When she went back to where she was dropped off, the driver was already there waiting for them. The driver was a nice guy. He walked over and helped Shu Yan put her clothes into the trunk when he spotted her.
âLe and the others arenât back yet?â If they were only picking the newest styles, they should be done before her.
âNot yet, but they should be back soon.â
Shu Yan handed a bottle of beverage to the driver and asked him, âHow often do you do a trip like this? Do you have a phone number? How do I get hold of you next time?â
She couldnât get too close with Le and the others. Who knew what theyâd do behind her back for their businesses? Shu Yan hoped to find someone whose shop was not on West City Nan Road to share a ride.
âI have a home phone. You can call me directly when you need a car next time. Hereâs my business card and it also has my pager number on there. You can page me if itâs urgent. I usually do a run every three days or so; sometimes every day. I am only responsible for providing the car, you will need to find the others to split the ride with.â The driver immediately killed off Shu Yanâs idea.
Made sense though. It made no difference to the driver whether there were one or four riders. He charged the same amount. In fact, if there were less people, he could even save on gas.
Ah well. Drivers were in high demand back then. Sheâd just have to go ask around shops that were farther from her. It was quite a bit of distance between City Nan and City Hang; everyone would need a ride.
âOkay. Thank you," said Shu Yan with a smile.
They chitchatted a little more before Le and her lot returned. When she saw Shu Yan, Le said unhappily, âWhere did you go? We have been looking for you all over.â
âExactly. You said you were going to the bathroom and then you were gone. We were worried about you and went looking for you. We even went looking in the bathroom and waited for you outside. We didnât even get our clothes.â Zhu Hung was equally upset.
Shu Yan raised her brows and said, âI was standing next to the bathroom the entire time. I didnât see you guys?â
âReally? How come we didnât see you?â Le was less aggressive now.
âWe must have just missed each other. Sorry. I ran into someone from my hometown and started chatting. We did go and look for you guys outside the door but didnât see you.â Shu Yan scanned back and forth from one of them to the next and said, âI did run into Le inside the market. You were grabbing some merchandise at the time. I called out to you, but you didnât hear me. I turned around and you were gone again. What a mess. So sorry. Mainly this was my first time and I had no idea what was going on.â
Le and the rest didnât seem embarrassed at all. Hearing Shu Yanâs answer, they smiled immediately and said, âHow unfortunate that we missed each other earlier. Oh, right, whereâs that person from your hometown?â
âShe needed to catch her ride. So lucky I ran into her today. I didnât think there was so much to know about merchandising.â Shu Yan scanned over them again. Honestly, they didnât know each other that well, and it wasnât their obligation to give her any tips and tricks. But then, they wanted to feign being friendly while not sharing anything, that was kind of silly, at least put up a front or something.
âYou guys did well!â Shu Yan looked at the clothes in their arms and smiled.
âThey were mostly Zhu Hungâs and Fan Xiaomeiâs. All they needed were menâs clothing and childrenâs clothing. There was no need to fight at all. By the way, have you decided what kind of clothing you are going to sell yet?â asked Le, concerned.
âWomenâs clothing. The lady I ran into said womenâs clothing is better and I agree with her. But my style is slightly different than yours. Yours are sexier and I went with more plain-looking ones. I donât think there will be any conflicts.â Shu Yan could tell that Le wanted to check out her style of clothing in her bag. She made sure the bags were tied up tightly and didnât pay her any attention.