“What are you doing?”
Tian Tian watched the man, who was moving a bit stiffly, and found him rather adorable. With his sharp brows and starry eyes, he was very handsome. That awkward, restrained demeanor of his actually created an endearing contrast.
Zhou Haoting had been a little nervous, but when he saw Tian Tian’s radiant smile, he dumbly smiled back. After the smile, he placed the takeout container he was carrying onto the small table Tian Tian had brought out.
“Sit…” Tian Tian handed Zhou Haoting a small stool and pulled one over for herself to sit beside him.
“The place is humble—sorry to make your long legs suffer.” Watching the 1.8-meter-tall Zhou Haoting fold his long legs to sit on the low stool, Tian Tian felt like laughing again.
This guy looked so cool and tough, but every time she looked at him, she wanted to laugh.
Zhou Haoting clearly knew what she was laughing about. He chuckled along, then opened the takeout container he had brought.
Tian Tian saw it was packed full of a combo platter of barbecued pork, roast goose, and roast duck. She gave him a thumbs-up and handed him a bowl and chopsticks.
“I was just eating some egg fried rice. I’m about halfway done, so I won’t offer you any.”
Zhou Haoting said, “I brought my own rice. But if you don’t mind, I’d love to try your cooking.”
Tian Tian shot him a sideways glance but didn’t answer.
Zhou Haoting touched his nose and changed the subject. He told her which shop had sold the roasted meat in the container and gave her a detailed introduction to the surrounding area.
Having a local guide made a huge difference compared to Tian Tian wandering around on her own. In her previous life, she hadn’t arrived here until two years later. Two years was enough time for this place to change dramatically.
Two years from now, many areas would be covered with factories, high-rises, and commercial districts. But right now, much of it was still farmland, collective village land, and housing plots.
Including the plot of land she wanted.
Casually, Tian Tian asked about the various privately farmed plots in the village.
At present, there were plenty of loopholes for buying farmland. But the plot Tian Tian wanted to buy was actually Granny Cui’s residential land.
“Granny Cui has a son who fled to Hong Kong during the chaotic years. No word has ever come back. After the reform and opening up, Granny Cui sent many people to look for him in Hong Kong, but still no news. Many people say her son is long gone.
Her family are outsiders—they moved here in the 1950s. They have no other relatives around here. The ones living next to you now are supposedly relatives from Granny Cui’s maiden family.
Oh, and Granny Cui is from the same county as you.”
Tian Tian already knew this. Liu Chunfen had come to Shenzhen on the same bus as her, and Tian Tian had learned back then that they were from the same county, just different towns.
“Also, land in the village can’t be sold to people with outside household registration. Unless a company comes in to develop and expropriate it. Individual sales can only circulate within the village.”
“You heard that from Damao, didn’t you?” Tian Tian looked at Zhou Haoting with a knowing smile.
Zhou Haoting nodded very frankly. “I heard everything you said to Damao that day. The office door was open, and I was standing at the entrance. I wasn’t eavesdropping on purpose.”
Tian Tian spread her hands. “I didn’t say you were.”
Zhou Haoting’s expression turned playful. “Actually, there is a way to legally buy land in the village.”
Tian Tian just grunted twice and didn’t answer.
Zhou Haoting knew he had overstepped a bit. He smiled and shifted the topic to Xiao Ming.
“Their stall on Renmin Road got shut down by the authorities a couple of days ago. Now they’re busy looking for a new place. They probably won’t have time to bother you anytime soon.”
Upon hearing this, Tian Tian immediately recounted everything that had happened: coming to Shenzhen on the same bus as Xu Songmei, the police report afterward, and the sale of the faulty electronic watches.
“You just said that most of the goods sold at Xiao Ming’s stall on Renmin Road were problematic. Could Xu Songmei’s tip-off have been exactly about their stall? The timing matches up, doesn’t it?”
Tian Tian thought it over and concluded that was exactly the case. In a way, Xu Songmei had stumbled into saving her a fair bit of trouble.
Zhou Haoting, knowing more of the details, immediately confirmed it. “That’s likely it. The authorities have actually been keeping an eye on Renmin Road for a while. The parallel traders there are a mixed bunch. But it’s hard to catch them in the act, no one reports them, and there are other complicating factors, so they rarely get rounded up all at once. But Xiao Ming and his crew are too reckless.”
Tian Tian understood.
Selling parallel imports was one thing. Selling defective goods was another. They had probably ripped off the wrong person—someone waiting for an excuse to strike. Xu Songmei’s police report had simply handed them the opportunity.
Thinking of this, Tian Tian looked at Zhou Haoting. “If Hecheng is that unscrupulous, once they find out Xu Songmei made the report, they’ll probably come after her.”
Zhou Haoting nodded gravely. “Yes, but they wouldn’t dare come into the village to start trouble.”
Tian Tian wasn’t particularly concerned about Xu Songmei’s fate. Hearing this, she dropped the subject. But she was still curious about the yellow-haired man who had been selling defective electronic watches for Zhou Qiaoqiao.
Zhou Haoting asked for a description of the yellow-haired man and then gave Tian Tian an answer.
“He’s the son of the woman who nearly hit you with her bicycle that night.”
Tian Tian thought to herself, What a small world.
“I’ll mention this to the village chief. He can handle it.”
“Alright, then I’ll leave it alone. By the way, any news on garment factories or small workshops?”
Tian Tian’s next goal was to become a ten-thousand-yuan household. Her business plan revolved around clothing. Her first step was to source some clothes to sell wholesale. This would help her get familiar with the local garment factories and choose a suitable partner for the next phase of her plan.
Zhou Haoting had a general idea of Tian Tian’s plan. He nodded. “I’ve identified three promising ones.”
Most of the factories around their village were foreign-invested. When it came to garment factories, most were run by locals. And of those with a good reputation that were willing to work with small, new clients, there were only three.
Tian Tian wasn’t disappointed. Three was plenty for her to evaluate. It was already the end of February. She needed to lock in a partner by March to move forward with her production plans.
“Alright, give me the information. I’ll go check them out tomorrow.”
Zhou Haoting wanted to say, I’ll go with you. But he had his own matters to handle, plus his job at the machinery factory. Finally, he compromised. “You’re still new here. Why don’t you let Huizi take you around tomorrow?”
Tian Tian was curious. “Huizi—is that the young man who’s always grinning and showing a mouthful of white teeth?”
Zhou Haoting said, “No need to call him handsome.”
Tian Tian burst out laughing. “Fine, fine. I’ll call him Huizi too.”
Zhou Haoting reluctantly nodded. He made a mental note to have a serious talk with Huizi later.
So the next morning, when Tian Tian saw Huizi, he had his mouth firmly shut, trying to look serious.
Tian Tian didn’t notice at first. She politely asked if he had eaten breakfast. Learning that he had eaten at home, she didn’t say anything more. She took him to a breakfast stall on the main road at the village entrance and ordered a bowl of rice noodles with barbecued pork.
While eating, they ran into several villagers. Huizi chatted and laughed with them easily. But as soon as Tian Tian finished eating and called him to leave, he went back to wearing a poker face.
Only then did Tian Tian notice.
“Do you have a problem with coming out with me on business?” she asked curiously on the bus.
Huizi quickly shook his head. “No, no, no.”
“Then why do you look so stern around me, but smiley around people from your village?”
Huizi made a pained face. “I’m just afraid my big smile might scare you.”
Last night, Brother Ting had told him to behave himself and follow this young, pretty Miss Tian. Huizi had been so excited he jumped up on the spot, saying he would respectfully call her “Sister-in-Law” the next day.
That earned him two kicks from Brother Ting, who said he shouldn’t call her that—it was disrespectful.
Although Huizi didn’t understand why calling her “Sister-in-Law” would be disrespectful, he still obediently followed Brother Ting’s instructions. Worried that his careless mouth might offend someone, he simply kept a straight face.
After Tian Tian got the full story from him, her expression became a bit complicated.
If Huizi had called her “Sister-in-Law” right off the bat today, she definitely wouldn’t have been happy. After all, she and Zhou Haoting were still just at the “getting to know each other as friends” stage. Being called that would have felt pressuring.
She might have even thought Zhou Haoting had put him up to it—since Huizi was his close associate.
But after hearing how Zhou Haoting had actually handled it, Tian Tian realized this man was truly thoughtful and respectful.
Just then, the bus arrived at the stop. Tian Tian’s face lit up with a radiant smile as she called for Huizi to get off.
The day had started with something good. Maybe things would fall into place quickly.
However, the road to success was rarely smooth.
The very first place they visited presented a problem.
“Sister Tian, so many people are crowded in here. Should we try the next one?”
After clearing the air on the bus, Huizi had started calling her “Sister Tian.” Even though she was two years younger than him, he didn’t dare call her “Sister Tian” in a diminutive way—that would have been too informal.
“Let’s wait a bit longer. Of our backup manufacturers, this one has the best quality.”
Their plan for the day was to visit three nearby garment factories. The first was the largest. It was originally a state-owned garment factory that had transitioned into a Sino-foreign joint venture. The foreign capital came from a Hong Kong boss. Apparently, the clothes produced here followed the latest Hong Kong styles, so they sold extremely well locally—supply often couldn’t keep up with demand.
Tian Tian had come today to buy some clothes wholesale. It would also be a good opportunity to assess the factory’s production standards. She could then sell the clothes at a markup.
But she hadn’t expected so many people to be picking up goods on a weekday.
As they were talking, a middle-aged man came out of the warehouse, and a crowd immediately gathered around him.
Tian Tian recognized the situation. Especially when she saw many people stuffing red envelopes into the man’s hands—she knew it wouldn’t be easy to get the goods today.
Sure enough, only those who gave red envelopes were allowed to go in first and pick out their merchandise. Everyone else waited outside.
“Sister Tian, should we give a red envelope?” Huizi asked, a little anxious as he watched good stock getting picked over.
Tian Tian shook her head. “Let’s wait a bit longer.”
She wasn’t inflexible. The factory’s quality was good, and the wholesale price was reasonable. Even after giving a red envelope, there would still be profit. But she wanted to hold out a little longer.
Huizi was a bit disappointed but didn’t interfere with Tian Tian’s decision. He briefly considered calling Brother Ting to pull some strings but decided against it.
Tian Tian, of course, had no idea that such a small thing had made Huizi think of calling for backup.
By now, she had already struck up a conversation with someone who had just picked up their goods.
“Sister, those clothes are really nice.”
The woman carrying two large bags of clothes shot Tian Tian a wary look.
Tian Tian smiled warmly. “I heard this factory makes especially beautiful styles. I came hoping to buy some wholesale to take back to my hometown as gifts for friends and family.”
Hearing that she wasn’t a competitor, the woman’s expression softened just a little.
Seeing this, Tian Tian’s smile grew brighter. “So here’s the thing: after I got here, I realized how hard it is to get goods from this factory. And I’m only buying a small amount. Could you take me inside to have a look? I won’t buy anything—just look. I can even help you carry your clothes.”
“Mm… alright. But you really do have to help me carry them.”
The woman had a large haul to manage. She usually had help, but today something had come up at home, so she had come alone. Free labor to carry her goods? Perfect. She didn’t really care what the girl’s true motive was. With so many buyers around, even if she blocked one, she couldn’t block them all.
Seeing the woman agree, Tian Tian immediately called Huizi over to help with her bags.
“Don’t worry. I’ll go in with you. My friend will watch your goods—they won’t go anywhere.”
The woman wasn’t worried either. You couldn’t take anything out of the factory without a release slip from the gatekeeper. Without that slip, they couldn’t move her goods anyway.
And so, Tian Tian smoothly followed the woman into the finished-goods warehouse. After getting a good look inside, she decided to pass on this factory.
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