Upon hearing Huang Qinqin's words, Manager Gao scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly.

"Then why are they almost all women?"

"I just came from the workshop, and I was stunned when I saw it."

Fang Hui, who had been listening nearby, asked curiously, "Are you talking about the department store buying up kapok fluff?"

Manager Gao nodded, then asked in surprise, "You knew about this too?"

"I know, and it's not just me, many people know about this."

Fang Hui seemed to have thought of something, and his smile became somewhat distorted.

When Manager Gao saw him like this, he suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Old Fang, what are you laughing at? I feel like you only said half of what you were saying."

Hahahaha!

Upon hearing Manager Gao's words, Fang Hui couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter for a full minute.

"Old Gao, who among you came up with this acquisition price?"

"Don't you guys know how much a pound of kapok fluff is?"

"Do you know that many people in the city are saying that your department store is stingy and heartless?"

Manager Gao's face darkened after hearing Fang Hui's words.

"How can our department store be considered stingy and unscrupulous?!"

"Radishes at the market are still one cent for two pounds! We buy them for two cents a pound, how are we being stingy?!"

Although Manager Gao previously felt that the acquisition price was a bit low.

But even if the price is a bit low, we can't call them heartless or stingy!

Fang Hui waved his hand: "Those are not the same thing."

"How much does a radish weigh? Some of the bigger ones can weigh up to two pounds."

"When everyone first found out that you were buying kapok fluff for two cents a kilogram, everyone was quite happy."

"But when they found out what kapok fluff is and how much it costs per kilogram, they weren't happy anymore."

“Someone in our unit also wanted to earn some extra money, but when he came back, he cursed you guys for three whole days.”

"Because he discovered that it would take at least half an hour to collect one pound of kapok flower fluff."

"And this only works if there are a lot of kapok fluff clustered together."

"If you're unlucky and there aren't many kapok trees around, it might take an hour to collect just one pound."

"You only pay two cents per pound, which means that even if they work ten hours a day, they might only earn two or three cents."

"And it involves climbing mountains and wading through rivers, which is tiring and pays little."

"Do you think people wouldn't criticize you?"

Manager Gao knew that a pound of kapok flowers contained a lot of fluff, but he didn't really know.

How long does it take to collect one kilogram of kapok flower fluff?

After hearing Fang Hui's words, he also felt that this seemed a bit too low.

Manager Gao tentatively asked Huang Qinqin, "Qinqin, you heard what Lao Fang said, right?"

"Do you think we should raise the purchase price a bit?"

Huang Qinqin shook her head: "I don't think it's necessary. Aren't there still many people willing to collect them now?"

Manager Gao instinctively retorted, "But those are all rare finds."

Before he could finish speaking, Manager Gao suddenly froze.

In a flash, Manager Gao immediately realized that this might be Huang Qinqin's real purpose.

"You did this on purpose?!"

Huang Qinqin feigned ignorance and asked, "What do you mean by 'intentionally'? I don't know what you're talking about, Manager Gao."

Manager Gao squinted at Huang Qinqin, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized it made sense.

No wonder Huang Qinqin had to lower the acquisition price so much.

If you think about it carefully, Huang Qinqin's actions had already given away the clues.

Lowering prices will deter anyone from earning hard-earned money unless they are truly struggling financially.

Even those who are unemployed, especially men.

They occasionally work odd jobs at the docks, unloading goods, and can earn at least one dollar a day.

Although there aren't many gig jobs available, at least the pay is high.

If you have to work the same amount of time but the income is several times lower, who would be willing to do it?

However, these were all just speculations made by Manager Gao himself.

Huang Qinqin did not affect the workshop or harm anyone's interests.

Manager Gao didn't intend to dwell on the matter.

"Alright, just be careful not to affect the workshop."

"Also, you need to keep a close eye on the workshop's progress."

"Mr. George is already asking when the order can be signed and the goods shipped."

Huang Qinqin nodded: "I know, I heard it from Hongxia."

"I'll follow up on this in the next couple of days."

......

After Manager Gao and Fang Hui had all gone back.

Zhang Yumei closed the door, and a group of people curiously surrounded Huang Qinqin.

Xu Junhui always believed that the acquisition price was the decision made by higher authorities.

Given Huang Qinqin's personality, she should be someone who works for the benefit of ordinary people.

So he asked with some curiosity, "Honey, was that acquisition price for the department store your idea?"

"Hmm, you guys didn't know?"

Huang Qinqin was somewhat surprised to find that everyone else was looking at her with shock.

The Xu family members all shook their heads and said in unison, "We don't know!"

Huang Qinqin was full of questions: "Didn't I tell you this before?"

"No!"

Huang Qinqin: ? ? ?

"But I remember saying that I was in charge of the puppet workshop?"

Xu Junhui, as the representative, raised his hand to indicate that he had a question.

Huang Qinqin nodded, signaling him to speak.

Xu Junhui: "But we always thought that you would only start taking responsibility after the official resumption of work."

"Honey, we're all curious, why did you set the price so low?"

“We just guessed and think you probably want to help single mothers.”

"But with such a low purchase price, they can only earn three to five cents a day at most, right?"

"Why don't you just say you'll only buy the kapok fluff they send over?"

"This way, they can push the acquisition price up even further, and they can earn more."

The others nodded in unison, indicating that they thought so too.

Huang Qinqin chuckled and said, "It's not as simple as you think."

“Buying kapok fluff is different from hiring workers for a puppet workshop.”

“If I really add those conditions, other people will go to the workshop and cause trouble in no time.”

“It’s understandable that workshops have limitations, because female workers are better at needlework.”

"But collecting kapok flower fluff is clearly more suitable for men."

"So I had no choice but to try to find a solution by lowering the price."

"At least the current results are still pretty good. Some men who are really in difficult circumstances are still willing to do it."

"Being able to help those who truly need it is already the best outcome."

There's not much Huang Qinqin can do.

Her idea was simple: rather than improving the lives of a small minority, it was better to ensure the survival of the majority.