Chapter 87: Merchandising (4)
The older woman opened her mouth and let out a long sigh. “You had it worse than me then. At least my ex still had a shred of kindness left in him and left me with the house and his money; otherwise, I won’t even be able to open up my own clothing store.”
Shu Yan blinked. She didn’t tell her that she forced her man to hand over everything to her before the divorce. She would just let her keep that misconception.
“I am not very educated and couldn’t get a good job. It cost a lot to raise two children, so I plan to start my own business. This is my first time merchandising and I ran into someone nice like you.” Slowly, Shu Yan shared more about herself.
“This is your first time here?” The older woman looked Shu Yan up and down. “This is not going to work. You need to bring with you a leather bag and a pair of scissors. Don’t let these smiling people fool you. They will be very vicious when you start fighting over the merchandise.”
“Fight over the merchandise?” Shu Yan honestly had no idea what that was all about.
“You need to fight over the good stuff. Whoever that wins over them will get to make money.” The older woman took Shu Yan to one side and taught her the tricks. “Do this. Follow me when we get inside. When I say ‘hurry’, you just grab. Grab as much as you can. Once they are in your hands, hang onto them as tightly as you can. Anyone who tried to take them from you, you stab them with your scissors. But also watch out for others’ scissors. Many people will try to stab you while you are grabbing the merchandise. Look at this scar on my hand, that’s from someone else’s scissors. Once you get inside, it’d be so chaotic that you’d have no idea who cut you. So you won’t be able to hold anyone accountable.”
Shu Yan was stunned. Was buying merchandise such a scary event?
Once it was 4 AM, the clothing market opened up. The crowd rushed inside immediately. Shu Yan, her entire person, was pushed inside by others. Her feet didn’t even touch the ground.
“The red dresses are mine! I want them all!”
“They are mine! I was here first!”
“Don’t just stand around. Hurry up and grab what you like,” said the older woman as she gave Shu Yan a shove.
It was only now that Shu Yan understood the craze of buying merchandise. Anything that looked somewhat decent was gone right away, as if they were free.
Shu Yan grabbed two bundles with the older woman. When she took a look at them, she noticed that the older woman has fairly good taste. Both designs were quite fashionable.
“This isn’t going to work. You need to act even faster next time. Otherwise, all the pretty ones will be gone,” said the older woman to Shu Yan after she had finished paying for hers.
All Shu Yan could say was that all the boutique boss ladies have good tastes. They all liked the same ones that she also had her eyes on, which created some sort of a frenzy. Shu Yan was almost cut by others’ scissors. Had the older woman not warned her earlier, she would probably have sustained injuries by now.
After a round of buying merchandise frenzy, the sun was starting to come up, and all the boutique owners began to regain their rationality. They started looking for shops that they were familiar with and picked out merchandise carefully.
“This being your first time, you must not know much.” The older woman took Shu Yan to have her merchandise stored away before they headed toward the inside portion. “Don’t let how busy the outside fool you. After a while, you’ll learn that some of the good shops are not over here. What level of a boutique store do you have in mind?”
“Mid to high end,” replied Shu Yan honestly.
“Then come with me to the shop that I visit often. Their merchandise is of good quality and they are also stylish. More importantly, if we go together, we can ask for a steeper discount.”