Chapter 33 Chapter 33 Start pedaling the sewing machine!

Aside from handing him an old file and setting a three-week deadline, Jiang Yuanbin devoted himself to Xin Tong's custom-made piece every day and didn't ask about anything else.

Xin Tong inexplicably had this additional task.

I was in a panic for a while and was forced to do it myself in a short period of time.

She had no tools or space at home, so she needed a separate space. Xin Tong asked Quan Li to rent her a studio, specifying it needed to be large, conveniently located, and well-lit. She also needed to purchase sewing machines, mannequins, and other essential supplies.

Finally, he said, "I'll pay for it myself."

Although Quan Li knew that her boss was definitely not short of money, this time the employee benefits were different from the previous random bonuses, red envelopes, and afternoon tea.

There are a lot of different types and quantities of equipment and raw materials, and the studio is on a long-term lease. Even half a year or a year, it still adds up to a considerable amount of money.

Quan Li reminded her boss:

"Mr. Ji is currently trying out new reform measures. If successfully implemented, it may significantly reduce internal company expenses and significantly improve the company's financial situation."

…

Since Ji Ning took office, reforms have not only been in the areas of administrative systems and personnel transfers.

The personnel changes signified the complete elimination of the old forces and environment. Now, new rules could be established, new personnel assembled, and a new environment created. After conducting research and analysis with the new head of sales, Ji Ning reported that he would reduce the number of Kelly's offline stores nationwide by more than half.

When Kelly was first established, He Chuan had high hopes for the brand, hoping to make it the preferred commuting brand for working women in medium and large cities, with "formal + professional + high cost-effectiveness" being the main brand image.

Suits are a category that relies heavily on fit, so offline fittings are crucial for the experience. Kelly therefore operates numerous offline stores, and the annual operating, maintenance, and labor costs for these stores are a significant expense.

Because this is the basic attribute of the brand and the basic strategy set by He Chuan at the beginning, He Xiangrong has also maintained this model.

The previous CEOs all saw that He Xiangrong didn't want to change. They worked under him, so why bother contradicting their boss? So they all tacitly agreed not to touch on this issue.

This has led to this becoming the company's largest monthly expense in recent years.

Money was spent like water every month, and the huge expenses were inevitably passed on to other product costs, ultimately resulting in high prices, low quality, and low sales. Losses became inevitable.

If they don't change, Ji Ning will change.

The power lies in her hands.

She only works for herself and Mr. Xin.

She has no psychological burden or pressure, and is not affected by any upper structure. The only thing she needs to consider is President Xin, and President Xin gives her 100% power and freedom.

Cut off all the bad things so that you can welcome all the good things.

She believes that this is how her life is and how their company is too.

*

Xin Tong has never been short of money in her life, and she always feels safe and happy when spending her own money.

She still insisted on paying for it herself.

Quan Li quickly made preparations, and it would take about a week for everything to be in place.

Time was running out, and before the studio was ready, Xin Tong simply took the file book and went to the company.

The company is indeed a very suitable place, with all the necessary equipment and spacious and bright space.

—But the biggest problem is that it's full of her employees.

After all, you are a boss!

I even treated my employees to afternoon tea and they called me a fairy!

——How could I let them see me now, holding a big old book and operating the sewing machine in confusion in front of the table!

Moreover, when it comes to pattern making and making clothes, the pattern makers and sample makers are much better than me!

If she were seen looking so clumsy, would she still be in the industry?

...So, Xin Tong gritted her teeth and decided to wait until everyone got off work in the evening and there was no one in the company before going to the company to work.

Fortunately, the new system promoted by Ji Ning previously included measures such as discouraging overtime and increasing overtime pay. Kelly's overall overtime situation has changed significantly, and there is basically no one working after 9 o'clock in the evening.

So, Xin Tong began such a life:

In the morning, I went to Jiang's house and stood quietly by watching Jiang Yuanbin make suits.

Jiang Yuanbin didn't chase her away, but he didn't give her any verbal instructions either, which meant he tacitly allowed her to watch from the side.

She remained silent the entire time, incredibly well-behaved, as if she were invisible. Whenever she came across something she didn't understand, she'd write it down, and as soon as Jiang Yuanbin left, she'd sneak over to touch and measure it, taking photos of the details to ponder over on the way back.

In the afternoon, I drove the Rolls-Royce straight to the fabric market.

In Jiang's customer data book, the fabrics and detail requirements for each piece were almost all different, so she could only buy them one by one and make them.

Xin Tong wore sneakers and a mask. Before going out, she carried the biggest and ugliest bag she had hidden in the bottom of her closet, and went in with a pair of scissors.

She tried out almost every type of material on the market, soft and hard, floral and plain, comparing prices like she was shopping for groceries. Whenever she found one that met her requirements, she snipped a small piece of fabric and put it in her bag, a common way to try things out at fabric markets.

The bag was getting heavier and heavier, and he was stopped by the owner of the stall next to him who was eating sunflower seeds.

"What do you do?" The boss looked her up and down.

"...Student, doing graduation project."

Xin Tong thought she had given a safe answer.

"Go away! You're not allowed to cut it!"

When the boss heard the word "student", who was poor and not the main source of customers, his face changed instantly and he drove Xin Tong away from his stall.

“…”

Xin Tong learned his lesson and when asked the second time, he said he was in e-commerce.

I walked around, explored a lot, and finally returned to the company with a trunk full of materials.

After a brief rest and a meal, he lay on the sofa in his CEO's office, holding the old file book and reading it over and over again.

Finally, at night, when no one was in the company, I carried a pile of fabrics to the design department and started working hard.

Most design schools rarely have any exposure to practical experience, let alone a complete slacker like Xin Tong - she skips more classes than she attends, and spends every day flirting with handsome mixed-race guys at pool parties.

The first few nights she made something truly eye-wateringly ugly.

So she could only angrily overturn and redo it many times, and the floor was covered with her pulled hair.

In this way, she went to watch Jiang Yuanbin make suits in the morning, went to the fabric market in the afternoon, and stayed alone in the company at night, working under the light of a lamp in front of a mannequin, making patterns until late at night.

No time for entertainment, no time for eating or sleeping.

She was pushed and stumbled forward.

*

Ji Ning's proposal to cut the number of Kelly's offline stores by more than half was also strongly opposed by the company's top management.

Most of the company's senior executives are older and more conservative, and were already dissatisfied with Ji Ning's previous drastic personnel changes.

They had hoped to find Ji Ning's fault, but the series of administrative systems Ji Ning had previously proposed not only greatly increased employee enthusiasm, but also doubled the KPIs of various departments. This was a situation that Kelly had not experienced in the past five years - that's why they endured it and did not mention it.

This time the changes were even more severe, and the conflict finally broke out.

A middle-aged male executive angrily scolded Ji Ning at a company meeting, saying sarcastically that "she is not good at doing things and has no experience in talking". How could a young woman take on such a big responsibility? There has never been a female CEO, let alone such a young woman. Such unrealistic ideas will only lead to Kelly's downfall.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the center of the conference room.

Ji Ning sat calmly in the main seat.

Slowly speaking:

"I work for Mr. Xin, not for you."

"If you want to be the CEO, Mr. Xin said so, I would resign without hesitation and let you take over."

"you!"

Everyone knew that Xin Tong personally appointed Ji Ning to the CEO position. The male executive was embarrassed in public and slammed the table in anger, "I vote! I don't agree with the cuts!"

With a loud voice, he urged all senior executives to start voting to decide whether the proposal could be passed.

Everyone had their own considerations in mind. Comparing the forces, in the end, the number of votes against was about to overwhelmingly exceed the number of votes in favor.

——"You guys had a meeting and didn't call me."

Everyone was stunned and looked back.

Xin Tong was wearing a white floor-length dress, her long black hair was tied into a bun, and the emerald on her neck was dazzling. She stood leisurely at the door of the meeting room.

Everyone was quiet.

The male executive's heart skipped a beat.

He knew that he would no longer be able to suppress Ji Ning after Xin Tong came, so he gritted his teeth and took the initiative, quickly standing up and saying:

"Boss Xin, we have just voted on the proposal put forward by Ji Ning."

"The votes against far outnumbered the votes in favor."

“So this proposal will be rejected.”

The tone of voice was firm, as if it had already been decided. The reason was also quite reasonable. Everyone listened in silence, feeling that the conflict between the two parties had been settled.

Unexpectedly, Xin Tong was surprised when he heard this.

“Who asked you to vote?”

"You think this is the United Nations?"

Xin Tong faced everyone's gaze, turned around, faced everyone, and said lightly,

"I signed her proposal."

“So there’s no need to seek anyone’s advice.”

“If anyone has new ideas, they can come to me for signature.”

"But... whether I sign or not depends on my mood."

Xin Tong smiled and blew a kiss to everyone.

…

This matter spread rapidly in the anonymous small group of company gossip.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

"Fuck, he's on set. The boss is really handsome."

“Who understands the feeling of redemption when you turn around and see the fairy boss appear at the door of the conference room?”

"It's so cool to protect your own people!"

"But Mr. Ji's proposal isn't necessarily right. Cutting half of the offline stores is too much. This crappy company is probably going to go bankrupt."

"I don't know if the company will go bankrupt after the cuts. I just know I'll get overtime pay from now on."

“Repeat.”

"+1."

"I just know that I'll get overtime pay in the future."

“I just know that I’ll get overtime pay in the future.

"I just know that I'll get overtime pay in the future."

…

"Alright. You can just repeat it. The boss of this company is a clueless idiot who spends his days being carefree. The CEO is a complete idiot. With a foolish emperor and a rotten prime minister, the two together will definitely end sooner or later. Xuyuan, give me N+1 and let me go free."

"A boss who doesn't bother you, doesn't engage in office politics, treats you to afternoon tea, gives you vacations and bonuses, lets you have two days off and gets overtime pay, and most importantly, doesn't even come to the company. This is simply a god-like boss!"

"Why should a boss know about the profession? The boss is there to pay people, to hire them. Professional matters should be left to professionals. Bosses who don't know about the profession but think they know everything and keep meddling in everything are the real idiots."

"Yes."

"Plus one."

"Support the Prime Minister [covering mouth and laughing]."

"Support the Prime Minister [covering mouth and laughing]."

"Support the Prime Minister [covering mouth and laughing]."

…

*

A week later, the new studio was finally ready.

Xin Tong moved all her things into the studio, spent every day in the studio, and began to operate the sewing machine day and night.

She even felt that if she was arrested for pornography one day, she would definitely be a gold medal worker in prison.

In this way, she went to watch Jiang Yuanbin make suits in the morning, went to the fabric market in the afternoon, and made patterns and samples alone in the studio at night.

Every time I open my eyes, I see a table full of messy pieces of fabric. Every day I dream about patterns, silhouettes, and armholes. In my dreams, a group of headless white dummies in suits are chasing me everywhere.

In three weeks, she studied and practiced a large amount of content intensively, hard, and day and night in a short period of time.

She took on all the positions of designer, pattern maker, sample maker, fabric buyer, fitting model, etc., and did all the cutting, sewing, buttonhole sewing and ironing herself.

She watched firsthand as a custom-made suit was crafted step by step by Jiang Yuanbin, his precise and expert control of every detail. She'd sampled nearly every fabric on the market, familiarizing herself with its basic prices and properties. She'd repeatedly analyzed the Jiang's customer database, applying the precise, flawless patterns and details that had been certified by Jiang's for a century.

She began to have a practical concept of clothing.

Even when she was eating or taking a walk, she was distracted by thinking about how many centimeters the sleeve cap of her formal dress should be set.

She had developed an occupational disease of staring at other people's clothes when she saw them on the street. If they looked good, she would exclaim that the fabric was so expensive, and if they didn't look good, she would sneer in her heart at the lousy design.

She could feel that she was walking on a dark road.

The surroundings looked like a snowfield, a pile of fallen leaves, or the uneven surface of a small planet in an eternally dark universe.

Without any signposts or reference points, she didn't know where the future would lead. She simply kept moving forward.

But when you look back, you can see your own footprints, deep and shallow.

The road is winding and stumbling, coming from a distant starting point.

Late at night on the last night, when I walked out of the studio, the autumn wind was chilly.

The streets of Wucheng were deserted and quiet late at night, with a large area of ​​cold colors. The last few remaining leaves fluttered and fell slowly from the bare branches.

Looking up, I saw a cold moon like frost above my head.

Amidst all the lights and city myths, only this moon was with her.

Xin Tong slowly and slowly wrapped her thin windbreaker around her body.

The autumn wind blew her black hair.

She took a step forward, step by step, into the night that would eventually usher in the orange-red dawn.

*

This is the last night of three weeks.

The next morning, she drove to the Jiang family's old house in the suburbs with all the finished products.

When she opened the door, Jiang Yuanbin was standing on the stage by the window with his back to her.

There was no light in the studio. With the sun behind him, his back was blurred. The dark green walls and wooden furniture made everything seem like a distant and unreachable fairy tale world.

At this moment, Xin Tong couldn't even take a step.

She felt a sense of timidity from the bottom of her heart for no reason.

"Coming?"

"We have sweet and sour pork ribs for lunch today."

The old man didn't even look at her, and spoke with familiarity with his back to her.

Xin Tong didn't respond.

With his head lowered and dragging his suitcase, he walked forward slowly step by step.

When she walked over to him, she squatted down, opened the box, took out the clothes one by one, and placed them on the table.

"In three weeks, I only managed to finish eight."

Xin Tong lowered her head and spoke in a low voice.

Three weeks ago, Jiang Yuanbin's original words were "Do as many as we can."

And that Jiang's customer data book contains more than two hundred cases.

In the first week, Xin Tong was too busy and the work she made was crooked and ugly. She had to revise it repeatedly and finally start all over again. After a week, she only finished one piece.

Later, I gradually found the right path through repeated mistakes, gradually became proficient, and worked overtime until the early morning every day. In the end, I could only make eight pieces.

Most of them are simple shirts, a few skirts and coats, and only one pair of pants with the most complicated style and details was made.

…

Xin Tong stared at the dark brown wooden floor in frustration.

The furry head turned to Jiang Yuanbin, waiting for evaluation and decision.

After a while, she heard the sound of clothes being ripped.

"Side seams are wrinkled. Double lines are not parallel. Double track."

“The plaid doesn’t line up.”

"If the cut is wrong, the shoulders will feel oppressive."

"The back bones are prominent and the back is wrinkled."

"Skipped stitches. Missed stitches. The embroidery looks like shrimps."

"And under the placket..."

——"I want braised spareribs!"

Jiang Yuanbin crossed his arms and squinted his eyes as he watched her expression of self-abandonment and escape from reality.

After a few seconds, laugh.

"Can."

"Then eat first."

The old man sat down slowly, a smile on his face. Deep wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes. He smiled and said word by word,

"As for this pile of clothes, I'll teach you slowly later."