The letter detailed all of Xia Xiaolan’s past “scandals.”
It describes her bad reputation in the countryside, her affair with a good-for-nothing, and her attempts to seduce her brother-in-law, and warns the Zhou family to investigate Xia Xiaolan’s character thoroughly.
Such malicious acts that harm others without benefiting oneself could only have been done by Xia Ziyu.
Xia Ziyu must have been holding back for a long time, unable to stand seeing Xia Xiaolan living a good life. She probably didn’t dare to do this before because she feared the Zhou family would trace it back to her.
Now that she was planning to flee anyway, Xia Ziyu, who had probably bottled up too much for too long, sent two letters to Guan Hui’e and Zhou Guobin without considering the consequences.
Xia Xiaolan had already disclosed all her so-called dark history early on. When Guan Hui’e and Zhou Guobin learned the truth, they weren’t fooled by Xia Ziyu’s exposé letter and despised her even more.
This was why Xia Xiaolan preferred being straightforward about everything – she favored open strategies over scheming.
If she had tried to hide things back then, Xia Ziyu’s current move would have given her a headache regarding her relationship with the Zhou family.
“Auntie just wanted to let you know that Uncle Zhou and I don’t believe her attempts to drive a wedge between us. She’s now a fugitive and has been expelled from university. You don’t need to waste time on someone like her anymore. Focus on your studies and work. If she keeps hiding, we might not be able to catch her, but if she shows her face in public, she won’t escape.”
Guan Hui’e burned the exposé letter in front of Xia Xiaolan.
Xia Xiaolan asked puzzledly, “Aunt Guan, I heard that criminal cases have a statute of limitations. If she emerges after that period expires, wouldn’t we be unable to do anything about her?”
Guan Hui’e was even more confused than Xia Xiaolan: “Where did you hear that from?”
Xia Xiaolan wanted to say it was common knowledge, but Guan Hui’e smiled and said, “As long as the police have filed the case, they can arrest her anytime.”
Guan Hui’e didn’t understand these matters either, but she had specifically asked about it.
“Xia Ziyu’s escape nearly got Wang Jianhua expelled from Beijing Normal University too. The Wang family had to pull some strings to keep him enrolled. I heard Wang Jianhua is now frequently visiting Director Zhang’s house. Director Zhang has a daughter who’s a year older than him, she used to be a sent-down youth.”
Guan Hui’e never usually gossiped about others’ affairs. She mentioned Wang Jianhua specifically for Xia Xiaolan’s benefit.
Xia Xiaolan quickly caught the implication – mentioning Director Zhang was one thing, but bringing up his daughter… was this suggesting Wang Jianhua escaped trouble by pursuing a beneficial marriage?
Xia Xiaolan completely dismissed him from her mind.
They didn’t dwell on Xia Ziyu’s escape. Guan Hui’e asked about how the clothing store had been doing in its first month of operation.
Xia Xiaolan’s face immediately brightened, “My mother did the accounting earlier. The first month’s business was quite good, and we’re planning to open a third branch.”
Guan Hui’e clicked her tongue in amazement. Of course, she wouldn’t directly ask how much money Xia Xiaolan had made.
“Can you manage it all?”
A person’s energy is limited, and managing two stores was already challenging, now they wanted to open a third. But Xia Xiaolan didn’t mention that her plans extended far beyond just three stores.
“I’ll hire someone to help with management. My mother will only handle purchasing and accounting. She’ll be less involved in the daily operations of the stores.”
If chain stores could be managed with 3,000 locations, there was no reason Xia Xiaolan couldn’t manage three stores well.
One person couldn’t manage 3,000 stores, but with standardized procedures and systems, you only needed to control the overall direction, and others would handle the rest. Xia Xiaolan wasn’t joking about opening a third store. ‘Blue Phoenix’ opened on March 17th, and in the first month, the two stores combined made over 70,000 yuan – enough to buy a courtyard house in Beijing in two months. In 1985, how many businesses could achieve that?
This was why the clothing business was one of the most profitable ventures in the 1980s!
As for Luna, that was calculated in sales volume. Luna wasn’t purely retail; sales figures had to be reduced by various costs to determine final profits. Neither Xia Xiaolan nor Chen Xiliang expected to receive much in dividends initially. The early profits would all be reinvested to continuously expand and develop the brand.
The two stores had sold out Luna’s first batch of clothing production.
What made Xia Xiaolan and Chen Xiliang happy was that someone from Shanghai had actively contacted the company, wanting to franchise the Luna brand. They had secured a space in a department store and approached them about selling Luna clothes. After spending a day observing customer flow at Chen Xiliang’s Luna store in Guangzhou, they proposed exclusive sales – initially, they just wanted to stock some inventory.
Scattered procurement wasn’t possible; there needed to be a dedicated store. Luna wouldn’t be sold mixed with other brands, but franchise specialty stores were acceptable.
“What’s wrong with franchising? The company covers half the renovation costs, deducted from the merchandise payments. We handle unified advertising, supply management, and staff training. It’s the most hassle-free option.”
The person from Shanghai was dizzy from Chen Xiliang’s pitch: “You’ve done everything, what’s left for us to do?”
Chen Xiliang flashed his bright teeth, “You invest the money, then wait to make money.”
Is it really that simple?
It seemed it was.
The store in Guangzhou was doing well.
Chen Xiliang pulled out a magazine, pointing to the big star Wang Mingming:
“Even Wang Mingming wore our clothes on the Spring Festival Gala. Our brand has real strength.”
When Xia Xiaolan heard Chen Xiliang’s retelling, she could imagine how the Shanghai person couldn’t argue. Between newspaper coverage and magazines, Chen Xiliang took visitors directly to ‘The Chenyu Garment Factory’ for tours. As Manager He’s brother-in-law, he could say Chenyu was a dedicated manufacturer for them, and the factory workers wouldn’t contradict Chen Xiliang.
Seeing the promotional efforts, the high-end demonstration store, and such a large garment factory, how could anyone doubt Luna’s brand strength?
Just the franchise fee was quite expensive.
“We have a preferential policy this year – the franchise fee is 50,000 yuan. If you want to join next year, it won’t be this low.”
Chen Xiliang recalled Xia Xiaolan saying they could reach several thousand stores, and the franchise fees alone nearly scared him to death. Xia Xiaolan quickly brought him back to reality: “That depends on maintaining Luna’s brand value. The franchise fees are our income, but think about how many clothes each new store will sell for us annually. In the end, franchise fees are the small part – the real money comes from the clothing itself.”
This was just the beginning, Xia Xiaolan interrupted Chen Xiliang’s daydreaming.
Besides opening the third branch in Beijing, Xia Xiaolan had another concern. Grandmother Yu said people judge by appearances and horses by their saddles. In this materialistic society, most people respect the well-dressed first. Liu Fen should buy a car.
Xia Xiaolan considered that she still had the loan approved by Manager Wu, so capital for the third store wasn’t a problem.
Grandmother Yu had a point, so why not buy a car?
Liu Fen was about to go to Guangzhou to get the summer collection, and Xia Xiaolan wanted to go along to pick out a car from customs in Shenzhen to bring back.