Chapter 86: Chapter 86: A Huge Business Opportunity

The young man and woman were probably a couple. The boy wore a Mao suit with a Chairman Mao badge pinned to his chest. The girl was in a red ski jacket, also wearing a badge, with her hair in a fashionable ear-length bob. Their outfits were the height of current fashion.

The boy wasn’t interested and waved his hand, ready to leave, but the girl’s interest was piqued. Gentry Chapman’s classmate was very sharp. He immediately picked out a few of the most eye-catching photos and laid them in front of her. The girl’s eyes lit up. They were stills from the movie they had just seen, featuring the beautiful ghost Mei Niang and the handsome scholar.

Even though the movie was terrifying and had scared her half to death, the girl still adored the male and female leads. They were both so beautiful.

(This movie, *Painted Skin*, was China’s first-ever horror film.)

“This is too expensive. Can you make it a little cheaper?”

“It’s really not, miss. These photos are expensive to acquire. They’re brought in from… over there. There are risks involved…”

The young boy lowered his voice, speaking conspiratorially as he gestured toward the south. The girl understood immediately, and her interest grew even more. She loved things from “over there,” like the so-called “decadent music.”

“Do you have any tapes from over there? By Teresa Dunn?” the girl asked, also lowering her voice.

When she had visited a friend’s house in Tristone, she had heard a Teresa Dunn tape. Her friend had bought it at a high price as a gray market import while on a business trip down south. One of the songs, “A Thousand Words,” had left her completely enthralled. It was a style of music she had never heard before. Unfortunately, her friend only had that one tape, so she had to return home empty-handed. She’d been thinking about it ever since.

“Who would dare sell that stuff? Miss, you should just buy the movie stills. They’re trendy and there’s no risk,” the young boy said, shaking his head and continuing his sales pitch.

His mom didn’t import tapes; she only dealt in postcards and movie stills. And now, they didn’t even need to source them anymore. His mom developed and printed them at home, which was fast, cheap, and risk-free—much safer than selling tapes.

In the end, the girl bought two stills, one of the male lead and one of the female lead. In just a few minutes, he had made fifty cents. Watching from the side, Adrian Hawthorne’s eyes gleamed. He stopped Gentry Chapman from calling out to his classmate. The crowd was just leaving the theater—it was the perfect time to sell, and he couldn’t interrupt someone else’s business.

In that half-hour, the young boy sold thirty-eight stills. His total takings came to nineteen yuan, and after costs, he had netted a profit of ten yuan.

Adrian Hawthorne’s eyes shone even brighter. ’I have to get in on this business.’

’The monthly profit would definitely be over a hundred yuan.’

And the Teresa Dunn tapes the girl had mentioned—that was another business opportunity. But he couldn’t rush things. He would tackle the movie stills first.

The crowd from the movie had mostly dispersed. They would have to wait for the next showing to end for more business. Only then did Adrian Hawthorne let Gentry Chapman call the boy over.

“Emmitt.”

The young boy was happy to see Gentry Chapman and walked over. “You here to see the movie? Let me tell you, don’t go see it. I saw it last time, and I’m still having nightmares.”

Tang Xiaonan blinked. ’This is a horror movie?’ she wondered.

’What about Uncle and Second Brother who went inside?’

“I’m not watching. My friend needs to talk to you about something.”

Gentry Chapman introduced Adrian Hawthorne and Tang Xiaonan. Emmitt was quite taken with Tang Xiaonan. He didn’t have a younger sister but had always wanted a pretty one. He took an immediate liking to the fair, chubby, and cute Tang Xiaonan. He pulled a paper-wrapped bundle from his pocket. Inside was a fried dough twist, but it was reddish-brown and a bit sticky.

“It’s a brown sugar twist. My mom gave it to me.”

Emmitt offered the dough twist to Tang Xiaonan.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep