What are roommates for?
They’re there to help bring breakfast when you want to sleep in during the morning.
They’re there to answer attendance when you skip class.
So when Xia Xiaolan’s clothing store was opening, and it happened to be a weekend, it wasn’t strange that the girls from Room 307 came to help—throughout the semester, the roommates had enjoyed plenty of treats that Xia Xiaolan brought to their dorm.
Tea eggs, steamed buns, dried fish, dried shrimp, and foreign candies—whenever Xia Xiaolan had something delicious, she always shared.
Everyone understood that Xia Xiaolan came from a well-off family and was always generous with her roommates. They didn’t have as much spending money as she did, so what was wrong with helping her family out?
Helping a private business owner wasn’t embarrassing for Huaqing students.
Only ungrateful people would be ashamed. Xia Xiaolan was also a Huaqing student, and she had never hidden that her family owned a private business.
Faced with all those young faces looking at her, how could Xia Xiaolan say no?
She didn’t play coy anymore. “Helping is fine, but has everyone eaten? If not, let’s eat before going. Though the Xidan store won’t need this many people, shall we split our dorm into two groups?”
Of course, that was fine. Su Jing volunteered to go with Liu Fen to Xiushui Street.
The more energetic ones all went with Su Jing, leaving Yang Yonghong, Chen Yiyi, and Lü Yan with Xia Xiaolan.
If the flyers worked well, today’s opening would be busy. Xia Xiaolan urged her roommates to eat an extra breakfast: “When it gets busy, we might not even have time for lunch. Eat as much as you can now, don’t be polite.”
Ha! Who would be polite to her? Yang Yonghong could eat—a pound of braised pork was just an appetizer for her, and a second breakfast was no pressure at all.
Xia Xiaolan cycled to Xidan with Yang Yonghong and the other two, where two shop assistants were already waiting.
It was only eight in the morning.
“Qian Ying, how long have you been waiting? These three are my classmates, here to help today.”
Young Miss Xia was a university student, and all the trained shop assistants knew this. One reason they listened so attentively to Xia Xiaolan was her status as a student. These assistants had failed their college entrance exams and had at most a high school education. Meeting Xia Xiaolan, a Huaqing academic star, and their boss, only a fool wouldn’t pay attention during her training sessions.
And Xia Xiaolan’s classmates were Huaqing academic stars too!
Despite Yang Yonghong’s unfashionable appearance, the two shop assistants wouldn’t dare look down on her just based on that.
Though Xia Xiaolan also found her roommate’s style lacking, she seriously explained to Yang Yonghong and the others what they might need help with.
“Most likely, there will be many clothes tried on. When they come off, they need to be quickly hung back up without affecting the next customer’s selection. Light-colored clothes need to be checked for stains…”
Yang Yonghong stood at the store entrance, stunned as soon as the lights came on.
Only two words came to her mind: High-end!
As a straightforward female Civil Engineering student, expecting her to come up with more nuanced descriptions wasn’t realistic.
Chen Yiyi and Lü Yan were from the Architecture department.
Chen Yiyi looked around, “It’s beautiful, Xiaolan. This decoration was professionally designed, right? Who designed it?”
This was completely different from the department stores and small shops on the streets.
“My uncle runs a decoration company, and one of his interior designers, a fine arts graduate from the Commercial College—how is it, does it look alright?”
Xia Xiaolan didn’t mention herself, letting Gong Yang take all the credit.
They were all in the same field, and there was no point in showing off about this.
Xia Xiaolan’s ability to succeed was thanks to her knowledge from her previous life, not because she was particularly gifted in architecture, and she didn’t want her roommates to have that impression. She wasn’t going into the decoration business with Yang Yonghong and the others, so there was no use in claiming false credit. Xia Xiaolan preferred not to mention it.
The three walked around hand in hand, not thinking about how much such decoration would cost, but rather about the style and technical aspects of the decoration.
Ordinary people wouldn’t use such materials in their homes.
This wasn’t just helping out—it was like a practical lesson. The final presentation of architecture was related to both interior and exterior decoration.
Bare blueprints couldn’t match the visual impact of a well-decorated store.
When Liu Yong decorated the Xidan store, he followed Xia Xiaolan’s requirements and beautified the building’s exterior as well. What to do about the worn-out roof? Paint it white, of course, striving for overall harmony!
Xia Xiaolan had wanted to plant roses on the rooftop, letting them cascade down—very European, very boutique.
Combined with the very local-flavored name ‘Blue Phoenix,’ Xia Xiaolan thought it created an interesting contrast… Why hadn’t this idea been realized? Well, Beijing’s winters were truly cold, and flowers would have to wait until spring.
And now it was spring.
The roommates who came to help at the clothing store were now studying its decoration.
Xia Xiaolan’s first visitors on opening day weren’t customers, but Kang Wei, wearing a hat, brought by Shao Guangrong.
These two came to deliver flower baskets and set off firecrackers.
“You’re allowed to go out now?”
Kang Wei carefully touched his head, “My mom’s coming later too. Even after delivering the flower basket, I can’t leave—I have to go back with her.”
Well, he was still under strict supervision.
Shao Guangrong smiled as he laid out the firecrackers, “Sister-in-law, we came from Xiushui Street, where we already set off firecrackers.”
Sending flower baskets for store openings was also a Hong Kong custom.
In mainland China in 1985, there weren’t any flower shops, and Shao Guangrong had gone to great lengths to have these flower baskets specially made. He was sending one pair, Kang Wei another, and he had to order for Guan Hui’e too. Xie Yun also sent a pair, and even Kang Lianming, hearing that Xia Xiaolan was opening a clothing store in Beijing, sent a pair.
Zhou Cheng’s other friends didn’t know about Xia Xiaolan’s store opening.
Because Tong Lili stood between them, Xia Xiaolan barely interacted with Zhou Yi’s circle, except for Kang Wei and Shao Guangrong, she wasn’t familiar with the others.
“Alright! Thank you both for today. Kang Wei, if you’re not feeling well, rest in the car, don’t push yourself.”
As she spoke, people with flyers were already coming to the store. It wasn’t convenient for the two male students to stand around, so Shao Guangrong pulled Kang Wei back to the car.
“Are these flyers from your store? Grand opening special, 10% off? Do you have the clothes shown in the flyer photos?”
The grand opening special poster was already on the wall, but before Xia Xiaolan could speak, the two shop assistants had already attended to the female customer. Coming to buy clothes first thing in the morning, specifically asking about the styles worn by the models in the flyers—this was exactly the kind of “sincere” customer the Boss Xia had mentioned. As long as the clothes met their expectations, this could be their first successful sale of the day.
Xia Xiaolan didn’t rush to speak, letting the two assistants gain more experience.
The clothes in the flyers weren’t randomly chosen; Xia Xiaolan had selected the styles carefully, so it wasn’t surprising that people were attracted by the flyers.
Customers would discover during their shopping that the 10% discount would save them quite a bit of money. The cheapest single item in the store was stockings, which Xia Xiaolan didn’t expect to make money from, but they weren’t cheap either, priced at 8 yuan.
Even with a 10% discount, they were still 7.2 yuan per pair. These stockings were almost transparent, neither warm nor durable, yet they cost more than seven yuan.
“People buy these?!”
Yang Yonghong couldn’t believe it.
Yet the reality was this magical—the first customer who rushed in, pointing at the flyer, demanded an identical outfit. The model in the image she pointed to was wearing stockings… From the undershirt to the jacket and skirt, the total price exceeded 100 yuan, and with the 10% discount, she could save more than 10 yuan. The customer asked Qian Ying to include a pair of stockings.
Yang Yonghong felt they must be crazy to spend over a hundred yuan in a clothing store without batting an eye!
Chen Yiyi whispered, “Xiaolan’s store decoration isn’t wasteful at all. Look at the people coming in—they feel they’re getting their money’s worth.”