Seeing that he had calmed down, Jiang Xiao, having already issued his warnings, shared some good news with Zhang Yang too.

  “We have more money now. If we increase our order quantity, we can pressure the unit price down a bit more,” Jiang Xiao said. “That’ll give us more room for profit.”

  Electronic products depreciate over time anyway—technology keeps evolving, and they’re mass-produced on assembly lines. Once a product has made its profits, manufacturers will drop prices to clear stock, start new production lines, and push new models. Keeping up with trends is the only way not to be left behind. Older models inevitably lose value.

  Even though it was still 2003 and electronics didn’t evolve that fast, in Liujiang where these were manufactured, after nearly two months, prices for older models would naturally drop.

  He paused for a moment and then added, “You and I are already making a pretty decent profit—50 yuan per unit. Now that we’ve got a little cushion, I suggest you pass some of that to the retail stores at the end of the line. If possible, I’d say let them have a bit more. Even if you and I only make 40 yuan per unit—or even 30—that’s fine.”

  Zhang Yang was stunned and didn’t understand for a moment.

  They had finally gotten off to a good start—why was the money being pushed out now? Did Jiang Xiao think he had too much?

  But Jiang Xiao was thinking far beyond that.

  Now that their order volume was increasing, with 100,000 yuan, they could bring in 300 to 400 units. Earning thirty yuan on each unit meant a profit of over ten thousand yuan. That was not a small sum.

  More importantly, the reason they could make this money now was because the upstream supply channels for stores in Houlin County didn’t yet have MP3s. Not everyone could just travel to unfamiliar pces like Houlin and get them. Basically, Jiang Xiao and Zhang Yang had brought MP3s to Houlin ahead of the regur retail supply chain, which allowed them to profit.

  By next year—or even by the end of this year—these store owners would probably be able to buy MP3s through their existing channels. Why would they still buy from Jiang Xiao and Zhang Yang?

  Zhang Yang was dumbfounded when he heard this. “So what do we do? You mean we can only make money for these few months?”

  “What are you panicking for?” Jiang Xiao gave him a look. “You’re already ahead of them. Are you afraid you’ll fall behind ter?”

  MP3s would only get cheaper. Maybe this year or next, ultra-budget models without screens would hit the market for under a hundred yuan. In another year or two, it wouldn’t be strange for every middle and high school student to own one. This was going to be a huge market.

  “Now that people in Houlin are already willing to pay for them, you lower the price to promote quickly. Once you build traction, other store owners will come to you directly. Don’t just sell in Houlin—neighboring counties can sell too,” Jiang Xiao said. “When we have enough sales channels, we’ll have the leverage. I’ll take you to Liujiang to sign a distributor contract with a manufacturer and become official dealers.”

  In the next few years, domestic brands would still dominate the MP3 market—better quality at lower prices. Many of these factories were located in Liujiang. Signing a distribution contract there would make inventory and sales even easier.

  Besides, Jiang Xiao remembered that after a wave of tech upgrades, some domestic MP3 manufacturers ter became frontrunners in the domestic smartphone industry. If Zhang Yang could get on this track, it wouldn’t just be about selling MP3s and MP4s for a few years—he could build a lifelong business. That’s why they couldn’t be short-sighted now.

  Zhang Yang was left speechless. He had never thought about any of this.

  He’d been working for over two months and already made five thousand yuan—that was no small amount. His little video store normally made one or two thousand yuan in profit a month. What Jiang Xiao was talking about was way out of his league.

  “Don’t get too stressed,” Jiang Xiao patted his shoulder. “I’m just expining why we need to sacrifice some profits now to grab the market. Of course, we agreed that I handle sourcing and you handle sales. Whether you follow my advice is up to you.”

  Zhang Yang thought for a moment, didn’t hesitate much, and nodded. “I’ll follow your lead.”

  “Good,” Jiang Xiao smiled. “I’ll be heading to Liujiang in the next few days. Wait for me to get back.”

  After Jiang Xiao left, Zhang Yang still felt dazed. He sat in his chair for a long time, muttering, “This kid... what kind of brain does he have?”

  Jiang Xiao had the advantage of reincarnation, but no matter how many ideas he had, he still had to dare to think and act. He took the 100,000 yuan and, after the midterm results were out, hitched a ride with Ye Bing to Liujiang.

  He had finally squeezed into the top fifty of the grade, so going to Liujiang felt fully justified—he hadn’t neglected his studies.

  Just as he’d expected, this time the purchase price dropped a bit more.

  Though he hadn’t visited Liujiang in a while, Jiang Xiao kept in touch with Lin Zhiyuan by phone. They were getting pretty familiar now.

  He also visited the wholesale market to restock his small goods booth. After the New Year, lots of new items had hit the shelves. Plus, many cssmates had pre-ordered stuff with their holiday money.

  Most of the girls wanted accessories and stationery; the boys had pre-ordered jerseys and sneakers. It was Jiang Xiao’s first time buying clothes, but since it was for special orders and high-margin items, he put in extra effort to find quality goods.

  He was running both the MP3 business and his boutique general merchandise shop—he hadn’t abandoned either. The dealership setup was something he was preparing for Zhang Yang. Zhang Yanghad helped him a lot, was honest, and never took advantage of him being a kid. Good people deserved good returns—he couldn’t just let him earn money for a couple of years and then be done.

  Jiang Xiao had just turned sixteen and was still two years away from legal adulthood. He couldn’t even legally sign a distributor contract. Besides, he pnned to go to college and likely wouldn’t stay in Houlin. If he could use these years to save up some seed money, that would be good enough. He had his own long-term pns.

  Liujiang was much hotter than Houlin. This time of year, it was already bzing sun. After stocking up, Ye Bing wasn’t finished with his work yet, so Jiang Xiao waited for a ride on the roadside. Even under the shade of a tree, it was sweltering.

  That’s when someone handed him a bottle of cold water.

  He turned his head—Lin Chengyu.

  Jiang Xiao turned away.

  “I’m not drinking it.”

  “Just hold it, it'll cool you down,” Lin Chengyu said. “I know you don’t like drinking cold water, so I brought you this instead.”

  He pulled out a cup of chilled mung bean soup and handed it over.

  “Try it. It’s way too hot today.”

  Lin Chengyu had been following Jiang Xiao for a while now, trying to make up for all the carelessness of his past life.

  Jiang Xiao’s preferences weren’t hard to guess. For him, it wasn’t about what was expensive. For example, in weather like this, between H?agen-Dazs and a cup of iced mung bean soup, he would always pick the tter without hesitation.

  But Jiang Xiao ignored him and shifted further away.

  “I bought it from there,” Lin Chengyu pointed. It was an old dy selling sweet drinks under the sun. “If you don’t drink it, it’ll go to waste. Be good, Xiao Xiao—she’s working hard too.”

  Tch, it's really not easy for that old dy. Could he not go buy it himself?

  Jiang Xiao stood up and ran over to the small stall. He bought a cup of mung bean soup, a cup of chilled jelly, and two pieces of cold cake. The old dy packed everything in a pstic bag for him, but when Jiang Xiao tried to pay, she wouldn’t take the money.

  “That kid with you already paid,” the old dy said to him. “He said you’d come buy something, so he paid in advance. I can’t take your money again.”

  Jiang Xiao: “……”

  He couldn’t defend against that at all.

  “Then give the money back to him,” Jiang Xiao said. “Take mine instead.”

  “You two kids don’t need to argue with me,” the old dy smiled kindly, not understanding what was going on between them. “Just go rest under the tree.”

  She absolutely refused to take Jiang Xiao’s money.

  He couldn’t exactly go without a cold drink in this heat just because Lin Chengyu was trying to make things difficult for him. So, holding the pstic bag, Jiang Xiao stormed back in a huff, shot a gre at Lin Chengyu, then leaned against the tree, turned his back to him, and took a sip through his straw.

  Relief.

  Lin Chengyu stood there watching Jiang Xiao’s cheeks puff up like little buns. The old dy’s mung bean soup was solid—half a cup of mung beans. Jiang Xiao chewed happily, the sweetness cooling him off.

  Street stalls often add more sugar to mung bean soup. Lin Chengyu had a sip of his too and found it very sweet. With Jiang Xiao by his side, everything felt comfortable.

  It was a sunny day, but there was an occasional breeze. It blew a few strands of hair from the person he loved. Lin Chengyu looked at Jiang Xiao’s profile, wishing time could freeze at that moment.

  But Ye Bing soon finished preparing and honked the horn twice to signal Jiang Xiao it was time to go.

  He stole a little moment of time with him, but Jiang Xiao still had to leave.

  After drinking lots of icy things and eating two pieces of cold cake, Jiang Xiao was about 70% full and completely refreshed. He half-y on his seat, starting to feel sleepy, pnning to nap on the way.

  As they left, he saw Lin Chengyu holding the now-empty cup of mung bean soup and watching him. The teenager looked a little dumb.

  It seemed like every time they parted in Liujiang since their reunion, Lin Chengyu would just stand there, watching him leave.

  Jiang Xiao couldn’t quite describe the way Lin Chengyu looked at him in those moments. It was complicated, but also meaningless to him now. That kind of gaze no longer mattered.

  After returning to Houlin, Jiang Xiao handed a box of MP3 pyers to Zhang Yang, who had been waiting. They counted everything and completed the transaction.

  Of course, Jiang Xiao kept a few for himself to sell. He bought those with his own money, so they weren’t part of the deal with Zhang Yang.

  The next day at school, he delivered pre-ordered items to a few cssmates. Sure enough, some started asking about the MP3 pyers. Jiang Xiao offered them at a slightly discounted price and managed to sell a few units pretty quickly.

  Lin Heyuan knew Jiang Xiao ran a small business and was always busy for a few days after coming back from Liujiang.

  He didn’t know exactly how much Jiang Xiao was making, but it had to be decent judging by how active he was.

  He also understood Jiang Xiao’s family situation and didn’t bme him for not being fully focused on school. Besides, Jiang Xiao always hit the academic goals Lin Heyuan set for him. He was just using the time others spent having fun to earn money. Lin Heyuan figured he could help with delivery or organizing the inventory and accounts to ease Jiang Xiao’s burden.

  Still, he noticed something—Jiang Xiao had a knack for finding clever ways to earn in-between moments.