Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 663 - 313: Bright Prospects after Dark Times_1

Chapter 663: Chapter 313: Bright Prospects after Dark Times_1

"Sisters, do you want some green bean jelly or not ..." Yan Chao gazed at Xu Xiaoyan with big round eyes.

The moment she heard it, she knew he wanted to eat, but he was too embarrassed to say it himself, so he asked others if they wanted to eat. She squatted down to wipe off a small oil stain left by the tea he had just drunk from the corner of his mouth and asked with some worry, "Can you eat more?"

"No problem! I was just saving room!" The little lad slapped his bulging belly, feeling a bit guilty. "How about we both share a serving? Shall we go for more sesame sauce, less chili, no vinegar? I will eat less and taste what it’s like ..."

Even though he’s young, he’s as thick-skinned as me!

He even knew exactly what condiments to put in, and shamelessly asked to taste what it was like? Not only did the girl manage to hold back a laugh, but even Yan Fei was grinning. He remembered that he had brought this little lad to eat many times, and they had tried it with and without chili. He was now wanting to taste it again, and Yan Fei really didn’t know if his tiny stomach would be able to hold any more food.

Looking at his bulging little belly, Yan Fei didn’t dare let him eat anymore. He quickly told him, "How about we go buy some clothes first? After buying clothes, you can eat more, then we can let you eat something other than jelly, okay?"

The little lad looked at the green and transparent jelly on the vendor’s cart, biting his finger and looking reluctantly at it. He chewed over the idea for five minutes before gritting his teeth with determination, his mouth watering a little, "Then I can eat a big bowl later! You can’t deceive me ..."

"Deal!" Yan Fei stuck out a finger. "I promise."

The little lad immediately hooked his finger with Yan Fei’s. "Pinkie promise, no take-backs for a hundred years ..."

Finally, the little guy was appeased, so they didn’t have to stop every three steps for the rest of the journey.

Stepping into this clothing market named Hua Clothing Market, Yan Fei and Xu Xiaoyan soon realized that it was difficult to find clothes that they fancied in this small market.

Although they haven’t paid much attention to trendy fashion in the provincial city in the past, upon returning to this local clothing market, they suddenly found the clothes here old-fashioned.

If Yan Fei could feel the difference, the girl felt it more acutely. She had not originally planned to buy any clothes, so she turned to the little kid and asked, "Xiao Chao, what clothes would you like to have? Tell your sister if you like something, don’t be shy!"

After speaking, she looked at Yan Fei: "I’ll pass, I don’t need any clothes right now. If I need any in the future, I’ll then buy it!"

Yan Fei indifferently shook his head: "That’s fine, we can buy it when we go to the provincial city. But you’d better explain it to my mom when we go home, or she’ll think that I didn’t buy anything for you!"

Before the girl could reply, a middle-aged man carrying a large bag behind them shouted: "Excuse me, young man, let me pass, please. My bag is a bit big ..."

Yan Fei thought the voice sounded familiar. He turned around and recognized the man, asking hurriedly, "Uncle Tong, what are you doing? Stocking up?"

The middle-aged man carrying the bag turned around and laughed after putting down his bag, wiped the sweat off his forehead, "Oh, it’s Xiao Fei! Are you out shopping with your wife? Why would I stock up! These are all clothes I made myself from fabric I bought. It turns out that my handmade clothes are now out of fashion and can’t be sold. These goods have been in the store for quite a long time, so I decided to take them back to the countryside and sell them there!"

This middle-aged man owned a clothing store in town. Basically, all of Yan Fei’s clothes were bought from his store. They were quite familiar with each other, and there was nothing to hide when they talked.

Yan Fei knew he made his own clothes. He had once bought five sets of clothes from him in one go. There were two suits left unbroken, which he wore when doing everyday work and they were durable due to being handmade. The broken ones were damaged when he forgot to take them off during the "Seventy-two changes". Hearing that the clothes couldn’t be sold made him curious, "Your handmade clothes are quite durable, why can’t they be sold?"

"I wish everyone thought like you!" Boss Tong looked frustrated. "These days, it’s not popular anymore. The big clothing factories make their clothes with machines, which are affordable and good-looking. There are also those branded as made in big cities, some claim to be from Yanjing and places overseas, even to the extent of claiming to be imports. No matter how durable my clothes are, they’re not trendy because they are labeled as from Sancha River. They’re not even asked about when displayed in the store, so there’s nothing I can do!"

"Then, won’t you lose money when selling these clothes in the countryside? Aren’t you running a deficit?" Xu Xiaoyan, also a businesswoman from the same town, asked Boss Tong.

"Who says it ain’t! Haven’t you two seen that I’ve lost dozens of pounds of weight? I have no other choice, I have to sell no matter how much I lose. Luckily, we still have a small clothing store at home to rely on, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to afford food." Boss Tong said with a bitter smile. "It’s because our vision isn’t good and our experience is limited! I thought since the clothes being sold now are mostly not durable, it’d be better to make our own. That worked well in our town..."

Xu Xiaoyan and Yan Fei were well aware of this situation. The clothes sold in the county were all cheap and produced by small clothing factories. Many students had bought these clothes, and since they were still growing, the quality of these clothes became even more apparent. If anyone saw someone make a big movement during PE class and then covered their crotch while rushing home or hiding in the dormitory, they’d know that the crotch of the pants had split open.

However, the clothes produced by these clothing factories were indeed good-looking and cheap. The handmade clothes produced by individuals had higher costs and were not fashionable, so it was normal for them to have no market. Boss Tong was just bad luck, hand-made clothes, like the Yan Family’s blacksmith shop in the old days, were now being phased out.

Seeing Xiaochao, who was eager to run by his side, Boss Tong stretched out his hand with a package to the side of the road and said, "This is your younger brother, right? I have a few sets of children’s clothes here. Kids play rough, these clothes are durable. I’ll give him a few sets to wear."

He opened the package and took out a few sets. Yan Fei was too embarrassed to refuse, so he let Xiaochao try on two sets. When he was about to pay, Boss Tong refused to take any money: "Don’t mention it, both of you have bought a lot of clothes from me, and your wife’s family also bought a lot from me. These are all clothes that I couldn’t sell, and I’d only get ten or eight dollars if I took them back to the countryside. Would you feel good giving me more money?"

With that, he picked up the package and began to walk away: "Don’t refuse me anymore; if you do, don’t call me uncle anymore in the future. This is for your brother, not you, I can’t take your money..."

Watching Boss Tong struggling to walk away with a large bag of clothes, Xu Xiaoyan couldn’t help but sigh: "It’s really hard to do business these days. Luckily, we raise cattle; people will have to eat meat no matter what..."

"Exactly, no matter where people are from, they can’t live without meat!" Yan Fei casually said, not wanting to discuss this matter any further. Afraid that his girlfriend would think of the issue of foreign investment again, he diverted the topic and said, "Do you think Xiaochao needs any more new clothes?"

"No, no more, let’s go get some bean jelly!" The little one was still young and didn’t care about the style as long as the clothes were new. He immediately remembered about wanting to go eat green bean jelly right after he got his new clothes.

Yan Fei and Xu Xiaoyan looked at each other and decided to simply take the little one out of this clothing market.

Times change. The two of them used to think that this place was quite upscale and sophisticated, but now it felt like there was nothing worth shopping for. This transformation left Xu Xiaoyan still musing while eating bean jelly: "Back when I was studying here, I didn’t dare to come here to shop because I thought the clothes were too expensive. Now I feel like the clothes here are quite outdated..."

"They are outdated, there’s nothing anyone can do about it. In my opinion, most of them are not even as good as the clothes at the wholesale market near the train station in the provincial city. I guess they get their inventory nearby, they are even too lazy to go to places as close as the provincial city." Yan Fei nodded in agreement.

"They think it’s not worth it to go too far, the transportation costs would become more expensive, and we can’t sell them for a high price here. Plus, they have to carry money when they go and bring the goods when they come back. Not everyone is like you, full of energy and fearless!" Xu Xiaoyan scorned.

"Exactly, if I was doing this business, I’d go further for inventory, I’d go to Hong Kong, get some authentic Hong Kong goods. By then, the clothes in the store would be the ones worn by the stars you adore, even selling them for a high price, there would be customers!" Yan Fei said proudly.

Xu Xiaoyan paused for a moment and said, "Hey, what if we show the Hong Kong contract and say that we’ll have money soon and won’t need the foreign investment?"

Yan Fei also paused, then his face showed an expression of realization: "Right! Why didn’t I think of it, let’s go back and discuss it with dad... "

Xu Xiaoyan was worried about the problem of foreign capital and didn’t notice that he had referred to the dad in their conversation. She said, "Well, eat quickly, we’ll go back and discuss it after we finish!"

The little one was relishing his food, and didn’t need any encouragement from the two of them. He was eating frantically with a bowl that was larger than his face. When his belly was round and couldn’t eat anymore, he pushed the leftover jelly in front of Yan Fei and hypocritically said, "Brother, you’re taller than me, you should eat more, all I need is a little!"

"You only left me some soup, and you ask me to eat now? Why didn’t you offer it to me earlier!" Yan Fei scolded.

Despite his words, he didn’t mind at all. Within a few bites, he had scooped the remaining jelly into his stomach.

Watching the two of them, Xu Xiaoyan couldn’t help but laugh. Especially at the little one, children are simple, and sometimes they love to imitate adults. They always feel the need to find an excuse for everything they do, she found it incredibly cute!

Yan Fei had already paid the bill when Xu Xiaoyan was quietly laughing. He beckoned Xu Xiaoyan and said while holding the little one, "Let’s go, we need to hurry back home..."