Chapter 169 Chapter 169 Update

When he first came to the capital, Shen Shaoyuan wanted to make some money to help his daughter share the financial burden, but he soon found that he didn't need to "struggle".

He had the royalties from his comic strips, Chen Moer had subsidies from the school and a salary from the Huacai Garment Factory, Fu Mingze had subsidies from the school... and the money from the old Fu family. This money was more than enough to cover their family's expenses.

Especially later on, Zhou Ping'an was able to draw comic strips independently and make money, and Zhou Wenhua was assigned a job after graduating from university. There were fewer people to feed at home, but the income increased, so they no longer had to worry about money.

Oh, and after the policy was relaxed, it was easier for them to sell their gold. If they really couldn't, they could just sell the gold. Of course, they didn't need to spend such a large amount of money in recent years.

The family was no longer short of money, either on the surface or in reality. Shen Shaoyuan stopped drawing comic strips and spent his days drinking tea, chatting, playing chess and playing with birds with his neighbors in the alley, or with the painters and calligraphers he met through publishing houses and various associations. To put it simply, he remained true to his original intention and returned to the life of an idle prince.

Recently, Shen Shaoyuan has fallen in love with collecting antiques.

Speaking of collecting antiques, the antique market was not standardized at that time. The stalls were all set up in places like Changchun Street and the back street of Guohua Store, and most of them were called second-hand markets.

Shen Shaoyuan was not a native of this world, and was not very familiar with its history, but he had superb attainments in calligraphy and painting, and his vision, formed by his life in the palace since childhood and the influence of his surroundings, was unmatched by others.

When he went to "pick up bargains", he didn't care about the dynasty of the items. He only bought what he liked. It's no wonder that he found quite a few good things.

Others may not understand, but Grandpa Fu does know a little. According to the old man's appraisal, most of the things Shen Shaoyuan bought are good things that have been around for some time. The remaining 10% or 20%, although new, are also well-made handicrafts. Considering the price Shen Shaoyuan offered, it is not too bad.

In fact, there are a lot of such things in their treasure house, but those are all from Daliang and cannot be taken out easily. The ones that Shen Shaoyuan found can be placed directly at home.

Shen Shaoyuan got some pleasure from it and became even more interested.

Just today, Liangliang got out of school early, so Shen Shaoyuan took his granddaughter to "pick up bargains" again. They brought back two blue and white plum vases with auspicious animal patterns. Both of them loved them so much that they kept looking at them when they entered the house.

Aunt Hu came in with a basket and saw the two of them. She smiled and said, "Oh, what good things have you found?"

Chen Moer and the others were busy, and they wanted to find someone to come back to help with cooking, but they didn't want outsiders living in their house, and it was not easy to find someone to help with cooking.

After hearing this, Aunt Hu said that since the two families were not far from each other, she could just do it for them. One family could come early and the other late, and she was good at cooking, so the meals for both families were simple. Besides, Chen Moer and Fu Mingze often didn't go home, and sometimes only Chen Shaoyuan and Xiao Liangliang were left, and the father and son would close the door and go directly to No. 9 Courtyard.

Aunt Hu has been in the Fu family for many years, and she said this because she felt that cooking a few more dishes was not much work, but Shen Moer definitely didn't want anyone to work for nothing, so she calculated her wages. Aunt Hu couldn't refuse, so she accepted it.

Aunt Hu was happy to earn an extra twenty yuan per month, so she worked harder.

Xiao Liangliang turned her head and said, "Grandma Hu, isn't this bottle beautiful?"

Aunt Hu didn't understand this at all, but she still responded, "Yes, these are in pairs, much more beautiful than the single ones last time." After saying that, she hurried into the kitchen with the basket.

Chen Moer couldn't help laughing and shaking her head as she watched from the side. Perhaps because she grew up with her grandfather, Liangliang was different from other children. Other children in the alleys built houses, played with sand, and skipped rubber ropes all day long, but she followed her grandfather to draw, drink tea, and collect antiques all day long.

Shen Shaoyuan admired the plum vase for a while, hurried to wash his hands, and took the vase to the study to put it away. When he came out, Shen Moer had already made tea. He picked up the teacup and took a sip, and asked, "Why did you come back so early today?"

Shen Moer also drank a sip of tea and said, “Everything has been arranged, and the next job will be for others.”

Although she is busy, she is not the type of person who wants to do everything by herself. If she really wants to do that, forty-eight hours in a day would not be enough to keep her busy.

Shen Shaoyuan became slightly interested: "Oh, when is the fashion show?"

Shen Moer smiled and said, "Next Sunday, you can call some people to support us. I have also called Wenhua to take pictures and do reports for us."

Although Zhou Wenhua studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, she joined the Capital Evening News as a reporter after graduation. However, her main job was a photojournalist, focusing on taking photos.

Huacai Garment Factory placed a one-page advertisement in the Capital Evening News, and will publish a special issue of the newspaper in the future, specifically publishing the on-site pictures of their fashion show.

In fact, the Capital Evening News would have reported on it even without the advertisement. After all, it was the first time that a domestic enterprise held a fashion show in the capital, and the industry hoped that Huacai Garment Factory would shine.

Shen Shaoyuan usually knows people from the calligraphy and painting circles. Artists, after all, are more open-minded and more receptive to emerging things. Moreover, these people have a certain influence, so the term "supporting the scene" is well deserved.

The first batch of college students majoring in fashion in China began to be recruited last year, but before that, Huacai Garment Factory actually absorbed a group of college students from art colleges to form a professional design team.

This professional group not only had lectures by well-known domestic professors, but also organized several overseas study tours. The team was led by Liu Yinshuang, the deputy factory director majoring in foreign languages, and Bai Junwen, the deputy factory director in charge of business, to Brazil and the United States to see the work of professional fashion designers there.

With Cui Jianzhong's help, the professional team learned a lot of real things abroad. In recent years, while keeping up with international trends, they have begun to explore the path of clothing design with Chinese characteristics.

After drawing countless design drafts, Shen Moer finally decided to hold her own fashion show this year.

In fact, Shen Moli not only invited the media in the capital, she also invited foreign professionals and media through foreign friends such as Cui Jianzhong, Su Jingnian and Paul.

Either don’t do it, or do it to the best of your ability.

In order to organize this press conference, she has been busy every day. Now all the procedures with relevant units have been completed, the venue has been rented, the costumes have been prepared, the media have been invited, and even the models who will go on stage have been confirmed. Shen Moer no longer needs to take care of the remaining trivial tasks.

This is the first time that Huacai Garment Factory has held a fashion show, and it will also be the first time that the Huachang brand has appeared on the international fashion stage. Shen Moer is nervous, but her mentality is still relatively relaxed.

In fact, Huacai Garment Factory did not hold this fashion show entirely for itself.

Since the first private enterprise, Guangcai Industrial, was approved for establishment the year before last, private enterprises have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain in the past two years.

The clothing industry has simple equipment and a low threshold, especially since cloth coupons have been abolished. In recent years, clothing factories have sprung up everywhere. Among them, the clothing factories in Guangzhou are the most popular among the Chinese people because they are close to the port city and their clothing styles are trendy and fashionable.

The huge changes in the market have brought a huge impact on the old garment factories in the capital. Since the year before last, several factories have experienced inventory backlogs, and the factory efficiency has been declining year after year. Even the industry leaders such as the Capital No. 1 and No. 2 Garment Factory, if they had not undertaken the production tasks of a large number of work clothes and labor protection uniforms, it is estimated that their performance reports would be completely unacceptable.

The reasons for the decline of these factories are, on the one hand, the increase in private garment factories and the intensified market competition, and on the other hand, their clothing styles have not changed over the years, and their products are very monotonous and can no longer meet the people's ever-changing clothing needs.

The market competition is severe and cruel. Although Huacai Garment Factory has won by its trendy and fashionable styles since its inception, it cannot stand still. So after repeated consideration, Shen Moli decided to introduce some advanced experience from the foreign clothing industry, and holding a fashion show is one of them.

The idea was that Huacai Garment Factory would be the first to try something new, so that those old-fashioned garment factories could also take a look at the outside world and stop sticking to old ideas and being unreceptive to new and fashionable clothing styles.

Well, the invitations to the fashion show have also been sent to the managers of major garment factories in the capital.

A week later, at the Capital Workers' Cultural Palace.

The early morning sun shone on the square in front of the Workers' Wenhua Palace. The old men and women who came to the square to practice Tai Chi and Tai Chi sword looked at the banner at the gate with some curiosity.

"The first Huacai Fashion Show, what is fashion, what is a fashion show?" an old lady holding a Tai Chi sword asked curiously.

"I don't know, it might be some foreign thing." The old man holding the Tai Chi sword frowned.

"You say it's a foreign thing when you don't understand it yourself!" the old lady retorted, "No matter if it's a foreign thing or not, once it's in China, it's a Chinese thing!"

Just then, a tall girl walked past them and gave the old lady a thumbs up when she heard the words: "Grandma, you are right, you are this!"

The old lady smiled brightly: "Of course not, I am also a fashionable person."

When the girl walked away, the old lady couldn't help but say: "This little girl is really tall. She is so tall and wears such high shoes. But she looks so beautiful when she walks."

The tall girl walked into the Workers' Cultural Palace carrying a backpack and went all the way to the back of the modified and built stage.

She actually arrived early enough, but there were already several people backstage, some were eating breakfast, and some were putting on makeup. After greeting everyone else, the girl found a seat to sit down, took out cosmetics from her bag and started putting on makeup.

These people are all members of the amateur model team formed by Huacai Garment Factory.

Although they are called an amateur model team, there is actually no professional model team in the capital. They should be the most professional model team in the capital.

But it is not wrong to say that they are amateurs, because all of them work as models part-time. Their main jobs are various, including factory workers, housewives, school students... All of them were poached by the human resources department of Huacai Garment Factory.

Apart from practicing, they had only occasionally taken photos of their clothes. This was their first official "performance" after the establishment of their model team, and everyone was very excited.

The girl was a little nervous, but also a little excited. She was looking forward to today's performance.

When she finished putting on her makeup, the people from Huacai Garment Factory also arrived. Wang Sanchun, the head of the General Affairs Section, led people to push in the clothes hanging on the special roller rack. Behind them, Deputy Factory Director Liu Yinshuang said while eating a bun: "Be especially careful with the clothes on that rack. You must look at them carefully. The fabric is expensive!"

Deputy Factory Manager Bai Junwen, who was following behind her, seemed to be hesitant to speak, but after enduring for a long time, he finally said, "You should be more careful. Don't let the oil from the buns get on your clothes."

Liu Yinshuang raised her eyebrows and snorted, but still took two steps back: "Forget it, I'll go eat outside."

She patted Bai Junwen's shoulder: "Come out."

Bai Junwen turned around and followed her out. When they reached an empty space, Liu Yinshuang said, "There's nothing for you to do today. You can stay backstage and look after the clothes. I don't trust others to look after the clothes."

She looked around and lowered her voice and said, "It's not that the material of the clothes is expensive. I tell you, the pearls on the clothes are real! My God, you should have seen it, the pearl at the collar is as big as a longan, this thing is actually real! How much does it cost? Just tell me, Shen Moer actually let someone push it over like this!"

Bai Junwen: “…”

He really didn't know about this.

Suddenly I became anxious: "Then why did you say that the clothes were expensive in front of so many people!"

Liu Yinshuang smiled complacently: "I am just trying to cover up Wei and save Zhao, hiding the truth from others. People all thought the material of the clothes was expensive, but they never thought it was actually the pearls that were expensive."

Bai Junwen: “…”

Does it make any difference?

If someone really had bad intentions, would they leave the pearls behind and just take the cloth?

Bai Junwen turned and left.

I shouldn't have called him out, he should have stared at it carefully, otherwise what if something went wrong with the clothes while they were talking? Liu Yinshuang finished her buns in a few bites and went backstage to take a look. Sure enough, she saw Bai Junwen sitting next to the pile of clothes, staring at them carefully, looking so stupid that Liu Yinshuang couldn't help laughing.

After laughing for a while, Liu Yinshuang turned around and walked to the front desk. The sound engineer and lighting engineer at the front desk also arrived at this time. Everyone checked the equipment one last time and then chatted casually while waiting for time.

Liu Yinshuang saw Shen Moer coming in with her secretary Xiao Liu, and Zhao Zhenghui also came, and was checking the seats and the list with people. She walked over, got close to Shen Moer, and said, "Why did you put that dress together with the other clothes?"

Shen Moer was puzzled: "Which dress?"

Liu Yinshuang was speechless. Sometimes she really felt that Chen Moli was a bit weird. She was someone who almost starved to death back then, but sometimes she seemed to regard money as dirt.

She glanced around and said cryptically, "That one, the one as big as a dragon eye."

Shen Moer suddenly realized: "It's okay, didn't you arrange for someone from the General Affairs Department to watch it?"

Liu Yinshuang said bluntly: "Those two young men are good at talking but not doing things well. How can I trust them? But it's okay. I asked Bai Junwen to stay there."

Shen Moer looked at her deeply and said with a smile, "Then I'll have to trouble Deputy Director Bai."

Shen Moer and her secretary Xiao Liu carefully checked every place again, then went to the reception room next door to wait for someone.

This reception room is right next to the venue, and there is a parking lot outside the side door. The guests she invited will first enter this reception room and then go directly to the inner venue from the shortcut here.

It was still early, and no one was in the reception room. Shen Moer sat inside for a while, then stood up and told Xiao Liu: "Go to the door and check, someone should be arriving soon."

She and Xiao Liu walked to the door together, turned right and went to the bathroom.

The venue here was newly renovated and had complete facilities. There was a row of sinks in the men's and women's restrooms. Shen Moer was washing her hands when she heard a man's voice coming from outside.

"This Director Shen is really a troublemaker. What kind of fashion show is this? It's really ridiculous. What a ridiculous thing to do."

"I heard that she also invited leaders from the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Light Industry. Tsk, it's different when you have a backer."

"Beautiful ladies, life is always easier than others. If it were someone else, who could have turned a social-run factory into its current size in such a short time?"

Shen Moer shook her hands and was about to go out when she heard Liu Yinshuang's voice outside: "I smelled a rotten odor from a long distance away. I thought it was the toilet. When I came over, I realized that it was not the toilet that stinked, but someone's mouth stinks!"

"Deputy Director Liu, how can you talk like that?!"

"We are guests. We are here to attend your factory's press conference. How can you have such an attitude?"

Liu Yinshuang was not polite at all: "Why don't you talk about yourselves? You were invited to attend the press conference, but you are being polite when you spread dirty rumors about the Cricket organizers behind their backs? You still say that guests are guests. Damn, are you guys worthy of being ours!"

Those people were almost pissed off by Liu Yinshuang: "You! Let's go! Let's go! I want to see what your factory director and your superiors will think when they find out that your rude words and actions drove away the guests!"

"Yes, let's go. Ha, don't bother with such a vulgar woman!"

Several people were filled with righteous indignation, and they urged each other to leave, but their feet did not move at all. After all, although they said they were disgusted, they actually wanted to see what the fashion show of Huacai Garment Factory was like.

Just when she was in a dilemma, she heard footsteps coming from the women's bathroom, and soon, Shen Moer appeared at the door.

The woman, wearing an exquisite beige suit and with her long hair loosely falling on her shoulders and forming a beautiful curve, looked more beautiful than ever.

Her graceful eyes narrowed slightly when they fell on them, and a smile appeared at the corners of her lips, but there was no smile in her eyes. Her voice could even be described as warm: "Everyone, it's still early. If you want to leave, you should leave early. We have indeed invited quite a few people today, so one more or one less really doesn't matter."

After a pause, she said calmly, "As for what the leaders think, I can only say that you are overthinking it. How could the leaders of the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Light Industry notice whether you are there or not?"

The men's faces turned red in an instant, and they turned away angrily.