"Sure, I’ll go check it out tomorrow. Could you help get so information first?"
Lin Wan definitely wasn’t going to just do it once and stop. She’d do it again whenever she had the ti. Having a fixed place was good too.
Later that evening, Han Yi ntioned this to Lin Wan. Lin Wan was montarily taken aback.
Only then did she rember that the street over by South Street was going to be entirely clothing stores. A famous clothing street.
"Having a good spot would be great."
"You want to rent one?"
"Yeah."
The two of them discussed it, planning to check it out while selling clothes tomorrow.
In the morning, they still went to the train station, and by the ti it was past three in the afternoon, Han Yi took her to South Street.
At the entrance to the street, several ters high overhead, was an iron semi-circular sign. Nangang District rchandise Stall Area.
There weren’t store fronts lining the street. Instead, there were various sized rectangular spaces built with bricks. In front of each space was a brick-built counter with an opening just big enough for a person to enter. Above was an asbestos roof providing shelter from wind and rain. If they closed up shop at night, the counter would be closed off with a folding wooden door.
This place must have been planned before the New Year and construction began after the New Year. It had been operational for over two months already.
There were forty to fifty counters on each side of the street. Over a dozen had already opened for business. Many of the rest were still vacant.
The crowds on the street were bustling and the market was gradually taking shape. Presumably, so nearby residents had already learned about this market.
Perhaps it was the rule here that only clothing, cotton fabrics, and such could be sold.
Apart from two fabric sellers and a tailor’s shop, the rest were selling clothes, shoes, and cotton sheets.
Regularly, a wire would be strung across the entrance, with lots of clothes hanging on it, and there were many displayed on the counters too.
After making a round, Lin Wan decided on a spot in her mind.
The third shop to the left of the entrance. That spot is slightly bigger, with more than ten square ters.
That evening, Han Yi told Zhang Hanfu about it, planning to rent a space.
The two of them made an appointnt to go have a look with him around noon tomorrow and sign the lease agreent.
The young couple decided that tomorrow they would first set up their stall at the train station, then take a two-hour break at noon, during which they’d sign the contract.
But who knew it would start drizzling the next day.
They couldn’t set up their stall.
They had to stay cooped up at ho.
By noon, Han Yi didn’t let Lin Wan go.
He arranged to et Zhang Hanfu on South Street.
It was unexpected that the person they t also turned out to be soone Han Yi knew. Coincidentally, it was his high school classmate.
When the person found out it was Han Yi’s wife wanting to rent, they gave Han Yi a favor, reducing the rent from seven yuan a month to five yuan a month. Han Yi returned the favor by paying for a year’s rent at once.
After all that back and forth, the three of them ended up being friends, so they just stayed out and caught up at a local eatery nearby.
They didn’t return ho until they were a bit tipsy by two o’clock.
"Why so late?" Seeing Han Yi’s flushed face and so rain on his clothes, she asked with concern.
"Brother Zhang introduced to a contractor, who happened to be my high school classmate Wei Jian Country. We just had so drinks together."
"What a coincidence. Did you rent the store?"
"Yes, the place you liked, for five yuan a month," Han Yi said as he pulled out the signed lease agreent from his pocket.
"From now on, when I’m not around, with him there at the stall, no one will dare bully you. Back when we were in school, we were best buddies, even went to the black market together. But after I joined the army, we didn’t have many chances to keep in touch."
"That’s good then."
By then, the rain had stopped, and Lin Wan wasn’t thinking about going out to sell clothes either.
She spent the afternoon at ho with Han Yi. In the evening, she quietly rode her bicycle to the school.
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