While Ji Ya was taking Wang Mingming’s measurements in Wangfujing, she had planned to open a bottle of wine brought from America, but Wang Mingming suggested saving it for the celebration dinner, which Ji Ya agreed was sensible.

Meanwhile, Xia Xiaolan returned to her home in Shichahai.

Liu Fen had just returned from the store. She had wanted to drive to pick up Xia Xiaolan, but Xia Xiaolan had declined.

Now she was glad she hadn’t gone, avoiding the unpleasant sight of Ji Ya.

“Xiaolan, you’re back? I spent another day looking at shops today. In just these few months, Beijing’s shop rentals have risen so quickly!”

With the bank loan repaid and several hundred thousand earned from the Nanhai Hotel renovation, “Blue Phoenix” no longer needed to fund Xia Xiaolan’s other businesses and could open new branches.

Xia Xiaolan had discussed with Liu Fen that herding one sheep or a flock required the same effort. Since this year’s goal was to open five branches, they shouldn’t wait to finish the fourth before starting the fifth – the renovations would be troublesome!

Xia Xiaolan suggested finding two shop locations at once, renovating them together, and stocking them simultaneously.

Liu Fen had been looking at shop locations these days and had several candidates but was undecided.

Hearing about the rapid rise in shop rentals, Xia Xiaolan wasn’t surprised: “This year’s situation is different from last year. It’s already November, and I bet rentals will rise again in ’86. We’re not the only smart ones in the world. More people are seeing that individual businesses can make money, and with more people renting shops, prices naturally go up.”

Liu Fen deeply agreed. There were more street vendors now, and those who couldn’t afford shops were sewing clothes in residential houses, getting their fabric, making clothes with sewing machines, and having family members sell them on the streets. Most were people from Zhejiang Province who had come north. She heard that over ten thousand Zhejiang people lived near Muxiyuan, bringing their families, masters teaching apprentices, and entire villages doing clothing business in Beijing.

Liu Fen felt pressured just thinking about it.

More and more people were hoping to make money from “clothing” – Blue Phoenix couldn’t remain the sole success forever.

Zhejiang people wouldn’t just dominate Beijing’s clothing market. Taking advantage of the Reform and Opening Up policy, many people from Zhejiang and Fujian provinces went out to do business. It wasn’t surprising that merchants from these two provinces later dominated nationwide – they were bold, hardworking, and had accumulated capital early.

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t fighting against historical trends. Her competitors weren’t the Zhejiang and Fujian merchants, who were still setting up stalls with their families to accumulate their first pot of gold. Xia Xiaolan already had several hundred thousand in cash and three clothing stores – she was ahead of many!

Street stall clothing targeted one group of consumers, while proper shop clothing targeted those with better economic conditions.

Though ‘Blue Phoenix’ wasn’t luxury goods but mixed brands wholesale from Guangzhou, its customers were definitely wealthy people in ’85! These wealthy people came to ‘Blue Phoenix’ not for durability or cheapness, but to wear something different, styles unavailable in state-owned stores.

Xia Xiaolan discussed consumer positioning with Liu Fen, who listened attentively.

Whenever Xia Xiaolan taught something, it was based on actual situations, helping Liu Fen understand to make calm judgments and decisions.

“You’re right, we sell our style, regardless of what others sell. Apart from the expensive rent, all the shop locations are fine, help me choose. By the way, isn’t Luna planning advertisements? Did Little Chen invite Wang Mingming, who sang at the Spring Festival Gala?”

Xia Xiaolan shook her head, “I was about to tell you this – Wang Mingming won’t be doing our advertisement, Ji Ya hired her instead. I think Ji Ya did this deliberately. She might make big moves against our business. Have you noticed anything unusual at the stores lately?”

Xia Xiaolan hadn’t managed the clothing stores for a long time, and if Ji Ya was planning something, Liu Fen needed to know.

Liu Fen knew Ji Ya’s personality could make her hate both mother and daughter, but she didn’t regret going to the wedding with Tang Hongen. Even without going, Ji Ya wouldn’t have liked her and Xiaolan. The mother-daughter pair could live comfortably without worrying about Ji Ya’s attitude.

Liu Fen now dared to offend people.

Previously timid and afraid to offend anyone, she got bullied anyway.

Now when she encountered someone she disliked, she would express her “dislike,” and fewer people dared to show their teeth to her. Take Sheng Xuan from the other day, who came to buy clothes politely. Liu Fen later analyzed two reasons: First, Sheng Xuan, unlike rural shrews, was educated, employed, and cared about face. Second, she wasn’t easy to bully anymore, earning and spending her own money, not relying on Tang Hongen – why should others look down on her?

Hearing that Ji Ya had snatched Wang Mingming from Luna’s advertisement, Liu Fen was also annoyed. Thinking calmly, there hadn’t been recent business troubles, but after some hesitation, Liu Fen mentioned something odd:

“I noticed the spaces next to our Xidan and Xiushui Street stores were recently rented and are being renovated.”

It was normal for others to follow suit seeing Blue Phoenix’s success, so although Liu Fen had noticed the renovations, she hadn’t thought much of it.

Only when Xia Xiaolan asked did she sense something amiss.

Xia Xiaolan also felt it was strange but couldn’t confirm if Ji Ya had rented the shops. “Mom, let’s go check Gulou now.”

Neither had the mood to finish dinner. Fortunately, Grandmother Yu had steamed buns at home, so they each took two and left. Min Xiaoju stayed close to Liu Fen. If she had taken dinner, it would have been substantial – Grandmother Yu had steamed 20 buns, each as big as an adult man’s fist, with thin skin and plenty of filling. One bite revealed a thin wrapper and solid meat filling. With such meat buns, Xia Xiaolan could eat 2 per meal, while Min Xiaoju could eat 12!

Min Xiaoju had eaten most of the steamed buns and felt somewhat embarrassed.

“Sister Liu, call me to drive next time!”

Xia Xiaolan hadn’t witnessed Min Xiaoju’s skills yet but heard she could drive and thought having a driver for Liu Fen wasn’t bad. When they let Min Xiaoju drive, she seemed quite proficient, possibly having secretly practiced with the Citroën.

Xia Xiaolan switched positions with Min Xiaoju, letting her take the driver’s seat.

The three arrived at the ‘Blue Phoenix’ store in Gulou, which was still open. The staff, seeing Liu Fen return, were too busy with customers to greet the boss. Business was still good, with several customers who appeared to be shopping after dinner.

While the shop next door wasn’t being renovated, the one diagonally opposite showed signs of construction, with workers doing overtime at night. Liu Fen was surprised: “I didn’t see this during the day.”

Xia Xiaolan had figured it out, “It’s not that you didn’t see it, you’ve been busy these days, coming here in the afternoons, thinking about quickly counting Gulou’s accounts, depositing the day’s earnings and heading home, not noticing the activity across the street.”

Xia Xiaolan asked Liu Fen to carefully observe the renovation styles of the other two locations tomorrow. If Ji Ya was launching a brand, the shop decorations should have a unified style!