Chapter 155: A Steady Stream of Customers
"Look, that student is wearing clothes from the south. They’re so beautiful! She looks just like a movie star from a poster."
In the Foreign Languages Department, quite a few people had asked Grace Winslow to help them get clothes.
After getting the clothes, they washed them and wore them right away.
Right now, the Foreign Languages Department was getting the most attention at Crestwood University.
Grace Winslow buried her head in her studies every day and didn’t notice any of this at all.
She had already caught up on the classes she’d fallen behind in. Lately, her schedule had become even tighter, with her evenings packed full.
Before the lights went out at ten p.m., she had an endless list of things to do.
When someone stopped her, she looked up from her vocabulary words in surprise and saw a crowd of young women.
They all looked to be in their early twenties, their faces beaming with smiles.
"Grace Winslow, hi! We’re from the School of Economics and Management. Um, we heard you can help people get clothes from the south. Could you help us get some too?"
"Yeah, we know the rules. We won’t let you do it for nothing."
The girls spoke excitedly.
Grace Winslow hesitated for a moment before replying, "Sorry, that might not be possible for now. I haven’t even been able to arrange the orders for my own classmates yet. It’s not that convenient to ship packages from my hometown; they can’t just mail a huge pile of things every day."
"Oh, so when will it be possible? We can get on the waiting list."
"We can pay a deposit first. Once you’ve arranged it and the items arrive, we’ll pay the rest. Would that be okay?"
"Grace Winslow, please. Your clothes are so beautiful. I have a blind date coming up soon, and I really need one."
The girls pleaded with her.
Grace Winslow gave a wry smile. "How about this? I’ll call my sister-in-law when I go home this week and ask if she can send a larger batch of clothes at once. If she agrees, I’ll let you know next Monday. When the clothes arrive, you can pick out the styles yourselves. If that works for you, come find me tomorrow to register your class and name so I can find you later."
"Okay, okay, thank you so much! Grace Winslow, you’re the best."
"Exactly, beautiful and kind-hearted."
Grace Winslow forced a smile and was about to leave when she noticed Yvonne Hale in the crowd.
She frowned and looked over.
Yvonne Hale looked guilty.
A student next to her looked at Grace Winslow curiously. "Grace Winslow, do you know Shirley Hale from our class?"
"Shirley Hale?" Grace Winslow was a little surprised.
’Wasn’t her name Yvonne Hale?’
She clearly remembered hearing her say her name was Yvonne Hale when the conductor came to check tickets. How did it become Shirley Hale?
Recalling how many people in this era used false identities, even committing all sorts of heinous acts just to snatch a university spot, Grace Winslow grew wary.
After all, based on Yvonne Hale’s behavior on the train, she didn’t seem like a good person.
"I don’t know her." Grace Winslow quickly came back to her senses and shook her head.
For some reason, Yvonne Hale breathed a sigh of relief.
Her reaction didn’t escape Grace Winslow’s notice.
’Just as I thought, there’s something wrong with this person.’
’Pearl Thorne hired someone to take her exam for her. Could this Yvonne Hale have stolen someone else’s identity to attend university?’
"Hey, I have to get to class. You all can come find me in the classroom tomorrow, a little early." Grace Winslow glanced at the time. Class was about to start, so she said a quick goodbye and hurried away.
"Grace Winslow is so beautiful."
"I know, right? Her waist is so thin, and her skin is so fair."
"The key is she also knows how to dress well. And I heard her grades are amazing, too. She was a top scorer on the college entrance exam when she got in."
"It’s true. We can’t slack off either. Someone so outstanding is working so hard. Come on, let’s go study."
The young women chatted and laughed as they went off to study.
Grace Winslow attended a full day of classes, then returned to her dorm to organize her notes.
The girl in the bunk below her hesitated for a long time before cautiously speaking up. "Um, Grace Winslow, can I borrow your notes?"
"I haven’t been feeling well the past couple of days, so I couldn’t hear what the professor was saying in class. I feel like I’m falling a little behind now."
Grace Winslow was taken aback for a second, then rummaged through a pile of notebooks, found her class notes, and handed them over. "Here, you can take these. I’ll need them for class tomorrow, so just remember to return them."
"Okay, thank you, thank you so much." After receiving Grace Winslow’s notes, Joanne Chase was so moved her eyes turned red.
She cherished this opportunity to study. Getting into university was the result of her putting in every ounce of effort.
If she hadn’t gotten into university, and if her family hadn’t found out that university students received monthly grain rations and subsidies, she probably would have been married off long ago to the village idiot in exchange for a bride price to get her younger brother a wife.
It was only because she got into university, and her family heard that a college graduate could command an even higher bride price in the future, that they agreed to let her go.
She held Grace Winslow’s notebook as if it were a priceless treasure and began to study.
Grace Winslow didn’t pay it much mind. She tidied up her things and went to take a shower.
After washing up, she began preparing for the next day’s lessons and reviewing what she had learned that day.
The next day, the girls from the School of Economics and Management did indeed come to register with Grace Winslow, and Yvonne Hale was among them.
She wrote down her name. Grace Winslow glanced at it and raised an eyebrow.
"Grace Winslow, how come people from other departments are coming to you for clothes now? When will it be our class’s turn?"
"Yeah, sigh, we’ve been waiting for so long."
After the students from the School of Economics and Management had left, her classmates looked at her resentfully.
"I’ll call my sister-in-law when I go home this weekend and ask if she can send more next week, in several packages. If she can, you all can come home with me this weekend to pick out clothes at my place," Grace Winslow said after thinking for a moment.
"Really? Won’t that be too much trouble for you?"
"It’s fine. I’ll let you know if I hear anything." Grace Winslow waved her hand and put on her headphones to listen to a cassette tape.
Seeing this, everyone knew better than to disturb her studies.
Everyone knew Grace Winslow was an academic grinder who became completely absorbed when she studied.
When Grace Winslow went home on Saturday afternoon, she sorted through all the clothes Hayley had sent.
To make it easier for people to choose, she had even asked Irene Lynch to make a few clothing racks so she could hang up all the outfits.
As it happened, Hayley had sent another batch of clothes that week. Including jackets, inner layers, skirts, and pants, there were a hundred sets in total.
"Mom, I haven’t even sent Hayley her payment recently. Why did she send me so many things? Did a letter come?" Grace Winslow couldn’t help but frown.
’If Hayley sent so many clothes at once and ran short on capital, I’d feel so guilty if something happened to her shop.’
"A letter did come. She said everything at home is fine and business has been good lately. Oh, right, she also mentioned she wants to come to Coronet next year. She’s sending these clothes now because she hopes you can open up the market for her here first. That way, when she moves over, she’ll have a customer base ready." Irene Lynch replied with a smile, wiping her hands before adding, "I’ve invited Xiao Che over for dinner tomorrow. You two should get to know each other better."
Grace Winslow: "??"