On the men's side, drinking is inseparable from the game of finger-guessing, and all you can hear are men arguing with each other until their faces turn red.

At the women's table, everyone was eating and chatting about family matters and business.

For the children, things are much simpler. They just compare who has better grades, who is more obedient, and who gets more pocket money, which satisfies Mi Li's little vanity.

Who made her the best behaved, with the most pocket money and the best grades? Well, it was all thanks to her mother's photographic memory. If she really had to memorize things by rote like them, it would have been such a headache.

The New Year’s Eve dinner lasted more than three hours. After we finished eating and cleaned up, we sat down to eat melon seeds, chat, and give out red envelopes.

The group of people stayed up until two or three o'clock before going back to their rooms to sleep.

The next morning, Miao Xiuying was making dumplings and Aunt Hu was making glutinous rice balls, both sweet and savory. They were full of energy.

Jiang Yan felt so happy.

After the Chinese New Year, the fifteenth day of the lunar year soon arrived. After the fifteenth day, Jiang Yan packed her luggage and took Miao Xiuying back to Beijing.

1979 was another year of hard work.

Jiang Yan's factory was completed in July and put into use in June after renovation.

After all, it is the first private garment factory in China. Some people are optimistic about it, while others are pessimistic about it.

Most people thought she was being too reckless. How much would a factory cost? State-owned factories had excellent reputations and high returns. How could a private factory compare?

This was like throwing money into the water, there was no sound at all. Everyone was sure that she was going bankrupt.

The aunties who lived in the same alley as Jiang Yan were also discussing with their heads down, "Have you ever seen such a big factory? How much does it cost? Young people are better, they are brave enough to take risks and fight hard."

Before I graduated from university, I wanted to expand my business. The management models of a factory and a store are different.

Does she know how to run a business? Someone spat out some sunflower seed shells and said jokingly, "Why do you care how he runs the business? He didn't ask you to be the factory manager, and you're still worried about losing money? Even if the factory goes bankrupt, that's her business. It's not your money, so don't feel bad about it. Does she need that little bit of money?"

"Such a large factory, built immediately, means she has a backup plan. How much money did she make? I..."

"That comic book just made her lie down. Why bother with it? As expected, people are never satisfied. Once they have a thousand gold coins, they want ten thousand."

It is not easy to work in a garment factory, unless you find a capable person to be the acting factory director and let him take charge of the management.

The same goes for Xiuying. The child is ignorant, and she is also ignorant. If it were me, I would have hanged myself.

This doesn't make sense, how can she manage it? Jiang Yan has always been a successful person. Once she makes a decision, no one else can change it.

Miao Xiuying will support whatever she wants to do, like a lackey. Okay, stop talking. Be careful that this gets to her ears and you’ll be in big trouble. Don’t you know she’s a fierce woman?

The manure on my doorstep hasn't been scraped off yet, and that woman is so mean, she splashed it all over the place. I told you she's so stingy, so pay her back. She's bankrupted, so go back home."

"I'm also very angry. She's already this old, but she doesn't want to stay at home to enjoy her retirement. Instead, she insists on going into business. My son complains a lot, saying I'm not as good as her and that I'm just tired. Is this what I want to do?"

Someone with sharp eyes saw Sister Guihua coming over with a basket and turning to the side, so everyone immediately changed the subject.

Aunt Guihua approached, and he rolled his eyes. "Who are you talking about again? Xiaoyan, right? She's quite creative, and the clothes are designed by her. If they look good, I'll buy a couple more."

"She's designing? Isn't she a diplomat? She can design clothes. Isn't that too much of a stretch?"

"I'm really impressed by her. She wants to be involved in everything. Does she think she's some all-around genius? Isn't she afraid of losing over a hundred thousand dollars and even losing her house?"

"If I were to buy, I'd buy state-owned ones, not private ones. The quality isn't guaranteed. Who can I turn to for justice?"

"If you don't buy it, then I won't buy it either. Let's not buy it either."

Aunt Guihua was speechless: "I'm surprised. I don't usually see you buying things. Do you think that opening a garment factory will block your path to wealth? You're singing and dancing here. You can buy it if you want or not. If you don't want to buy, forget it. Are you missing one?"

"If they want to sell it, they're doing wholesale. They have great designs and plenty of people to sell it to, so they don't need you. Stop flattering yourself. Don't I know you?"

I usually don’t buy new clothes for several years, and what I wear are things that others don’t want. Be nice to yourself, otherwise you will get hungry before you can even have a hot meal.

Were the aunts all upset by what she said? Aunt Guihua snorted softly and walked away with her waist twisted.

Those people no longer dared to gossip and went home to cook.

Establishing a garment factory was not a whim. Jiang Yan had a plan from the beginning. She had a complete system and regulations, which she directly handed over to Lu Li for execution.

She was the designer at the beginning. In the first two years, she drew a lot of design drafts and sorted them all out.

While Lu Li was at home, she took out the sketches and placed them in front of him. Seeing them, Lu Li's eyes lit up. "Sister-in-law, you're wasting your talent by not being a painter or designer. These design styles are very bold. Will they accept them?"

The styles drawn by Jiang Yan are popular in the 1980s, including bat-wing shirts and bell-bottom pants. Brachi also designed several styles, as well as long and short skirts, and suits are also available.

It can be seen that Jiang Yan has invested a lot of money.

She drank her tea, calmly saying, "What's so unacceptable? Once the clothes are designed, you can find a few actresses, spend some money, and let them wear our clothes. When they appear on TV, our clothing factory will become famous.

Also, we can contact TV stations and tell them we can invest and that they must show our clothes to the public.”

Lu Li said in disbelief: "Are you going to be on TV?"

Jiang Yan looked disgusted. "If we don't appear on TV, how can we increase our visibility? Without visibility, who will believe us? Compared to the state-owned factories, we are far behind."

Therefore, our clothing styles are novel and updated quickly. In addition, we can negotiate with the school and we can also make custom uniforms. We can design whatever they want."

Lu Li's eyes rolled, indicating that he understood. "Okay, sister-in-law, I'll go find the TV host and ask them to make sure their actors wear our clothes. This is considered a sponsorship, right? I'll pay for it if necessary."

Jiang Yan liked Lu Li's ability to act according to circumstances, so she waved her hand and said, "Go ahead. I'll be waiting for your good news. Whether we can make this a success depends on you."

Lu Li clenched his fist and said, "Of course we can. We also want to open pharmaceutical factories, food factories, and many other factories. A small clothing factory cannot satisfy our needs."