An Hao arrived at the neighboring village fair, where the crowd was bustling, filled with performers, vendors, and a street at the village entrance entirely occupied by them.
After enduring a whole winter, people had begun to switch to lighter spring attire, and An Hao noticed that young ladies and married women made up the majority of the crowd on the streets.
The liveliest stalls were those selling food and daily necessities.
It was already the mid-1980s, and people had started to nurture the idea of street vending, which was also encouraged by the state for the labor force to engage in commerce.
In the slightly wealthier villages, aside from the supply and marketing cooperatives, some villagers had set up their own small stores that were doing much better business than the cooperatives.
As An Hao walked along, looking for a place near the entrance of the street to set up a stall, she was stopped by a woman with a pockmarked face who was standing in front of her.
"Hey, are you thinking of setting up a stall here?"
An Hao nodded, "Yeah, big sister, can I set up here? I’ll just take up space for one person."
"No! This place has been paid for by us," the woman flatly refused.
"That can be worked out, big sister. If I occupy the space for one person, can I just cover the fee for one stall?" An Hao cautiously asked.
The woman with the pockmarked face replied coldly, "There’s no need. Don’t set up your stall here. It’s too crowded. Go to the east end of the street, nobody’s there."
"There’s not even a shadow of a person at the east end of the street; even a fool wouldn’t set up a stall there. If you won’t let me, no worries, there’s plenty of space, and it doesn’t lack for one more stall," An Hao retorted angrily and turned to leave.
She refused to believe that she couldn’t find a good spot on this bustling street.
As An Hao was about to walk away, she heard a woman shouting from behind her, "Girl, come to my spot. It’s not better than that big sister’s, but it’s a bit larger. You’ll have enough space for just one person."
"Erchun, you really have no sense. By inviting her over, aren’t you stealing business from yourself?" the woman with the pockmarked face commented. "Why always playing the good Samaritan?"
"It’s fine, big sister. My business isn’t doing that well anyway. Whether she comes or not, as long as I sell even one item, I’m not relying on this solely for income," Erchun said with a smile.
"Thank you so much, Erchun sister," An Hao said excitedly. "I’ll give you half of the stall fee."
"No need, no need. I don’t sell much in a day anyway. It’s boring to sit alone; having someone to talk to is just fine," Erchun said as she cleared a bit of room and helped An Hao set up her stall.
"That girl..." Erchun looked at the goods An Hao brought and was slightly puzzled. "Why are you selling such expensive stuff? I doubt it will sell here?"
An Hao smiled, "Let’s try and see. If I can sell even one, that would be good."
"Big sister, what are you selling?" An Hao glanced at her goods, which included hairbands, rubber bands, hair clips, and handkerchiefs.
"They’re tough to sell," Erchun sighed. "I don’t know what has happened these days; before the New Year it was fashionable to have long braided hair, but now a trend has picked up out of the blue, and all the young ladies and married women are starting to cut their hair short. The hair salons are bustling with business. This batch of goods I just got is now sitting at the bottom of the box. And these handkerchiefs, they’re all over the place. Selling them isn’t easy either."
The biggest fear in business is not finding the right approach.
And then there’s the fear of following trends; in the same line of business, but with different profits. Selling the same goods, you might end up making less money than the others.
"Don’t worry, sister. Business shouldn’t be rushed. Let’s see how things go today. If I sell out, I can help you sell your products," An Hao said, and in her mind, she had already begun to form a plan.