Little Sister, the "Reseller"

Once the pumpkin porridge in the clay pot was ready, Shen Moxi fetched bowls, filled them, and set them on the dining table to cool.

She washed Xiao Xuan's milk bowl, then picked him up. "Let's go call Daddy, Mommy, and Eldest Uncle to dinner."

Down on the first floor, she saw a few people still choosing clothes. She let Xiao Xuan play with his toys nearby and went to help. Only after all the customers had left did she close the door and go eat.

Dinner that evening was quite a feast, and everyone asked Shen Moxi in surprise what good thing had happened for her to make so much.

Shen Moxi smiled mysteriously. "Of course it's because I landed a few profitable deals. It's a secret." Then she looked at Shen Tao. "Big Brother, I need to talk to you after dinner about some other ways to make money."

Shen Tao immediately grew excited. "Sure! When it comes to making money, I hope you'll trouble me more often."

Not a scrap of dinner was left. The food was simply delicious, especially the pot of pumpkin porridge, which they drained completely. It was sweet and tasty, and even little Xiao Xuan drank a whole bowl.

Shen Moxi couldn't help marveling: no wonder the older generation said a growing boy could eat his father out of house and home. Even a tiny little sprout like this could eat so much.

After dinner, Shen Moxi pulled Song Qi back to their bedroom. Wang Xiaoxia washed the dishes and chopsticks, while Shen Tao and Shen Yuan took Xiao Xuan downstairs to get to work.

After following Shen Moxi into the room, Song Qi asked in puzzlement, "What is it? Have you found another profitable business?"

Shen Moxi smiled. "Wait a moment. Let me find something."

Then she searched the system for framed embroidery. Suddenly, she thought of cross-stitch. Cross-stitch was good too. Although it wasn't as valuable as embroidery, it could still fetch a decent price. After some thought, Shen Moxi chose embroidery first. Cross-stitch could wait.

There were particular considerations when it came to pictures hung in offices, too; she couldn't just give someone any random piece. After some thought, she finally chose a few: an embroidered picture of China's Great Wall, "Soul of China"; a treasure-basin landscape, "Painting of Pines, Springs, and Cascading Waterfalls"; a work depicting sunrise over Mount Tai, "Purple Qi Comes from the East"; and finally, a landscape, "Welcoming Pine."

Shen Moxi selected all four embroidered works. Whichever ones were left over could be taken to the supply and marketing cooperative to see whether they had the money to buy them. That would be a substantial income, too.

Shen Moxi first took out the Great Wall embroidery and set it on the bed for Song Qi to see.

Song Qi was amazed when he saw it. "Where is the place in this picture? It looks truly magnificent."

Shen Moxi said proudly, "This is our motherland's Ten-Thousand-Li Great Wall. It was built by Qin Shi Huang in ancient times. We have a saying here: you're no true hero until you've been to the Great Wall. Pretty breathtaking, isn't it?"

Song Qi nodded, his eyes fixed on the picture of the Great Wall. "It really is breathtaking. Just looking at it like this makes me want to bow in reverence. Where is this Great Wall?"

"Near the Capital. When October first comes around, I'll take our whole family to the Capital to look around and have some fun. October is neither too cold nor too hot, just right." Shen Moxi also wanted to see what the Capital looked like in the eighties.

"All right." Song Qi nodded. "This is embroidery, isn't it? It's every bit as good as the work of the embroideresses where we're from, if not better."

"What do you think of this embroidered picture? I'm planning to sell it." Shen Moxi traced the outline of the Great Wall with her finger.

"That should work. The embroidery is exceptionally good. You could call it a masterpiece." Song Qi nodded.

"Mm, we won't be able to take our wedding photos tomorrow. Let's do it the day after. One of Sister Sun's coworkers ordered a piece from me. Tomorrow at noon, we'll rent a cargo vehicle with a bed and take these over so he can choose one. We'll take the rest to the supply and marketing cooperative and see whether their boss can buy the whole lot," Shen Moxi said, holding Song Qi's hand.

"Sure. There's still a month until our wedding. There's no rush." Song Qi ruffled her hair.

"I'm going downstairs to discuss the other matter with Big Brother. Do you want to stay here and keep admiring it?" Shen Moxi stood up.

"Put it away. I'll go downstairs and help. Looking at a picture is nowhere near as good as seeing the real thing. When I have time, I'll go see the actual Great Wall." Song Qi shook his head.

Shen Moxi put it away, and the two of them went down to the first floor together.

"Big Brother." Shen Moxi quietly came over to Shen Tao and found a stool to sit on.

"Little Sister, what money-making business did you want to tell me about?" Shen Tao also asked quietly.

"Big Brother, you and Second Brother worked at the supply and marketing cooperative for quite a few years. Do you know their boss well? Is he easy to talk to?"

"Yes. Back then, Dad used his connections to get in touch with their boss, and that was how we got in." Shen Tao nodded.

"Here's the thing. A friend of a relative of one of my classmates does that sort of business. They can get things without foreign exchange certificates or electronics ration coupons, anything from watches to refrigerators and televisions, as well as scarce things like milk powder and malted milk." Shen Moxi leaned close to his ear and whispered, "See if you have any connections who could get them into the supply and marketing cooperative, or any friends with a bit of authority who might need them. We could resell them."

Shen Tao's eyes widened. "Little Sister, wouldn't that make us resellers? We have no power or influence. What would we do if we got caught?"

Shen Moxi shot him a glare. "You won't admit it when I call you stupid. That's why I'm asking whether you have friends with some authority and connections. The cooperative's boss must have someone backing him, too. As long as we can work out a partnership with them, this should be pretty easy."

Shen Tao rubbed his head. "I've never done anything like this. How about I take you to meet our boss, and you talk to him? I'm no good with words. It wouldn't be good if I couldn't explain it properly and caused you trouble."

Shen Moxi thought for a moment, then nodded. "All right. I have something to do tomorrow at noon. Take me in the afternoon."

"Sure. Little Sister, is that friend of your classmate's relative or whatever really reliable? They won't sell us out in the end, will they?" Shen Tao felt very uneasy.

Shen Moxi patted his shoulder and said solemnly, "Rest completely assured. Anyone else might sell us out, but she never would."

What a joke. Would she sell herself out? _(:3 ⌒ﾞ)_

"That's good, then. I'll take you over tomorrow afternoon. Whether it works out will be up to you." Reassured, Shen Tao nodded.

Shen Moxi considered what to bring when they visited tomorrow. Although the supply and marketing cooperative stocked plenty of goods, the boss's household might not necessarily have everything.

After some thought, Shen Moxi made her decision: in this era, Scattered Flowers cigarettes were quite good. They were used as gifts between officials and were classed as Grade A cigarettes. Although Colorful Butterfly cigarettes were also called Grade A, they fell a little short of Scattered Flowers. Scattered Flowers currently cost 0.5 yuan a pack, and buying a whole carton would really give someone face.

That evening, a young woman and a middle-aged woman came in. Both were well dressed and very polite in their manner.

"Boss, your shop sign is hard to see at night, so the place is difficult to find. You should put up a light," the middle-aged woman said when she saw Shen Moxi approach.

Hearing this, Shen Moxi realized she really had forgotten about that. Since this era didn't have those LED lights yet, it had slipped her mind.

"Thank you so much for reminding me, Sister. We'll get one put up in a little while," Shen Moxi said with a smile and a nod.

"Haha, it's nothing. Your clothes really are lovely. This time I brought my daughter to shop. She happens to be on break, so she finally has some time. I'll pick out two outfits for her." The woman covered her mouth as she laughed.

"Sure. What styles do you like, little sister? I can recommend some." Shen Moxi smiled at the young woman beside her.

The young woman was a little shy. "Please put something together for me. My mom said you're very good at coordinating outfits. I'm not very good at choosing clothes myself."

"All right. I'll pick out two outfits for you to look at." Seeing how refined and quiet the young woman was, Shen Moxi put together two fresh, understated outfits for her.

The young woman changed in the fitting room and looked at the clothes in the mirror, very pleased. They gave her a clean, sweet look, and her mother was very satisfied, too.

After she tried on both outfits, they readily paid and left. Shen Moxi went up to the second floor and bought two large light bulbs from the system, then had Song Qi put one on either side of the shop sign.