CHAPTER 38: CHAPTER 38 BLUEPRINT

Tang Yue gave him a disgusted look and said, "Go home and change your clothes. Your outfit is going to kill our business."

"Where is it dirty?" Tang Mingli shook his clothes, his voice betraying a hint of guilt.

Tang Yue sat in the stall and got up to greet customers.

After Tang Mingli closed up for the evening, Tang Yue asked him, "Uncle, are you going to stock up on goods tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Tang Mingli nodded, but then asked apprehensively, "Xiao Yue, why don’t you come with me?"

"Didn’t we agree that you’d go alone?" Tang Yue asked back, adding, "We’ve already talked it over with Sister Wei; you just need to stock up from her. Her merchandise is always good. Then you can add a little from a few other places."

"Xiao Yue, what if I don’t have a good eye for it?" It was a decision that had been made a long time ago, but Tang Mingli was still nervous. The clothing they sold well before was all thanks to Tang Yue’s keen eye. Now that he was going alone, what if the goods he purchased didn’t sell?

"I’ve talked to Sister Wei. If the goods don’t sell, you can take them back and exchange them," Tang Yue reassured her uncle, who rarely looked so uneasy. She teased him, "Uncle, I’m trying to save us some money here. The more goods you stock up on, the more we can earn. Once we save up a bit, we can look for other ways to make money."

"What ways?" Tang Mingli was thoroughly impressed by his young niece and did not underestimate her because of her age.

Tang Yue held back the details and didn’t share the plan with her uncle.

"Xiao Yue, I’m your dear uncle. You can’t leave me out of money-making schemes." Tang Mingli quickly tried to please, handing her a cup of tea, "Come on, tell me about it."

Tang Yue cleared her throat, took a sip of water, and waited until Tang Mingli became very eager. Then she finally said, "Uncle, do you know if there’s any clothing factory in Wangjiang County? Or even a place that makes clothes?"

"There should be..." Tang Mingli was unsure. Even though he had lived in Wangjiang County for many years, he had never heard of one.

"When you have time, could you find out?" Tang Yue spent every day either at school or at the stall, with no time to inquire, and besides, she wasn’t familiar with Wangjiang County. Learning about the clothing factory would rely on Tang Mingli.

"What do you need that information for?" Tang Mingli looked at Tang Yue, puzzled.

"It has its use," Tang Yue said mysteriously. "Just go and find out, Uncle. I can’t tell you now, but once there’s something concrete, I’ll tell you."

"Alright." Tang Mingli trusted what Tang Yue said, and after the upcoming trip to stock up on goods and getting through the busy National Day, he planned to find out about it for her.

The next day, Tang Mingli helped to move all the clothes to the stall and asked the neighboring hair accessory vendor to keep an eye on Tang Yue before he, with bags under his eyes, headed to the Provincial City to get the goods.

Tang Mingli purposely wore a hat, pulling it down low to avoid being recognized.

As soon as he arrived at Sister Wei’s place, she exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, why are you wearing a hat today?"

Sister Wei had a good memory, especially for Tang Mingli and his niece Tang Yue since they purchased a lot from her store. Her impression was deep. She asked, "Didn’t Xiao Yue come?"

"No." Tang Mingli focused on selecting goods, but Sister Wei noticed the bruise on his eye and expressed concern, "Did you get into a fight?"

"Boss Wei, I’m fine." Tang Mingli cleared his throat, not wanting to discuss it further. Sister Wei didn’t press on but instead fetched a hot egg from the pot and enthusiastically offered it, "Put this egg around your eye. It’ll help reduce the swelling."

"Don’t be shy—honestly, if not for Xiao Yue’s sake, I wouldn’t be so willing to give you this egg," Sister Wei said bluntly as she handed him the egg.

Tang Mingli wasn’t fussy; he simply accepted the egg, thanked her, and continued purchasing goods. This time, instead of short sleeves, he bought a variety of long sleeves and slightly thicker jackets.

Tang Mingli had invested all the money he had made into his purchases, stocking up more than he ever had before.

He lugged several bags of merchandise back to the county and by the time he reached his stall, it was afternoon. He didn’t eat lunch, starving, he asked the moment he arrived at the stall, "Is there anything to eat?"

"There’s porridge." Tang Yue handed him the warm bowl she had been keeping warm, "Uncle, take it easy. Have some porridge to fill your stomach first."

"Okay." Tang Mingli was famished, he drank the big bowl of porridge as if it was water.

Tang Mingli showed each piece of merchandise to Tang Yue. She praised him, "Not bad, uncle. Except for a few items, the rest are pretty good."

"Think they’ll sell?" Tang Mingli asked eagerly.

"Of course." Tang Yue nodded confidently. Waving the day’s earnings in front of him, she happily said, "Uncle, there were so many people for the National Day that I was almost too busy to handle it. It’s great that you’ve brought these clothes—let’s start the stall earlier tomorrow and sell even more."

"Xiao Yue, you’re really my lucky star," Tang Mingli said joyfully, looking at the money, feeling all his hard work for the day was worth it.

During the National Day holiday, Tang Yue was busy non-stop, but the results were evident. In just a few short days, they had sold over half of the stock Tang Mingli had brought in.

Watching his money double, Tang Mingli felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction. In this short period, he had earned more than he did in months.

"Uncle, aren’t you a bit too easily content?" Seeing his satisfaction, Tang Yue couldn’t help but plan their future, "My dream is to open a boutique on the busiest street in Jing City, um, and also a studio, even have our clothing factory, to create our own clothing brand. I want everyone in the country to know about the clothes I design."

"Ah..." Tang Mingli looked at her in shock.

"Designing clothes, that’s not something everyone can do, right?" Tang Mingli was tactful in his response.

A boutique on Jing City’s busiest street?

Even though he was not clear what a boutique was, what about Jing City?

That’s the capital of Huaxia, where, he’d heard, houses were extremely expensive.

Could they afford to open a store there?

Not to mention building their own clothing factory and establishing their own brand, and making it known nationwide.

Deep down, Tang Mingli felt an odd sense of excitement. Even though it seemed like a pipe dream, a daydream, why did his heart flutter with excitement?