Ji Ya’s studio opened quietly on Wangfujing Street. She had no plans to turn it into a clothing store that ordinary people could browse. The first floor was a showroom, sparsely hung with just a few pieces of clothing.
The spotless floor, cost-no-object lighting fixtures, and undisturbed shopping environment indeed made it feel like a high-end tailor shop. Of course, overseas they don’t call it a tailor shop – they call it custom couture or a fashion studio!
First-time customers, if not intimidated, were certainly intrigued. In the studio, a foreign woman served as an assistant, taking measurements and recording data in foreign chatter – how could customers not be excited about being served by a foreigner?
“Wenxiu, this place is nice!”
Zhen Wenxiu actively promoted the business, bringing friends to introduce Ji Ya, and quite a few came to show their support. Zhen Wenxiu couldn’t contain her pride: “When I recommend a place, it’s worth it. Ji Ya is a renowned designer abroad. She brings back internationally aligned fashion – how could it be the same as domestic clothes? When you wear those, you see the same styles everywhere. Here, everything is unique!”
This wasn’t wrong. Apart from being expensive, Ji Ya’s studio clothes were truly flawless. Clothes bought in regular stores always had size discrepancies, but studio purchases fit perfectly everywhere, like tailored pieces. After all, they were adjusted to individual measurements!
The fabrics were all high quality, unlike factory clothes handled by countless workers, and the stitching was impeccable without any uneven seams. Each garment took several days to complete – this kind of ‘exclusive’ treatment couldn’t be found elsewhere.
Some people fell in love with Ji Ya’s studio immediately. Others, dragged there to spend several hundred yuan, felt it was excessively luxurious and never returned. In the end, the remaining customers were those who connected well with Zhen Wenxiu and Ji Ya. Zhen Wenxiu was chatty and warm, while Ji Ya spoke little, but when she did, customers always respected her words.
That was a designer’s presence. Having spent years abroad, Ji Ya’s knowledge was different from those who had stayed in China.
Ji Ya wore clothes beautifully. People always said being plump was fortunate, but in China’s current situation, most people struggle to gain weight – being thin was common. Even with better living conditions now, some people couldn’t gain weight due to previous malnutrition.
However, Ji Ya proved that being thin could be beautiful too. The same clothes looked fashionable on Ji Ya but appeared awkward on slightly plumper people.
As several people gathered around Zhen Wenxiu to discuss this, Ji Ya came down the stairs: “It’s nothing special. With the right shoes, bags, hairstyle, and makeup, you’ll all look better than me.”
Though they knew it was just courtesy, the middle-aged customers couldn’t help but smile. Ji Ya was never flattering, so her words seemed genuine, and everyone was pleased by the occasional compliment.
Zhen Wenxiu, being closest to Ji Ya, asked, “Are you going out?”
Ji Ya wanted prestigious customers to shop at the store, and now that Zhen Wenxiu had brought them, why was Ji Ya leaving?
“George and I are going to pick someone up at the airport. Please excuse me for a while, Wenxiu, help me entertain everyone.”
Going to the airport? Zhen Wenxiu turned to see a car parked outside – George had come to pick up Ji Ya. The enthusiastic foreign man not only kissed Ji Ya’s cheek but also opened the car door for her and took her small bag as if worried its slight weight might burden her.
Zhen Wenxiu felt envious. Chinese men would never treat their girlfriends this way. No matter how powerful a woman was at home, she had to save face for her man in public. But foreigners weren’t embarrassed by this “gentlemanly behavior.”
Zhen Wenxiu’s friends were watching too. One woman withdrew her gaze and picked up her tea: “A woman’s fate is unpredictable. We thought Ji Ya would deeply regret divorcing her previous husband, but she found another good one.”
“Her ex-husband is now the mayor of Shenzhen, right?”
Which was better – being a mayor’s wife or marrying a foreigner? Though they expressed admiration outwardly, they all believed being a mayor’s wife was superior.
“…She hasn’t married the foreigner yet.”
Marrying a foreigner wasn’t anything special. She still had to work and run a business. The studio was nice, but Ji Ya was just a tailor who had lived abroad, albeit as a fashion designer.
A tailor was someone who made clothes for others. A mayor’s wife would never make clothes for people!
Zhen Wenxiu felt uncomfortable hearing this and defended Ji Ya: “George has already proposed to Ji Ya, but she hasn’t accepted yet because she wants to develop her career here first. George isn’t just any foreigner – his family is very well-off abroad, with assets worth hundreds of millions in US dollars!”
How was George inferior to Tang Hongen? Zhen Wenxiu couldn’t help but embellish George’s status, blurring the line between family and personal assets.
No one asked for details, all were stunned by the hundreds of millions of dollars. The country’s foreign exchange reserves were only a few billion dollars – they couldn’t imagine Ji Ya’s boyfriend’s family having hundreds of millions. Though they could afford to shop at the studio, none of them were in business.
No matter how high their wages, they couldn’t compare to private entrepreneurs. Hundreds of millions of dollars weren’t about private entrepreneurs – this was American capitalism!
Ji Ya dating a foreign capitalist left them with mixed feelings. It was already 1985, and reform and opening up had been discussed for several years – otherwise, they wouldn’t have felt comfortable sitting there.
Ji Ya didn’t know her pickup by George would spark such a discussion. Even if she knew, she wouldn’t care. Just as she didn’t care about Zhen Wenxiu’s customers, who were terribly provincial. If not for certain calculations, she wouldn’t have bothered entertaining these unsophisticated middle-aged women. Even with money, they weren’t ideal clients – her studio was currently operating at a loss, and their purchases couldn’t even cover the wages of the two foreign employees!
George took Ji Ya to the airport to meet his family members – he had convinced them to invest in China, and they were arriving from America today.
“Uncle Harold will like you,” George said, holding Ji Ya’s hand. She was his Oriental goddess. Ji Ya wasn’t just beautiful and elegant, but talented too. Even her emotional issues were like the Venus de Milo’s missing arms – giving her a contradictory, fatal charm.
American family relationships were relatively distant, and George only received trust fund money. Though he and Ji Ya had dated in America, she hadn’t met his family. While others didn’t matter much, Harold managed the family business, and George hoped Ji Ya would gain Harold’s approval!
As a plane slowly descended, Ji Ya’s eyes sparkled at the thought of the American millionaire about to emerge.