The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

Gu’er took a careful look around. The house had a lot of things, but quite a bit was still missing. There were many things one needed to buy to make a home. Sun Jiaming, being a man, sometimes overlooked these details. She would have to figure out what was needed and what was still lacking, and then get it all in the next few days.

When it was time for Gu’er to head back, Sun Jiaming gave her the keys. Lin Shan had given them to him. He had helped Gu’er get the furniture built, but there were some things he hadn’t bought. It wasn’t because he was unwilling to spend the money; he just wanted Gu’er to decorate her own little nest herself, just the way she liked. He believed she would only be truly comfortable living there if she chose everything herself, which was why he hadn’t bought anything else.

Furthermore, one of the keys on the ring was for his own apartment. Even though Gu’er hadn’t married him yet, he was happy to give it to her. He wanted her to be able to come over anytime, because in his heart, Gu’er was already the lady of the house.

Gu’er was taken aback when she received the keys. Only then did she realize why her father hadn’t given them to her directly. He must have been worried she wouldn’t have time to furnish the place. Meanwhile, Sun Jiaming, despite having to care for his grandmother, had still arranged to have her furniture built for her.

The two men before her—one her father, the other the man she would spend the rest of her life with—were the dearest people to her. They were always quietly taking care of everything for her behind the scenes. ’I really want to hug both of them,’ she thought.

For the next two days, Gu’er was too busy to spend any time at home. Not only did she have to buy things for her own place and Sun Jiaming’s, but she also had to procure goods for her trip to the Soviet Union.

She had gone to see her new home. It wasn’t large—only about thirty square meters—but it was in a good location and had been cleaned up nicely. It was more than enough space for just her.

She bought a lot of things for the home, all of them things she liked. This was her own little nest, so she only had to follow her own heart and didn’t need to consider anyone else’s opinion.

She also selected plenty of goods for trade. There was the same big bubble gum she had bought last time, some local specialties, and some items from the south. She also bought several of the local down jackets—the reversible kind. Because they weren’t departing from Dalian this time, she, Li Zhi, and Dingzi opted to source their goods locally.

Li Zhi asked Gu’er if Sun Jiaming could come along. He explained that they wanted to buy more this time, and he wouldn’t feel comfortable bringing a stranger. Besides, he was unwilling to partner with anyone he wasn’t close to, fearing potential conflicts over money.

Gu’er found this a bit difficult. A trip for a day or two would have been fine for Sun Jiaming, but being gone for ten to fifteen days might not be possible because of Grandma Sun.

Gu’er quietly asked Sun Jiaming about it, but unexpectedly, Grandma Sun found out. She supported Sun Jiaming going with Gu’er but instructed Gu’er to make something clear to the others: Jia Ming was not to be given a cut. Jia Ming and Gu’er were to be considered a single share. He was going to help Gu’er and wouldn’t be taking any money. This way, there would be no money-related problems with Li Zhi and the others.

Sun Jiaming made a trip back to his village and arranged for Aunt Zhao to come to the city with her child to look after Grandma Sun for a while.

Furthermore, Grandma Sun had Dingzi bring his grandmother over to stay at their house. That way, the two old ladies would have company, and Dingzi wouldn’t have to worry about his grandma being home alone in case something happened.

With all the arrangements at home settled, the group of four set off, laden with bags of all sizes.

Drawing on their experience from the last trip, the journey went very smoothly for the four of them. After leaving the station, they took a car to the same place they had stayed before. Gu’er gave the manager a small gift, and in return, they were given two nicer rooms.

Why only two rooms? Because they moved a bed from one room into the other, creating one three-person room and one single.

Even though Gu’er and Sun Jiaming had accepted each other in their hearts, and their families had more or less given their approval, they weren’t married. It was impossible for them to share a room.

Selling their merchandise also went smoothly. While they sold their stock, their Vietnamese contact helped them purchase local goods. The prices he got were even cheaper than what they could have managed on their own, and the quality was identical. This saved them a great deal of trouble.

It saved both time and money. As a result, Gu’er’s group only stayed in the Soviet Union for three days this time. With their goods sold and their purchases complete, they decided to sightsee for two days before returning home.

The sights in the Soviet Union were completely different from those back in China. In her past life, Gu’er had almost never left her own city, so she found everything novel and fascinating, putting her in a wonderful mood.

On the day they were scheduled to leave, their Vietnamese contact came looking for them. Wen Bin shared a piece of news with Gu’er’s group: a special area was going to be set up in the Soviet Union for foreign shuttle traders to sell their goods.

This street will have many stalls, which will be rented out to individuals. Some of these stalls are in good locations, and some are in bad ones. As for who gets the good spots, that will all depend on connections.

Wen Bin told them that a lot of people were already fighting for these stalls—Vietnamese people, locals, and as for people from China, he’d heard there were groups from Inner Mongolia, the Northeast, and Wenzhou.

Wen Bin explained that he could probably get them a stall through his own contacts, but the location would certainly be poor—tucked away in some forgotten corner—and the price wouldn’t be low either. A bad location would hurt their business in the long run. He was essentially asking if any of them had connections to reserve a stall in a prime spot.

The four of them looked at one another; none of them had any connections.

’I know two streets here will eventually be turned into special zones for shuttle traders, one for wholesale and one for retail,’ Gu’er thought. ’It’s an essential model for future growth.’

’Having a stall means we could sell goods long-term. You could make a ton of money that way, for sure.’

’But everyone wants a piece of a moneymaker. I can just imagine how in-demand the good stalls will be.’

’But I don’t know anyone. To secure a good stall, we’d have to deal with the police chief in charge of that district. And what do you use to ’deal’ with them? Money, of course. Right now, the good stalls probably go to whoever pays the most or has the strongest connections.’ 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

’We don’t have connections, so money is our only option. But this isn’t like running into a cop on the street and slipping them a few dozen Rubles or US Dollars to get by. This will probably cost several thousand US Dollars, at least.’

’But the three of us are just starting out. How could we possibly come up with that much in US Dollars?’

If Gu’er could figure this out, then Li Zhi naturally could too. The thought brought a wry smile to his face. He had no solution, either. ’Where am I supposed to get connections like that?’ he thought.

All they could do was ask their Vietnamese contact to try and get them a stall for now. They would just have to accept it, even if the location was poor. But deep down, neither Gu’er nor Li Zhi was satisfied with that. Of course, everyone wanted a good spot.

As for Dingzi and Sun Jiaming, Dingzi wasn’t good at schmoozing, and since this was Sun Jiaming’s first time here, it was even less likely that he knew anyone.

On the train ride home, Gu’er’s spirits weren’t very high. She was preoccupied with the problem of the stall.

——————————

Thank you to Karl King for the He Shi Bi, to Ning Zhihai for the peace charm, and to Melody Ranran and chenandxiao for the monthly tickets. Thank you all for your support. The bonus Chapter for the He Shi Bi will be out in a few days. I think I caught a chill. Today, it’s not just my wrist that hurts; my neck and one of my shoulders are aching all over.