“Grandpa Zhang, you’re right. I’ve thought about it too. Small workshops are just the beginning.”
Grandpa Zhang nodded, "That's good!"
"I want to know how familiar Sister Xiaolan is with making clothes. She has already cut the fabric and is only sewing. How many sets of clothes like the one you are wearing can she make in a day?" Chen Xihua certainly understood that the small workshop was just the first step!
"No cutting required? Then I can make four sets a day, and with the evening processing, I can barely make five sets!"
Zhang Xiaolan thought that it would take her about half an hour to an hour to make a shirt, and two hours would be enough to sew a whole outfit.
"Actually, my daughter Xiaolan is the best at cutting. She only recently started learning how to use a sewing machine, but she's very smart and will become proficient very quickly!"
Grandpa Zhang is very proud of this. His granddaughter is smart, skillful, and does well in school. It's a pity that after graduating from junior high school, she was admitted to Jiangshi Middle School, but she didn't go to study there, saying that she wanted to take care of him, an old man, and her younger brother, Xiaobing!
At that time, his old bones didn't need her care at all; she was just afraid of spending money! Thinking about it, Grandpa Zhang's eyes reddened a little!
“Grandpa, how can you praise your own family like that! Little Sister Wu and the others are still here!” Zhang Xiaolan said, pretending to be angry when she saw her grandfather’s red eyes.
"Grandpa Zhang is right. Sister Xiaolan is obviously a very skillful person. She knitted bags for me before, and she did a better job than I could teach her!" Chen Xihua agreed with a smile.
"Yes, when it comes to woven bags, my skills are the worst!" Chen Jinhua blurted out.
"Well then, Sister Xiaolan, Grandpa Zhang, I'll be frank. The main reason we're here today is to ask Sister Xiaolan to help us manage the workshop!"
"How about I explain my plan first, and then you can consider it?"
Chen Xihua has been here for half an hour now, and has a basic understanding of the Zhang family grandfather and grandson. They seem to be trustworthy people. It all depends on whether Sister Xiaolan can handle the job, so she's not going to beat around the bush anymore!
"Alright, little Wu, go ahead and say it!" Grandpa Zhang didn't look down on Chen Xihua just because she was only twelve or thirteen years old. He answered for his granddaughter very seriously!
Chen Xihua first prepared a draft in her mind, and when she found that the other three were waiting for her to speak, she slightly modified part of her plan and began to introduce it to them!
"First, there's the venue and equipment. I plan to rent an empty house in Zhangjia Village to set up a small workshop, and rent ten sewing machines in the village. I'll pay 200 yuan for each machine for two years, and then return the machines to their original owners after two years. The villagers should be willing to do that, since the old sewing machines we bought before also cost more than 200 yuan each!"
Next, we need workers. We'll recruit ten sewing workers and two tailors in Zhangjia Village!
The wages are calculated based on the number of finished products. Two yuan is paid for making a shirt, one yuan and fifty cents for pants, and three yuan for a long skirt. According to Sister Xiaolan, she can make four sets a day, which is about fifteen yuan a day. The average monthly wage is more than four hundred yuan, and the villagers should be willing to do so!
Among them, it is a bit difficult to recruit cutting workers. I plan to pay the chief cutting worker 650 yuan a month, who will be responsible for pattern making and fabric cutting. Another assistant cutting worker will be paid 500 yuan a month!
In addition, I will temporarily provide the clothing design. Of course, if we encounter someone with a talent for clothing design, we will also recruit designers!
I inquired about the price of the raw fabric; it's one to two yuan per foot. Making a complete set of clothing for an adult woman requires about twelve feet of fabric. Including the cost of the fabric and labor, the cost of a set of clothing should be under twenty-five yuan.
Chen Xihua gave a brief introduction to the workshop's operation process.
“Little Fifth Sister, according to your estimate, the cost of one set of your clothes is twenty-five yuan. In the county town, many people can’t afford to buy it and will buy fabric to make their own! You won’t sell many!” Grandpa Zhang raised the key issue again: sales volume!
“That’s right, Grandpa Zhang. The last thing I want to talk about is sales, which I will also be in charge of. The current plan is to sell in the provincial capital, not in the county town. The wholesale price of a set of clothes will be set at forty to fifty yuan. We are producing in small quantities, so the core issue is quality. We only make high-quality products, innovate styles, and build a brand effect!” Chen Xihua also revealed the final plan.
"This is basically how the workshop started. Now, the most important thing is that we need to find someone to help me manage it, with a monthly salary of 800 yuan. My sisters and I are all in school and don't have time. I wonder if Sister Xiaolan can help me!"
Once the funding is in place, my plan in two or three years is to purchase an entire garment production line, build a garment factory, and then open our own stores in Jiang City, the provincial capital, and other places! However, this is a later-stage plan; we will establish a company to operate it, handling production, processing, wholesale, and retail!
"A company? How much capital did you invest to set up a company?" Grandpa Zhang was a little surprised after hearing Chen Xihua's plan. It wasn't just a small workshop; there was a complete company business model plan. "Did you come up with all of this yourselves?"
"Yes, there are six of us siblings. We currently have 70,000 yuan in capital and are preparing to start a company directly."
If Sister Xiaolan is willing to help me, besides my regular wages, I can give her 3% of the profits. Or, if Sister Xiaolan trusts us, I can give her 5% of the profits, but then there will be no wages! I wonder if Sister Xiaolan would be willing?
"Seven...seventy thousand? Little Fifth Sister, do you have that much money now?" Zhang Xiaolan didn't expect the Chen sisters to have so much money. Aren't they still children? How could they earn so much money from knitting bags?
"So, are you still knitting bags?" Zhang Xiaolan wanted to confirm if it was because of knitting bags!
"We can knit bags, as limited editions and exquisite accessories, but there aren't many. The labor cost of knitting bags is too high, so we knit them ourselves!"
Zhang Xiaolan was nervous and hesitant. She looked at her grandfather, unsure if she could handle it! Although she was familiar with the village, she didn't know how to manage people or run a workshop! All she knew was cutting and making clothes!
"I've never managed before, I don't know how to do it, what will happen then..."
"Sister Xiaolan, you can ask your grandfather for help. Grandpa Zhang, you should be able to help, right?"
Seeing Grandpa Zhang deep in thought, Chen Xihua realized he must have an idea. She had decided to open the small workshop in Zhangjia Village because she valued Grandpa Zhang's presence.
“I can temporarily manage the workshop for my granddaughter. I know the whole Zhangjia Village well. I can rent houses, rent sewing machines, and hire workers.”
Xiao Lan will also learn from her, first as a tailor, and then she will take charge of the workshop when she is able to manage it.
I can choose not to take wages, but initially you have to pay Xiaolan the same treatment as a tailor. Once she's able to manage the workshop, she'll take 5% of the profits!
After careful consideration, Grandpa Zhang expressed his thoughts: he hoped that his granddaughter could grow up, become independent, and have her own career, instead of staying at home to farm a few acres of paddy fields with him and doing odd jobs everywhere!
While he still has the energy, he can teach his granddaughter some more, passing on his experience in life and how to conduct herself! The Chen sisters' visit this time is an opportunity for that.
He could see that the young lady not only had detailed plans and grander goals, but also an undetectable ambition in her eyes. She was no ordinary person!
“Okay, you and Sister Lan should both get paid. I’ll go back and register the trademark, set up the company, and handle all the formalities.”
"Grandpa Zhang, is there anything else you'd like to add?" Chen Xihua asked again, afraid she might have missed something.
"Regarding the procurement of raw material fabric, are you going to contact textile factories or buy it from the wholesale market?" Grandpa Zhang suddenly remembered something, and the plan hadn't mentioned where to buy it!
"It's not confirmed yet. The textile factory in our county produces relatively thick sweater fabric, mainly selling medium-coarse yarn products, and specializes in making sweaters."
The county wholesale market has a fairly complete selection of fabrics, and I asked about the approximate wholesale prices! Grandpa Zhang, do you know where I can buy fabrics directly? Chen Xihua had really forgotten about the raw materials.
"Yes, there's a textile factory in Baishi County next door. They make cotton, polyester, nylon, and other fabrics. I can contact them to purchase the fabrics at the lowest wholesale price!" Grandpa Zhang thought about how his sister had married into Baishi County and how his nephew worked as the office manager at the textile factory. He wondered how the factory was doing lately. He'd heard before the New Year that another batch of workers would be laid off, and there were rumors that it might be converted into a private enterprise, but no official documents had been issued yet.
"That's wonderful, Grandpa Zhang. It was absolutely right for us to come to your house to see Sister Xiaolan today. You can go and contact her first. I'll go back and get the necessary documents done, and then come back in a couple of days to finalize the arrangements with you." Chen Xihua felt that she could completely relinquish her responsibilities.
Chen Xihua and Chen Jinhua stood up and prepared to leave.
"Okay, Miss Wu, ride your bikes slowly!" The Zhang family grandfather and granddaughter saw the Chen sisters off. Grandpa Zhang suddenly felt full of energy; he could still work for several more years.
"Jinhua, Xiaowu, why don't you stay for dinner before you leave? It's almost eleven o'clock!" Zhang Xiaolan wanted to persuade them to stay. She still had many questions to ask. Xiaowu had just been talking about plans, which were all discussed with her grandfather.
"No need, Sister Xiaolan, we'll go first. It'll only take about twenty minutes to ride a bicycle back to the county, it'll be quick!" Chen Xihua sat on the back of the bicycle, and Chen Jinhua pedaled hard, and the bicycle went six or seven meters away.
"Let's go, Sister Xiaolan!" Chen Jinhua waved her hand, and Chen Xihua felt her buttocks were sore from the impact. Her second sister was really strong, carrying people was as fast as riding an empty bike.
"Fifth Sister, how much is 5% profit sharing? Isn't 800 yuan a month's wages too high?" Chen Jinhua wasn't very good at math, but her sister had just said that hiring someone to manage the workshop would cost 800 yuan, and she was tempted.
“Eight hundred yuan isn’t high. Nowadays, the average worker’s salary is around four hundred yuan. But managing the workshop is like being a manager. She has to be responsible for everything!” Chen Xihua knew that she had paid a bit too much, but after all, it was a private workshop, not a state-owned enterprise. People’s thinking hadn’t fully accepted that working for a state-owned enterprise was the only reliable option.
"A 5% profit share means that if there's a profit of 100 yuan, 5 yuan will be given to her, which is calculated the same as the 8 yuan you get!"
"That's a lot! So, out of our 70,000 yuan, shouldn't we give 3,500 to Sister Xiaolan?" Chen Jinhua could do this math again.
“No, 70,000 is our initial investment, and 5% is a share of the profits later. If we make 100,000 in profit, we get 5,000 in profit; if we make 1 million, we get 50,000. The more we earn, the more profit she will receive. It’s mutually beneficial. After all, we don’t have the time, and we’re still young and in school, so there are many things that aren’t suitable for us to handle.” Chen Xihua had a very clear plan. She actually just wanted to be an investor, a hands-off manager, but she also wanted to have her own company with her siblings. Problems that could be solved with money weren’t problems. She wasn’t going to open just one company in the future!
"Okay, I'd love to be a manager too, it's 800 yuan!" Chen Jinhua said enviously.
"Second sister, you're not ready for that yet, and you don't need to even think about it. I never intended for any of us siblings to get involved. You should just take the money and focus on your studies, go to university, and then decide what you want to do in the future!"
Before the Chen sisters officially graduated, Chen Xihua would not allow them to get involved in the workshop's affairs.
"It's so hard! High school courses have become so difficult!" Chen Jinhua was never good at studying. It was her fifth sister who spurred her on—no, tempted her—by telling her how wonderful it would be to get into university. She also wanted to know if her fifth sister had any other martial arts skills, since the self-defense and close combat techniques she was learning were so impressive.
Actually, Chen Xihua did have a set of staff techniques that she didn't teach her second sister. It was something she had specifically learned from a martial arts coach in her previous life. She thought that ancient generals looked particularly cool when using long spears in TV dramas, and she wanted to learn it. However, the coach said that she was not suitable for learning long spears, so he taught her a set of staff techniques that were somewhat similar, but still had differences.
Because she knew that if she didn't master the stick fighting techniques, she could easily injure people, so she never told Chen Jinhua about it.
"Second sister, hang in there for two more years. If you encounter any problems you don't know how to solve, save them up and ask your older sister or your teacher. You must do a lot of practice problems regularly. Your college entrance exam depends on accumulation. Do a lot of practice problems, a very large amount. If you don't know how to solve a problem, just put it aside for now. You should also practice the simple and easy ones often."
"Okay!" Chen Jinhua's initial enthusiasm for riding the bicycle had vanished, and he felt listless at the thought of studying.
Chen Xihua was at her wit's end. Her second sister was straightforward and simple-minded, didn't understand subtlety, and disliked studying. If it weren't for her pressing her, she probably wouldn't even want to go to high school.
When her second sister got into university, she suggested that her sister join the army. Apparently, there are special forces that recruit special talents from various universities. Her second sister is strong enough and should have a good future in the army. But she didn't want her second sister to be someone who only knows how to use brute force and has no education.
At this time, Zhang Xiaolan's family was also discussing the workshop.
"Grandpa, how come Little Sister Wu and her sisters have so much money? They knitted those bags secretly without telling their parents, so this money definitely didn't come from Uncle and Aunt Chen." Although Zhang Xiaolan was already twenty-one years old, this was the first time she had heard of so much money. When she was a child, her father's allowance and the compensation he received when he died were not this much.
"We don't need to worry about that. We just need to do our job. They will definitely have their own way of doing things. Otherwise, how could a teenage girl openly talk about opening a workshop or starting a company?"
Especially that Fifth Miss, you should learn more from her in the future. If you can't decide something, just listen to her, you can't go wrong! Grandpa Zhang's judgment is still very accurate, he won't be wrong, the Fifth Miss is definitely the one who makes the decisions.
“Yes, Grandpa, I know. I heard from the guard that his classmate Chen Jinhua’s fifth sister is very powerful and knows martial arts. I heard that she learned it from someone in the countryside. She lived with her maternal grandmother until she was seven or eight years old before returning to the county town!” Zhang Xiaolan admired her. She was only twelve or thirteen years old and could help her sisters earn money. She was even younger than herself when she graduated from junior high school. At that time, she was also thinking of going to work to earn money to support her younger brother’s education, but she found that she was hitting walls everywhere.
“Then her maternal grandmother must be extraordinary!” Grandpa Zhang recalled the difference between the two sisters. The older sister, Chen Er, was just like an ordinary girl, but when talking to the younger sister, Wu, it was as if she were talking to an adult. She was a very shrewd person, speaking eloquently, keeping a good pace, and speaking clearly and logically. She must have a complete plan in mind.
"Yes, I heard from my younger brother that their maternal grandmother used to be a landlord's daughter, and she was literate!"
"No wonder, in the past, wealthy families would hire tutors to educate their children from a young age, teaching them to read and write, play musical instruments, play chess, write calligraphy and painting, think strategically, do business and start businesses, and be adept at social interaction!"
Now, children in our country can all go to school. It's a pity for you, Xiaolan, that you only went to junior high school. Your younger brother doesn't like studying either, but it's good that he joined the army! Grandpa Zhang was a little emotional and sad. The country will develop better and better, and he also hopes that his grandchildren will live well. Moreover, he is old and doesn't know when he will pass away.
“Grandpa, it’s alright. Even though I don’t go to school, I still read books often. My junior high homeroom teacher gave me a set of high school textbooks, and I also found a lot of books to read at the recycling station. Grandpa, aren’t you going to teach me how to manage the workshop? Please teach me more in the future.” Zhang Xiaolan comforted her grandfather. She had heard that she could take the adult college entrance examination to go to university, but she didn’t know how difficult it was.
"Yes, now is your chance, you have to seize it. That young lady came today, she probably just wanted to see if you could handle it at first, but then she quickly made a decision. She wanted to use my connections, but maybe she saw your sincerity, kindness, and hard work!"
He was still quite at ease with his granddaughter. She was hardworking, kind-hearted, and capable. However, she lacked a bit in terms of personality, was not confident or generous enough, and was a little petty. But all of this was caused by the troubles that had happened in the family. At that time, he had just retired from his position as village chief, had fallen ill, his son had just passed away, and his daughter-in-law had remarried soon after. As a result, his grandchildren became sensitive and cautious.
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