Outsider: The Fifth Young Master of the Kang Family

Chapter 18 Zhang Yongfang

"Is there anyone in the house?"

Hearing the knock on the door and the woman's shouting, Kang Qirui, who was reading a newspaper, stood up and opened the door with some confusion.

Xiguan Mansion has three doors. The first door is a screen door, like two windows, blocking the view of passers-by outside. The most distinctive one is the second door - the sliding door, which looks like a large wooden frame with more than a dozen logs in the middle. The logs must be odd, not even. The sliding door opens to the left and right, which allows ventilation and ensures basic safety. The third door is the real main door, which is not special. Most old buildings have this type of door.

When someone is at home during the day, the Kang family usually only closes the screen door, which is easy to open and close and can be opened from outside. If it is a neighbor, they will open the door and come in. Now there is a knock on the door, which means that the woman outside is a stranger, so Kang Qirui stopped the old woman who was about to open the door and went to open the door with a little doubt.

As soon as the door opened, the strange woman rushed in. Kang Qirui quickly stopped her and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Of course Kang Qirui could recognize this woman. She was a very distant relative of his sister-in-law Xianglan, named Zhang Yongfang, a woman who was brave and lucky. But he couldn't say he knew her, so he could only pretend to be a stranger.

Zhang Yongfang stared at the handsome guy with extraordinary temperament in front of her, her eyes were full of joy. She had never seen such a handsome guy with such a good temperament before.

Kang Qirui is very knowledgeable, which is already the ceiling of academic qualifications and knowledge in this era. In addition, he is a reborn person, so Kang Qirui himself did not notice it. In fact, outsiders think that he has an arrogant air of being superior and looking down on everything. This air is particularly charming and is simply a killer of housewives.

Seeing Zhang Yongfang's infatuated look, Kang Qirui helplessly waved his hand in front of her eyes and said, "Hey!!! Hey!!! What on earth are you doing?"

"Oh! Sorry, I'm looking for Erniu." Zhang Yongfang said embarrassedly with a slightly red face.

"Erniu? There is no one named Erniu in our family." Kang Qirui pretended not to know and spoke after hearing this.

"Ah! But the address says this is the place." Zhang Yongfang insisted that Erniu lived here.

At this time, Wang Yulian came out. She saw her own old man opening the door for a long time and was worried, so she came out to see what was going on. At this time, she saw a woman standing outside the door and asked, "Xiao Rui, what's wrong? Who is this lady?"

Kang Qirui saw that it was the old woman and said, "Oh, she said she was here to look for Erniu." Then he turned to Zhang Yongfen and said, "The Erniu you mentioned is her nickname, right? What's her full name?"

Zhang Yongfen also slapped her forehead and said, "Oh, look at my brain. Xianglan, Erniu's full name is Xianglan."

"Are you looking for Xianglan? Please come in and sit down. Xianglan hasn't gotten off work yet." When the old maid heard that the person was looking for Xianglan, she let Zhang Yongfang come in first.

Wang Yulian handed Zhang Yongfen a cup of tea and then continued, "Excuse me, young lady, what is your name? You and Xianglan are?"

"Aunt, my name is Zhang Yongfen, and I'm from Xianglan's hometown."

Kang Qirui watched the old woman and Zhang Yongfang chatting in a meaningless and awkward way. He thought that Zhang Yongfen could be used. In his past life, Zhang Yongfen was a very powerful woman who came to Guangzhou to make a fortune. Later, by chance, she went to the stock market for two days. Maybe she could be his white glove and cooperate to make money.

When Kang Qirui was thinking about how to get Zhang Yongfen to work together to make money, Da Lao Guang and Xianglan came back from get off work. When Wang Yulian saw Xianglan, she said, "Xianglan, your fellow villager is here." Then she said to Zhang Yongfen, "Yongfang, you continue chatting with Xianglan. I'll go cook first." After that, she went to the kitchen.

Xianglan looked at this fellow villager who suddenly appeared, with a puzzled look on her face, because she didn't know this person at all. So she asked, "Who are you?"

"You don't recognize me? Yongfang, Zhang Yongfang."

Xianglan still had no impression, "Zhang Yongfang?"

"Maybe I had double eyelids, so you don't recognize me anymore." Zhang Yongfang was optimistic and not panicked at all. She continued, "Did you forget? When you got married some time ago, you went to Sanmenxia to see your second uncle, right?"

Speaking of this, Xianglan had a little impression. Zhang Yongfang saw Xianglan nod and then spoke again: "There were many people eating at that time, and you came to my house to borrow a bowl. Do you remember?"

"You are my second uncle's neighbor"

"My cousin."

Although he knew it a long time ago, Kang Qirui couldn't help laughing. The cousin of his second uncle's neighbor, how distant a relationship, could she come to his house? It's no wonder that Kang Qirui couldn't hold it in. The boss quickly pulled Kang Qirui down.

"Xianglan, the meal is ready, call Yongfang in to eat." At this time, Wang Yulian's voice came over. Kang Qirui got up first to help set the table.

Xianglan invited Yongfang to sit in the dining room, and while eating, she introduced everyone in the family to Zhang Yongfang. But Zhang Yongfang seemed to be only concerned with showing off the food, and it was unclear whether she listened or not.

Everyone in the Kang family looked at Zhang Yongfang as if they had seen a ghost, and then looked at the seven bowls stacked up on the side. "Mummy, this aunt is amazing. She can actually eat so much." Tianxiu said with his mouth wide open.

"Yeah, Er Lao, you've been traveling all over the country for so many years, have you ever seen anyone who eats so much?" Kang Qirui also teased.

The second brother Kang Qizon shook his head. Although he had traveled a lot, he had never seen anyone who ate so much.

After dinner, Zhang Yongfang and Xianglan were chatting in the living room, so Kang Qirui had to go to Zhu's house next door to watch TV with his future wife and future mother-in-law. Kang Qirui stayed at Zhu's house until after 10 o'clock before returning home. As a result, when he entered the door, he saw Zhang Yongfang and Xianglan still chatting.

"Sister-in-law, come here." Kang Qirui had no choice but to call Xianglan aside. Then he said softly: "Sister-in-law, why is it so late, she hasn't left yet? We all have to go to work tomorrow, how can we sleep if she doesn't leave?" In the previous life, these words should have been said by Wang Yulian, but Kang Qirui thought about it and decided to maintain the glorious image of the old mother. He was still young, and children's words were innocent, so he would be the villain.

Xianglan was also helpless when she heard this. She spread her hands and said, "I don't know either. She always said she wanted to reminisce with me, but I don't have that many uncles to reminisce with her. She always mentioned my second uncle, but in fact, I have only met my second uncle once or twice."

"Sister-in-law, you and she are from the same hometown. I can't let you go and tell her. I'll do it." Kang Qirui said something to his sister-in-law and walked towards Zhang Yongfang and sat down next to her.

"Sister Yongfang, you got off the train in the afternoon, right? Aren't you tired?" Kang Qirui asked first.

Zhang Yongfang said as she read the newspaper: "It's not tiring. It's nothing to sit on the train for two days. It's much easier than carrying pork at the slaughterhouse."

"Why did you come to Guangzhou?" Kang Qirui asked.

Zhang Yongfang put down the newspaper and said seriously: "People say that it's easy to make money in Guangzhou. I came to Guangzhou to make a fortune."

Kang Qirui smiled slightly, "How can you get rich if you don't eat for three days?"

"It was stolen by a thief. My family will send me money." Zhang Yongfang could not accept others saying that she could not make money.

"Have you figured out what to do with the money?" Kang Qirui continued to guide.

"I haven't decided yet, maybe I'll sell fruits. We country people are good at picking fruits." In later life, Zhang Yongfang did sell pineapples.

"Didn't the newspaper you just read say that this year's fruit production has increased significantly? How are you going to sell it?" Kang Qirui pointed at the newspaper that Zhang Yongfang was holding.

Zhang Yongfang lowered her head and thought for a while, then raised her head and said, "Then I will sell clothes. People nowadays like to look beautiful, so business will definitely be good."

Kang Qirui nodded first, then shook his head, "Then do you know what type of clothes you sell?"

Zhang Yongfang waved her hands and said, "That's not easy. Men and women, from old to young, I will sell them all. I want to make money from everyone."

"That would be too messy, right? And it would require a lot of capital. Otherwise, you would only have a few pieces of clothing for each age group, and customers would have very few choices. Who would come to buy from you?" Kang Qirui objected directly.

Zhang Yongfang also saw that Kang Qirui was going to give her some advice. She had heard it when they were having dinner just now. The fifth son of the Kang family was a university teacher, so he must be very capable. Being a university student was already very impressive, and he was also a teacher of university students. It would be easy for him to give her some advice. So she quickly asked, "Then what do you say we should do?"

"I suggest you only sell clothes and shoes to children aged 12 to 18." Kang Qirui gave his idea.

Then he explained the reasons. First, although the economic conditions in Guangzhou are relatively good, only a few families can afford to buy several sets of new clothes a year. Many middle-aged and elderly people are reluctant to spend money even if they have money, at least not for themselves. Therefore, it is best to only sell children's clothes and shoes. Even if the rich are reluctant to spend money on themselves, they will definitely spend money on their children. Those who are poor will save money and buy two sets of new clothes for their children at the beginning and end of the year.

Secondly, Cantonese is also at the forefront of reform. Fashion is something that changes very quickly. Today, this style of adult clothing is popular, but tomorrow, that style may be popular. So ready-made clothes are not easy to make. As for children's clothes, parents decide. For example, if the child wants to look good, the parents want it to be reliable. If the child wants to fit well, the parents want to wear it for two more years. So when it comes to children's clothes, you don't have to consider the child's opinion at all.

Zhang Yongfang was excited when she heard this, and felt that it could really be done. She couldn't help but sigh that being educated was powerful, but after thinking about it again, she said with a bit of depression: "Arui, I know your idea is good and it can indeed make money. But selling children's clothes also requires a store to make money. Parents pay the most attention to quality and safety. You can't make much money by setting up a street stall. A store requires a lot of money. And I don't have a channel to purchase goods."

After these words came out, Kang Qirui could only say that it was indeed Zhang Yongfang, who was worthy of being a person who could make a fortune in Guangzhou by himself. He immediately saw the key to the problem.

"My second brother has a friend who does this. My second brother and I can get the funds. So, it's too late today, you go find a hotel to rest first, I will call my second brother tomorrow, and the three of us will discuss how to open this store together." Kang Qirui knew that Zhang Yongfang had no money, so he gave her 300 yuan first. Zhang Yongfang made an appointment to find a hotel tomorrow.

In Kang Qirui's plan, it would be no problem to open a clothing store in this era and make money. Zhang Yongfang was just right for management, and he wanted to help Er Lao by bringing him in. He knew that although Er Lao had been running a hardware store for many years and had made some money, he was not very rich. Later, Niu Ge had to pay for the tea restaurant.

(End of this chapter)