“What are you afraid of renovating for?”
With the establishment of the Special Economic Zone, tens of thousands of construction workers had moved south. At their fastest, they could build one floor per day, earning the nickname “Pengcheng Speed”!
Foreign-funded factories were settling in Pengcheng, and all kinds of people were gathering in the Special Zone. These people’s demands for food, clothing, housing, and transportation would only increase. Pengcheng’s original residents were mostly fishermen who hadn’t caught up with the city’s development pace yet, making it easy for outsiders to strike gold in Pengcheng.
“Sister Bai, you should get into the clothing business too.”
Bai Zhenzhu looked at Xia Xiaolan – wasn’t she talking about developing in Pengcheng?
“We can make money from Pengcheng people too. Good quality clothing at low prices, small profits but quick turnover – the Special Zone people will surely like it.”
Xia Xiaolan had been sourcing goods from Yangcheng to sell in Shangdu, following a mid to high-end strategy because Shangdu already produced clothing, so they needed to differentiate from local products. Pengcheng was busy developing, and the fortune seekers there weren’t like Shangdu’s working class who received monthly wages and had housing, children’s education, and medical care taken care of, who could spend one or two months’ salary on high-end clothing… Pengcheng’s fortune seekers and residents needed good quality products at affordable prices.
The residents had money too – large quantities of “parallel imports” from Hong Kong entered the market through them.
However, these wealthy locals hadn’t learned how to spend money yet. Pengcheng didn’t have many places to spend money, and most locals weren’t particularly wealthy yet.
“We’ll wholesale cheap clothing from Yangcheng to bring in, then bring out cheap electronics from the Special Zone… That’s where we’ll make our profit.”
Bai Zhenzhu suddenly understood. “You’re really brave, wanting to get involved in smuggling?”
Such a pretty and seemingly delicate person wanted to do this kind of business. Bai Zhenzhu didn’t know what to say. Someone like her who could fight was just thinking about selling fruit – no wonder she couldn’t make as much money as Xia Xiaolan. These days, it was true that the timid starved while the bold prospered!
Xia Xiaolan was dumbfounded.
Her uncle Liu Yong’s back wound from being slashed hadn’t even healed yet – why would she get involved in smuggling?
This business had high profits but high risks. Xia Xiaolan had other ways to make money; there was no need to take such risks. People became more cautious with their lives as they gained wealth. Being in a ten-thousand-yuan household now was different from when her entire worth was just twenty jin of sweet potatoes. Her interest in taking dangerous paths had greatly diminished.
Why risk death when she could enjoy a good life?
Others were getting rich and going legitimate – what if she turned out to be the unlucky one?
“I won’t do anything illegal. We’ll just do normal trading, and buy some electronics from others to sell outside the Special Zone, okay?”
What could Bai Zhenzhu say?
She wasn’t as clever as Xia Xiaolan anyway, so she could only follow Xia Xiaolan’s ideas.
“So I need to go with you to buy stock from the street vendors?”
Xia Xiaolan nodded. “Of course. Pick the cheapest ones – I think those suit pants would be good.”
The generous Bai Zhenzhu searched through all her savings and only had a few hundred yuan. This amount was enough to wholesale some cheap suit pants, but far from enough for electronics trading. Xia Xiaolan decided to invest 500 yuan to help Bai Zhenzhu reach 1,000 yuan to start their cooperation.
“No rush on the electronics. You need to make several trips to Pengcheng’s markets first to learn the ropes.”
Xia Xiaolan had substantial funds, but they actually belonged to the undistributed business capital between her and her uncle’s family. Her transportation and accommodation expenses in Yangcheng could be counted as business costs, but the money given to Bai Zhenzhu couldn’t be handled the same way. Xia Xiaolan felt ashamed – she had come to 1983 and become a freeloader, using money that Liu Fen had made from selling deep-fried pork rinds.
Liu Fen had given Xia Xiaolan almost a thousand yuan in total.
Xia Xiaolan didn’t keep such clear accounts of money from her birth mother – whatever she earned in the future, she would let Liu Fen use it as she pleased.
Xia Xiaolan was hoping for dividends from the clothing store before the New Year. She just wanted to find another way to make money, and selling electronics was quite good, as long as Bai Zhenzhu could supply the goods. Yangcheng could also get items like electronic watches, but after several transfers from the Pengcheng Special Zone, the purchase price would certainly be higher. Xia Xiaolan was willing to wait and get goods from Bai Zhenzhu – it was safe and reliable… at least she could avoid dealing with people like Ke Yixiong.
People who wholesale smuggled electronics couldn’t be the same as those who wholesale clothing.
Since Xia Xiaolan was willing to put up half the money, Bai Zhenzhu was willing to try. She took Xia Xiaolan directly to wholesale clothing, where the cheapest suit pants were only 70 yuan per dozen.
Less than 6 yuan per pair of pants?
The quality couldn’t compare with Xia Xiaolan’s usual stock, but they were selling in different places.
Xia Xiaolan was willing to hold onto her stock for several days rather than sell that batch of men’s wool coats cheaply, because Shangdu was her main base, and she was transitioning from street stalls to a physical store, following a mid to high-end strategy.
Bai Zhenzhu didn’t need such concerns – she was going to Pengcheng to sell low-end products. Selling clothes was secondary; electronics trading was the main goal.
“I need to apply for a temporary residence permit…” Bai Zhenzhu muttered quietly.
For occasional trips to Pengcheng, a “border pass” was sufficient. For long-term stays, she needed a temporary residence permit. This was where Bai Zhenzhu had an advantage over Xia Xiaolan – Yangcheng wasn’t far from the Special Zone, and Bai Zhenzhu had relatives there.
“Then go apply!”
Xia Xiaolan struggled to pull out a dozen suit pants. “Blue, black, and gray are the main colors – people will buy these anytime.”
Considering the customers would mainly be fishermen or construction workers, delicate wool coats like what Xia Xiaolan stocked were out of the question. Durability, practicality, and low prices were Bai Zhenzhu’s main selling points.
Bai Zhenzhu took eight dozen pairs of pants. Afraid of her poor memory, she carefully wrote down what goods she had, how much money she spent, and how much was left. Xia Xiaolan thought this was a good start – when partnering in business, detailed accounting was important, not relying on verbal claims about amounts.
When Xia Xiaolan partnered with Li Fengmei, they recorded every sale in their accounts daily.
When Xia Xiaolan met Chen Xiliang again, he smiled particularly warmly:
“How about it, want to stock more coats?”
Xia Xiaolan wasn’t his biggest buyer, but she was willing to take expensive stock, and Boss Chen Xiliang liked that about her.
Xia Xiaolan shook her head. “They’re too expensive, this kind of goods is hard to sell… I’ll take 15 pieces this time, mainly focusing on other items.”
While profitable, if “Blue Phoenix” had already opened, Xia Xiaolan would have dared to take 50 men’s coats at once, but it hadn’t opened yet! Selling expensive clothes from mobile stalls meant stock would be tied up for a long time. Of the 20 men’s wool coats from the last batch, Zhu Fang’s piece sold for only 100 yuan, the cheapest sold for 138 yuan.
The profit from 20 coats was over 1,300 yuan. To make the same profit from sweaters, she’d need to sell over 60 pieces. Pants had the lowest profit, only about ten yuan per pair – she’d need to sell over 100 flared pants to match the profit from men’s wool coats.
Winter coats, down jackets, and women’s wool coats couldn’t match it.
But all these items sold faster than men’s wool coats!
Xia Xiaolan was now pursuing maximum profit in the shortest time. Ignoring Chen Xiliang’s disappointed look, she insisted on taking only 15 men’s coats. Chen Xiliang was very worried – whether he had overstocked or was under pressure from the factory, Xia Xiaolan didn’t ask… since she couldn’t help solve the problem, why invite trouble?
This time Xia Xiaolan not only took expensive items but dared to take anything with new styles that she hadn’t seen in Shangdu.
Not just from Chen Xiliang’s stall – she swept up goods from other stalls too. Seeing her with all her packages, Chen Xiliang commented: “Your business is developing quite fast!”
Xia Xiaolan took 7,000 yuan worth of goods, more than previous times, truly a level jump.
She planned to sell for several more days before coming back to Yangcheng. The final exams were mandatory, and perhaps by the time she returned to Yangcheng, it would be to stock up before New Year’s for the clothing store’s opening.
With less than 3,000 yuan left, Xia Xiaolan planned to buy a nice lamp to take back to Shangdu.
That night, Xia Xiaolan didn’t stay at the guesthouse but slept at the Bai family home, because that thug Ke Yixiong had made the guesthouse unsafe.
“Buying a lamp? I’ll take you tomorrow!”