Chapter 51: Response

Chen Liyang realized that the other vendors were doubling their money at the very least, if not more.

But Chen Liyang wasn’t a ruthless person. Charging too much gave him a guilty conscience, and he also worried that overpricing would drive customers away.

In the end, he set the price at thirty-nine Yuan. Although it was only one Yuan less than forty, psychologically it felt like a much bigger difference.

The little girl’s mother didn’t want to buy it and patiently tried to persuade her daughter out of it.

But in the end, she couldn’t win against her daughter, taking out her phone to scan and pay thirty-nine Yuan.

As expected, parents really couldn’t say no to their children.

Watching the little girl skip away happily while clutching the Barbie doll, Chen Liyang excitedly pulled Zhou Chengxi into a hug. “Chengxi, you’re amazing! I’ll buy you some candy later.”

Hearing Chen Liyang’s babying tone, Zhou Chengxi’s ears flushed red despite himself. He feigned disgust and pushed him away. “I didn’t do it for you! It’s just a waste to let these toys sit around if we don’t play with them anyway.”

“Either way, Dad still wants to thank you. At least we don’t have to stand around staring at each other like idiots anymore!” Chen Liyang pinched Zhou Chengxi’s cheek affectionately.

He knew the boy was stubborn to a fault, making excuses even though he clearly just wanted to help.

With Zhou Chengxi taking the lead, Zhou Chengdong felt that standing around blankly just to save face defeated the whole purpose of coming here.

After psyching himself up, he finally took that first brave step toward the crowd.

Since it was a public place, people walked in groups and chatted freely without worrying about disturbing anyone, speaking without inhibition.

Because of the distance, Chen Liyang couldn’t hear what he was saying, but he could guess the general idea.

Seeing even their quietest eldest brother step up, the others refused to be left behind and began soliciting customers too.

The kids were all good-looking. With them acting cute in front of people, how could they lack customers?

Soon enough, another customer brought a child over.

Just like that, sale after sale was made.

Chen Liyang was practically counting money until his hands were sore. Bringing the kids along had truly been a wise choice.

In just one short hour, a third of the toys were sold, bringing in over eight hundred Yuan.

This was far beyond Chen Liyang’s expectations. He had assumed that four or five hundred Yuan would be the best-case scenario.

He hadn’t expected to make so much money in such a short time, and all thanks to the kids.

Later, as night fell completely, the park grew even more crowded.

However, business wasn’t as smooth as it had been at the start. Even when Chen Liyang joined in shouting to solicit buyers, there were still very few customers.

So Chen Liyang waved a hand and decided to move locations.

The group relocated in high spirits to the plaza, where the lights were far brighter than in the park, illuminating the area like daytime.

There were even more people here than in the park. The kids picked up where they left off and began a new round of calling out to passersby.

But most of the people browsing near the shopping mall were young couples, so they couldn’t realistically expect them to buy these toys.

But the most important thing in business was patience. You couldn’t get restless and pack up just because business slowed down for a moment.

Looking at the kids busily working among the crowd, Chen Liyang felt a sense of grounded reassurance he had never experienced before.

If the kids hadn’t given up, how could he, an adult, admit defeat?

Aside from Wanning, everyone was doing their utmost to sell their toys, though the results were minimal.

Even so, it wasn’t a total loss. Over the next hour, they sold three toys, making less than a hundred Yuan combined.

But one had to learn to be content. Chen Liyang thought to himself that even a small profit was much better than being chased off by urban management before making a single sale.

Since this was a plaza surrounded by shops, street vending couldn’t be as relaxed as in the park; they had to stay constantly alert for urban management officers.

But that was just how life worked: whatever you feared most would happen. Not far away, a young man holding a large bunch of helium balloons suddenly shouted, “Holy crap, urban management is here! Run!”

Thanks to his well-meaning warning, people immediately started fleeing in panic, dropping their goods all along the path in a pathetic scramble.

It seemed that even in this novel’s world, urban management officers^[1] were still characters that vendors loved to hate.

This was Chen Liyang’s first time experiencing something like this. He hurriedly began packing up the toys to make a run for it.

Just then, the older kids ran over to help, and they quickly packed everything away.

An ill-timed shout from the officers rang in their ears: “Don’t run! Put your things down!”

Hearing that, everyone bolted even faster. Only a fool would stop and stand there.

And so, with Chen Liyang holding Wanning while Zhou Chengdong and Zhou Chengxi carried the toys, they tore ahead like they were riding wind-fire wheels^[2].

The chase finally ended in victory.

Once they were sure the officers weren’t chasing them anymore, they finally stopped, gasping heavily for breath.

“I really didn’t expect setting up a stall would get us chased by urban management like this. If we’d gotten caught, would our toys have been confiscated?” Zhou Chengnan asked, still catching his breath.

“Probably. Luckily we ran fast,” Zhou Chengdong agreed with a nod.

Chen Liyang looked at the kids, who were all dripping with sweat, and chuckled. “This is what life should be like, full of adventure and challenge. Are you brave enough to come out and set up a stall with Dad again tomorrow?”

“Why wouldn’t we be?” Zhou Chengxi blurted out first, completely failing to notice that he hadn’t denied Chen Liyang calling himself “Dad” this time.

Zhou Chengdong noticed, but he didn’t bother to correct him.

Although this man wasn’t much older than him, he was indeed his father on paper. Even if he refused to admit it, that fact couldn’t be changed.

Unless their mother came back one day, divorced him, and removed him from their household registry, he would remain their father in name for the rest of his life.

Seeing that they were finally no longer insisting he wasn’t their dad, Chen Liyang felt a surge of joy.

To reward their hard work today, Chen Liyang waved a hand generously and declared, “Come on, Dad will take you to buy popsicles in bulk so you can have one whenever it gets hot at home!”

“Are we not selling the rest of these toys?” Zhou Chengdong asked, holding up the remaining items.

“We’ll sell them tomorrow. We’re calling it a day!” Chen Liyang was worn out from running, too.

Besides, if they went back now, they’d probably bump into the city inspectors again.

With that, he looked down at Wanning in his arms. “Wanning, do you want a popsicle?”

To be honest, he hadn’t expected Wanning to respond at all. The moment he finished asking, he started heading toward the wholesale popsicle stand.

What he didn’t expect was for Wanning to actually nod.

It was just a single nod, without a word spoken.

Yet to Chen Liyang, this response was precious beyond measure. He trembled with excitement. “Wan… Wanning, did you just nod?”