"Fifth Girl, I'll handle it, I'll take care of it." Upon hearing this, Chen Lao Er realized that Fifth Girl's words were quite meaningful. If he didn't handle this matter well, Fifth Girl might punish him.
"Father, Mother, Eldest Brother, please don't interfere in my daughters' affairs anymore. I can't even interfere myself. Besides, if I'm not doing well, I'll come to your house every day and make a scene. You probably don't want to know how I make a scene." Chen Lao Er was very straightforward at this point.
Li Yumei was still sitting at the low table. She had finished eating, and she pouted, thinking to herself, "As a mother, I can't even make decisions about my daughter's marriage. My uncle's family wants to introduce me to someone? Dream on! They deserve it!" She couldn't bear to be the only one being teased by Wu Yatou.
"You, second son, all of you get out..." Grandpa Chen was so angry that he couldn't say anything else.
Just then, Chen Xihua and the others opened the door and went out, only to be met by Chen Xiaogu.
"Father, Mother, I'm back. Did you girls know I was coming back and specially open the door for me?"
Just as Chen Xiaogu was about to knock on the door, she saw several of her nieces open it and come out.
Chen Xihua and the others greeted her normally: "Hello, Auntie."
Grandma Chen's angry expression softened instantly, and she turned to look at the door. "Jianhong, why are you back at this hour?"
"Mom, that bastard Sun Pingkai cheated on me, so I divorced him. I made him leave with nothing." Chen Xiaogu walked into the dining room angrily and noticed that something was wrong with her parents' house. She looked around and saw that her parents, older brother, and sister-in-law all looked grim.
...
Chen Xihua and her six siblings didn't linger at the door. After hearing the gist of the story, they learned that Chen Xiaogu had indeed gotten a divorce, but this time Sun Gu's husband was left with nothing. The clothing shop and the house they bought later were all registered under Chen Xiaogu's name.
Chen Xiaogu probably won't be returning to Gaoyang County to live permanently, so there's no need to worry about dealing with her.
The Spring Festival passed quickly, and on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, the eldest sister, Chen Chunhua, went back to Jiangshi Middle School.
As soon as the weather warmed up, early summer arrived quickly, and the first half of 1996 passed in the blink of an eye.
In the first half of the year, Fanghua Store in Garment Factory No. 2 faced a major crisis in April and May. Four or five 'Fanhua' clothing stores opened overnight in Yun City, the capital of Nan Province.
The clothes they sold were direct copies of Fanghua's spring/summer collection, slightly inferior in quality but much cheaper. Within a month, they basically occupied most of the Yun City clothing market, and Fanghua's store sales plummeted by more than half.
At that time, Chen Xihua was taking her midterm exams at school. Neither Director Yang nor Sister Wang Ying contacted her. After she finished her exams, Zhang Xiaolan was already waiting for her at the school gate.
When Chen Xihua found out, she understood that this was inevitable and that others would definitely imitate it. She could keep releasing new designs, but 'Fan Hua's' approach was just too disgusting.
Her first instinct was to design new styles immediately, but she also called Li Shisheng and asked him to find someone to buy clothes from the 'Fanhua' store.
I bought several of each style, a total of a dozen or twenty pieces, and had them brought back to Chen Xihua to see. She wanted to see this 'prosperity'. It hadn't been changed at all; it was just a copy of my own clothes, with some modifications.
"Xiao Wu, is this clothing copied by someone else? It looks similar to ours, but the feel isn't quite as good, though the style is exactly the same." Fourth Sister Chen Xiuhua was worried and anxious when she saw the clothes Xiao Wu brought back. Fanghua's business must have been affected.
“Hmm, let’s take a look at what others have made first.” Chen Xihua said, and then flipped through the pieces one by one. Suddenly, she saw that a shirt also had an oval black and red pattern of '5+1' sewn into the sleeve, and the shirt was indeed 'prosperous'.
Good heavens, she finally found it. It must have been when the employees of 'Prosperity' copied it that they sewed the logo on as well. Chen Xihua continued searching, and out of the twenty-odd items, she found four or five that had her '5+1' trademark embroidered on them.
Those who normally work in the clothing industry should know about trademarks, but perhaps 'Fanhua' (a clothing company) in order to seize the market has found many small workshops or OEM manufacturers without clearly explaining the trademarks to them, so some employees just copied them directly.
In addition, when Chen Xihua designs clothes, she sometimes uses the '5+1' pattern as an attractive illustration and places it next to the button or collar, which may lead people to mistakenly believe that the clothes are designed that way.
Chen Xihua's lips curled up; this was enough to make her want to play with it.
"Xiao Wu, what are you laughing at?" Chen Xiuhua noticed that Xiao Wu's smile was a bit strange.
"It's alright, I'm thinking about how to handle this. Fourth sister, don't worry, just focus on your studies, the high school entrance exam is coming up soon."
Half an hour later, Chen Xihua went to the convenience store to call Wang Ying. She told Wang Ying about her discovery and asked her to discuss with Director Yang whether to resolve the matter privately or sue 'Fanhua' for infringing on their trademark rights.
In fact, Chen Xihua also proposed a solution: to resolve the issue privately by having 'Fanhua' post an apology letter in its stores, informing all customers that they had imitated Fanghua's clothing.
Consider it advertising, and you'll save on advertising costs. Of course, the other party can also choose to pay you back directly.
In the end, 'Fanhua' chose to apologize. This incident caused a sensation in the entire Yun City clothing market and made more people aware of Fanghua. Just then, Fanghua had just released new clothes, and after that, Fanghua stores returned to their previous prosperity.
Chen Xihua is not afraid of others imitating her. She will keep others chasing after her, because competition leads to progress. As long as they improve the quality of Fanghua's brand, others' imitation will be free advertising.
In early July, the eldest sister, Chen Chunhua, took the college entrance examination, and half a month later, the fourth sister, Chen Xiuhua, took the junior high school entrance examination.
Chen Chunhua scored 522 points in the liberal arts section of the college entrance examination and was admitted to Beijing Humanities University, majoring in accounting. Her fourth sister, Chen Xiuhua, ranked first in the county in the middle school entrance examination and was admitted to Jiangshi Middle School.
By mid-August, Fanghua's betting agreement with the No. 2 Garment Factory had finally been fulfilled, yielding a profit of four million. With less than half a month left, Chen Xihua finally breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, she escaped unscathed. She was now the largest shareholder of the No. 2 Garment Factory, holding 60% of the shares.
In the past six months, nothing particularly noteworthy has happened in Gaoyang County. Boss Lei's Leiting Haoxuan has officially started construction, with the foundation being laid again and the outer framework already in place. In June, Nanhua Investment Company invested 300,000 yuan as scheduled.
The three older sisters, who are in high school, said that since Jiang City returned to school after the Spring Festival, the city had been in chaos several times. The school strictly prohibited students from going out, and there were police officers or special police patrolling outside almost every day.
Chen Xihua had a rough idea of what it was about, but none of that mattered to her. She was now back to calculating money. She needed to prepare.
My older sister is going to Beijing in September. Today is August 20th. I can ask her to look for a traditional courtyard house (siheyuan) after she arrives in Beijing, or other small courtyard houses as well.
After lunch, when Li Yumei returned to her room...
"Chunhua, your university tuition is over 1,500 yuan a year, right? Add to that the accommodation and living expenses each semester, and another 1,500 yuan should be enough, right? I've already asked your mother to prepare it."
Although Chen Lao Er was speaking to Chen Chunhua, his eyes were fixed on Chen Xihua, a hint of flattery in his gaze. Now that his eldest daughter was in university, and he was also paying for her studies, he hoped Xiao Wu wouldn't accuse him of favoritism later.
This money was borrowed from his older brother—no, it was three thousand that his older brother repaid in advance.
The eldest brother and his parents were probably frightened by what Xiao Wu said before the New Year, or perhaps they were really afraid that he would cause trouble, so they borrowed three thousand from their younger sister Jian Hong. Chen Lao Er didn't care whose money it was.
"Speak, what's your idea, Dad?" Chen Xihua couldn't see through Chen Lao Er's little scheme.
“I want to buy a motorcycle, it costs eight thousand, but your mother won’t pay for it. Xiao Wu, you should have the money, right? Why don’t you buy it? The motorcycle will be on your tab. Your second sister also likes motorcycles. She has learned how to ride one, so she can ride it too. I’ll ride it after you go to school.” Chen Lao Er’s eyes were a little excited.
He knew that Xiao Wu had bought a toy car for Xiao Bao and a tape recorder for Xiao Si. He figured Xiao Wu could afford a motorcycle too.
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