Chapter 86: Merchandising (3)
Really? Students’ clothing? Sure enough, everyone in the same field was your enemy. Students now were not like students 20~30 years from now. They’d be lucky to have $1~$2 extra money to spend. No way they would be able to shop at West City Nan Road.
Shu Yan suddenly recalled the old boss lady. Her main business line was clothing geared toward those in their 40s and 50s. Could she have listened to these people? Hot dang. It’s just a clothing business, not an imperial-harem struggling drama.
“Eh! She didn’t want to share that with us. Hey, we only have your best interest in mind. Your storefront had gone through quite a few owners already and business was just okay. That’s why I am suggesting for you to do something unique. Otherwise, it’d be difficult to survive on West City Nan Road,” said Le with a chuckle.
Oh yeah? The last owner selling clothing for the older population in the middle of a street mainly focused on modern female clothes was quite unique. She went out of business too, didn’t she? Shu Yan cursed silently in disagreement.
Shu Yan had never purchased merchandise from a clothing market before. The only thing that she had brought with her was cash. She noticed that all three women brought with them a big leather bag. She had no idea what was inside of them nor was she going to ask. She didn’t think they’d share with her even if she had.
They arrived at the wholesale market by 1 AM and sat on the stairs outside of the front door. Slowly, people coming from all directions started to gather. Shu Yan said she needed to use the bathroom and walked over to a spot where she couldn’t be seen by Le and the others so she could ask around.
Anyone who wasn’t from the same area was not a competitor. Shu Yan specifically looked for an older looking woman. The woman was from Province Wen, hundreds of kilometers from City Nan. She was much friendlier toward Shu Yan after finding out that Shu Yan’s store was located in City Nan. The woman opened up her store some 3-4 years ago. She was one of the pioneers who started their own businesses. She was in her thirties and has a ten-year-old son.
“Big sister started doing business 3-4 years ago? That was some courage,” complimented Shu Yan.
“It wasn’t courage; I didn’t have a choice. I have been a housewife my whole life, all the way until my son’s dad started sleeping around on me.” Perhaps, the woman didn’t have a lot of people to talk to normally, so she was quite chatty with Shu Yan. “I really wanted to die at the time, but I have a son to raise. So, I figured, if I am not even afraid of dying, why should I be afraid to do business? One way or another, I need to raise my son.”
Shu Yan could relate to that immediately. “Exactly. All men are like that. Same with the father of my two children. It got to his head as soon as he had made some money. He found himself a girl who just graduated college and started looking down on his wife who had given him two children and been taking care of the household the whole time. He insisted on getting a divorce.”
“The same happened to you too? Did you end up getting a divorce?” Learning that Shu Yan had the same experience as her, the woman felt a closeness to Shu Yan all of a sudden.
“Yeah.” Shu Yan smiled bitterly. “He had tried almost everything he could think of to get a divorce, so he could marry that wench. If I don’t get a divorce, I’d worry for my life. I am better off taking care of my children by myself.”