Chapter 23: The Pheasant’s Charisma

"Forty, huh..." The young man glanced at the clothes, a look of hesitation flickering across his face.

To break into the market, and more importantly, to cater to the current spending power of the people, Wu Ya had set a retail price of exactly fifty for the clothes for Chai Yanfen. His wholesale price was thirty-five. Cost was twenty, netting a profit of fifteen per piece. The profit was split fifty-fifty between him and the distributor. This model was the most reasonable way to share the profits.

But clearly, the young man still found it expensive.

Chai Yanfen grew anxious at the sight. It wasn’t easy to get a customer interested—she couldn’t let him walk away over the price, could she? She was just about to speak, ready to lower the price again. After all, for anyone in business, a good start on opening day was a highly auspicious sign.

But just then...

"Brother, if you put on this outfit, you’ll be the very first in all of Suiyan District, perhaps even the entire city of Weiling, to embody the style of Chan Ho-nam! Tsk tsk, not everyone gets to experience the swagger of a real Young and Dangerous!" Wu Ya interjected before anyone else could speak, his tone full of temptation.

Chai Yanfen was dumbfounded. Who was Chan Ho-nam? What in the world was "Young and Dangerous"?

"Heh, the style of Chicken is nothing to sneeze at, either. That guy sure knows how to charm the ladies."

Well, that settled it. The young man turned out to be a fan of Chicken.

Wu Ya grinned. "Hahaha, not bad at all! You’ve got a build just like his—put this on and you’ll have ten girlfriends in no time!"

Back and forth they went, leaving Chai Yanfen more bewildered than ever. Chan Ho-nam, Chicken, Young and Dangerous—she had no idea who or what they were talking about. Small business owners like her, always busy, hardly had time to watch tapes.

But those strange names and titles, which sounded so nonsensical to her, were what finally made the young man’s mind up.

"I’ll take one!" he declared.

Money in one hand, clothes in the other—the first sale was made.

Chai Yanfen was stunned. How could this be? No hard selling, no haggling over price—just tossing around some names and nicknames, and the clothes were sold?

But the market allowed her no time to recover. Soon enough, several more young men arrived.

"How much for the student uniform?"

"Fifty," Wu Ya replied, with no further discounts.

"Can you go cheaper?"

"No."

His expression brooked no argument.

"I’ll take one."

"And me!"

"Me too..."

With each crisp banknote collected, a crowd rapidly formed in front of Chai Yanfen’s stall. Every single one of them was a young man!

The entire marketplace was shaken. Not a single other stall had made a sale so far!

"What kind of luck is Chai Yanfen having today?"

"Yeah, how on earth did she get so popular all of a sudden?"

"Wait... what kind of student uniforms is she selling?"

Student uniforms.

When someone uttered those words, everyone was dumbstruck. Weren’t those from the thirties and forties? Were young people now suddenly going retro?

They racked their brains, but couldn’t figure it out.

"Hahaha..." But Chai Yanfen was grinning from ear to ear. In less than half an hour, she’d sold thirty pieces! And this was only the beginning! By her estimation, she’d easily clear out all three hundred by the end of tomorrow.

A buying frenzy.

People were snatching them up like mad!

It was even more spectacular than the launch of the Batwing Shirt back in the day.

"Wu Ya, you were right! As soon as the market opened, business is booming!"

Thirty student uniforms sold—she was holding fifteen hundred in crisp blue bills! Her wallet was so stuffed that the seams were splitting!

Her net profit had reached four hundred and fifty. That figure alone was the monthly net income of a middle-class family! It was also a record in all her years running a stall.

Half an hour brought in what others made in a month.

Her excitement was beyond words.

But what thrilled her most was—

She hadn't put in a cent of her own money!

It was pure profit, picked up off the ground, for just a bit of effort.

"Heh, Sister Chai, your days of making real money have only just begun!" Wu Ya, too, was brimming with excitement.

He’d made a splash. That was his aim, his wish!

"So what are you waiting for? We’re sure to run out of stock at this rate—go fetch more for me!"

Fetching stock.

Chai Yanfen was already impatient.

Such a lucrative business—she couldn’t afford to run out of goods!

But—

"We’re out of stock," Wu Ya said, his next words freezing the smile on Chai Yanfen’s face.

"Out of stock? You must be joking! If you knew these uniforms would be a hit, why didn’t you make more?"

Chai Yanfen was flustered. This kid—was he trying to kill her?

It was like eating meat and getting to the juiciest part, only to run out. Her appetite was left gaping, like a lion’s open mouth—utterly unsatisfied!

"Sister Chai, I’m short on funds. There were only three hundred pieces to start with. From now on, I can only supply a hundred a day!"

Wu Ya spread his hands, looking helpless.

He’d known today would be a blockbuster. But knowing was one thing—even the cleverest cook can’t make a meal without rice.

No money—everything else was just a pipe dream!

Even these three hundred, a third of them were actually old stock from their own family.

"No money? Then what are you standing around here for? Go buy more fabric and get to work for me! Here, take the money, all of it—I don’t want a cent left! We’ll settle up every three days!"

Chai Yan