Chapter 217: Catch the Thief

With the Spring Festival approaching, Shangjun Avenue was bustling with people, shoulders brushing shoulders, everyone out to buy New Year goods and new clothes.

In recent years, many clothing and hat shops had opened along both sides of Shangjun Avenue; these shopkeepers were all shrewd, buying goods from Jiangcheng and selling them in Shangjun, earning profits while bringing the latest fashions back to Shangjun.

Guo Suhua was frugal in managing the household, and Su Wenjun was not a man who cared much about appearance, so they rarely went shopping for clothes together; today, walking with their son, they were overwhelmed and felt somewhat unfamiliar.

Su Xinghui led them into a store selling down jackets, intending to buy one for each of his parents—neither of them had ever worn a down jacket before, though last year he had been given one.

As soon as Su Wenjun and his wife entered the store and saw the prices, they tried to pull Su Xinghui out, saying they didn't like the styles, but Su Xinghui knew they thought the prices too high, so he told them: "It's fine, Mom and Dad, buy a better coat—it'll keep you warm in winter."

As he spoke, he took down a black, long men's down jacket from the rack and urged his father to try it on; Su Wenjun couldn't refuse, so he went into the fitting room, and when he emerged wearing it, Su Xinghui nodded: "Hmm, very good. What do you think, Mom?"

Guo Suhua also thought it looked good; Su Wenjun was tall for his age, nearly 1.75 meters, with a standard build, and the long down jacket made him look dashing, appearing at least several years younger than his actual age.

Guo Suhua nodded: "Mm, you've got good taste—very dashing."

Su Wenjun glanced at the price tag—over four hundred yuan—and was startled; it was nearly two months' salary. He hurriedly tried to take off the jacket and said he wouldn't buy it.

Su Xinghui quickly stopped him: "Dad, this jacket really is great—looks good, quality and stitching are fine. As for the price, we can negotiate."

Business at all the clothing stores was booming today; the female shopkeeper had just seen off a customer and came over to Su Wenjun: "That's right, comrade, we're running a Spring Festival promotion—prices are negotiable. If you like this jacket, we can work something out."

Su Xinghui said: "Boss, I'm also buying a jacket for my mom—we'll pick first, then we'll talk price. If we're satisfied, I'll buy both; if not, we'll go elsewhere."

The shopkeeper smiled: "Fine, take your time—I guarantee you'll be happy with the price."

Su Xinghui then picked out a purple, long women's down jacket for his mother, had her try it on, and the effect was equally impressive; he then began haggling with the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper said: "Comrade, since you're buying two down jackets, I'll give you a 20% discount—that's our lowest rate. Let me calculate: the total marked price is 836 yuan, so 20% off is 668 yuan—I'll knock off the cents, just pay 660."

Hearing this amount, Su Wenjun and Guo Suhua tried again to pull Su Xinghui away; he waved them off and told the shopkeeper: "Sister, your 20% discount isn't fair—I'd be fine with 60% off."

The shopkeeper's face fell: "Comrade, you're haggling too hard! Who starts at 60% off? That's cutting into my profits!"

Su Xinghui said: "Don't think I don't know your wholesale prices—in Jiangcheng's Wanma Market, the wholesale price is already 20% of the retail tag, I had a classmate who used to work in this business."

Su Xinghui wasn't bluffing; in his past life, he'd had a classmate in this trade, and he'd even asked him to buy clothes for him at Jiangcheng's professional Wanma Clothing Market, where wholesale prices were around 20% to 30% of the retail tag.

The shopkeeper was stunned by Su Xinghui's knowledge and frowned: "Comrade, you're clearly an insider, but our wholesale price isn't that low—20% is for counterfeit goods. Look at the quality of our jackets—these are premium authentic products; authentic goods don't go that cheap."

Su Xinghui smiled: "Then what's your real wholesale price? Not higher than 30%, right?"

The shopkeeper said: "To be honest, our wholesale price is 40%. But we have transportation costs, rent for the storefront, wages, and we need reasonable profit—we can't just shout for free. So selling at 80% is not expensive at all."

Su Xinghui said: "80% is definitely too high. If you stick to that price, we'll walk out—after all, in a few days, after the New Year, hardly anyone will be buying down jackets."

In Shangjun County, the custom was to wear new clothes for the New Year—you bought them before the New Year's Eve meal; after the meal, no one bought clothes anymore. In the 1990s, no matter what kind of shop you ran, you closed for several days after the New Year's meal, some staying closed until after the Lantern Festival.

In Shangjun County, there was a saying: even beggars get three days of New Year, and "the New Year is small, the Lantern Festival is big"—meaning, everything before the Lantern Festival counted as New Year, and during New Year, you didn't do business. If the shopkeeper couldn't sell all her stock in these days, after the New Year she'd have to slash prices.

After a moment's thought, the shopkeeper said: "70% off, no lower."

Su Xinghui turned to leave; the shopkeeper quickly called out: "60% off!"

Su Xinghui still shook his head and moved to leave; the shopkeeper gritted her teeth: "50% off—if you're still not satisfied, I can't do more. Go if you want."

Su Xinghui knew this was close to her bottom line, so he nodded: "Fine, you've got to make something too."

The shopkeeper sighed, face grim: "Sigh, this is selling at a loss just to make noise."