The couple did not sleep very deeply, as they had important matters to attend to in the afternoon. After about an hour of sleep, they both woke up. Xu Mingxuan, who had no habit of lingering in bed, started getting up and dressed as soon as he woke up. Chen Lan, who liked to sleep in, closed her eyes and lay in bed for a while longer. Habitually, she checked the system time with her mind; it was not yet one o'clock. She stretched languidly, her hands reaching out from under the covers, still reluctant to leave the warm embrace of the quilt.
Xu Mingxuan finished dressing and tidying himself up. He turned to see Chen Lan still in bed and said, "Lan'er, since you can't sleep, let's quickly prepare the goods we need to exchange this afternoon!"
Chen Lan slowly sat up in bed and asked lazily, "Mingxuan, what do they need to exchange?"
Xu Mingxuan replied, "The procurement officer told me that they are quite far from the nearest big city, Vladivostok. Pogranichny is a border town with a small population and limited purchasing power. He wants to try exchanging a few types of goods with us first at the cooperative. If they sell well, he said their cooperative will have another large purchase before the New Year, and he will order more varieties from us then. The goods he wants this time are mostly durable clothing and accessories. He ordered fifty cotton coats each for men and women, fifty cotton hats, fifty pairs of snow boots, and fifty large floral shawls."
Chen Lan mentally opened the system warehouse and took out fifty cotton coats each for men and women, as well as all the other goods like hats and snow boots, placing them on the bed.
Then, she looked up and asked, "Mingxuan, is the New Year in the Soviet Union the same time as ours?"
Xu Mingxuan thought for a moment and said, "It seems to be different! The closest part of the Soviet Union to our country is Russia. Russia, like China, has both the Gregorian calendar and a lunar calendar. They also have an Orthodox calendar. They have Christmas and New Year. January 6th is Russian Orthodox Christmas Eve, January 7th is Russian Orthodox Christmas, and January 14th is their Old New Year.
However, from the beginning of January each year, the whole country starts their holiday. They begin their festivities from the New Year holidays, with plenty of food, drink, and entertainment. This is the most important festival for Russians, a time of celebration. They, like us, start to make large purchases and prepare for the New Year. They also have an unwritten custom where everyone buys a lot of gifts for relatives, friends, and colleagues. So, Lan'er, if our goods sell well this time, as you said, it will be hard for us not to get rich."
Hearing Xu Mingxuan's words, Chen Lan immediately felt energized. She quickly got out of bed, dressed, and said, "Mingxuan, please help me carefully check the quality of each pair of snow boots, and also inspect the hats and shawls. I'll check the cotton coats."
After the couple carefully inspected all the goods and found no quality issues, Chen Lan couldn't help but exclaim, "The goods from our country truly deserve the eight characters 'excellent quality and low price, exceeding value for money.' It will be truly hard for us not to get rich this time!"
Xu Mingxuan nodded in agreement, "To be honest, the goods are indeed excellent. Both the colors, the styles, the quality, and most importantly, the price. Where else can he find goods of the same quality and price as ours? We are unique! I believe that if nothing unexpected happens, the procurement officer will come back to us for more goods within three days."
Chen Lan, who already had great confidence in the items she had brought out, became even more confident hearing Xu Mingxuan say this. With a wave of her hand, she took out more items from the system warehouse: thermoses, enamel basins, toothpaste, toothbrushes, toiletries, kitchenware like pots and pans, and small hardware products like flashlights.
Suddenly, the bed was piled high with goods. Chen Lan then took out two large baskets and several extra-large woven bags from the system warehouse.
Xu Mingxuan looked bewildered, pointing at the pile of items and stammering, "Lan'er, the procurement officer didn't ask for these thermoses this time. He only wanted clothing and accessories!"
Chen Lan said generously, "Mingxuan, let's leave these items at their cooperative first and let them help us sell them on consignment. We won't collect money or goods for now. We'll settle the accounts after they sell a batch of goods. We'll calculate by the piece, regardless of size. For every six items they sell for us, we'll give them one free. Mingxuan, what do you think of this arrangement?"
Xu Mingxuan smiled and gave Chen Lan a thumbs-up, saying, "Lan'er, your idea is excellent! We can't let others help us for free, and we also shouldn't let them suffer too much. We must give them some compensation; this way, neither party loses."
Chen Lan smiled without saying anything. Xu Mingxuan hadn't lived in modern times and didn't know that labor costs were the most expensive in the modern era. This era was the opposite, where labor was the cheapest.
Seeing that it was getting late, the couple stopped chatting and quickly packed the goods on the bed. Xu Mingxuan put the items for consignment into two large baskets, and Chen Lan neatly folded the clothes, shoes, and hats ordered by the procurement officer and packed them into woven bags.
Once everything was packed, Chen Lan put all the items back into the system warehouse, planning to take them out when they were closer to Pogranichny town.
The couple dressed up again and checked each other's attire. Finding nothing amiss, they prepared to set off. They soon arrived at the foot of the mountain. Chen Lan took the Ural motorcycle out of the system warehouse. She first used ropes to secure the two large baskets firmly to the back seat of the motorcycle. The contents of the baskets would be taken out from the system warehouse when they were close to Pogranichny town. Then, she neatly arranged the several large woven bags containing clothes, hats, and snow boots into the motorcycle's cargo bed. She sat behind Xu Mingxuan and said, "Mingxuan, let's go."
When the couple arrived at the cooperative's entrance, the plump procurement officer was already waiting there, looking out towards the road.
Seeing the couple arrive with a motorcycle loaded with goods, he smiled like a Maitreya Buddha! He immediately ran out of the cooperative to greet them, his face beaming with joy, and said, "Nikolai, my dear friend, you two are finally here."