Chapter 61: I'm Worried Sick For You

Liu Yue'e trotted over holding a box and asked, "Manager Lu, where should I stand?"

Lu Fan casually pointed, "Just stand shoulder to shoulder with Bai Lu, side by side. Take your time and don't rush. Everyone has a first time, just make sure you calculate the accounts carefully."

"Alright, I can do this. Bai Lu, give me some small change."

Bai Lu glanced at her biological mother and also instructed, "You better calculate properly. Don't end up making the accounts mismatched in the end."

Liu Yue'e speechlessly replied, "I taught you arithmetic when you were little. If you don't make mistakes, I won't either."

Bai Lu retorted, "Then you didn't even know what 1.2 cubic meters was."

Just as Liu Yue'e wanted to counterattack, Lu Fan gave a light cough.

"Are you ready? I'll let a few more people in for the next wave."

"Mm, let them in. I can collect money fast and accurately."

"Good, then you two can have a little competition!"

Lu Fan smiled and walked away, returning to the queue: "Uncles, aunts, grandpas, grannies, don't rush, it will be your turn soon."

"Next, we'll take groups of ten inside to choose clothes."

Cashier work is actually very simple. Almost all of these people bought three items, totaling 147 yuan.

Collecting 150 yuan and giving 3 yuan in change.

Liu Yue'e was doing quite well, moving with great agility.

Her previous mild social anxiety had completely vanished.

After observing for just a moment, Lu Fan shifted his attention back to the crowd selecting clothes.

Now, with the addition of these veteran street vendors whose bargaining tongues and sharp eyes had long since been honed, the moment a customer called out a size number, they could immediately find the right one. Then, with just a couple of remarks, they could dismiss most customers, significantly boosting the speed of clothing selection.

Seeing someone leave the premises, Lu Fan let a few more in from the waiting line.

Suddenly, someone tugged at his sleeve. Lu Fan looked down to see the little girl who had been selling ice lollies.

"What's wrong?"

"The ice lollies are all gone. 212 in total."

"Good, I'll settle accounts with you later."

"Do you want anything else?"

"What else do you have?"

"I have cat's ear biscuits, spicy strips, watermelon bubble gum..."

"No!"

"Oh!"

The smile on the little girl's face instantly froze.

Pointing at a nearby stall selling roasted gluten skewers, Lu Fan said, "Go over there and bargain with him. Tell him ten cents a stick, and I'll buy out his entire stock. If you manage to lower the price, I'll give you an extra two yuan."

"Tell him to push his cart over and follow along right behind where you finished handing out the ice lollies. He can just roast them slowly as he goes, no need to rush."

The little girl tilted her head and said, "He normally sells them for twenty cents. If I go and bargain like that, won't I get beaten up?"

"If he won't sell, go to another vendor. He's not the only one selling them. Also, count them for me later, exactly how many there are, otherwise I won't pay you for the ice lollies."

"Ah!"

"Go on, hurry up."

The little girl bolted away instantly.

Walking to the middle of the queue, Lu Fan announced, "Sorry everyone, the ice lollies are all gone, but I'll get you some specialty snacks shortly."

"That's fine. The boss might be young, but he's not stingy." Those who hadn't gotten an ice lolly had been slightly irritated, but their anger instantly vanished.

Someone chimed in, "Yeah, absolutely. This is the first time I've ever seen someone giving away food while selling clothes."

Lu Fan smiled and said, "I felt a bit bad about making everyone wait for so long, so consider this a small compensation for everyone."

"I hope you all understand!"

"Understood, understood. You're working at such a young age, it's not easy either."

Seeing that the ice lolly girl had already brought the roasted gluten vendor toward them, Lu Fan returned to the front of the queue.

He wasn't giving these things away out of pure charity; he had noticed that some people in the middle of the line had grown tired of waiting and left.

The cost of these small giveaways didn't even scrape the tip of the clothing profit margin.

If this method could keep a few more people anchored here, it was pure profit.

...

Across the street, in the spot where Xue Gang and Yi Yi had hidden a few days prior.

A few individuals were standing there now. They had been lingering for quite some time, among them the triangular-eyed man Lu Fan had been desperately searching for.

At that moment, the triangular-eyed man was bent at the waist, speaking in low tones to a man.

"Boss Xie, you've seen it yourself—that's 150 per person. Look at how long his queue is, and all of that is pure cash."

"I had someone counting on the side. Including the ones who left earlier, there are four or five hundred people. A conservative estimate for a single night is tens of thousands."

The middle-aged man addressed as Boss Xie wore a floral shirt. He had a long face, thick eyebrows, and small eyes, with a scar stretching across the corner of his eye and temple. A coiled black snake with a forked red tongue was tattooed on his exposed left arm.

On the outer edge of his wrist, three cigarette-burn scars were visible.

Listening to the triangular-eyed man, Boss Xie's expression remained unchanged. "Old Guan, you have several brothers under you. How did you manage to capsize in the gutter dealing with such a punk?"

"Boss Xie, it's not that our brothers are cowardly, but he has a gun on him. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to beg for your help."

Boss Xie's small eyes blinked. "I've never heard of such a ruthless character in Jiangcheng. Could he be a dragon crossing the river?"

"Regardless of whether he's a local snake or a crossing dragon, once he's on your turf, he has to bow his head. Coming to Jiangcheng to rake in cash without paying his respects to Boss Xie shows a complete lack of respect for you."

Boss Xie slapped the triangular-eyed man on the head. "You motherfucker, I'm not a protection racketeer. What era is this? You still want to court death? Besides, this guy is running a legitimate business, not crooked sidelines. Even if he didn't kowtow to my turf, I can't find a reason to make a move. Jiangcheng isn't run by me alone; we can't break the rules."

The triangular-eyed man hastily said, "Boss Xie, how is that not a crooked sideline? Just look at the speed with which he collects money—it's even more detestable than swindling! And earning that much in a single night means this guy probably has some capital. We could easily squeeze dozens or even hundreds of thousands out of him!"

"What do you want to do?"

"Boss Xie, if you make a move, I'll just tag along for some scraps. If you don't want to dirty your hands, just lend me a piece of hardware, and we'll split the spoils fifty-fifty."

Boss Xie contemplated for a moment before calling out, "Monkey!"

A lean man walked over and tossed a pouch to the triangular-eyed man.

The triangular-eyed man fumbled and caught it clumsily.

Boss Xie lowered his voice. "You haven't seen me tonight, and I've never been here."

"Yes, yes, yes!"

...

When the queue of clothes shoppers had halved, Lu Fan's anxiety finally subsided.

The people remaining in line each held a skewer of roasted gluten, with more waiting patiently, and very few were leaving. Lu Fan's mood improved even further.

At that moment, he saw Xue Gang leading Yi Yi over from a distance.

His face dropped as he demanded, "Where have you two been? Studying by day and practicing by night—I lectured you all day long, and you agreed so readily. How can you be so worrisome!"

Xue Gang stared blankly at the truck loaded with clothes. Just as he wanted to ask something, Lu Fan continued, "Among all the people studying today, you were the only one who paid the deposit. You should be much more proactive than them. Look at them, they've already started practical operations, while you two were just wandering around idling."

"With you being so slack, when are you ever going to sell that batch of goods?"

"Sigh, I'm getting a headache just worrying about you!"