1990s: Spring Water Family

Chapter 160 Fudan University, Declaring the Fiancée's Sovereignty

When Lin Xiyu arrived at the place, she was truly shocked.

Although it was called a wholesale market, it was actually just a large warehouse, much larger than she had imagined.

Before 6:30, the warehouse entrance was already crowded with people, each with a small folding cart and several oversized woven bags.

Lin Xiyu had done her research beforehand and knew that the wholesale market did not provide sacks for loading goods, so she had to prepare them herself and bought a complete set in advance.

At 7 o'clock sharp, the warehouse door opened, and the crowd immediately erupted in excitement, scrambling and jostling to get ahead.

Lin Xiyu followed the crowd into the warehouse and saw that the people in front of her were like robbers, scrambling to stuff the wool sweaters they liked into their bags, and even grabbing the ones hanging on the racks.

In no time, all the wool sweaters hanging at the front were snapped up.

The scene left her quite bewildered, and it took her a while to react before she dragged her little cart to the back row.

After wandering around the back row for a while, she gradually figured it out.

Merchants in the wholesale market display the most fashionable styles at the front, while the discount area at the back displays mostly last year's styles.

The further you go, the older the styles and colors become. Some are even marked as being sold at a 90% discount, and the prices are very affordable. You can buy a dozen or so wool sweaters here for the same price, even if they cost one or two hundred yuan outside.

Shanghai is an international metropolis that has always been at the forefront of fashion trends.

Some trendy styles won't go out of fashion in other cities even after two or three years.

My cousin bought the sweater as a gift. She didn't care if the style was new or not, as long as it wasn't secondhand or defective and was presentable enough to give as a gift.

Besides, with such a low price (one-tenth of the original price), it would be worthwhile to sell it at the night market and double the profit. There would definitely be no shortage of customers, and it would be easy to earn more than ten dollars per item.

Lin Xiyu was quick-witted and understood the key point. She was soon relieved, and the frustration of not being able to grab the latest model when she entered the store vanished.

The key to making money in small businesses is cost-effectiveness. Discounted wool sweaters are the easiest to resell, making them the most popular among out-of-town traders.

Most of the out-of-towners who shared Lin Xiyu's idea were wandering around the discount area, and she also calmed down and picked out the items she liked.

"This young lady has good taste; she knows how to pick clothes."

"Did you come alone? Where are you from?"

"How do we ship the goods after we've finished selecting them? Want to hitch a ride to the train station together?"

There were quite a few people browsing in the clearance sale area, and soon someone noticed her. Seeing that she was a pretty young girl, they used various pretexts to strike up a conversation with her.

"No need, I'm not going to the train station. There's a post office nearby. I don't have much stuff, I can just send it back from the post office."

Lin Xiyu was naturally not foolish enough to introduce herself to strangers, so she casually gave a few perfunctory replies and got rid of many people who were bothering her.

"It's so expensive to mail it through the post office!"

Some people were still persistent and wanted to pester her further, but she glared at them with a sharp look and said, "I just want to go to the post office, what's it to me?"

"Hey, this little brat's got some nerve. Fine, I'll find someone else if I don't want a ride."

The man left cursing, and the others were intimidated by his fierce aura and dared not disturb him again.

"Xu."

Lin Xiyu exhaled a breath of stale air, calmed herself down, and focused her energy on selecting goods again.

The discount area is quite large; just browsing through each shelf would take more than three hours.

Lin Xiyu roughly sifted through the selections and chose quite a few wool sweaters that she liked.

She roughly counted them and found there were nearly a hundred items, filling two large woven bags to the brim.

The small cart can only hold a maximum of three woven bags; any more and it becomes too heavy to pull.

Moreover, you have to queue to pay at the checkout, and then walk to the post office. By the time you finish sending the package, it will probably be 11 o'clock.

The wholesale market is in the suburbs, and it takes more than an hour to get back by bus.

Just coming here to buy some clothes takes up a whole morning.

"Ugh."

She sighed, looking up at the sky. The morning had passed just like that. For someone who wanted to catch up with the top students but felt powerless, blaming it on not having enough time...
Who can understand this kind of pain?!

As expected, it took almost an hour to queue to pay, and the distance to the post office to ship the goods was even longer than anticipated.

She got up early this morning and didn't eat anything in order to catch the bus, surviving on just a bottle of water until now.

I forced myself to stay awake until I finished paying the bill. Exhausted and hungry, I dragged three large woven bags out of the warehouse. My steps were unsteady, and I felt lightheaded, with no strength left.

"so tired."

Just as she was feeling irritable and agitated, she suddenly remembered something her mother had once said.

Back when I was sent to the countryside, my mother would carry a full basket of sweet potatoes all the way from the village to the long-distance bus station when she came home for the New Year. She was so tired that she wanted to cry and throw the basket away, but thinking about our poor family situation, she gritted her teeth and persevered.

Both were eighteen years old; if her mother could persevere back then, she could too.

Thinking of this, she instantly found the strength, gritted her teeth and persevered, pulling the cart forward.

Half an hour later, we finally arrived at the post office. The moment I entered the gate, I was so excited that I almost burst into tears.

"Little girl, are you alright?"

When the post office staff saw that her eyes were red, they mistakenly thought that something serious had happened, and came out from behind the counter with great concern to ask her how she was doing.

"It's nothing, I'm just hungry and a little dizzy."

Lin Xiyu's stomach growled at just the right moment. She rubbed it shyly, her ears turning red, and blurted out the embarrassing truth.

"Here are some cookies. Have some to tide you over."

The post office worker was a kind-hearted woman whose broken Shanghainese accent brought tears to the eyes of the hungry man.

"Thank you."

She swallowed a biscuit and drank a glass of warm water, and her poor stomach finally felt a little better, no longer feeling as hungry and anxious as before.

There weren't many cookies, and after eating two, she felt embarrassed to eat any more, so she gave them back to the older woman.

"A little chubby looks better on a young girl, she shouldn't lose weight."

The older sister saw that she was slender and slim, and mistakenly thought that she was deliberately dieting to maintain her figure, which caused her dizziness.

"I haven't lost weight."

Not wanting to leave a bad impression on her older sister, Lin Xiyu explained with an awkward smile, "I just left a little early this morning and didn't have time to eat breakfast."

"Oh"

The older woman, being a kind-hearted person, immediately switched into caring and educational mode upon hearing this: "Not eating is definitely not good. Even at a young age, you need to take care of your health. Skipping breakfast is very harmful to your body, easily leading to metabolic disorders, hypoglycemia, and even gallstones."

"I want to ship the goods."

Lin Xiyu was both amused and exasperated. To avoid further tormenting her ears, she could only interrupt with an awkward laugh: "How much does it cost per kilogram to send a wool sweater?"

Let me check for you.

When work was mentioned, the older sister lost her mood for casual conversation and opened a thick, large booklet to look up the corresponding province and city.

"Regular mail is 10 yuan, express mail is 15 yuan."

She was very skilled at searching and quickly found the specific price.

So expensive!

Lin Xiyu's eyes twitched involuntarily, and she forced a smile.

What do you want to mail?

The older sister saw that she was pulling three large woven bags and probably guessed what was going on.

"Wool sweater".

As expected, Lin Xiyu gave the same answer she had anticipated.

"You're so young, and you're already out buying goods?"

The older sister was quite surprised and looked her over carefully again.

"Uh, yes."

Lin Xiyu understood immediately; her older sister had mistaken her for a middleman from out of town.

Considering that her work was no different from that of a middleman, she didn't offer any further explanation and simply accepted it.

"It's not easy for a young girl to do this job."

The older sister muttered something under her breath, gesturing for her to put the woven bag on the scale to weigh it. Lin Xiyu did as she was told, dragging the woven bag off the cart and placing it on the scale.

The three woven bags weigh a total of 50 jin (25 kg), which is equivalent to 25 kilograms.

One kilogram costs 10 yuan, so 25 kilograms would cost 250 yuan.

Fortunately, it's within an acceptable range!

Lin Xiyu mentally visualized that rather comical number and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ordinary packages arrive in Jinan in three days."

The older sister had her fill out a mailing form, specifying her address and mailing method.

After filling out the form and paying, Lin Xiyu helped her older sister unpack the wool sweaters from the woven bag and put them into a postal bag. Once she had finished all that, she said goodbye and left.

"Gululu."

As soon as I stepped out of the post office, my poor stomach started protesting again.

The post office is in a rather remote location, with no restaurants around.

Lin Xiyu had no choice but to endure the journey and take the bus back to the vicinity of the school, where she managed to eat a bowl of noodles to fill her stomach.

After a long day of running around outside, she was exhausted. She went back to her dorm and fell asleep immediately, and it took her several days to recover.

Another weekend, Gu Bin once again came to the campus of East China Normal University under the pretext of playing basketball.

"You went to buy the goods yourself? Why didn't you tell me? Do you think of your boyfriend as just a decoration?"

When he heard that his girlfriend had gone to the wholesale market alone, was so hungry that she was dizzy and almost fainted, he felt both heartache and speechless.

"I didn't expect the wholesale market to be so big; it takes several hours to walk around it."

Lin Xiyu explained with an embarrassed smile, "I was careless this time. It won't happen again. Next time I go, I will definitely eat breakfast, and this will never happen again."

"When is the next time? I'll go with you."

Gu Bin frowned slightly, clearly worried about her.

"Are you going too?"

Lin Xiyu's eyes flickered slightly: "Let's not."

"why?"

Gu Bin was puzzled, his brows furrowed tightly.

"Actually I think"

Lin Xiyu hesitated for a long time before finally stating her reason: "You're not suited for that kind of place. In my mind, you should be wearing a suit and tie, working as a professional in an office building, not like me, haggling over a few dollars in a crowded market, working yourself to the bone."

"Why do you think so?"

Gu Bin's eyes were filled with complex emotions, hinting at a sense of helplessness.

You and I are different.

Lin Xiyu said matter-of-factly, "I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth; I was born with a life of wealth and privilege."

What's going on in your little head?

Gu Bin laughed in exasperation: "In this day and age, I'm truly amazed that there are still people who believe in fate."

Never mind.

Lin Xiyu's ears turned red: "Anyway, I don't want you to go."

"reason."

Gu Bin frowned: "If you don't want me to go, you have to have a reason. Unfounded talk of fate doesn't count."

"I'm doing it for your own good too."

Lin Xiyu said coquettishly, "You're already working so hard studying two subjects at the same time. I don't want you to waste your energy on these little things."

"will not."

Gu Bin decisively rejected the idea: "I know my own performance. If I don't have the energy, I won't force myself to do something that's difficult and unrewarding."

That's what they say, but...

Lin Xiyu was still conflicted.

"But what?"

Gu Bin leaned down, his face close to hers: "Stop stammering, explain clearly."

"Learning two subjects is really tough."

Lin Xiyu's eyes flickered slightly: "You don't need to hide it from me. I know you study late into the night at the library every day. No one can gain something for nothing; your grades are the result of hard work."

"This sentence contains a lot of information; it requires careful consideration."

Gu Bin looked at her intently, then suddenly raised an eyebrow and smiled teasingly: "How did you know I study late into the night at the library every day? Did you miss me and secretly go to Fudan University to give me a surprise?"

No, that's not true.

Lin Xiyu glanced away somewhat guiltily: "I heard it from Li Qing. She said she went to Fudan University with Wang Fan a few times, and every time she saw you studying in the library. When she came back, she kept praising you, saying that you are the most promising person she has ever met, a genius boy with extremely high talent and hard work. If nothing unexpected happens, your future achievements will be limitless."

"Ah"

Gu Bin raised an eyebrow, speechless: "So it was her. I was so happy for nothing. I thought someone had finally come to their senses and was going to Fudan University to assert their dominance."

"Are there many people pursuing you at Fudan University?"

Lin Xiyu's beautiful eyes widened, and she sensitively sensed something different.

"Your boyfriend is a highly talented and hardworking young genius with unlimited potential."

Gu Bin smiled jokingly and returned Li Qing's words verbatim: "Someone as outstanding as you, how could you not have ambition?"

Very meow!
Just because I'm not showing my teeth doesn't mean I'm a pushover.

Let me see who's so blind as to steal my boyfriend!
"Let's go to Fudan University, right now!"

Lin Xiyu bristled, like a fierce little wildcat, brandishing her claws at her love rival.

"hehe."

Gu Bin loved seeing her haughty little face and would let out a happy laugh.

Feeling a sense of crisis, a certain cat—cough cough, no, I mean someone—couldn't wait a moment longer and, like a whirlwind, swept over Fudan University.

Gu Bin indulged her little wish, letting her take his arm and walk around the campus several times.

During this time, quite a few girls tried to strike up a conversation, but they were all glared at and turned away by the proud little cat.

"Gu Bin, who is she? She's so close to you, is she your sister?"

Fudan University is full of talented people, with high academic qualifications and good looks. There are naturally many proud and arrogant girls. Some people don't believe in this and insist on going against the grain, testing my patience.

"Yes."

Lin Xiyu got angry again and retorted seriously, "Haven't you heard of 'brother' and 'sister' lovers?"

"Cough cough."

The girl was so choked that she almost passed out.

"hehe."

Gu Bin couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"What are you laughing at?"

Lin Xiyu narrowed her eyes, her threat obvious: "Am I wrong?"

"Correct."

Gu Bin stopped laughing and nodded seriously: "Whatever you say is right."

"Am I your sister?"

Lin Xiyu persisted, deliberately asking a counter-question.