The disturbances in Hedong and the changing situations in the capital had nothing to do with Xia Xiao Lan.

She would do what needed to be done; whether others liked her or not was subjective, and Xia Xiao Lan couldn’t force that.

At least Manager Chen from Yangcheng liked Xia Xiao Lan very much – his smile was brighter than flowers whenever he saw her.

“If you hadn’t come now, I couldn’t have held this batch of goods any longer.”

The red dress trend was showing early signs – it was hotter in Yangcheng than in Shangdu. While Shangdu was just starting to warm up, people in Yangcheng had already begun wearing summer clothes by late April. Chen Xi Liang’s red dresses were selling out repeatedly. This time, he finally shed his foolish image in front of his brother-in-law. As a self-employed businessman with dreams of design, Manager Chen had finally gotten something right, avoiding dragging down Chenyu Garment Factory with him.

Fashion trends spread from coastal cities inland. The “red dress” was already popular around Yangcheng, making this the perfect time for Xia Xiao Lan to stock up.

It would take time for this trend to catch fire in Shangdu. Due to economic conditions, few people bought early – most waited until the weather warmed up to purchase summer clothes.

While women’s fashion exploded with red dresses, men’s fashion followed Shanghai’s previous year’s trend of suit shorts.

Tucking short-sleeved shirts into high-waisted suit shorts with a belt was very popular in Shanghai last year. Shanghai people were always trendy – their clothing and daily items were what the whole country imitated. Like last year’s suit shorts and the earlier “fake collars” – those clever Shanghai people were truly impressive. Because fabric coupons were scarce and many couldn’t afford a whole shirt, someone invented the “fake collar” – just two pieces of fabric extending to the armpits with a crisp collar. Worn under a sweater or jacket buttoned to show just the collar, who could tell there was only half a shirt underneath?

Of course, one couldn’t remove outer layers while wearing a fake collar. When visiting others, no matter how warm it got, one had to endure sweating profusely.

Fake collars were popular for quite a while until fabric coupons were abolished. Now few people make them anymore. Xia Xiao Lan didn’t know these details – Chen Xi Liang told her while sorting through merchandise, chatting freely about clothing-related stories.

Xia Xiao Lan shook her head, “This time, let my aunt and mother choose the styles first!”

Liu Fen nervously wrung her hands – how could she choose styles? What if she ruined the business? What if the clothes they picked didn’t sell?

Xia Xiao Lan encouraged her, “Don’t worry, it’s only a matter of timing – every style will sell eventually.”

Even the most unattractive clothes are found by buyers due to different aesthetic preferences or customer mindsets. Some clothes Xia Xiao Lan found ugly, customers found beautiful. People don’t always choose what suits them best – some deliberately seek attention, wanting to stand out!

With Blue Phoenix’s customer flow, even poorly chosen styles would sell – though attractive styles might sell 10 pieces in 2 days while unattractive ones took a week to sell 10 pieces. Slower inventory turnover meant less profit. But if Xia Xiao Lan didn’t let Feng Mei Li and Liu Fen choose styles, they’d never learn to manage independently. Xia Xiao Lan wouldn’t come to Yangcheng for stock during her college entrance exam preparation, and her future visits would only decrease. The clothing store was Xia Xiao Lan’s first bucket of gold, but she couldn’t let it trap her in Shangdu.

She had promised Zhou Cheng she’d go to Beijing for university – she’d spend most of the next four years there.

Liu Fen hesitated while Xia Xiao Lan chatted casually with Manager Chen. After quietly discussing for a long time, Liu Fen and Feng Mei Li finally encouraged each other to start sorting through Manager Chen’s clothes. Liu Fen picked up a piece, uncertain, looked it over repeatedly, then put it back.

Li Feng Mei nudged her, gritting her teeth, “Be bold in choosing, follow what the magazines taught!”

Despite not being as quick-minded as young people, Li Feng Mei refused to believe she hadn’t retained anything from all those outfit combinations and Xia Xiao Lan’s teachings!

When picking a piece, one needed to understand what pants it could match with – when complete sets were well-coordinated, customers would buy the whole outfit. Something unremarkable alone could shine when properly matched. There were no ugly clothes, only people who couldn’t coordinate… that’s what the magazines said. Li Feng Mei needed to put theory into practice, though she wasn’t confident.

Despite her uncertainty, she had to act boldly. Before coming to Yangcheng, she’d talked about buying a city house and urban household registration for Tao Tao. How could she expect her family to shamelessly rely on her niece’s generosity if she didn’t work hard to succeed in business?

Li Feng Mei understood clearly – Liu Yong had initially given Xia Xiao Lan 50 yuan, which she used as startup capital for the egg business. From eggs to eels to wholesale women’s clothing in Yangcheng, Xia Xiao Lan’s business development was so rapid that most people couldn’t even comprehend it, let alone replicate it.

But Liu Yong’s 50 yuan just saved Xia Xiao Lan a few days’ time. Li Feng Mei believed Xia Xiao Lan would have become a “ten-thousand-yuan household” with or without that money.

Yet Xia Xiao Lan was grateful, caring for Liu Yong’s family, forcefully pulling them into the clothing business partnership, and finding renovation jobs for Liu Yong – she looked after everything.

Li Feng Mei understood better than anyone that her niece didn’t treat their family of three as outsiders.

But as elders, how long could they shamelessly rely on their niece’s help?

Forget about choosing the right styles – how could she justify taking 40% of shares just for watching the store? Even Ma Wei could do that, and she only earned 60 yuan a month including bonuses.

Xia Xiao Lan offered no opinion on Li Feng Mei and Liu Fen’s choices, though she didn’t particularly like some styles. Still, she didn’t object.

They could choose freely from Manager Chen’s clothes since he allowed seasonal exchanges.

The clothes needed to be taken back and sold to give Li Feng Mei and Liu Fen firsthand experience. Aesthetic sense developed through practice – if their choices didn’t sell well, they’d be more anxious than Xia Xiao Lan and would put more effort into mastering the clothing business.

Before coming to Yangcheng, Blue Phoenix had just completed its third profit distribution.

The last distribution was in late March when Xia Xiao Lan returned from Beijing. After another month, with spring styles nearly cleared out, the account balance had grown from 22,180 yuan to 48,400 yuan. Xia Xiao Lan maintained her approach – distributing 20,000 in profits while keeping over 20,000 as working capital.

It was less than the second distribution, which covered from after New Year to late March, as this period was shorter.

Blue Phoenix’s revenue was stabilizing.

Despite ongoing promotions, average revenue remained fairly consistent. Of course, spring was considered low season – summer sales would be the real test. Blue Phoenix opened in late January, missing most of the winter peak season. This summer would be its first real opportunity to demonstrate peak season sales potential… Xia Xiao Lan calculated that Blue Phoenix could achieve annual profits exceeding 150,000 yuan.

This was already impressive – the best location, three premium storefronts, extremely low rent relative to profits, low renovation and labor costs, plus capturing Shangdu’s mid-to-high-end clothing market gap… Missing any of these essential conditions would have prevented Blue Phoenix from earning so much. But earning more would be difficult – Blue Phoenix was approaching its profit ceiling unless they opened branch stores.

Including this distribution, Xia Xiao Lan had just barely saved 50,000 yuan.

With ongoing small promotions and smooth business operations, by the time she finished her college entrance exams, she should have enough for house renovations and investing in the building materials business. There might be a small shortfall, but that wouldn’t be a major issue.

So should she take risks to earn quick money again?