Chapter 7

"Where have you two been? It's so late, and you're just getting back now?"

Wu Tian and his sister had just entered the house and put down their stools when they startled their mother, who was cooking in the kitchen. Chu Yumei, holding a ladle, scolded them loudly.

Wu Yuan was immediately intimidated by her mother's stern demeanor and lowered her head, too nervous to speak.

However, Wu Tian wasn't fazed. With over thirty years of experience, he knew that his mother was all talk. She had never hit them, and the worst she ever did was twist their ears, and only half a turn at that.

"Mom, the pot is burning!" Wu Tian said with a grin.

"Oh..." Chu Yumei, hearing this, hurried back to the kitchen, muttering all the way, "I told you to watch the house, but you two disappeared. It's pitch dark now, and you're just getting back? Humph, I'll settle accounts with you after I finish cooking!"

Wu Tian rolled his eyes. He wanted to come back earlier, but the business was too good. Thanks to his efforts, the business had become quite successful, especially as it got dark and more people from various workplaces passed by, forming a crowd around him. If it weren't for the darkness making it hard to write, he wouldn't have stopped.

Writing is actually a physical job too... Wu Tian rubbed his sore wrist and winked at his sister. The two of them slipped into the inner room, closed the door, and Wu Yuan started emptying her pockets, pulling out handfuls of RMB—ten cents, twenty cents, one yuan, two yuan...

"Thirteen yuan and sixty cents in total!" Wu Yuan counted carefully and exclaimed excitedly.

"Huh? Only thirteen yuan?" Wu Tian was disappointed. He had worked hard all day, and his wrist was sore, but he had only earned a little over ten yuan. What could he do with such a small amount?

"Don't be ungrateful. How much does Mom earn in a month?" Wu Yuan said. "And Mr. Chang, he didn't get a single customer all afternoon, just helped us cut paper..."

Thinking of Mr. Chang's frustrated and gloomy face, Wu Tian couldn't help but laugh. Considering the current prices and his mother's monthly salary of forty to fifty yuan, Wu Tian felt a bit better. Earning over ten yuan in half a day wasn't bad...

But if he continued at this rate, he would only earn about a hundred yuan by the New Year. After giving half to his "partner" sister, the remaining money wouldn't even be enough to buy a wooden bed!

No, he needed to improve his business strategy...

While Wu Tian was thinking, he heard his father calling for his mother's help. The two of them ran out and saw their father pushing a 28-inch Forever bicycle with an old wooden bed on it, sweating profusely.

Wu Tian looked at the old wooden bed and sighed. His father was even more eager for a better life. This was good; even though they could earn enough for a bed by the end of the year, it would be better to save the money and use it as capital for further investment.

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"Good morning, Brother Chang." Wu Tian, who had slept in a bed alone for the first time after his rebirth, woke up feeling refreshed. Solving his biggest problem after rebirth, Wu Tian was in high spirits.

It was already quite late, around nine in the morning. There was no way around it; they had to wait until after breakfast, when his father went to work and his mother, after a bit of dawdling, also left for work, before they could sneak out to set up their stall.

Fortunately, Chang Tianhua had already arranged the tables. Wu Tian and his sister only needed to take out their brushes, set up the ink, and hang the sample couplets written by their grandfather on the back wall.

"Ah, Xiao Tian, Xiao Yuan, you're here, hehe..." Chang Tianhua responded with a slightly embarrassed tone.

Wu Tian found this a bit strange. Chang Tianhua's attitude was unusual. Although he hadn't reacted strongly when Wu Tian called him "Brother Chang" yesterday, he had shown some dissatisfaction. Today, however, he not only accepted the title but also seemed a bit guilty.

What's going on?

Wu Tian glanced around and couldn't help but laugh. On Chang Tianhua's table were red paper strips prepared for writing couplets, but they were much wider than the ones from yesterday!

Ha, it seems even honest people can get envious. Seeing how well Wu Tian's "wide paper, large characters" strategy worked, Chang Tianhua couldn't resist following suit. However, Wu Tian's success wasn't just due to the wide paper and large characters; the "prodigy" label was something Chang Tianhua couldn't replicate.

"Brother Chang, how's business?" Wu Tian asked with a smile, his eyes constantly darting to the stack of wide red paper.

"It's early, there aren't many people on the street yet..." Chang Tianhua, a typical intellectual, blushed before he even finished speaking. After all, seeing someone else's business thrive and immediately copying it, especially when the other person was a six- or seven-year-old child, didn't align with his principles as an intellectual. However, since Wu Tian and his sister arrived yesterday afternoon, he hadn't had a single customer, and he had been severely scolded by his wife that night. Most importantly, his family's financial situation really needed the money, so he couldn't afford to be too proud.

"Ha, I see there are already people queuing over there," Wu Tian said, looking towards the two large stalls near the Xinhua Bookstore, where a few people were already waiting to have couplets written.

Mentioning this, Chang Tianhua's face turned even more resentful. "They've all switched to wider paper too!"

Wu Tian was taken aback and looked around. Indeed, most of the stalls on the street had switched to wider paper. He was surprised. Although following trends was common in business, especially in Shandong Province, he hadn't expected it to be so prevalent in the early 1980s. In just one night, the entire street had followed suit?

Seeing Chang Tianhua's frustrated expression, Wu Tian smiled and asked, "Brother Chang, do you know where to buy wholesale door decorations?"

By "door decorations," he meant New Year pictures. While some people wrote four-character couplets to use as door decorations, printed New Year pictures were more colorful and attractive.

"At the printing factory," Chang Tianhua said. "Why do you ask?"

Wu Tian smiled. "In business, it's important to have a variety of products. I write couplets, but you could buy some door decorations to sell. We could complement each other and benefit mutually."

Chang Tianhua was taken aback. What was this kid talking about? Fortunately, as a teacher, he could understand the meaning—Wu Tian was suggesting that he buy couplets and sell door decorations. This could work; for every couplet Wu Tian sold, he could sell a door decoration. Although he might only earn a few cents per door decoration, it was better than having no customers at all.

The problem was, as a respected teacher, writing and selling couplets was acceptable, as it was a cultural activity. But selling door decorations would make him a mere peddler, and he couldn't bring himself to do that.

Seeing Chang Tianhua's reluctance, Wu Tian didn't push. He told his sister to watch the stall and ran to the Xinhua Bookstore to buy ten sheets of red paper. He then went to the paint counter and spent twenty cents on a small packet of gold powder.

The so-called gold powder was actually brass powder. When mixed with water, it could create a very impressive golden effect. In the future, many printed couplets used gold characters, but this wasn't popular yet. If he could be the first to offer gold couplets, he could earn a few more cents per set.

"Gold couplets, thirty cents per set!" Wu Tian returned to the stall, wrote a sample with the gold powder, and hung it on the wall, then started shouting.

In business, it's important to have different tiers of products. Low-end products have high volume, while high-end products bring in more profit. This was the key to success.

Chang Tianhua couldn't help but sneer. Just because you switched from black ink to gold powder, you think you can raise the price? Who would be foolish enough to pay an extra ten cents?

However, as soon as Wu Tian started shouting, a man in a suit and tie stopped. This "early rich" person was clearly interested in the golden couplets. Although he was a bit hesitant about Wu Tian's age, he couldn't resist Wu Tian's persuasive tongue and ordered six sets of couplets with gold characters, including a large, extra-wide set for the main door, which Wu Tian convinced him to pay one yuan for.

Seeing Wu Yuan happily counting the six yuan plus change, and the four or five people queuing up to have couplets written by Wu Tian, Chang Tianhua was extremely frustrated. He adjusted his glasses, gritted his teeth, and finally turned to the printing factory on the other side of the street...