The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead
Chapter 257 - 248: Sweet Daily Life

Chapter 257: Chapter 248: Sweet Daily Life

The newlywed couple spent these two days in utter sweetness—they cooked together, cleaned together, watched movies together, wandered through parks together, and together they visited Xue Jianian’s shop to buy vegetables, also tending to their vegetable garden as a pair.

The garden in their backyard was so large with many vegetables ripe enough to eat—too many to consume on their own, so they brought these vegetables to Xue Jianian’s to sell.

Xue Jianian wanted to pay Xia Lin, but Lu Jingqiu declined and took only a bunch of bananas instead.

After school started again, the evaluation of the sketches from the recent fieldwork began with everyone voting for each other.

Lu Jingqiu had thought she would be ranked first, but to her surprise, when the paintings were displayed, Mi Qiaomai’s painting scored highly.

Her painting depicted a distant view, colored superbly well. The composition was also quite good and the contrast between light and dark was layered and dimensional.

Compared with her own work, indeed there was no impact—it was truly refreshing to the eye.

Lu Jingqiu felt somewhat uncomfortable inside, and Luo Xinyue noticed it and consoled her, "You’re already quite good. Although I used to work at the newspaper and my teacher thought I was excellent, there are several people in our class who are better than me professionally. I ranked only fifth with my painting."

Lu Jingqiu shook her head, "I’ve been too complacent lately, thinking too highly of my own paintings and not practicing seriously. Art is something you need to continuously study and improve on."

Luo Xinyue didn’t quite agree, "Your painting is already great, and several teachers have praised you. Moreover, this painting of Mi Qiaomai’s is completely different from her usual style. It may not even be hers."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jingqiu took a closer look and realized it was true: "I remember her painting’s colors were not like this last week."

"Hmmph, Mi Qiaomai, you still don’t know her? It’s unclear how she managed this. It’s just one sketching competition; you don’t need to take it to heart."

"Whether it’s hers or not, this painting is indeed good."

Through this encounter, Lu Jingqiu, who had recently let her guard down, started to tighten up. During her lunch breaks, she began to reassess her past artwork in the dormitory, identifying weaknesses and gradually practicing to improve them.

Of course, proficiency is one thing, but personal imagination is also very important.

Collecting pictures, buildings, landscapes, and characters is crucial on a regular basis.

At the end of this week, Lu Jingqiu asked Jiang Nanzhou to accompany her outside to gather some materials.

And just yesterday, the People’s Liberation Army Daily had sent her a letter inviting her to submit an article.

Lu Jingqiu was about to get busy again these days.

However, this week her second cousin came back, bringing with him dozens of sewing machines.

Lu Jingqiu discussed with her second cousin about making a storage area by connecting two rooms on the second floor with an external staircase.

Yang Mingchao smacked his hands together with approval, "that’s a great idea. Look, I’ve gotten dozens of sewing machines, and I’m planning to head to Yangcheng City in a couple of days to pick up some TVs, washing machines, and refrigerators. I was just worried about where to store them."

"If you agree, second cousin, you can have someone weld the stairs."

"Iron is so expensive, we should use brick and mortar for the stairs instead, and pour them with lime. Also, that hole in Xue Jianian’s place needs to be fixed."

"Right, just fix a steel plate over it to secure it."

"That could work."

"Second cousin, when are you heading to Yangcheng City?"

"The day after tomorrow. Xue Jianian asked me to deliver some things to her grandparents, and while I’m at it, I can help you check out those houses."

"Alright."

Compared to the sweet days of Lu Jingqiu’s recent honeymoon.

Xia Lin was really making things happen, having recently acquired some spring fabrics and produced four types of women’s clothing.

Two tops and two pairs of pants.

Xia Lin also rented a stall on Fish Tail Street recently and called back home, asking her sister-in-law to come over to help sell clothes.

Of course, having just two sets of clothing was definitely not enough, so she had been putting in extra hours to design several good-looking men’s pieces.

The clothes she designed, meant for working men and women, looked very decent, and she was well aware that only employed folks could afford clothes, and since clothing represented one’s appearance, they would definitely be willing to spend the money for the sake of maintaining a good image.

Of course, the prices of these clothes were not high either—four yuan for a top, and if wholesale, two yuan each.

Presently, she had produced a few dozen sets of the two designs and specifically asked a few schoolmates, with whom she had good relations, if they wanted to sell the clothing.

If they were not willing to sell the clothes themselves, they could help by spreading the word back home, especially to some nearby cities.

Traveling too far wouldn’t be cost-effective.

In just one month, Xia Lin had already hosted two people from the county below who came to stock up.

Xia Lin’s sister-in-law had been in the big city for several days, feeling dizzy from the new environment. It took her a week to figure out how to get from the factory to Fish Tail Street Market.

She lived at the factory, where Xia Lin had specially cleared a room for her, and during the day, she would go to Fish Tail Market to look after the stall.

To make things easier, she even bought her sister-in-law a tricycle since the place was just a small shed and the merchandise couldn’t be left there, meaning it had to be packed up every day.

Today, Xia Lin accompanied her sister-in-law on her first day of setting up the stall with just two types of clothes, two top designs and two pants designs.

Although there were few styles, quite a number of each size were displayed.

In reality, most people were slim and a standard size would suffice, but Xia Lin still produced a slightly larger size because there were still some who were heavier.

No sooner had they set up than people began to inquire.

Xia Lin’s sister-in-law was somewhat timid, so it was Xia Lin who stepped forward to greet them. After just a short conversation, a four-yuan top was sold.

Xia Lin’s sister-in-law was amazed, "Linlin, this... this is selling too easily, right? Just a few words and you have four yuan in hand?"

Xia Lin nodded and smiled, "Big sister-in-law, in our family, you’re the one with the gift of the gab, which is why I asked you to come over here. We’re just starting, and although we don’t have many styles yet, what counts is that they look good and are of good quality. People in the city know how to dress, so as long as you talk them up well, these clothes will sell for sure.

Selling over a dozen sets a day is no problem."

These words filled Xia Lin’s sister-in-law with motivation, and she smiled, "Linlin, are you really going to give me ten yuan a month, plus an extra dime for each piece of clothing sold?"

"Of course."

Xia Lin’s sister-in-law showed a simple smile, "If I sell ten pieces a day, that’s an extra yuan for me."

"Yes, so sister-in-law, you really need to sell well. I’m off for the next couple of days, and I’ll teach you how to sell."

"Sure, Linlin, just tell me, and I’ll learn from you."

"Also, if someone wants to buy in bulk to resell, tell them it’s two yuan per piece, with a minimum of ten pieces. If they can’t take ten pieces, sell at retail price. You definitely can’t give them the wholesale price just because they buy more. Unless you want my factory to go out of business."

"Two yuan, sister-in-law isn’t stupid, I know, if you make money, you won’t mistreat your family."

Hearing this, Xia Lin laughed; she had asked her sister-in-law to come precisely because she knew her character.

Although she was currently having her sister-in-law help manage the store, it wouldn’t always be this way. Once her factory started getting more orders, she could hand over the stall to her sister-in-law. Then, she would bring her brother over too, and they could sell clothes together. As long as they sold well, within a couple of years, they could bring the niece and nephew to live in the big city.