On the second day, Liang Hongmei returned from the morning market and spent the whole morning washing clothes.
As for buying the television, both siblings sensibly kept quiet. Such an expensive TVâif Liang Hongmei got wind of it, sheâd definitely disapprove.
Shi Lan, knowing that Lin Wanâs family had bought a washing machine, stopped making soy sauce and curiously went to Momâs house to check it out.
Mom was generous; she had washed all the dirty clothes already, just to show Shi Lan how to use it. She brought out clean clothes from inside and put them in.
So, step by step, she washed and explained, then washed again.
"See, just like this, wring it a bit, it automatically spins the clothes half-dry. Come winter, Little Star wonât need to air dry diapers anymore. Just a spin, and soon itâs dry."
"This thing is really amazing. You tell me, who invented this? Whatâs going on in their head?" Shi Lan marveled.
Lin Wan sat with Little Star, laughed to herself for quite a while, not wanting to interact with the two of them.
By mid-morning, several ladies delivering goods arrived. Mom dragged Aunt Liu and Mrs. Xiao Yin to the courtyard to fuss over the washer with the two of them. It was obvious sheâd give them a demonstration.
Her mom seemed possessed, and the few watching were no different.
So, after a morning of novelty, the delivery folks left with smiles and chatter. By noon, Mom headed to the store.
In the afternoon, Su Ling came over with her Tiger and Yin Peibai.
Yin Peibai needed to deliver goods to the store. Before coming, sheâd asked Ye Zi what was needed.
Aside from delivering to department stores and a few supply and marketing cooperatives, everything else was direct stocking at the store.
So, the store must keep sufficient stock. Ye Zi and her sisters took turns managing the store daily, becoming quite familiar with the business.
Knowing the lowest price per item, if faced with major customers and uncertain, one just calls Lin Wan.
"Alright, you two must hurry up. I canât handle two kids for long." Su Ling and Lin Wan were eager to take a stroll after spending all day with the kids. Today, Su Ling managed to persuade the three of them that Yin Peibai should stay home with the kids while Lin Wan and Su Ling visited the store.
"Donât worry, weâll come back as soon as weâve sorted the accounts. If you canât manage, you can push them to Shi Lanâs place. Sheâs busy there making soy sauce now. You can go chat at her house." These days, Su Ling and Yin Peibai had gotten to know Shi Lan.
Moreover, Shi Lan and Yin Peibai got along well, mainly because they shared topics about kids.
"Alright, go have fun; with Xiao Lan here, come back whenever you want."
"Sure, no problem." Su Ling was nearly worn out coping with kids. Her Tiger was quite a handful, not easy to manage.
Never mind she worked daytime shifts and night school in the evenings, thus not always caring for them; still, at night, they slept with her and her husband, but even then it was challenging.
At times, she quite admired her mother-in-law, who looked after the children during the day and occasionally managed to sew clothes.
Lin Wan and Su Ling arrived at the store when Ye Zi and her friend Lu Lu had just seen off a customer from out of town. Ye Zi was doing accounts.
"Sister Xiao Wan, Sister Ling, perfect timing; weâre running short on stock right now." Ye Zi finished her entries, turned, smiled broadly on seeing them, "Shirts and vests have been selling especially well recently. Also, two styles of capri pants. That person just took the last few items; now thereâs none left in the store."
"Luckily, I brought more in." Lin Wan had various shirts for sale this time; with the moderate weather, she decided to introduce loose fabric vests. Just three styles available.
These three are iconic classics. Instantly likable, and theyâre not expensive.
Of course, Lin Wan wanted to sell knitwear, but itâs slow to make by hand, simply unable to meet demand.
Ye Zi and her sisters have kept their hands busy since selling over a hundred sweaters last year.
"Sister Xiao Wan, hereâs the accounts for the past two days; check them over."
"Okay."
Lin Wan took the ledger and handed it to Su Ling, asking her to verify at the store.
Meanwhile, she pulled Lu Lu aside to ask, "Have you noticed recently whatâs selling best on the street?"
Lu Lu proudly raised her head, smiled, "Except for our clothes, havenât seen anything else selling well."
Lin Wan laughed, patted her head gently, "Fine, if you notice anything selling better than ours, be sure to let me know."
"Got it, Sister Xiao Wan."
Lin Wan asked this because she wanted to quickly understand market trends, see what sells best. Then, she could design something even better ourselves.
After staying a while in the store, Lin Wan and Su Ling rushed home by bike.
Yin Peibai was chatting with the kids at Shi Lanâs house.
In two days, they made over 400 yuan in sales. After reporting and completing the accounts in her room, Lin Wan finalized plans with Su Ling and Yin Peibai.
Summer is approaching; they need to start planning the summer collection early.
This week they must decide on the designs. Production will commence next week.
In the evening, Li Congnan and Lin Yinghui returned carrying two new 28-inch color TVs. Following them was a charming young lady; Lin Wan instantly knew who it was.
She hurriedly greeted them, "Brother Congnan, is this Sister-in-law?"
Li Congnan shyly nodded with a smile.
"Wang Yueâe, my fiancĂ©e."
"Hello Sister-in-law Yueâe, Iâm Lin Wan, usually Brother Li calls me Sister Lin. You can call me Sister Lin too."
"Congnan has mentioned you; although we havenât met, I feel like I already know you." Wang Yueâe smiled, glanced at Little Star in Lin Wanâs arms, "This is Little Star, right? So cute. Come, let Aunt hold you."
Little Star was used to freely mingling and didnât mind strangers; anyone could hold her. Whenever someone new held her, sheâd get quite excited.
With her arms free, Lin Wan eagerly invited Wang Yueâe inside to sit, while she casually ran to her brotherâs side, to see her new TVs.
"My friend had something come up today, couldnât make it to help install the antenna. So to avoid making Sister Lin wait, I personally came to help with the setup."
Listening to Li Congnanâs bragging, Lin Wan didnât bother revealing the truth.
Once the TV was in place, Lin Wan and Wang Yueâe watched, while Brother and Brother Congnan climbed onto the roof to adjust the antenna.
They fiddled for ages, only producing snowy images, yet everyone was excited. Even watching the snow felt like a great enjoyment.
Finally, they tuned in four channelsâone local and three central ones. After much effort, they found the best position.
.
One channel was airing "Legend of the Condor Heroes."
Released just in February, and it was popular at this moment.
"Color TV is so much more comfortable to watch than the black-and-white ones. Look at how big and clear it is." Wang Yueâe probably had a black-and-white TV at home, suddenly noticing the color one, losing interest in hers.
Li Congnan walked beside her, "I also got you a color one. Once weâre married, you can watch it at home every day."
"Hmm," Wang Yueâe blushed, bowed her head.
Lin Yinghui felt a bit sour on the side, seeing classmates all settled down, while he still dealt with his future in-laws diplomatically.