Chapter 72: 90: A Family by the Spring Chapter 72 Night Market, Selling Clothes

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

"Cough, cough."

The female cousin choked, coughing awkwardly twice.

"Uncle's free tonight, let him help pull the goods first."

Lin Xiyu found it funny and helped her come up with an idea: "With an adult backing you, Grandma will feel reassured; otherwise she definitely won't agree to setting up a stall at the night market late at night."

"Mm-hmm, you're right."

The female cousin's eyes lit up, nodding repeatedly.

"When did your classmate say you could pick up the goods at her place?"

"Anytime works; if Uncle has time, we can go tonight."

"Wait until Uncle gets back, ask him first if he has time."

Lin Xiyu plotted: "If he agrees, I'll help you talk to Grandma..."

"Good younger sister, I love you so much."

The female cousin was moved to tears, pouting her lips as she lunged over: "Come, give me a kiss..."

"No, it's too hot."

Lin Xiyu dodged aside, her disdainful little expression only spurring the female cousin on more.

"I want to kiss, I'm definitely going to kiss..."

The two sisters laughed and joked inside the telephone booth, their clear, pleasant girlish laughter audible even across the courtyard wall.

"Aiyo, these two kids..."

Grandma sat under the grape vine enjoying the cool air; hearing the laughter, she smiled helplessly—seemingly disdainful, but actually full of pampering.

—

Night fell, brilliant lights gradually illuminating the city's night. Along both sides of Quancheng Road, snack stalls were wreathed in smoke.

People busy all day, their favorite way to pass the hot summer, was to stand by the roadside barbecue stalls, eating mutton skewers and drinking several cups of ice-cold draft beer.

That coolness, gulped down and chilling from within, made one helplessly intoxicated.

With Uncle backing them, Grandma indeed agreed to set up a stall at the night market. Uncle and niece picked up goods from the female cousin's classmate's home, riding their bikes to Quancheng Road.

The night market was concentrated in the middle section of Quancheng Road, right next to Furong Street, where crowds were densest.

Good spots were occupied year-round; stall vendors followed unspoken rules and wouldn't easily break the status quo.

Uncle worked at the hotel and understood the principle of harmony bringing prosperity.

With no good spots left, they could only stop at a place with a streetlamp at the very edge of the night market.

"Here?"

The female cousin was somewhat dissatisfied: "All around are barbecue stalls, few people strolling to buy clothes—can we even sell anything?"

"If no one buys, forget it, go home and sleep."

Uncle deep down didn't believe his niece had the talent to do business and make money on her own.

"I won't."

The female cousin saw through Uncle's perfunctoriness, feeling a stifled anger in her heart.

"We've come all this way."

Lin Xiyu smiled to ease the atmosphere: "Let's set up the rack first; who knows, maybe we'll have good luck and sell something."

"Fine."

Uncle parked the tricycle, picked up the rack, and started working.

Lin Xiyu helped straighten the clothes and hung them on the rack.

Their first time setting up a stall, the goods they took on credit weren't many—summer tank tops, skirts, and pants, in both men's and women's styles, with average workmanship and materials, cheap prices at ten yuan each, suitable for selling at the night market.

"Xiyu, come here, let me tell you..."

The clothes were hung, and after waiting a long time not a single person came; the female cousin grew anxious, tugged irritably at her hair, her gaze falling on her graceful younger sister, and suddenly a bright idea struck her.

"Pick a set of clothes you like from the stall, put it on, and walk around the barbecue stalls..."

"Huh?"

Lin Xiyu was very unwilling: "Is that okay?"

"Listen to Sister..."

The female cousin pressed both hands hard on her shoulders, entrusting her with a heavy responsibility: "Whether we two can succeed and earn our first pot of gold in life depends on you."