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However, some of these vendors thought quickly. 

For instance, a young couple, who had come from the countryside to sell duck eggs, approached Xu Yin on her third day of setting up her stall. They tried to strike up a conversation and asked if they could buy some dried seafood and mountain products from her in bulk.

Xu Yin: “…”

This was beyond her expectations.

“You want to buy goods from me? Did you see that I’m selling well? The goods I have were sent by someone from my hometown in Pingyang, and considering the shipping costs, I’m not making much money.”

The young couple replied, “Hey! Who comes here to set up a stall and make easy money? We’re all here to sell well. Seeling is all about making a small profit on each item, and it adds up over time, so you end up making more.”

The young couple had a straightforward approach.

Xu Yin took a look at the fresh duck eggs and salted eggs on their stall and realised that they were indeed not as popular as her dried seafood and mountain products. 

There were too many duck egg producers in Tongcheng, and duck eggs had become slow-selling commodities. In comparison, her dried seafood and mountain products were selling well.

After some thought, she replied, “Alright, I’ll have my fellow villagers send some more over.”

The young couple responded, “Then we’ll wait for you, Big Sister! Here’s our address. You’re welcome to visit us.”

This was how Xu Yin, who had only set up her stall for four days, gained a long-term customer.

Having a new sales channel for the seafood from Houhai and the mountain products from Da’ao was a great thing! 

When someone was happy, they tended to spend more.

After closing her stall, Xu Yin went to the local wholesale market for agricultural and sideline products. She indulged in a shopping spree, buying all sorts of things like preserved chicken and duck, lamb legs, sheep wool and cashmere filtering mouths—she bought practically every fresh thing she saw.

Two days later, at the big market, she spotted fresh lamb meat. She couldn’t resist and bought a substantial amount. 

While her sister-in-law was picking fish at the nearby stall, and Doudou was watching the fish intently, Xu Yin quickly approached the lamb vendor and bought fifty kilograms of lamb meat. 

The lamb legs, lamb sweetbreads, and lamb ribs were swiftly transferred to her system inventory through her bamboo baskets.

She also went to the cooked food stall and weighed two pounds of cooked lamb meat. They could eat it as soon as they got home.

Seeing a stall selling young lambs, with a nursing mother sheep tied nearby at a reasonable price, she immediately bought and brought the nursing ewe home. She would cook lamb milk for her two nephews.

Her younger nephew was five months old by this point. Since Xu Yin’s sister-in-law didn’t have enough breast milk, she was now feeding him rice porridge. 

They didn’t have enough extra money to buy formula milk for the children, although Xu Yin’s sister-in-law wasn’t producing enough breast milk and had to supplement her baby with rice porridge.

Xu Yin had been considering getting some formula for her younger nephew, but it was hard to buy formula these days. Even if one had the money, one could only occasionally get one or two cans. Now, with the nursing ewe, she’d sustainably solved this problem.

Her younger nephew wasn’t the only one who’d benefit from the ewe. Her older nephew also needed more calcium. So having an ewe at home would be an excellent thing for both of them. 

Additionally, Xu Yin bought some vegetable seeds that were not available in Pingyang. She planned to take them back and let her parents try planting them. If they grew well, they would have a few more fresh vegetables on the dinner table.

As they looked at the dazzling array of goods in the market, Xu Yin and her sister-in-law talked about the seafood business in Tongcheng.

“Sister-in-law, I don’t see any stalls selling dried seafood here. I asked one of the vendors, and he asked me if we had a supply source. If we do, he wants as much as we can provide. I was thinking, your family has dried a lot of kelp, seaweed, and small seafood, right? When I go home, I’ll collect the goods and send them to you. You can take them to that vendor. Here, I wrote down the address, and I roughly negotiated the price with him. You can settle with him based on the list I’ve made.”

The seafood dried from Houhai Village didn’t fetch much in the county town. So, it made more sense to bring it to Tongcheng for sale. Her cooperating partner would be that young couple. 

She handed the paper with the address to her sister-in-law. When they received the goods, she could have her brother deliver them and settle the payment.

The number of transactions and trust would depend on the sincerity of the young couple.

Xu Yin’s sister-in-law was puzzled, “Is it worth sending that stuff all the way here? It doesn’t sell for much, and we might even lose money.”

“Let’s try it. What if we make a profit?”

Since her C-section, Xu Yin’s sister-in-law had started to put a lot of trust in her. If Xu Yin said to give it a try, she would give it a try. 

In the worst-case scenario, they would just cover the shipping costs themselves. As for the dried seafood, every household in Houhai had it. They gathered it from the seashore and sun-dried it without any upfront costs, making it quite inexpensive to sell.

Xu Zhinian returned home and saw that there was a live ewe in the yard. He couldn’t help but ask, “Why did you bring a live ewe home? Couldn’t you find mutton? Should I butcher it now?”

He thought it was for slaughtering and eating.

Doudou ran over to his father and looked up at him with an earnest tone, “Dad, this ewe is not to be eaten! Auntie said that from now on, my little brother and I will drink this ewe’s milk every day so we’ll grow taller and stronger.”

“That’s right. Xu Yin bought it for Doudou and Dingding. She said the two kids lack nutrition, so drinking sheep’s milk will be good for their health. This sheep just gave birth not long ago, and it can produce milk for at least eight or nine months. When it stops producing milk, we can slaughter it for meat,” Xu Yin’s sister-in-law explained to him.

Xu Zhinian was touched. “My sister bought it? Does she still have enough money left?”

“I offered her money, but she refused and said it was a gift for her two nephews. I’ve thought about it. When the shop opens, I’ll keep half of what I earn from selling clothes for my little sister. If she doesn’t take it, I’ll save it for her and put it towards her dowry when she gets married,” Xu Yin’s sister-in-law whispered to him.

Xu Zhinian naturally had no objections. “I’ll go along with your plan.”

The Xu family now had a pet sheep, and the residents in the same building were quite envious. 

These days, dairy products were a luxury, and while it was okay to occasionally buy a can of powdered milk, daily supplies of milk were something not many households could afford.

A lactating sheep wasn’t cheap, but the returns were substantial. It could produce one to two litres of milk per day, and after giving birth, it could supply milk for eight or nine months. It was a great investment.

However, the idea of purchasing a milk sheep specifically for their kids wasn’t something they were willing to consider. When they heard that Battalion Commander Xu’s family had a sheep, which his sister had bought for her two nephews, with the hope that they would grow taller and stronger, they were consumed with jealousy.

The wives thought, if only they also had such a kind sister-in-law, too!

Meanwhile, look at the sisters-in-law in each of their families. They’d always either bully them along with their mother-in-law or try to win over their sibling—the wives’ husbands—to their side. It was just plain annoying. 

Xu Yin’s sister-in-law’s tailor shop finally opened. It put on display the fashionable dresses that Xu Yin designed, which were poised to set a new trend in Chinese fashion. This caused the other residents’ feelings of envy to grow even stronger.

How could Battalion Commander Xu’s wife have such an outstanding sister-in-law? They couldn’t help but lament the contrast. Her sister-in-law was not only kind but also good at making money, while their sisters-in-law… They’d rather not talk about it.

“Sister, are these clothing styles all thought up by your younger sister? She’s so capable! By the way, how old is she this year? Is she eighteen yet?”

Those who had eligible younger brothers or male cousins found opportunities to inquire about Xu Yin’s personal information from Xu Yin’s sister-in-law.

Being polite, Xu Yin’s sister-in-law replied with a smile, “Yinyin is not in a hurry. She was admitted to Tsinghua University, and she will be starting her studies in the capital this September. Her matters are not urgent to her right now.”

Of course, there was no rush. What kind of good partner could she possibly find here?

There were so many high-achieving students at the university in the capital. Her younger sister-in-law was good-looking and pleasant to be around. How could she possibly not find someone who was great and suitable for her there?

Upon hearing this, the residents couldn’t help but feel a surge of envy again. 

Not only was she capable, but her academic performance was also outstanding. 

In this day and age, high school graduates were in high demand. A university student was even more so, being the rare species that they were.

They thought about their younger brothers who didn’t have much potential. The one with the best education had only graduated from junior high school. Suddenly, they felt embarrassed. They should’ve known that such a good younger sister-in-law was definitely out of their league.