"You don't like to be in the spotlight, why put yourself through this when you could be at home weaving?"
Pushing the three-wheeled cart, Yu Zhou looked back at his wife with a wry smile.
Having lived two lives, he understood Jiang Jie well. She was a quiet, introverted person who disliked crowds, and forcing her to join him at the street stall was definitely making things difficult for her.
In terms of weaving, after Yu Zhou drew up more than ten designs, he had already found unemployed friends from the factory to do the work. They were all workers on strike. Although they hadn't been laid off, their pay had stopped, making it no different from being laid off.
For this reason, Yu Zhou had specifically signed contracts with them, and they were all working in the courtyard of Yu Zhou's family, earning a dollar a string.
Jiang Jie could have stayed home to help, and there was no need for her to come out to the stall with him.
"It's the first day, and I have to see if we can sell anything, right?"
"And how exactly do you plan to sell them? How much per string? You've been weaving for two days, and you still won't tell me?"
Jiang Jie, walking behind and pushing the cart, gave Yu Zhou a strange look.
She had been thinking about how to do this business for the past few days.
In her opinion, the most she could think of was setting up a stall and shouting, but clearly, judging by Yu Zhou's smile and mysterious demeanor before, she knew it wouldn't be that simple.
However, no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't figure out what new tricks Yu Zhou had up his sleeve besides setting up a stall. So, she decided to follow him on the first day to see if the business was profitable.
"Don't worry! I've been working so hard for days. If it wasn't profitable, why would I be bothering myself like this? As for how to sell it? You'll know in a bit."
Yu Zhou smiled mysteriously. In his mind, there were countless ways to make money that were far ahead of this era. He had already figured out how to quickly gather his first pot of gold.
Nanqiao Square, being the hub of Jiangbei City in the 1990s, was closely connected to the old city and the old factory areas. Therefore, it didn't take much travel for Yu Zhou and his wife to push their three-wheeled cart to the stall.
It took about half an hour to reach the bustling square. There was a significant flow of people, much like a pedestrian street in later generations.
In the center of the square, a large group of people, dressed in various styles, were either sitting cross-legged in meditation or striking strange poses. They were qigong practitioners.
Yu Zhou couldn't help but feel speechless, witnessing the then-burgeoning qigong craze, which was terrifyingly pervasive.
"So many people? Can we even find a spot?"
Looking at the roadside of the square already filled with vendors, Jiang Jie, who had been fully prepared, couldn't help but frown subconsciously.
It wasn't that she was shy, but she disliked such lively scenes.
Moreover, if they couldn't even find an empty spot to set up their stall, what would they do? Turn back and go home?
"We're not the only ones being laid off. Whether it's the Second Textile Factory, the Bearing Factory, the Steel Factory, or other state-owned enterprises, which one isn't facing difficulties? Which one hasn't had workers laid off for months?"
"Without their jobs, the number of people setting up stalls and doing business has naturally increased."
Looking at the scene before him, Yu Zhou was filled with emotion.
In this era, the coastal developed cities and special economic zones had already begun to flourish.
However, compared to the coastal cities, inland provincial capitals like Jiangbei were far behind.
Under the general trend of reforming state-owned enterprises, which factory or enterprise wasn't facing growing pains? And which one didn't have laid-off workers?
This was a large group of people, and importantly, a large group of people accustomed to the "iron rice bowl" who couldn't survive on their own.
Indeed, there were significant opportunities here, but there were also intense growing pains.
This was an unavoidable economic transformation, and one could not truly empathize without experiencing it firsthand.
"Sigh! Who would have thought that the good old 'iron rice bowl' would be gone just like that?"
Jiang Jie sighed with emotion. She herself was someone who was very suited for working within the system and was also a typical example of those who feared losing their factory jobs.
Unfortunately, it was useless to dwell on such things now. Their family could never return to the Second Textile Factory.
"Actually, this isn't entirely a bad thing. Look, so many people have lost their jobs, but people always want to survive."
"Those who are completely helpless and can only live off their savings are only a minority. Most people, with their own hands, can still make a living."
Although Yu Zhou's family was also a victim of the wave of layoffs, he held a positive view on economic transformation.
Competition, only through competition can the economy develop rapidly. With a weak nation, how could development be easy?
It was just that he hadn't expected that even setting up stalls in the square could be so competitive.
Was there even any space left in Nanqiao Square?
"Brother! Brother! I'm here..."
As the couple squeezed through the crowd and reached the west side of the square, they saw a tall fellow, also in factory overalls, grinning foolishly.
This was Wu Dabiao, Yu Zhou's childhood friend. He was also a worker at the Second Factory and had arrived at six o'clock that morning to reserve a spot for him.
With such a burly guy, not many people dared to cause trouble for him.
"Sister-in-law! Hehehehehe..."
Seeing Yu Zhou stop, Jiang Jie began to get busy, and Wu Dabiao scratched his head with a foolish grin, quickly helping out.
Soon, a dazzling array of bracelets, sweater chains, and hair ties filled the stall.
However, the square had all sorts of things for sale, and many strange and unusual items, so before they even started shouting, few people noticed their stall.
"Did you bring the paper signs and other things I asked you to bring?"
Yu Zhou didn't stand on ceremony with his childhood buddy. He didn't even say "good job" and turned his head to look at the foolish fellow, who was a full 1.9 meters tall, more than half a head taller than him.
Busy with his work, Wu Dabiao picked up the piece of cardboard he had been sitting on and handed it to Yu Zhou.
Yu Zhou was speechless. However, upon unfolding it, his expression returned to normal.
[Buy a bracelet, get a lucky draw ticket! 100% winning ticket!]
[First Prize: 100 cash]
[Second Prize: 20 cash]
[Third Prize: A sweater chain]
...
[Lucky draw starts now...]
A carefully designed sign advertised their business.
At a glance, Jiang Jie was dumbfounded. What was this?
"Are you crazy? Who does business like this? Bracelets for fifty cents a string? And a lucky draw ticket with a 100% win rate? How much money do we have to cover your losses?"
Jiang Jie grabbed Yu Zhou's arm, her worry clearly visible on her face.
She couldn't imagine why her husband would engage in a business practice that was clearly at their expense.
And he hadn't left any room for maneuver, writing it directly on the sign.
With such a business model, their family's entire fortune wouldn't be enough to cover the losses!
At this moment, she truly couldn't understand what Yu Zhou was thinking.