Volume 1, Chapter 17: Sold Out, Time to Head Home!

July 17.

At 7:30 in the morning, Tang Yichen and his father had just bought breakfast when they saw Li Huihui waiting downstairs.

"Huihui, you're here early," Tang Xionghua said with a smile.

Li Huihui rushed over to them in a single stride. "Good morning, boss! Good morning, Chen."

"Good morning, Sister Huihui," Tang Yichen replied, waving his small hand with an innocent smile.

"Have you eaten? Shall I go buy a couple more steamed buns?" Tang Xionghua asked politely as usual.

"No, no, I've already eaten."

"Alright then, let's head up. We'll start as soon as we're done eating. If we finish early, we can call it a day earlier."

"Sounds good!"

Back at the rental apartment, Li Huihui watched the father and son eat. She couldn't help but think that Tang Yichen was an incredibly well-behaved child. He was quiet, sensible, and even helped clear the table after eating—he was simply a sweetheart. However, she had never seen Tang Yichen’s mother, and neither of them ever mentioned her. Could they be divorced?

While Li Huihui was lost in thought, the two had already finished tidying up and were ready to go. It was exactly eight o'clock. Tang Xionghua and Li Huihui each shouldered a bag of goods and headed downstairs. Since there wasn't much stock today, Tang Xionghua couldn't win the argument against Li Huihui, so he shamelessly squeezed into the tricycle's cargo bed with Tang Yichen. Walking took too long.

They didn't head to a new market right away, choosing instead to revisit the markets from the previous days to restock. Some small vendors hadn't quite grasped the market trend two days ago, ordering only five or six pounds at a time. Given the rapid sales pace they had seen with Boss Hu, those vendors were likely already sold out. Unfortunately, in this era, not everyone had a mobile phone, otherwise, Tang Xionghua’s phone would have been ringing off the hook with reorder requests.

As expected, upon entering the market, several vendors who had purchased small quantities were eager to restock. They hadn't realized that the dried fish and shrimp would sell so quickly. Although the provincial capital, Chuzhou, was located along the Yangtze River, it lacked the abundant supply of these dried goods found in the countryside. The market demand, once unlocked, was experiencing a sudden boom. The first vendor they visited, fearing that Tang Xionghua might not return, boldly ordered thirty pounds this time.

Not every vendor possessed such foresight and courage. Most had only just sold out and hadn't yet felt the pain of losing potential profit while customers begged for products that weren't there. Consequently, most just increased their orders slightly, to ten or twenty pounds. Even so, by the end of the morning, they had only visited four markets, and their stock of over a hundred pounds was down to less than twenty.

During lunch, Tang Xionghua made a decision. "Huihui, why don't you handle the rest of these deliveries yourself this afternoon? If you don't finish, it's fine—just bring the remaining stock and the tricycle home. Don't worry about trying new markets today. You're familiar with the process, and I trust you completely. I’m heading back to Jianghan City to restock after lunch; I probably won't be back until four or five tomorrow afternoon. You can use tomorrow to get more familiar with the markets or just take a break; I'll pay you regardless."

"Oh?" Li Huihui was caught off guard. It was only her second day on the job, and the boss was already entrusting her with everything? There were still twenty pounds of goods and a tricycle—wasn't he worried she would run off?

After a moment of panic, she calmed down, patted her chest, and said, "No problem! Boss Tang, I won't let you down." From another perspective, this was a huge sign of recognition and trust. Li Huihui felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction and importance.

Tang Xionghua smiled with satisfaction. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a hundred-yuan bill, handing it to her. "Here, let me pay you for half a month in advance. Thank you for trusting us—you started working for us without even getting a penny or knowing what to expect."

Li Huihui froze again, waving her hands in protest. "No, no… I’ve only been here two days, how could I take this?"

"It's fine, take it. Don't you have a younger brother who needs money for tutoring?" Tang Xionghua insisted, pressing the money into her hand. "But for the other half of the month's wages, you'll have to finish the month first, of course."

"Okay, thank you, boss!" Li Huihui clutched the two hundred-yuan bills, her eyes welling up. It was hard not to be moved by encountering a kind person like Tang Xionghua during her most difficult time. Tang Xionghua was also slightly touched; a young woman her age carrying such a heavy family burden wasn't easy.

But that was as far as it went. In this day and age, it wasn't the custom to take advantage of someone's vulnerability, offering hugs or comfort in a hotel room. Tang Xionghua wasn't that kind of man. Even if Tang Yichen’s physical condition had allowed for it, he wasn't that type of person anyway.

After lunch, they went their separate ways. Without delay, the father and son rushed to the train station to head back to the county. This dried fish and shrimp business was showing signs of blowing up, and they absolutely could not afford to run out of stock. They had to make as much as possible before others caught on. As Tang Yichen had pointed out, the massive price gap and profit margins wouldn't last forever as more people entered the market. Tang Xionghua kept his son's advice firmly in mind.

At the station, Tang Xionghua, carrying nearly a thousand yuan in cash, became hyper-vigilant. He held Tang Yichen’s hand tight to keep him from being snatched by human traffickers, while keeping his other hand firmly in his pocket, carefully navigating through the crowd. He was so nervous while paying for the tickets that he looked more like a pickpocket than a businessman, which even made Tang Yichen a bit anxious.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and they caught the 1:30 PM train. By shortly before six, they had arrived in the county. They immediately made their way to the bus station and caught a bus to Tianshui Town.

"Ugh—" As soon as he stepped off the bus, Tang Yichen, overwhelmed by the stench inside, couldn't help but vomit.

*This is truly miserable!* he thought. *Once we strike it rich, the first thing I’m doing is making Dad get his driver's license and buying a car. I never want to ride a death trap of a bus like this again!*

Clinging to his father's pant leg, Tang Yichen decided on his first priority as a "rich kid": Buy a car. A Santana would do just fine!