"Uncle He is so dependable," Li Xiangyang said, turning to Old Li. "Dad, the market’s open. Little Lan must have been swamped these past few days!"

Old Li said with a grin, "She’s at the South City bakery. I hear she’s been incredibly busy these last two days."

Li Xiangyang handed the warehouse key to Old Li. "Dad, I’m going to South City to see Little Lan. We’ll stock the goods when we get back."

Old Li took the key. "Alright. They have a stove over there, so she can make you something to eat when you get there."

Li Xiangyang nodded and rode Old Li’s bicycle toward South City.

Lin Changyou and Xiang Qun had guarded the shop for two days. They left Wu Shufen at Lin Lan’s house to help, then returned to Shilian with Lin Guozhu—who had just gotten back from reporting in—and Little Douzi.

Lin Lan had done the math and figured Li Xiangyang would arrive in the next day or two. She had specially bought two mature ducks and was keeping them at home, planning to stew a rich duck soup for him when he got back.

Li Xiangyang rode to South City and saw Lin Lan busy packing pastries for a customer. After the customer left, he walked into the shop and looked at Lin Lan, who was restocking with her head down. "Got any food, boss?"

Lin Lan looked up at him, her smile instantly blooming. "You’re back! You must be tired. Was the journey difficult?"

"There was a lot of snow in the mountains," Li Xiangyang said, his voice unusually gentle as he gazed at her, the corners of his mouth turning up on their own. "You’ve lost weight. Why are you working so hard?"

"You’ve lost weight too, and you’re all scruffy," Lin Lan said softly, looking at him. "Go inside and wash your face. Rest for a bit, and I’ll make you something to eat."

"Okay." Li Xiangyang followed her toward the workroom in the back.

Lin Lan said to Tong Xinglan, who was carrying a tray of honey buns, "Go watch the front."

Tong Xinglan saw Li Xiangyang and greeted him with a smile, "Brother-in-law, you’re back!"

Li Xiangyang nodded and headed for the backyard.

Tong Xinglan stuck her tongue out playfully and went out carrying the baking tray.

The two of them went to the backyard, where Lin Yuezhen and Qiaohui were still making honey buns. They both greeted Li Xiangyang happily when they saw he was back.

Lin Lan poured a basin of hot water for Li Xiangyang to wash his face, then she beat some eggs and cooked him a bowl of egg noodles.

Li Xiangyang slurped down the noodles and said with a smile, "The goods are already in the department store’s warehouse. He Li and the others are waiting for you to come over to do inventory and stock the shelves!"

Lin Lan nodded with a smile and said to Lin Yuezhen, "Cousin, Xiangyang and I are going over to handle the shipment. After you close up, you all can go back to Lexing to make the kidney bean rolls and red bean paste."

Lin Yuezhen nodded, telling her not to worry and that they would get it done.

Lin Lan went back, opened a drawer, and took out the ledgers for the department store and the clothing shop. She said goodbye to Lin Yuezhen and rode her bike toward the department store.

Li Xiangyang told her that he had brought in a huge amount of stock this time. Not only had he spent all the money he’d brought, but he had also borrowed thirty thousand yuan from Uncle Da.

He had also gotten several styles of men’s padded cotton jackets that he thought young people would like, as well as some short leather boots for both men and women.

Chatting as they went, they arrived at the department store in what felt like no time. They went to the backyard, opened the warehouse, and saw it filled with boxes and bags of all sizes.

Li Xiangyang had labeled the boxes and bags with the product types. Lin Lan brought over the ledger, and the two of them first inventoried and recorded the watches and tape recorders that were sitting out.

Only then did Lin Lan understand why he had to borrow money to buy stock. He had brought in twenty boxes of tape recorders alone. At five units per box, twenty boxes meant one hundred units. The tape recorders by themselves already cost tens of thousands of yuan.

The two of them worked until dark before they finished inventorying the goods there. Li Xiangyang delivered the items that the shop was out of, telling He Li to count them, log them in the ledger, and stock the shelves.

Lin Lan went to the clothing store across the street and saw a sign standing by the door. Written on it in colored chalk were the words: "New Stock Has Arrived. Available Tomorrow Morning."

’I can’t believe they remembered what I mentioned offhandedly and actually did it,’ she thought, staring in surprise for a moment.

Little Xue saw Lin Lan standing at the entrance looking at the sign and said sheepishly, "Auntie Lin, you mentioned it to us last time. As soon as Uncle Xiangyang delivered the goods, Little Mei went and bought colored chalk. We took out the sign from our grand opening, wrote on it, and put it by the door."

Lin Lan looked at the two sisters with a smile. "You did a great job. Did the sign have any effect?"

Little Mei nodded with a grin. "It did! Some people saw it and said they’d come by tomorrow to take a look."

Lin Lan patted the sisters. "Good. Go ahead and pull down the shutter. We’ll start organizing the new stock and preparing the new items."

"Okay!" Little Xue chirped, pulling down the roll-up shutter.

Lin Lan and Little Mei pulled out a large canvas bag labeled "Men’s Wool Sweaters." Little Mei and Little Xue counted the items, while Lin Lan took out the purchase order and ledger from her bag to check the shipment and record the inventory.

Blended-fabric suits, pure wool suits, woolen overcoats, heavy wool overcoats...

They kept the display pieces in the main shop area and carried the backstock inside to be sorted and arranged on the shelves.

After sorting through a few bags of goods, Lin Lan finally saw the padded jackets Li Xiangyang had brought back.

The jackets were styled somewhat like bomber jackets and came in dark blue, army green, brown, tan, and black. Some had fur collars, while others had stand-up collars. The workmanship and quality were excellent.

Lin Lan picked up a dark blue one and an army green one, thinking they would look great on Li Xiangyang. She decided to set both aside for him.

Little Mei tried on a small, coffee-colored jacket and asked the other two, "How does it look?"

Little Xue nodded with a smile. "It’s a little long and a bit baggy on you, but it looks really good."

Lin Lan also nodded with a smile. "Mhm! You’re still too petite. It’ll look even better once you grow a bit taller and fill out."

Little Mei looked at herself in the mirror and agreed it looked nice. "Auntie Lin, next time have Uncle Xiangyang bring back some in a women’s style."

Lin Lan laughed. "We’ll have to wait until next year for women’s styles." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Before they knew it, the sky had darkened. Li Xiangyang pulled up the shutter, poked his head in, and called out, "I ordered food from the restaurant. Come on over and eat before you continue."

"Okay," Lin Lan replied. She had the two girls turn off the lights, leaving only the one by the cash register on, before closing the door and heading to the department store across the street.

Li Shuqing and Yongmei were there as well. Everyone had dinner at their place, and afterward, Li Xiangyang, Old Li, and He Li continued to arrange the new stock on that side.

Lin Lan and Li Shuqing’s family went across the street. Li Shuqing and Yongmei helped count the merchandise, while Little Xue and Little Mei organized, ironed, and stocked the items.

The group worked until Zhigang came over, ready for bed, and by then they had only managed to put a portion of the clothes on display.

Lin Lan told Li Shuqing to take Yongmei home to get some rest.

At eleven o’clock, Li Xiangyang and the other two finished their work and came over to the shop to help. With their help, everyone was finally able to get all the sorted clothes onto the racks and attach the price tags.

It was midnight. The streets outside were silent, with very few pedestrians passing by.

Seeing that Old Li was tired too, Lin Lan said to Li Xiangyang, "Everyone’s exhausted. Let’s call it a day."

Li Xiangyang nodded. "Alright. I bought boots for you all. Let me go get them."

Little Mei looked at him, pleasantly surprised. "Uncle Xiangyang, you bought some for us too?"

Li Xiangyang smiled. "There’s a pair for everyone."

He took Zhigang to the warehouse, opened the cardboard box full of leather boots, and took out the top two pairs. These he had bought especially for Lin Lan.

He had also bought a pair for each of the elders. The supplier had said they were rubber-soled, lightweight, and not slippery on rainy days.