By the time they returned to the county seat, it was already 1:00 PM. Li Yi didn’t go back to meet up with Jiang Xue and the others; instead, he had Xiao Zhanwu drive the car to the state-run restaurant.
After a quick bite to eat at the restaurant, the group returned to the guesthouse.
Sure enough, Jiang Xue and his mother-in-law weren’t at the guesthouse; they must have gone to visit Qiao Chunfang’s home.
Fortunately, Li Yi knew Qiao Chunfang’s address. After a brief discussion with Zhang Ziqiang, the two decided to head straight to Qiao Chunfang’s house to find Jiang Xue and Ye Lingyun.
When they arrived at the cotton mill staff housing complex and knocked on the Qiao family’s front door, they indeed found Jiang Xue, his mother-in-law, and the others all there.
And judging by their appearance, they had just finished eating; the women inside were clearing the leftovers from the table!
After exchanging a few brief pleasantries, Li Yi sat down in the living room.
Once the table was cleared, they chatted for a while longer, and then Jiang Xue suggested they go to the movie theater.
To be honest, she really wanted to see just how good the movie was that her husband had been raving about and recommending so enthusiastically.
Qiao Chunfang and Ye Lingyun had been chatting for most of the morning and through lunch, and they didn’t seem to have as many topics to discuss as before.
Upon hearing Jiang Xue’s suggestion, both of them expressed great interest.
After that, the group quickly gathered their things and headed straight for the movie theater.
The theater was just as crowded as it had been the past few days, with a line to buy tickets stretching at least two hundred meters.
While Yang Zhiwen went to stand in line for tickets, Li Yi began looking around at the entrance of the cinema.
Soon, a slender figure came into Li Yi’s view—it was Xiaodie.
Immediately, he led Zhang Ziqiang over to her!
As soon as they arrived, Xiaodie spotted Li Yi and immediately waved happily, calling out, “Brother Li Yi!”
“Selling sunflower seeds again?” Li Yi asked with a smile.
“Yep!”
“Has anyone been picking on you these past few days?”
“No, ever since San Laizi got arrested, everyone else has been scared off—no one dares to bully me anymore!” Xiaodie said happily.
“That’s good!”
“By the way, Brother Li Yi, Xiaoya’s mother really… really…”
Li Yi nodded and sighed. “It’s true. But Xiao Ya and her sister have been taken in by Captain Xiao from the Public Security Bureau, so they have someone to rely on now!”
Tears welled up in Xiaodie’s eyes, but the little girl held them back.
Seeing this, Li Yi ruffled her hair.
“Don’t cry!”
Then Li Yi changed the subject: “How’s business been these past few days? Are you making any money selling sunflower seeds?”
Xiaodie nodded and said, “It’s been okay. Even though there are a lot of people selling sunflower seeds and peanuts, there have also been a lot of people going to the movies these days. I can still make two yuan a day!”
Two yuan a day was indeed a decent amount, but Li Yi knew this situation wouldn’t last long.
After all, once the buzz around *Shaolin Temple* died down, the movie theater wouldn’t be nearly as crowded, and with fewer people, Xiaodie and her fellow snack vendors would see their earnings drop.
With that in mind, Li Yi suddenly said, “Xiaodie, I have a quick way to make money. Do you want to learn it?”
“Yes!” the young girl replied firmly.
“Hey, you said you want to learn before I’ve even explained it. Aren’t you afraid you won’t make any money after learning it?” Li Yi asked with a smile.
“Big Dragon said you’re a capable and kind person. I trust Big Dragon, and I trust Brother Li Yi too!” Xiaodie said.
Li Yi was quite pleased with the little girl’s answer.
He asked Xiaodie to wait at the entrance for a moment, then led Zhang Ziqiang into the cinema.
The two went to the manager’s office. After Zhang Ziqiang showed his ID, they asked for a few promotional posters for *Shaolin Temple*, then left as the manager watched them with a puzzled expression.
Back outside, Li Yi handed the cloth bag in Xiaodie’s hands to Zhang Feng to watch over, while he turned to leave with Zhang Ziqiang and Xiaodie.
Seeing this, Jiang Xue—though she didn’t know what Li Yi was up to—followed them out of curiosity, leaving Ye Lingyun, Qiao Chunfang, and the others behind to wait.
After leaving the movie theater, Li Yi and the others headed straight for a photo studio in the county town.
It wasn’t a holiday or a special occasion, so aside from an elderly master photographer and an apprentice, there wasn’t a single customer in the studio.
Seeing Li Yi and the others enter, the veteran photographer immediately looked up and asked, “Comrades, who’s getting their picture taken?”
Li Yi placed the poster on the table and said, “Take a picture of this!”
The old master looked taken aback for a moment, then frowned and said, “Young man, are you really planning to take a photo of this magazine? It’s not cheap to take a picture here!”
“How much?”
“Fifty cents!”
“Well, if I want 100 prints, could you give me a discount?” Li Yi asked.
“How… many?”
Li Yi pointed to the few posters in his hand and said, “For each of these posters, print 100 copies—that’s 300 copies in total. How much do you think would be fair per copy?”
The veteran photographer at the studio paused to think for a moment, then said, “If you really want 300 copies, I can give you them for 40 cents each!”
“20 cents!”
“Two and a half cents at most—I won’t pay a single cent more!” Li Yi said.
“Alright, twenty-five cents it is. But you have to pay up front!” the veteran photographer said.
“Fine, but you have to take the photos exactly as I say, and I need to see all 300 prints by tomorrow morning. Can you do that?” Li Yi asked.
“I can!”
“Then let’s get started!”
“Alright!”
The veteran photographer then took out his camera and began shooting according to Li Yi’s instructions.
Soon, the main movie poster, along with individual photos of the male and female leads, were all taken.
Immediately, Li Yi asked the veteran photographer to develop one copy right away to check the results.
Naturally, the veteran photographer wouldn’t dare neglect the request of such an important client, so he quickly set about developing the film.
In less than half an hour, three postcard-sized photos were ready.
When Li Yi received the photos, he saw that they were very clear. Combined with the artistic text he had added to the poster, the final result looked excellent.
“Wow, these are such beautiful photos!” Jiang Xue exclaimed in admiration.
Li Yi smiled and said to the veteran photographer, “At 25 cents per copy, could you please develop 300 copies of each photo for me? Can you have them ready by tomorrow?”
“300 copies each—that’s 900 photos in total. Are you sure you want that many?” the old master asked in surprise.
“I’m sure. But you have to promise that these photos will only be developed for this young lady, okay?” Li Yi said, pointing at Xiaodie.
“O… okay!”
Li Yi immediately pulled out 225 yuan and handed it to the master. After receiving the receipt and agreeing on a time to pick up the photos, they left the photo studio.
After leaving the photo studio, Xiaodie looked at Li Yi and asked, “Brother Li Yi, didn’t you say you were going to teach me how to make money?”
“Hehe, come on, let’s go back to the movie theater. I’ll teach you how to make money!” Li Yi said with a smile.
“Okay!”
Just then, Jiang Xue snapped out of her daze and said in surprise, “You aren’t planning to teach Xiaodie how to sell photos, are you?”
“Honey, you’re really sharp—you figured that out!” Li Yi said with a laugh.
Jiang Xue blushed slightly, then said, “But these aren’t even our photos. Would anyone even want them?”
“Hehe, you’ll find out in a minute if anyone wants them!”
With that, Li Yi led the group at a brisk pace toward the movie theater.
When they returned, the movie had just ended, and a large crowd was pouring out of the theater!
At the same time, quite a few people were entering the theater through the entrance on the other side. The two groups were clearly separated, and the scene was orderly!
At that moment, Li Yi arrived at the exit and pulled out the three photos.
Then, as Jiang Xue and the others stared in astonishment, Li Yi suddenly shouted out loud: “Personal photos of the male and female leads from *Shaolin Temple*, complete with autographs! If you’re interested, come over quickly!”
His shout quickly caught the attention of several young men and women, who immediately walked over.
When they saw the “portraits” in Li Yi’s hands, their eyes lit up instantly.
Soon, a girl of about seventeen or eighteen asked, “Comrade, how much are these photos?”
“One yuan each!”
“One… one yuan? That’s so expensive?”
“Miss, these are art prints, and they even have the leads’ autographs. One yuan each really isn’t expensive, and these are from their very first batch of art prints—they’re highly collectible…”
Swayed by Li Yi’s pitch, the young girl was immediately tempted. After a moment’s hesitation, she pulled out a one-yuan coin and said, “I’ll take this one!”
“Alright!”
“Give me one of the male lead too…”
“Sorry, I only have one set today. Come back tomorrow!”
“You’ll really be here tomorrow, right? You’re not lying, are you?”
“Absolutely. People from Longguo don’t lie—people from Longguo…”
Standing nearby, Jiang Xue, Xiao Die, and the others were stunned to see Li Yi sell each 25-cent photo for a full dollar with just a few words…
………