Tian Tian was in the middle of enthusiastically selling flip-flops when she heard the sound of a motorcycle engine. Looking up, she saw a Jialing motorcycle pass right in front of her. The rider wore a helmet, so she couldn’t see his face.
But from his half-exposed muscular arms and long legs, Tian Tian had a feeling the man wasn’t bad-looking.
As for the young man on the back of the motorcycle—no helmet for him. As they passed by, he called out loudly to the villagers who were shopping, flashing a big grin full of white teeth, looking utterly carefree.
“Where are Haoting and Huizi off to so late at night?”
A few aunties in the crowd who were browsing flip-flops started chatting among themselves.
Tian Tian’s ears perked up. When she heard the name Haoting, she froze for a moment.
In her previous life, she had never lived in this village. She’d only ever eaten at the food stalls on the street outside the village entrance. But she had heard the name Haoting before.
“Aunties, are you talking about Zhou Haoting?” Tian Tian asked tentatively.
The auntie didn’t think twice and casually nodded.
Tian Tian felt a jolt of surprise. She had just seen someone who would make the newspapers in her past life.
Yes, around 1995 in her previous life, this village had long since been expropriated, replaced by residential compounds and commercial buildings. By then, Zhou Haoting was already a well-known small-appliance magnate in Guangdong Province. The various small appliances his company produced sold well not only domestically but also exported to many countries and regions.
That such a person had just ridden past her on a motorcycle felt somewhat surreal to Tian Tian.
The feeling lasted only a moment, though. Then Tian Tian immediately switched back into sales mode, waving two flip-flops and chanting all sorts of funny slogans, drawing half the village to her stall. She kept selling until past eight in the evening, when all 500 pairs of flip-flops were sold out.
After thanking her customers, Tian Tian closed the courtyard gate and prepared to go back to her room to wash up and rest.
Just then, she ran into Qian Lizhen coming out of the bathroom carrying a plastic basin, looking like she had just finished showering.
“Finished selling all your flip-flops?”
Tian Tian nodded. “Yeah, thanks to the villagers for supporting me.”
Actually, Tian Tian hadn’t originally planned to come back and sell flip-flops at all. She had intended to take them out again tomorrow when she went to apply for her temporary residence permit.
But then she’d run into that crazy woman, which caused her burlap sack to come loose and spill some flip-flops. On her way back, villagers out for their evening stroll had seen them.
Then someone asked to buy a pair.
So Tian Tian had seized the opportunity and started hawking right there at the entrance of Granny Cui’s courtyard.
As the saying goes: misfortune may be a blessing in disguise, and luck turns after extreme hardship.
If every business venture went this smoothly, Tian Tian wouldn’t mind running into a few crazy people at all.
After exchanging a few pleasantries with Qian Lizhen, Tian Tian happily retreated to her room to count her money.
The cost was 300 yuan. After deducting a few pairs given away for free and rounding down for bulk purchases, her total revenue came to 628 yuan. That meant a profit of 328 yuan.
An absolute killing!
Tian Tian was stunned by the number for a second. Then she put her hands on her hips and laughed silently. Of course, since she had neighbors, she kept her voice as low as possible, not wanting to stir up envy.
Still, on the other side of the wall, mother and daughter Qian Lizhen were also discussing Tian Tian.
“She’s amazing! She just arrived today and already went out to buy goods to sell,” Qian Lizhen said as she put down her plastic basin and dried her hair with a towel, casually chatting with her mother.
Liu Chunfen was folding her daughter’s clothes. Hearing this, she chimed in with a few words of praise.
She had only come from her hometown to live with her daughter last November. That meant she had already been living here for four months, yet she still didn’t dare to go very far on her own—let alone buy goods to resell.
In Liu Chunfen’s mind, outsiders should keep a low profile and not stir up trouble. But after seeing how well Tian Tian’s business had done today, she felt a flicker of temptation. She thought, Tian Tian is such a nice person. I wonder if she’d be willing to let me work with her?
After a moment’s thought, Liu Chunfen shook her head.
Having such thoughts meant she wasn’t staying in line. She couldn’t do anything out of bounds. If she provoked someone and got driven away from here, and she and her daughter couldn’t go back to their hometown, things would be even worse.
Tomorrow, she decided, she would remind Tian Tian that outsiders still needed to keep a low profile here. It would be best if she did what her daughter did and found a factory job—a steady paycheck every month. Doing business was too risky. She could have her daughter recommend Tian Tian for a factory job and even earn a referral fee.
Tian Tian had no idea what was going through Liu Chunfen’s head.
That night, she slept soundly and sweetly.
Making over 300 yuan in one night was a shot of adrenaline. Tian Tian was already planning to keep selling flip-flops tomorrow. Once this village was saturated, she would expand to the next one.
Then, the next morning, just as she finished brushing her teeth, she was met with Liu Chunfen’s well-intentioned advice and job offer.
Tian Tian was speechless again.
“Aunt Liu, really, I don’t need it. I don’t want to work in a factory.”
“Tian Tian, no, this job is really good. Regular hours, overtime pay. You’ll meet a lot of people at the factory. It’ll be easier to find a husband too.”
Tian Tian knew the woman meant no harm, so she patiently repeated herself: “Really, I don’t need it. If I wanted a factory job, I’d find one myself. No need to put Sister Zhen through the trouble of using her connections. Anyway, I’m heading out now. I still need to take care of my temporary residence permit today.”
With that, Tian Tian quickly went back to her room, changed into a fresh set of clothes, and left.
If she stayed any longer, she was afraid she might start yelling.
To apply for a temporary residence permit, she first had to go to the village committee.
Tian Tian walked along the main road with her documents, passing quite a few people along the way. Some were clearly migrant workers—rushing about with an air of toil about them. Others were clearly locals, moving at a leisurely, unhurried pace.
When they saw Tian Tian, some gave her a glance. A few outgoing ones even struck up a conversation.
Thanks to her flip-flop selling experience the day before, Tian Tian ended up greeting quite a few people along the way.
Before she could buy some farmland, she would be living in this village. And after buying farmland, she would still be living here. But to buy farmland, the first requirement was money. The second was having local household registration.
Otherwise, if demolition and relocation ever happened, or land prices skyrocketed, someone without local household registration could easily be forced out. Such transactions were illegal and would be ruled invalid.
Today at the village committee, besides applying for her temporary residence permit, she also wanted to discreetly inquire about the possibility of registering as a village resident.
Even if that possibility was currently very slim.
No sooner had she entered the village committee than a tall, handsome man standing at the entrance caught her eye. He was chatting with a few village officials.
When they saw Tian Tian approach, they paused their conversation.
A middle-aged man with a cigarette dangling from his mouth asked directly, “Pretty girl, what do you need?”
Tian Tian replied, “Uncle, I’m a tenant of Granny Cui. I came to get a certificate so I can apply for my temporary residence permit.”
Hearing this, the middle-aged man nodded. Then he instructed a young man nearby, “Damao, go write the certificate for this pretty girl.”
Then he turned back to the handsome man and continued, “Haoting, this matter can be arranged. Your uncle supports you all the way. Tell me what procedures need to be done, and I’ll handle them for you.”
Zhou Haoting glanced at Tian Tian’s retreating figure and said absently, “Uncle, I’ll handle the procedures myself. I just wanted to let you know. It would be best if the village committee discusses this at the next meeting.”
Meanwhile, Tian Tian was eavesdropping on the conversation outside.
The moment she heard the name Haoting, she marveled to herself. Not only was this guy accomplished, but he was also tall and handsome—more stylish than many Hong Kong celebrities.
After a moment of admiration, Tian Tian grew curious about what procedures he was trying to arrange. Was he planning some big deal?
Just thinking about a lucrative business opportunity made her itch to get in on it.
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