Chapter 442: I

"Hey, Auntie, come take a look! The most stylish coats from Hong Kong, we're the only ones in all of Qingshui County. Only forty yuan."

"Forty yuan isn't expensive. Once you put it on, you'll look just like that Feng Chengcheng. If you don't believe me, try it on."

"Big Brother, Big Brother, do you want a trench coat like Xu Wenqiang's? It comes with a hat and scarf, a whole set from Hong Kong. If you don't believe me, take a look. Pengcheng is right next to Hong Kong; you can get here in a single step."

"."

"Don't laugh at me. I'm young, but that has nothing to do with the quality of these clothes. You just need to look at whether the clothes look good or not; don't look at me."

"Alright, alright, alright, I'll give you an eighty-cent discount. I can't go any lower. We aren't making any money; we're just doing it for the scene."

Li Ye had followed Li Ying today, not expecting the little girl to "show off her skills," and even less expecting that the skill she spoke of was setting up a stall to sell clothes.

Li Ying squeezed past Shuan Zi, who was clearly a novice, and the tiny person stood behind the stall, calling out to customers at the top of her lungs, quickly drawing a round of laughter.

But Li Ying wasn't intimidated at all; she haggled with customers with a straight face, and before long, she had the business running.

Li Ye sat on a small stool behind the stall, watching coldly, and discovered that in just a short while, Li Ying had actually sold over a dozen pieces of clothing.

Li Ye narrowed his eyes and asked Han Chunmei, "Has Xiao Ying often come out to set up stalls with you before?"

"No, no," Han Chunmei said hurriedly, "Before, she said she was helping her classmates buy some clothes, so I gave them to her at cost. It wasn't until my sister looked for me that I found out she was doing business at school, and then it happened much less."

Li Ye hummed a laugh, pointed at the busy Li Ying, and said, "You haven't brought her along? Then how does she know the market for these clothes? And looking at her, she doesn't look like it's her first day practicing at a stall, either?"

"."

Han Chunmei's face twisted, and in the end, she had to say awkwardly, "Our county has a market every five days. At those times, Xiao Ying would always run over to find me. Sometimes she'd even run over during recess."

"At first, she just watched from the side, but later, sometimes she helped call out to customers. I really didn't want her to learn this, but she threatened me, saying that if I chased her away, she'd have you chase me away."

Oh, my!

Li Ye was truly impressed. Li Ying was small but sharp; she had even learned to use the power of others to intimidate.

The county did indeed have a big market every five days, and the market was just one street away from the middle school Li Ying attended—a two-minute run. Didn't that just create the perfect learning conditions for this little girl?

And the fact that Han Chunmei could grow her business was indeed due to Li Ye's connection. If Li Ye were to say a word to An Xiaoxu and the others, Han Chunmei's business would likely not be able to continue.

So Han Chunmei really couldn't do anything about Li Ying.

Seeing that there was no expression on Li Ye's face, Han Chunmei felt uneasy and could only whisper, "I've advised Xiao Ying many times to take you, the top scholar, as her role model, to study hard and not do this kind of unseemly work. But she says she isn't afraid of losing face."

"I have no choice. My sister mentioned it once last month, but my sister just gave her a beating, and it didn't do much good. You have many ideas, top scholar; can you think of a way?"

Li Ye shook his head slowly and said, "All roads lead to Rome; setting up a stall to sell things isn't losing face."

"."

Han Chunmei was stunned. She didn't know where Rome was, but the three words "not losing face" truly surprised her and made her feel warm inside.

Ever since Han Chunmei started setting up her stall two years ago, the couple had been working from dawn till dusk, rain or shine. In two years, they had earned quite a bit of money.

At the beginning, the two of them didn't even have a bicycle and could only pull a flatbed cart by hand, but now, the couple each had a Construction 50 motorcycle, towing two flatbed carts, achieving mechanized operations.

But even so, they were looked down upon by many people with steady jobs, and those with education looked down on them from the bottom of their hearts.

But now, listen, listen to what Li Ye said! He was the top scholar in the entire province!

If someone with such excellent learning as the top scholar in the province says that setting up a stall and being self-employed isn't losing face, who do you think you are?

Li Ye watched Li Ying sell for a while longer, then called out, "Alright, Xiao Ying, come over here; I have a question for you."

Only then did Li Ying leave the stall and walk in front of Li Ye, waiting for Li Ye to ask, her face full of unease.

Based on her understanding of this shrewd brother of hers, she could likely guess that Li Ye would ask her things like, "Do you like setting up stalls? Do you not want to go to school and want to set up stalls with your aunt?"

But Li Ye asked Li Ying, "How many pieces of clothing did you sell just now, and how much money did you make in total?"

Li Ying was stunned for a moment, then immediately said, "Sold twenty-one pieces of clothing, for a total of three hundred and six yuan and fifty cents."

Li Ye: "Then what is the cost, and how much did you earn? You sold for forty-two minutes just now; if I let you sell for two hours, how much could you earn?"

Li Ying didn't hesitate this time, answering almost in a second, "The cost is one hundred ninety-seven yuan and thirty cents, and I earned one hundred nine yuan and twenty cents. If I were allowed to sell for two hours, I could earn... three hundred twelve yuan."

Li Ye: 【Aren't you a failing student? How are you calculating so fast?】

Li Ying didn't know what Li Ye was thinking and continued to show off her skills, "But that's impossible, because when business gets busy, it's usually just for a while."

"This is just because everyone wants to buy new clothes for the New Year. Usually, we can't even sell half of that, and if we can't sell them in two months, we have to lower the price to clear them out."

"Alright, alright, alright."

Li Ye waved his hand and asked coldly, "Xiao Ying, your arithmetic isn't bad, is it? Then explain to me, how come you only scored those few points in math?"

"."

Li Ying opened her mouth several times, and only after a long while did she say weakly, "I... I'm not good at arithmetic; I always calculate wrong, but I don't calculate money wrong."

Li Ye nodded and said, "Alright then! I've seen your skills; it's time for us to go back."

Hearing Li Ye say they were leaving, Li Ying hurriedly tugged at his sleeve and said, "Brother, it's not easy to come here once; let me call out for a while longer!"

Looking at the pitiful child, Li Ye had no choice but to nod.

Then Li Ying stood behind the stall again and started calling out, started counting money.

Li Ye observed carefully for a while and felt that the little girl wasn't entirely showing off her skills, but rather that she really liked the feeling of a "middleman earning the price difference."

Simply counting money wasn't interesting; flipping it back and forth to squeeze out a profit was what was satisfying.

However, as it approached noon, Li Ye noticed someone.

It was a middle-aged woman in her forties or fifties, who kept walking back and forth in front of the stall, her eyes constantly scanning Li Ye and Li Ying.

Li Ye called Han Chunmei and Niu Dali over and asked them if they recognized this person; both of them indicated they didn't.

Li Ye didn't let Li Ying sell anymore, pulled her over, and asked in a low voice, "Look carefully, do you recognize that person? Is she from the Bi family?"

Li Ying looked carefully for a long time, then also shook her head and said, "I don't recognize her. I was still small when I was chased out, so there are some people I might not recognize fully."

"Let's go! Let's go home."

Li Ye pulled Li Ying and left. Han Chunmei and Niu Dali insisted on having Li Ye stay for a meal, but they couldn't keep him no matter what.

Because Li Ye had some doubts in his heart; the middle-aged woman's gaze was very strange—some resentment, some hesitation, and some sadness.

【Who is that person?】

On the way home, Li Ye asked Li Ying, "The thing you begged me for, is it that you want to set up a stall to sell clothes like your aunt?"

"That's not the same."

Li Ying hugged Li Ye on the back seat, shook her head vigorously, and then said with a confident tone, "I want to buy a big car, drive the car to the market to sell clothes."

"One car is worth five flatbed carts; one person earns five people's money. Not only can I go to the Qingshui County market, but I can also go to the neighboring county's market..."

Alright! So it turned out that when Li Ying asked to get her driver's license, she had already planned this out.

After returning home, Li Ying kept thinking about wanting Li Ye to make the decision, hoping he would tell her father and mother to let her walk her own path, to walk the right path.

But after Li Ye communicated with Li Kaijian, he gave her a shocking piece of bad news.

"If your exam scores in class reach the middle level, I can give you a bicycle during the summer vacation, and give you thirty pieces of clothing to sell every day. If you reach the top ten in class, I'll give you fifty pieces of clothing every day..."

"If you can reach the top five in the entire grade like your sister, I'll equip you with a 130, equip you with a partner, take you to the market, and you can sell however you want."

Li Ying counted on her fingers for a long time, then asked with tears in her eyes, "Then if I score in the bottom five, does that mean I can't sell clothes?"

Li Ye nodded very seriously, indicating that the little girl was right.

"No... Brother, whose side are you on?"

"."

Li Ying couldn't help but cry. She had been hoping for stars and moons at home, and finally managed to wait for someone who could "understand her" to come back, but how come he was even more ruthless than the others in the family?

Well, that's what he said, but actually, Li Ye wasn't as ruthless as Han Chunmei.

When Han Chunmei came home from work, after hearing her sister Li Juan's exaggerated account, she directly twisted Li Ying's ear.

"I tell you to study and you don't, and you even trouble your brother... Aren't you losing face? Aren't you ashamed? You still want a big car; where would you get the money to buy a car? Do you know how much a car costs... wuwuwuwu..."

As Han Chunmei spoke, she started crying herself.

She was very angry; how could her own daughter make such an excessive request?

Look at Li Yue having a car, and you want a car too; are you even related to ask for one?

But Li Ying's next words made everyone break down.

"Wuwuwu, I don't want to either, but..."

"Mother, why were we chased out back then? Because we were useless, because we didn't earn money."

"If we earned money, who would think we were a losing proposition? I just want to earn money myself, I just want my brother to know that I'm not good at studying, but I'm useful, I'm useful... wuwuwu..."

Li Ye, separated by two rooms, heard Li Ying's sobbing and defense, and the feeling in his heart was indescribably painful.

He thought he was smart enough, witty enough, and with Li Ying's "money-grubbing" personality, he forced her to improve, forced her to study.

But who would have thought that a child who hadn't even graduated from middle school would hide such deep obsession in her heart.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 443 =====