Time-Travel: The Tragic Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character Makes a Comeback

CHAPTER 128: The 1980s Villain’s Biological Mother (21)

　　Hiring two helpers noticeably improved the shop’s efficiency.

　　The pay was 40 yuan a month. Auntie Zhang was so delighted that she could barely stop smiling. She even joked that from now on, all she had to do was iron clothes and she’d be set.

　　The clothes had just been hung up when the female factory workers happened to finish their shifts. Quite a few of them were immediately drawn over by the shop.

　　Mu Shuhui pushed several clothing racks out to the entrance. She divided them into two racks based on quality and type. T-shirts and lightweight fall tops were ten yuan for three, while pants, blouses, tops, skirts, and lightweight jackets were eight yuan each, or fifteen yuan for two.

　　The summer clothes were sold by weight. On average, each piece had only cost a little over one or two yuan. Of course, transportation, rent, labor, and other expenses had to be counted as part of the cost too.

　　The moment the factory women heard the prices, they crowded around the racks and started picking through the clothes.

　　These days, even a random piece of clothing at a department store could cost anywhere from several yuan to more than ten yuan, and customers still had to put up with the sales staff’s attitude. There weren’t nearly as many styles to choose from either. Here, the prices were much more affordable.

　　With so many colorful styles to choose from, everyone was delighted as they held clothes up against themselves to see how they looked.

　　“There are only two or three pieces of each style. Once they’re sold, they’re gone. If you like something, don’t hesitate, or it might be gone when you come back tomorrow.”

　　“Hey, don’t grab that! I had my eye on it…”

　　They sold clothes for over an hour. By the time the sky grew dark, the customers finally trickled away, all satisfied with their purchases.

　　They had sold more than thirty pieces in that short time, with most customers buying the larger items. Altogether, they made 190 yuan.

　　Once the after-work rush was over, Mu Shuhui had the two women bring the clothing racks back inside. She then taught them how to sort and sell the clothes, along with a few sales techniques.

　　The key was to introduce the materials and styles, explain what was good about each piece, and give customers a reason to want to buy it.

　　……

　　The next day, Mu Shuhui had the two women start by ironing clothes while she took the property deed to get the necessary business license and permits. She also named the shop Taotao.

　　She returned around noon, put up the sign, and officially opened for business.

　　Many of the customers from the previous day brought along their relatives and friends, and the shop was packed with people in no time.

　　Mu Shuhui had Wang Qin stand by the entrance to keep an eye out for anyone trying to steal something.

　　Zhang Hong was quick on her feet, so she stayed inside and helped with the sales.

　　Luckily, the two women had ironed plenty of clothes that morning, and almost the entire batch was snapped up during this rush.

　　Once things finally settled down, Mu Shuhui got busy calculating the day’s earnings and recording everything in the ledger.

　　Wang Qin and Zhang Hong hurried back to ironing clothes, worried that they wouldn’t have enough to sell if another crowd came in that afternoon.

　　……

　　The opening rush only lasted about a week before things gradually settled down.

　　In just seven days, the shop had brought in nearly 3,000 yuan.

　　After that, daily sales stabilized at around 50 to 100 yuan.

　　Mu Shuhui contacted Sister Xu again and ordered another batch of fall clothes. Sister Xu also offered to mail her some samples of their new styles, so whenever she wanted to place an order, she could simply give them the style numbers.

　　That made things much more convenient.

　　In less than half a month, Wang Qin and Zhang Hong had already gotten the hang of running the shop.

　　Their daily routine was to introduce styles to customers, iron clothes, sell the merchandise, and record each sale in the ledger.

　　Since the prices were fixed and the clothes were sold by standard quantities, the accounts were clear and easy to keep track of. There was little chance of the numbers not matching up.

　　Mu Shuhui had been busy for nearly half a month and hadn’t had much time to take the children out. So while they were on break, she took them to an amusement park.

　　The weather had recently turned cooler, so she also bought the children several new outfits for the changing season.

　　Mu Youran got the harmonica she had been wanting, while Mu Rufeng got a brand-name fountain pen. Both children were thrilled.

　　Autumn passed in the blink of an eye, and winter arrived. Winters in the north could be bitterly cold.

　　Mu Shuhui’s storefront was doing quite well. Since opening in September, it had made a net profit of seven to eight thousand yuan in just three months.

　　Once the weather turned cold, she didn’t go to the shop as often, only stopping by every other day.

　　Wang Qin and Zhang Hong were both honest and hardworking. The accounts always matched up, the shop was kept spotless, and neither of them had any ulterior motives.

　　Mu Shuhui wanted to make another trip south to look for some goods for the New Year and take advantage of the holiday rush to make a big round of sales.

　　As it happened, Auntie Zhang, who runs the tailor shop, has sold the shop and is currently unemployed at home.

　　She often brought meals to the two women at the shop, and would even bring an extra portion for Mu Shuhui. She also frequently made little curtains for the shop and put a large mat by the entrance to keep customers from tracking dirt inside.

　　She was simply a warm-hearted woman who was incredibly diligent and always seemed to find something to do. She could never sit still whenever there was work to be done.

　　Since Mu Shuhui was heading south, she needed to hire someone to look after the two children at home and paid her for the work. Taking the children along in the middle of winter would make it too easy for them to catch a cold.

　　Auntie Zhang took the job, but flat-out refused to accept any money. She insisted that her daughter and daughter-in-law were lucky enough to have such a good boss, so she absolutely wouldn’t take a cent.

　　Mu Shuhui could only smile helplessly and let the matter drop, though she secretly decided she would give her something once she returned.

　　And so, Mu Shuhui set off for the south for the second time.

　　This time, she didn’t bring the children. With her space, she could simply stuff anything she liked into a burlap sack, carry it away, find somewhere out of sight, and toss it straight into her space.

　　This time, most of what she stocked up on was hats, scarves, gloves, as well as red socks and red underwear. She bought them in both men’s and women’s styles.

　　Besides those, she also bought red hair ties for children, the little hair clips that were popular in the south, headbands, and anything else she thought looked nice. For each style she liked, she bought around a hundred pieces wholesale.

　　She spent two days browsing and stocked up on quite a lot of goods. After that, she went to visit Sister Xu and took the opportunity to look at the styles of clothes for the upcoming New Year.

　　After having lunch with Sister Xu, Mu Shuhui picked out the clothes she wanted that afternoon. Just as Sister Xu was seeing her out of the factory, they spotted Xu Meng at the entrance.

　　Mu Shuhui had originally assumed he was around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, but Sister Xu told her that he was only twenty-four.

　　Xu Meng was a big, burly man who stood nearly 1.9 meters tall, with muscles that were obvious even through his clothes. His features were handsome in a rugged sort of way. When he smiled, he looked a little goofy and harmless, but when he wasn’t smiling, he could look rather intimidating.

　　“Well, look at you! What a rare sight. Did you come all the way here to bring your big sister lunch?”

　　Sister Xu deliberately teased him. She and Mu Shuhui had been doing business together regularly, and after chatting so much, she knew that Mu Shuhui’s husband had died while serving in the military and that she was raising two children on her own.

　　She also knew her younger brother was interested in Mu Shuhui. But he was the only son in the family, and honestly, the elders might not agree to him marrying a widow with children.

　　Unfortunately, the stubborn fool had already made up his mind. The moment he casually heard his sister mention that Mu Shuhui was coming, he came running over.

　　Xu Meng scratched his head. “Comrade Mu, long time no see.”

　　Mu Shuhui smiled politely and replied casually, “Long time no see, Comrade Xu. You look a little thinner than before.”

　　Xu Meng’s cheeks warmed. “Mm. I’ve lost seven or eight jin.”

　　He had done it deliberately. He was worried that Mu Shuhui might find him too big and burly and not like him, so he had been consciously cutting back on how much he ate. He wanted to slim down a little so he would look better.

　　Sister Xu seized the opportunity to chime in with a smile. “Shuhui, this is your second time coming here, but you’ve never been to my house, have you? It’s still early, and you’ll just be sitting around at the hotel anyway. Why don’t you come over to my place for a while? It’s not far.”

　　Since it was a kind invitation, Mu Shuhui accepted out of politeness.

　　Unfortunately, the meal wasn’t a pleasant one. Mu Shuhui had only come to give Sister Xu face and had never thought of her or Xu Meng in that way. Unfortunately, Sister Xu’s parents kept dropping hints and making their opinions clear. Basically, they looked down on her for being a widow raising two children.

　　Mu Shuhui left before she had even finished her meal.

　　Sister Xu followed her out to apologize. She hadn’t expected her parents to come over, let alone for them to run into Mu Shuhui.

　　Xu Meng also came rushing out, slightly out of breath as he apologized. “I’m sorry, Comrade Mu. My parents were just talking nonsense. Please don’t take it to heart. I’m really sorry.”

　　Mu Shuhui had come here to do business, not to look for a relationship and make life difficult for herself.

　　What could a man offer that money couldn’t?

　　She told Sister Xu that it was fine, but she made it clear to Xu Meng that she wasn’t going to get married and didn’t want to pursue a relationship.

　　Xu Meng left dejectedly, while Sister Xu couldn’t help admiring Mu Shuhui’s decisiveness.

　　As a junior leader at the factory, Sister Xu felt that Mu Shuhui hadn’t done anything wrong. Her business was doing so well, so why would she want to get married and make things harder for herself? She already had two children by her side, and there was really no need for her to become a housewife.

　　“My parents are old-fashioned through and through, and they favor sons over daughters. They almost married me off to an old man back then. I worked my butt off and managed to get myself a permanent position at the factory, then fought my way up to where I am today. After getting married, I rarely went back home. I’ve mostly stayed in touch with my younger brother.”

　　Sister Xu smiled as she recounted her past.

　　After hearing this, Mu Shuhui casually said, “Women have to stand on their own two feet. Getting married isn’t the only path in life. We women can carve out a world of our own and live life on our own terms.”

　　“Exactly. Seeing your enthusiasm reminds me of myself back then…”

　　The two women talked for quite a while. Instead of feeling any awkwardness between them, they actually grew closer.

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