My Dad Is a Trader in a Classic-Era Novel

Sorry, everyone, I've changed the premise. If you don't like it, feel free to remove it from your collection.

Here's the new blurb:

No matter what kind of period romance it is, if it takes place in an era of scarcity, the protagonists' rise to wealth always involves a black-market trader.

Zhang Wei's unreliable father is one of those black-market traders who are practically a staple of period romances. Unfortunately, he didn't live long enough and died in his prime.

In the early 1970s, Zhang Wei's father died of an illness, leaving his only daughter a small crew of underlings, a little house, several clients, and a staggering debt of three thousand yuan.

Zhang Wei: How much?!

The moment she saw the IOU, Zhang Wei wanted to dig her father out of his coffin, or, better yet, beg the old man to act like a person. No, a ghost. Preferably the kind who would take her with him that very night.

She lay in bed for three days. Her father never showed up, but the creditor's knife did.

Zhang Wei rolled out of bed, clutching the client book her father had left her, and promised again and again, “I'll pay you back! I will! I'll make money and pay you back right away!”

With no other choice, Zhang Wei had to sell her job to cover the interest, then set out to contact her father's clients.

Only, it seemed her father hadn't mentioned that each of them was just a tiny bit... odd

The first customer to show up was a city girl, stunningly beautiful, delicate and soft, with skin so tender that even the slightest touch left a bruise. Whenever Zhang Wei met her, she had to keep a meter away to prove her innocence. Then she had to find someone to escort the girl home.

On a dark and windy night, who could possibly feel at ease?

Just as Zhang Wei worried every day that the young man she sent to walk the beauty home might take advantage of his position, a tall, fearsome man quietly appeared at the beauty's side. They said he was the toughest man in some military unit.

The man was fierce and imposing. Every time, he would call her “Jiaojiao” in a uniquely husky voice, and now and then Zhang Wei could hear the beauty's soft, coquettish whimpers.

Zhang Wei, barely containing her excitement: I'm shipping them! I'm shipping them!

She took back her concern and started subtly recommending baby products to them.

At the very least, they had to be having boy-and-girl twins, right?

The second customer was very young, but she'd married a man ten years older than herself. Though already married, she was clever and hardworking, and the cakes and snacks she made were always unprecedented hits, with demand far outstripping supply.

After Zhang Wei partnered with her, she never ran out of pastries or candied fruit again.

But one day, Zhang Wei suddenly realized that the customer had been married to her husband for only six months, yet already had two clever, adorable boys. One was in kindergarten, and the other was about to start elementary school. The customer herself spent every day diligently memorizing vocabulary, hunting for books at the dump, and talking about things that hadn't happened yet.

Zhang Wei: ...Isn't something a little off here?

The third customer to show up seemed to be doing well, but lately she had become a completely different person. She'd abandoned her old image as a bullied little wife, not only driving away her nasty mother-in-law with a stick, but also daring to catch her sister-in-law in the act with a married male educated youth.

Zhang Wei: ...Now that's exciting.

One day, the customer showed up with a knife hidden in her basket and slammed half a bloody pig carcass down in front of Zhang Wei.

“Wild boar meat. You buying?”

Zhang Wei silently took half a step back and nodded without hesitation. By the way, after that, they never ran out of meat to sell again.

The fourth customer was utterly ordinary. She had no special strength, but whenever she gave her family's hens water, they laid five eggs the next day.

After Zhang Wei partnered with her, she never ran out of eggs to sell again.

Still, Zhang Wei couldn't help asking, “Um, did your brother-in-law really sneak off into the cornfield with Widow Wang?”

The customer replied with a perfectly serious expression, “Not just her. There's also the auntie next door.”

Was she even supposed to hear that?

Zhang Wei rubbed her face vigorously, then eagerly poured out a bowl of sunflower seeds. “Um, why don't you tell me the whole story?”

The fifth customer was an adorable little girl. Though young, she was the only girl in three generations of her family and was doted on by everyone. She had no special talents, just especially, exceptionally, extraordinarily good luck.

She'd find ginseng every time she went up the mountain, and every time she went out, she'd save some important official. One year, Zhang Wei sold her house after buying all kinds of nourishing goods from the girl's family.

Yes, buying them.

This story is also known as #MyDaysScramblingAroundLikeaGopherinPeriodRomances# and #MyEverydayLifeGettingRichThanksToPowerfulAllies#

1. The clients buy and sell, with the focus on balancing the books and making a profit on the difference. Their numbers may rise or fall.

2. This is supposed to be mainly about gossip, with plenty of sunflower seeds to snack on.

3. I can't guarantee all the heroines are perfectly good and beautiful, but they're all resilient and striving to improve.

4. There is a male lead in the main plot, tentatively the creditor.

Blurb screenshot saved on March 13, 2024.

One-line summary: A gossip lover, a gossip soul, gossipers are the best of the best.

Theme: Love life, and keep doing your best to live.