Plan ahead
After Li Fuqiang returned, Zhiwei had finally finished dealing with the council affairs. She herself felt sore and had to ask the family masseuse for a good massage to relax before she felt better.
"They're really too delicate. This little bit of work is nothing compared to what Jingnan and the others do all year round."
She took some time and asked Xiaoyu to arrange a physical examination for her. Xiaoyu was puzzled, as she had just had a physical examination last December. Although her wife was paying special attention to her health because of Miss Xu's situation, there was no need for her to have a physical examination every three months.
She had heard from Sister Shen that even the boss only had a physical exam once a year, let alone someone as young as his wife. Besides, the family usually went to Peking Union Medical College Hospital for routine medical checkups. Yet, his wife had her make an appointment with United Family Healthcare.
When she accompanied her wife to the medical check-up, she discovered that her wife's check-up was over in just a few minutes; it seemed like only one or two vials of blood were drawn. Xiaoyu's greatest strength was that she was quiet and tight-lipped, which was Zhiwei's favorite quality.
Zhiwei also bought a new phone. When the package arrived, Xiaoyu was puzzled. Her wife's iPhone was still quite new, so why did she switch to a Samsung business phone? She had never seen her wife use two phones before.
Two days later, when she accompanied Zhiwei to a bookstore in Wangfujing, Zhiwei, on a whim, took her for a stroll along Wangfujing Street. Overwhelmed by the throngs of people, she suddenly saw Zhiwei rummage through her bag and exclaim, "Oh no, my phone is gone!"
She then noticed that the lady was carrying an open handbag, a favorite spot for pickpockets in crowded places. Luckily, Zhiwei never carried a wallet, so nothing else was stolen. She had her iPhone in her hand, but her Samsung phone had been taken from her bag.
Zhiwei took Xiaoyu to the nearby police station to report the case. Because her phone was worth more than 5,000 yuan, which met the standard for criminal prosecution, the police officers at the station made a detailed record of her case.
However, he also sincerely told Zhiwei, "If we can find it, we will notify you to come back and identify it. But the chances are not very high. I suggest you report it lost as soon as possible and change the passwords for the apps on your phone to avoid further losses."
Zhiwei thanked the police for their notification, saying that because there were important documents and photos on her phone, she hoped to recover them as quickly as possible, and thanked the police officers for their hard work.
Zhiwei took back the police report receipt and put it back in her bag before taking Xiaoyu to find Lao Zhang to take them home.
Unbeknownst to Xiaoyu, on an inconspicuous street corner in Wangfujing, a petty thug said enviously to his companion, "You're lucky today. You stole such a brand new phone."
His companion, somewhat confused, said, "That's strange. This phone doesn't even have a SIM card, and there's nothing inside. Who would bring such an empty phone out?"
"Who cares? It's better if it's empty, so you don't have to flash the firmware."
"That's true, hopefully we can get a good price."
Xu Anyi's condition gradually stabilized after about two months of treatment. However, both she and Zhiwei knew that this stabilization was most likely only temporary. All they could do was enjoy the present moment.
Zhiwei has hired another designer at Tiangong Design. Her daily work mainly involves reviewing the designs. Occasionally, she'll get inspired and create her own designs, but she doesn't pay much attention to the day-to-day operations anymore. After all, with Xu Anyi as the finance manager, as long as the company runs smoothly, she doesn't have any plans to grow it to a certain size.
She focused most of her energy on Wei Nian. As word of mouth spread, Wei Nian gained a considerable number of clients among high-income professionals. In March, Mrs. Zhang from the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce finally came to Zhiwei to ask her to customize several elegant dresses for her.
After receiving Shi Ya's appointment arrangements, Zhiwei specifically asked Li Fuqiang if Fumao and Mr. Zhang's company had any cooperation. Li Fuqiang just smiled and told her, "We're all good friends. Old Zhang is very ambitious and has been expanding quite a bit recently. We naturally want to support him if there are any good projects. You don't need to have any concerns."
Zhiwei and Zhijun discussed it and decided that it wouldn't be good to let their wealthy female clients wear the same clothes as ordinary white-collar workers. Fortunately, they had finally found a very good craftswoman, Li Jin'e, two months ago. She turned out to be an old Suzhou embroidery craftswoman.
Because her previous job was too strenuous and took a toll on her eyes, and because her daughter had grown up and was working in Beijing, she retired and came to Beijing. She was still under fifty. After Zhijun found out, he and Zhiwei went to persuade her to come back to work. They didn't need her to work shifts; they would only ask her to come when there were orders.
Zhiwei then added some luxurious handcrafted gowns to the original design, and reserved a batch of top-quality fabrics exclusively for this group of clients. These fabrics were extremely expensive, and even Wei Nian was reluctant to stock up on them in large quantities, only preparing one set of each type, and purchasing more only when needed.
Mrs. Zhang was slightly plump, with rather thick arms, quite a few wrinkles on her neck, and her skin wasn't particularly fair. Zhiwei first carefully measured her, and then discussed with her in detail what kind of clothes she wanted.
She and Mr. Zhang are going to Hong Kong in late April for a business event, which includes banquets for the wives of business owners in the afternoon and evening. Hong Kong wives are notoriously materialistic; she'd been there a couple of times before and never had a good experience.
If you dress simply, they say you're stingy. If you dress extravagantly, they say you're nouveau riche, insisting on understated luxury. If you dress loosely, they say you're wearing borrowed clothes that don't fit; if you dress provocatively, regardless of whether you have the figure to match, they say you're not dignified.
After hearing Madam Zhang's complaint, Zhiwei nodded in agreement, "There are indeed some people who love to nitpick others and seek a sense of superiority."
She discussed with Mrs. Zhang, "Since it's a business occasion, it should be more elegant to suit your temperament. And since it's April, I suggest you wear a long-sleeved dress that falls five centimeters below your knee. The style should be uncinched at the waist, with a slight hem, and fine pleats pressed into the front, with the finest teardrop-shaped pearls sewn at intervals along the pleats. The vertical lines will have a visually elongating effect."
As she spoke, she drew a design sketch. "Two pleats on each side of the shoulders will make the garment fit better and shift the visual focus upwards from the waist."
"As for the color, I happen to have a piece of the finest silk fabric, a ginger yellow with a blue floral pattern. Ginger yellow is the safest color that best brightens the skin tone of Asians. What's wonderful about this fabric is that it comes in a set of two."
"Madam Zhang, please look closely. What's the difference between these two pieces of fabric?"
Madam Zhang hadn't noticed the difference in the clothing at first, but after being reminded, she looked closely and discovered that it was the same fabric with a ginger-yellow background and blue flowers, only the shape of the flowers was slightly different, one with a larger opening and the other with a smaller opening.
"This fabric is called 'Flower Dream.' The flowers bloom larger in the afternoon and close slightly at night when they 'sleep.' It's perfect for making two dresses, one for the afternoon and one for the evening, without making people feel like they're constantly changing clothes and showing off."
Madam Zhang secretly took a breath; indeed, this was a trick only the rich and idle could pull off.
"If you feel it might be cold in April, you can make a coat dress in the same navy blue, the same length as the skirt. It will look good worn alone or layered. As for accessories, Madam can wear a three-strand white pearl necklace."
Zhiwei paused for a moment, then smiled meaningfully and said, "Hong Kong socialites especially love this kind of outfit because the Queen of England, whom they admire, has always worn this style."
Mrs. Zhang readily ordered a coat and two dresses from Zhiwei. As long as it could shut up those Hong Kong socialites and give them a chance to vent their anger, she didn't mind having a few more outfits.
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