Bai Zhenzhu brought two senior martial brothers to help pack and deliver the goods to the train station.
When Xia Xiaolan tried to pay Bai Zhenzhu for the two hundred pairs of stockings, Bai Zhenzhu refused: “Pay me after you sell them. If they don’t sell well, just return them to me.”
Li Fengmei’s trip to Yangcheng was quite eye-opening. She explored the city and witnessed Xia Xiaolan’s wholesale clothing selection process. Not every style sold well, and wholesalers were desperate to offload slow-moving items. Buyers needed their judgment… Xia Xiaolan called it “aesthetic sense” – it wasn’t just about what looked good to you, but what customers found attractive.
Aesthetic sense had to be cultivated gradually.
Living in the countryside before, Li Fengmei had limited exposure. Without even a TV, she had no access to outside information.
Village women dressed for practicality and durability while working, but women in Shangdu were different. They cared about colors, and styles, and were particular about fabrics. In Yangcheng, early spring had arrived, and women on every street wore various styles, broadening Li Fengmei’s horizons.
Li Fengmei went through the pile of magazines from Chen Xiliang one by one.
Though her education level was basic, she could read common characters. Looking at pictures wasn’t a problem, but understanding why people matched clothes in certain ways required reading and comprehension, which she found challenging.
“I’ll buy a dictionary when I get back.”
Li Fengmei hadn’t expected to be studying again in her thirties.
But as Xia Xiaolan said, not only she but Liu Fen needed to learn too. When the business grew, they would need to understand management. Though both were under 40 and couldn’t absorb knowledge as quickly as young people, learning was better than not learning at all.
Li Fengmei agreed with Xia Xiaolan’s words.
If Xia Xiaolan hadn’t been educated, how would she know so many things?
Bai Zhenzhu repeatedly invited Xia Xiaolan to visit the Pengcheng Special Zone. “I’ll help you get a border pass.”
“I can’t, Shangdu is waiting for this batch of goods…”
As Xia Xiaolan wavered, Li Fengmei closed her magazine: “I’ll take the goods back to Shangdu. I know roughly how to price the clothes, and I’ve written down all the wholesale prices – I won’t make mistakes! I can see you want to go, so just go. Otherwise, you’ll keep thinking about it in Shangdu and get distracted from your studies.”
Let Li Fengmei return to Shangdu alone?
Thinking carefully, there wasn’t much to worry about. They had brought cash for goods when they came, but now the money was converted to clothes. Those large packages couldn’t be carried personally and would be shipped as cargo. Li Fengmei wouldn’t need to watch the luggage, wouldn’t carry much cash, and only needed to worry about personal safety. Don’t accept food or water from strangers, don’t get off mid-journey – life was getting better, and Li Fengmei wouldn’t be fooled by traffickers promising to help her make money. Returning to Shangdu alone wasn’t an impossible mission, so Xia Xiaolan finally agreed to go to Pengcheng Special Zone with Bai Zhenzhu.
After seeing Li Fengmei off on the train, Xia Xiaolan stayed in Yangcheng, waiting for the special zone border pass.
“If it takes more than two days, I’ll sneak in.”
Bai Zhenzhu wasn’t completely confident about getting Xia Xiaolan a border pass. If it took too long, sneaking in might be better. Many people entered the special zone through unofficial routes, and Bai Zhenzhu, having spent time in Pengcheng, knew several paths.
Bai Zhenzhu’s two senior martial brothers helped for two days, and Xia Xiaolan prepared red envelopes for them. The short, chubby Senior Wan was hesitant to accept, but the tall, thin Senior Li took his envelope readily. “Miss Xia, let us accompany you to Pengcheng.”
Senior Li had already changed his form of address, treating Xia Xiaolan as a boss-level figure.
Hong Kong’s big bosses all had bodyguards, and while this wasn’t common in Yangcheng yet, people had heard of it.
Who usually worked as bodyguards?
Veterans, tough guys, and people like Wan and Li who had learned martial arts.
Xia Xiaolan trusted people recommended by Bai Zhenzhu. The special zone’s systems weren’t fully established yet, and while Bai Zhenzhu could manage well there, Xia Xiaolan might not receive the same treatment. Having two men alongside would give her presence – even thugs like Ko Yixiong would be wary of her background… Young and beautiful, carrying money, going to Pengcheng alone?
What would happen to both the person and the money?
“Alright then, I’ll trouble you both to come to Pengcheng. I’ll cover food and lodging, plus compensation when we return to Yangcheng. I won’t shortchange you!”
Senior Li was enthusiastic, and Senior Wan agreed too.
Later, in private, Senior Wan said to Senior Li: “Weren’t we supposed to learn business from our junior sister? I see you rushing to be a bodyguard for a young girl. We learned martial arts for years just to be bodyguards? We might as well learn from Ko Yixiong…”
Senior Li smiled, “Learn from Ko Yixiong to be a thug, gathering a bunch of ruffians to scam people at the train station? Senior brother, if we could be heartless enough to join that life, we wouldn’t have needed our junior sister’s charity. I’m not as thick-skinned as Awang, who took over our junior sister’s hard-earned fruit stand claiming marriage difficulties! What’s the point of being a thug? Even Ko Yixiong fears Miss Xia. Being her bodyguard isn’t shameful, and her money can help me support my family!”
Senior Li took out the red envelope containing ten hundred yuan notes.
He pocketed the money, “Even if you want to learn business, why ignore the true Buddha to chase after our junior sister? She might be good at fighting, but wasn’t going to Pengcheng Miss Xia’s idea?”
Following capable people was the way to learn capability.
Senior Li’s words cleared Senior Wan’s doubts.
Yes, being young, pretty, and female didn’t prevent Xia Xiaolan from being capable. Sure, selling clothes was profitable, watching Xia Xiaolan take wholesale goods, but following her lead wasn’t simple. Two grown men could barely distinguish clothing colors, and how many men in ’84 China studied fashion magazines like Chen Xiliang while running a clothing business?
Wan and Li wanted to change their situation but didn’t know where to start.
As Senior Li said, if you’re not clever, follow clever people. Even if you can’t learn all their skills, do your job well, and clever people will ensure you’re fed.
After seeing off Xia Xiaolan’s group, Chen Xiliang pondered at home before riding his motorcycle out.
He headed to Chenyu Garment Factory, one of Yangcheng’s larger factories. Chen Xiliang’s brother-in-law was the factory head, which gave Chen Xiliang better access to goods than others. Chen Xiliang had originally worked at the factory, started street vending some clothes in ’80, and by ’82 had quit his formal job to become a full-time individual business owner.
He got factory-direct prices without breaking principles, at most getting priority in selecting goods. His brother-in-law had no choice – if his brother-in-law’s life wasn’t good, his wife would cause trouble. Chenyu was a big factory that could produce export-quality goods, but Chen Xiliang’s brother-in-law was worried lately. Following Chen Xiliang’s suggestion, he produced a batch of cashmere-wool blend fabric and manufactured over ten thousand men’s coats – but after production, the foreign buyer backed out. His brother-in-law tried to sell the coats domestically to recover costs, but with such high factory prices and the cashmere-wool blend, domestic distributors wouldn’t take them.
Chen Xiliang, as the mastermind, had been involved from material selection to design. He hadn’t lied to Xia Xiaolan – the wholesale price for these coats was genuinely high. The factory price was 65 yuan per piece, leaving Chen Xiliang with only 5 yuan profit per coat. He hadn’t stocked many himself, but Chenyu had over ten thousand pieces… With his brother-in-law struggling, Chen Xiliang, who relied on his support, was understandably stressed.
Now things were looking up – there was a way to sell these coats.
Do you think a 65 yuan factory price is expensive? Wait until the wholesale price increases by 20 yuan per piece – you’ll want to buy but won’t find any stock!
Chen Xiliang parked his motorcycle at the factory gate. A head poked out from the guard room: “I knew it was you from the engine sound, kid. Here to see Director He?”
Even Chenyu’s workers envied Chen Xiliang. A motorcycle cost over three thousand yuan, and he’d been riding one since last year, clearly making good money.
But no one dared follow Chen Xiliang’s example of casually quitting. They didn’t have factory director brothers-in-law, and if their business failed and they lost their jobs, how would their families survive?
Chen Xiliang tossed a pack of cigarettes to the guard to watch his motorcycle, then rushed in to find He Congsheng.
“Brother-in-law, I have a way to sell those wool coats, but it’ll take a few months… Hey, don’t hit me yet, let me finish! Brother-in-law! Don’t be like this!”