Chapter 112: Leaving the Four-Piece Set with Someone Else to Sell

Around two in the afternoon, Wang Qiang returned to Huaqiangbei Street and headed toward the Jiahua Clothing Market. Instead of rushing straight to the shop he’d visited last time, he decided to ask around the nearby stores first.

The first shop he stopped at, he asked, “Boss, how much for a dozen pairs of jeans?”

“One hundred and ten,” came the reply.

“That expensive? I just asked another place and they said eighty.”

“Impossible. At eighty, they’d be selling at a loss.”

Unable to strike a deal there, Wang Qiang moved on to the second shop, where the owner was a young woman in her mid-twenties.

“Miss, how much for a dozen jeans?”

“It depends on the style. For example, these high-waisted patterned ones are 120 a dozen; the tight-fitting ones are 105...”

“What about the cheapest ones?”

“One hundred.”

Again, no deal was made.

Wang Qiang continued to inquire at several shops. The lowest price he found was ninety-five, with none cheaper than the shop he’d dealt with previously.

After circling the Jiahua Clothing Market, he ultimately chose to return to the original store. At the very back, as he approached, he saw the shop owner—a woman—drowsily dozing behind the counter. Business was clearly slow.

As he reached the doorway, Wang Qiang greeted her, “Good afternoon, miss.”

The woman, previously listless, immediately perked up and turned toward him with delight, exclaiming, “Young boss, long time no see!”

Wang Qiang stepped over a messy pile of jeans on the floor and approached the red lacquered counter with a smile. “It’s only been half a month. That can’t be considered long.”

She smiled faintly. “Half a month isn’t long? So, in your eyes, only ten or twenty years counts as long?” She glanced outside playfully and teased, “Didn’t your little girlfriend come with you?”

Little girlfriend?

Ah, she must mean Fang Yueqing.

Wang Qiang wiped the sweat from his brow. “She’s really not my girlfriend.” Quickly changing the subject, he said, “I’m here to pick up some jeans. Still the same price as last time?”

She hesitated for a moment before answering, which made Wang Qiang a bit uneasy—could the price be going up?

Thankfully, she reassured him, “It’ll be the same price as last time for now, but it might increase next time.”

Curious, Wang Qiang asked, “Why the price hike?”

“Sigh, business isn’t easy these days.” She sighed heavily, her face showing frustration. “Several clothing factories have sent notices that prices will rise in a couple of days. My shop is in a rather remote spot, so business was already slow. Now with the factories raising prices, I guess I won’t be able to keep the shop open much longer.”

No wonder.

So the clothing factories supplying her were raising prices.

When Wang Qiang first asked around, the lowest price elsewhere was around ninety, but now no one would go below ninety-five.

Understanding the situation, Wang Qiang looked sympathetically at the shop owner and asked, “Have you thought about doing something else?”

She shook her head. “Everyone in the wholesale market deals in clothes. If I tried something else, no one would buy it. Sigh.” She sighed again and quickly changed the topic. “So, what do you want this time?”

A dozen jeans means twelve pairs, and Old Yao wanted a thousand pairs, so Wang Qiang naturally wouldn’t take more than he needed. “Eighty-three dozen plus four loose pairs of jeans. As for styles, just like last time. Something average will do; I have no special requirements.”

The woman was startled. “That many?” Then her expression brightened. “Finally, I’ve met a valuable customer. I haven’t had such a big order in a long time. Let me calculate the total.”

She pulled out an abacus from under the counter and clicked the beads rapidly.

“Six thousand six hundred sixty-six. Since you’re a regular, I’ll round it down to 6,650. How’s that?” She looked up.

Wang Qiang nodded. “Fine, thank you.”

She beamed. “Alright, come pick them up tomorrow morning. I’ll go to the factory tonight to restock.”

Wang Qiang hesitated, “You don’t have them in stock now?”

“Some styles are missing,” she replied frankly.

After some thought—since the shipment wouldn’t arrive at the train station until around ten the next morning—it made sense to come early. Wang Qiang agreed and paid a thousand yuan deposit.

She wrote him a receipt.

Just as Wang Qiang was about to leave, he suddenly thought of something. He placed his suitcase on the counter and asked, “By the way, does anyone here wholesale bedding sets? Like four-piece bedding sets?”

“Bedding sets?” The woman scoffed. “Those are expensive. Who wholesales them in a clothing market? No, never seen any.”

Expensive? Wang Qiang pressed further, “Then what’s the wholesale price for four-piece bedding sets around Shenzhen?”

For big clients, the woman was happy to chat. “It depends on the fabric quality. Average sets start around fifty at wholesale; better ones can go up to seventy or eighty. Our area is good with electronics and clothing, but hardly anyone deals in home textiles here. If you’re looking for bedding sets, you might be in the wrong place.”

Wang Qiang wasn’t mistaken—in fact, he was exactly where he wanted to be. He opened his suitcase and pulled out fifteen bedding sets.

“Take a look at these. How do you like them?”

The woman was taken aback, then looked down at the colorful bedding sets on the counter. She picked up a pink-and-white set and felt the fabric. “Very nice. I’d guess retail would be around 180 to 200 per set. Where did you get these?”

Wang Qiang didn’t answer her question directly but asked instead, “Would you be interested in wholesaling home textiles? I can supply you.”

She gave a surprised laugh, eyeing Wang Qiang strangely before chuckling, “So am I wholesaling jeans to you, or are you wholesaling to me?” She shook her head and added, “Honestly, my location is poor. I can barely wholesale clothes here, let alone home textiles.”

Hearing this, Wang Qiang felt a bit disappointed but didn’t give up. “How about I leave these bedding sets here for you to try selling? If they do well, I’ll bring you more next time. If not, just return them to me.”

“I’ll think about it,” she hesitated.

Considering the prices in Shenzhen’s home textile market, even fifteen quality bedding sets would wholesale for several hundred or even over a thousand yuan. Wang Qiang knew she was worried about losing money if they didn’t sell.

But since he bought the fifteen sets at the Die Shi Qiao Home Textile City for only about three hundred yuan total, he was willing to take a risk.

“Here’s the deal: I won’t ask for any deposit. You just sell them, and next time I come, you pay me for whatever you’ve sold. If you can’t sell them, just give them back. How about that?”

The woman, already considering switching trades, immediately agreed at the no-risk offer. “Okay, tell me how you want these bedding sets priced.”

“The pink and white set goes for sixty, the blue and white for fifty…” Wang Qiang listed the prices, ranging from fifty to eighty yuan.

She wrote all the prices down.

After finishing, she looked up. “Leave me your contact info. If they sell well, I’ll call you directly.”

Wang Qiang was momentarily stunned, then smiled wryly. “I don’t have a cell phone or pager.”

“You’re such a big boss and don’t even have a pager?” she was surprised. “Then just leave a phone number where you can be reached.”

Indeed, not having any communication device was inconvenient. Wang Qiang thought about getting a pager or something once he earned more. For now, he gave her the phone number of the Friendship Guesthouse.

With that settled, they agreed he would come by at 7:30 the next morning to pick up the jeans, and Wang Qiang left the wholesale market.

He still needed to pick up game consoles and game cards.

...

He found the shop where he bought game consoles last time.

Inside, the handsome young owner, Li, was serving a customer.

“Pocky consoles are fifty each, and I’ll throw in a box of standard game cards.”

“Can you go any cheaper?”

“No way. Go ask somewhere else. Where else will you get a console for fifty with free game cards?”

“Alright, I’ll take one.”

Li turned to grab a console for the young man but suddenly noticed Wang Qiang and greeted him with a smile.

“Looking to buy game consoles? Just wait a moment.”

It seemed he didn’t remember Wang Qiang.

Wang Qiang wasn’t offended. After all, Li served many customers daily and couldn’t remember them all. He nodded in acknowledgment.

Soon after, Li finished serving the other customer and turned to Wang Qiang.

“Hey, handsome, what kind of console do you want? The Subor learning machine is 250, Nintendo's red-and-white is 150. If you want something cheaper, the Pocky consoles are only 51 each, with free standard game cards—but no RPG cards.”

Wang Qiang had heard all this before, so he cut to the chase. “I want twenty Pocky consoles with twenty boxes of standard cards. Also, forty more boxes of standard cards and ten boxes of RPG game cards.”

Li suddenly chuckled. “I remember now—you took that many last time too.”

Wang Qiang smiled and nodded without saying more.

“No problem with the game cards, but you’ll have to come later for the consoles. I only have nine Pocky red-and-white consoles left in stock.”

“What time?”

“Around five.”

“When do you open in the morning?”

“Eight.”

“Alright, I’ll come by in the morning to pick them up.”

Li nodded enthusiastically. “Sounds good. You bought quite a bit last time, so I won’t ask for a deposit this time.”

With the time arranged, Wang Qiang took his leave.

He could have picked up the consoles at five in the afternoon but had something important to do first—meet Fang Yueqing.

Or rather, meet Fang Yueqing’s classmate who could crack game cards.

Since the single-player machines wouldn’t ship until the next morning, Wang Qiang had to return to Shanghai tomorrow. If he didn’t arrange to meet Fang Yueqing and her classmate tonight, who knew when the next opportunity would be?

He was eager for Fang Yueqing’s classmate to unlock arcade game boards. The arcade business’s huge profits didn’t come only from running arcades. Wang Qiang had no intention of wasting time just opening arcades; he already had a plan to make big money from arcade game boards themselves. Of course, if conditions allowed, he wouldn’t mind opening another arcade with Old Zhu. Small profits were still profits, and with Lu Wei and Zhu Xiaofeng watching the shop, he wouldn’t have to worry.

But for now, he would hold off and think more after meeting Fang Yueqing’s classmate.