Chapter 94 Second Watch

Chapter 94 Second Watch

The neighborhood around the venue was not only bustling on the streets, but it was said that hotels and guesthouses were even more crowded.

Due to the arrival of exhibitors and foreign merchants from various places, hotels and guesthouses were packed to the brim. Those who arrived too late might end up sleeping in the hallways for a few nights.

Shen Moer and her companions couldn't help but feel fortunate that they had come with the Southern Province Department of Commerce, which had the experience to arrange accommodations early. Otherwise, having to stay in the corridors would have been a real hardship.

To accommodate foreign merchants, several Western restaurants had opened near the venue, and the cinema was screening foreign films.

Shen Moer decided to take Li Xinmei and Liu Yingshuang to watch a movie.

This was a movie that would never be shown in mainland China, but in Guangzhou, near the venue where foreign merchants gathered, it was possible to turn a blind eye.

The movie was spoken entirely in a foreign language. Among the three, only Liu Yingshuang could understand a bit and quietly explained the plot to Shen Moer and Li Xinmei.

As expected, Li Xinmei once again praised Liu Yingshuang: "Reading books is really useful."

Likely because the movie was in a foreign language, there were very few Chinese people in the cinema, mostly foreigners. Of course, even the number of foreigners was limited, as the movie was an old one and not particularly appealing. Besides, foreign merchants here for business weren't likely to waste time on movies.

Shen Moer guessed that the cinema was doing this mainly to demonstrate hospitality to foreign merchants in China.

Shen Moer previously didn't know much about foreign countries, and her only insights came from Fu Mingze.

Fu Mingze mentioned that his neighbor had someone who studied abroad, and before Shen Moer left for Guangzhou, he spent a whole evening briefing her on foreign customs and ideas.

However, hearing about it from others was not as profound as witnessing it firsthand. Since seeing the first foreigner, Shen Moer had been observing them closely, and now during the movie, she was carefully noting their attire and room decor.

Once again, she confirmed her thoughts.

The world's aesthetic standards still seem normal.

In China, the trend of wearing only black, white, gray, or blue might be due to some special reasons. While many favored bright reds and greens, foreigners weren't as keen as one might expect.

They seemed to prefer simple and comfortable styles, or luxurious yet subtle styles, but nothing too exaggerated or beyond imagination.

She quietly sighed in relief.

After the movie, the three went to a nearby restaurant for a meal.

People in Guangzhou loved soup, and at the state-run restaurant where they ate, the white-cut chicken was exceptionally tender, and the accompanying soup was so good it could make you lose your tongue.

The key was that this restaurant also sold desserts. After finishing her meal and soup, Shen Moer couldn't resist a small bowl of tangerine peel and red bean soup. When they left the restaurant, she nearly had to crawl out, leaning on the wall.

"The food here is really delicious!"

They shelled out quite a bit of cash and coupons, but Li Xinmei didn't mind. You gotta spend when you're on the road, and she had brought plenty of money and coupons with her. Besides, the food was truly delicious—eating chicken and sweet red bean soup was definitely worth it!

The only regret was thinking about her husband and children at home who couldn't enjoy such delicious food.

Shen Moer also felt it was a pity. This restaurant really did a great job. It was a shame her father and Fu Zhiqing weren't there.

As they walked out after the meal, they passed a table where a foreigner was sitting, slowly eating while flipping through a book spread out on the table... This book looked much larger than usual but also much thinner, filled with colorful illustrations.

Shen Moer glanced at it and paused.

The book depicted many women with alluring figures and beautiful clothing, each with different poses and outfits. Beside these illustrations were some writings, which Shen Moer didn't recognize but knew were foreign characters.

This book was likely brought over by the foreigner from his homeland.

Liu Yingshuang noticed Shen Moer's gaze and also took a glance, then casually remarked, "This must be one of those old-school fashion magazines."

Shen Moer gave her a deep look, thinking to herself, if this is an early fashion magazine, what should current fashion magazines look like?

She really can’t keep her thoughts to herself!

Luckily, they’re with the straightforward Li Xinmei, or Liu Yingshuang would’ve been caught in no time.

But bringing Liu Yingshuang wasn’t a mistake—she’s definitely more worldly than the rest. Shen Moer had never heard of such a thing as a fashion magazine.

Mainly because of all the political movements lately, a lot of newspapers and magazines have shut down. Only a few newspapers are still around, and fashion magazines are practically nonexistent.

After a quick look, Shen Moer headed out with Li Xinmei and Liu Yingshuang.

Back at the guesthouse, they turned in early. The next morning, Li Xinmei was up at the crack of dawn.

Soon, the others got up, washed, and headed to a nearby breakfast spot.

This area’s different—there are plenty of places to eat near the venue, even dedicated breakfast joints.

After a hearty meal, they went back to the guesthouse, grabbed a big bag of exhibits, and took turns hauling it to the venue.

Majestic music filled the venue as Shen Moer and her team marched into the hall, heading straight for the South Province Embroidery Factory booth.

Before the foreign merchants arrived, Shen Moer unpacked the items and arranged them on the black velvet cloth.

There were ten exhibits—embroidery pieces, handkerchiefs, pillow towels, and tablecloths—all pretty ordinary stuff.

The items looked plain at first, but once placed on the black velvet, they suddenly seemed to pop.

The simple handkerchiefs and tablecloths looked unexpectedly luxurious on the black velvet.

As Li Xinmei said, "They look way too fancy for my budget."

The bright embroidery and pillow towels, toned down by the black, looked even more striking.

Li Xinmei was impressed: "This black cloth really works wonders."

Jin Caifei was surprised. After years of the Canton Fair, everyone just crammed their booths with items.

It was her first time seeing someone use black velvet to make a booth look this good.

Liu Yingshuang wasn’t impressed. It’s just a cheap trick—vendors at night markets use black cloth all the time. She’d seen it before and wasn’t fazed.

Well, actually, it was a little odd.

Liu Yingshuang sneaked a look at Shen Moer, half-wondering if she was a reincarnated or time-traveler.

Where does she come up with this stuff?

But Liu Yingshuang brushed it off—no reincarnated or time-traveler would be as clueless about trains or Guangzhou as Shen Moer.

She’s just naturally gifted.

Some people are just born talented.

Liu Yingshuang knew reincarnation didn’t make you smart—otherwise, she’d still be stuck making bamboo boxes with her grandpa.

Liu Yingshuang knew she was just an ordinary person who got lucky. She was happy enough just to live a better life than before, but someone like Shen Moer was probably just naturally smart and talented.

Then Liu Yingshuang saw Shen Moer folding the handkerchiefs in different ways and carefully placing them back on the black velvet cloth.

No one, including Liu Yingshuang, got what this was about.

Weng Huijun snuck over to take a peek and went back to tell Ying Jun and the others that the Ninth Workshop was out of ideas: "The embroidery’s good, and the patterns are nice, but they’re too plain and don’t stand out. I don’t get what they were thinking, folding the handkerchiefs in different styles to attract attention. They might as well have turned the handkerchief into a cloth mouse; at least kids would definitely like that."

Someone nearby laughed and said, "Wow, you’re really mean. This is an import-export trade fair; where would there be any kids?"

By then, foreign buyers started coming in. The South Province Embroidery Factory had a good location, and many people saw their booth as soon as they entered. Occasionally, someone would stop in front of the booth, but they would just glance at it and leave, some even shook their heads at the clothes on display.

"What does this mean?"

They all exchanged looks, and the translator hesitated for a moment before saying, "It seems they don’t quite like the patterns and styles."

"To each their own. If they don’t like it, they can go find something they do like. Why stand there and nitpick?"

This was muttered under their breath, and after muttering, they still had to put on a polite smile and wait for inquiries from the foreign buyers.

But no one stopped to seriously inquire about the products.

Everyone was a little on edge.

Finally, another foreign buyer stopped in front of the booth, and the group immediately perked up.

The blond foreigner suddenly turned and walked over to the narrow booth of the Ninth Workshop, pointing at the folded handkerchiefs on the black velvet cloth and saying something.

Every booth had a translator, but the translator for the South Province Embroidery Factory was standing a bit far from the Ninth Workshop, as it was generally assumed that the translator mainly served the headquarters.

As soon as the foreign buyer spoke, the translator quickly came over to communicate with him.

"This gentleman is named David. He wants to take a look at these handkerchiefs."

The translator looked puzzled but dutifully translated the foreign buyer’s words to Shen Moer and the others: "He also asked if the fabric of these handkerchiefs could be made with better silk."

Shen Moer calmly took out a spare handkerchief from under the booth and handed it to the foreign buyer with a smile. After receiving it, the foreign buyer examined it carefully for a while, showing a hint of satisfaction on his face.

Then he bent down and spread the handkerchief on the empty space of the black velvet cloth, swiftly folding it.

Li Xinmei was stunned: "He’s even better at folding than Deputy Director Shen?"

The key question was, do you actually want to buy it or not?

If you want it, just buy it already. Why are you folding handkerchiefs?