitable. Many people are reluctant to buy clothes for themselves, but are willing to spend for their children’s clothing.
"I’ve seen many people asking to buy children’s clothing, and last time when I went to stock up, Sister Wei mentioned that her cousin is wholesaling children’s clothing. I took a look and they were really nice, so I thought for sure someone would buy them." Tang Mingli’s face inadvertently flushed slightly while mentioning this cousin.
Tang Yue was focused on the clothing business and did not notice this, she suggested: "Little uncle, when you look at the shop, try to rent it for a longer period, and if possible, buy it."
"Why buy the shop?" Tang Mingli felt buying was a bit extravagant.
"Little uncle, just think, if in the future people all start businesses on Xinlou Road, owning the property would mean you could just collect rent, and that wouldn’t be little."
"You’re thinking too far ahead, I inquired about the rent, it’s US$ 300 per year, quite a few times more expensive than the stall, but, it has a door and can be locked, which is convenient." Tang Mingli was determined to do this, having thoroughly investigated everything.
"How much would it cost to buy the shop? Would it be for sale?" Tang Yue immediately followed up.
"It should be for sale, I guess, but who buys these days? Isn’t everyone renting?" Tang Mingli questioned, puzzled.
Three days later, when Tang Mingli went to rent the shop, remembering what Tang Yue had said, he inquired about buying the shop. Since it was government-owned, few people were looking to buy, and Tang Mingli was actually the first to inquire about a purchase. The person casually mentioned a price of US$ 1,000.
Tang Mingli thought it over; renting for a year would be US$ 300, three years would amount to US$ 900, and buying the shop meant it would always be his.
But with this US$ 1,000, buying the shop, if it couldn’t be rented out, wouldn’t it just be a waste?
Finally, Tang Mingli bit the bullet, spent US$ 1,000, bought a shop and also rented another. The money earned in the latter half of the previous year was nearly halved in an instant.
Tang Mingli felt the pinch, holding the purchase contract that now bore his name, he felt somewhat more at ease—the shop was now his, after all.
In the future, even if he didn’t go into business himself, just renting it out, it might take three to five years to break even, but surely it would within six or seven years?
When Tang Ming heard about this, his desire to earn money grew even stronger.
With the money, she could buy several shops, depending on them in the future, she could also become a happy landlady.
On the tenth day of the Lunar New Year, Tang Zhengde and his family went to the county and opened their doors for business.
Tang Zhengde picked up his craft of making buns and steamed bread, aside from cooking noodles and rice in the morning, he also sold steamed buns and bread, which meant waking up at three or four in the morning to make them; it was harder.
According to Tang Yue’s idea, just serving breakfast and some simple dishes, but Tang Zhengde was reluctant; he wanted to sell steamed buns, the hardship didn’t matter as long as it brought in money.
Tang Yue silently looked at her clothing design sketches hidden in her notebook, always kept hidden with no opportunity to be used. If they could be turned into real products, they would certainly make money, better than going to the Provincial City for supplies.
In the morning, after helping finish up, Tang Yue went out around ten to look for tailors. Even if she couldn’t find a garment factory, she would first find a tailor to make the clothes she wanted. If people placed orders, any money earned would be beneficial.
Tang Yue wasn’t too familiar with Wangjiang County; she mostly frequented her school, Tang Mingli’s stall, and her parents’ shop, not venturing much elsewhere. Today, she purposely wandered around the streets and alleys, many large supermarkets and residential areas of future generations were yet to be built.
Tang Yue spotted several tailor shops and eventually chose to enter a shop run by a young woman.
"Do you want to make clothes?" The young woman smiled as she stood up, her face friendly and appearing easy to get along with.
"Yes." Tang Yue nodded, thinking this young woman not only looked young but also seemed clever, and should be able to make the clothes she wanted.