Rose Diary
A month later, Zhiwei's shop opened. The shop was called "Rose Diary". The shop was newly decorated, with various forms of roses adorning the light blue-gray walls, including buds about to bloom, plump double-petaled roses, and white single-petaled roses hidden among green leaves.
The items displayed in the store are all home goods, including flower-shaped glass fruit plates, glass ornaments of various shapes, elegant porcelain vases, comfortable cushions and seat cushions, soft dolls, and various exquisite wood carvings.
Zhiwei hired a girl to help manage the daily operations and inventory, and she would also go over when she had free time.
When Li Fuqiang heard that she had opened her shop, he asked if she wanted to send a flower basket. Zhiwei said, "Mr. Li, you don't need to join in the fun. My shop is for young girls, not for a big boss like you."
Jingnan naturally rushed to the store. When she arrived, the store was empty; Zhiwei was sitting on a flower-patterned sofa, flipping through a book. Hearing the door open, but no one greeted her, Jingnan greeted herself.
Everything was exquisite; even the vases here had a more elegant design. She'd seen the design sketches of the soft rabbit before, but the actual product was even cuter. Seeing her pick up a rabbit and hold it in her arms, then examine a glass flower, the shop assistant, Xiaoli, approached and softly asked, "Would you like a shopping basket?"
Jingnan took it and saw that it was a very light and delicate bamboo basket. She put the rabbit inside.
Xiaoli continued, "This glass flower is a unique design of our store. It can be used as a paperweight, and it looks beautiful just sitting there. You can put water in the center of the flower, and cut a flower and put it in, which makes it even more beautiful."
Jingnan picked out two more cushions and a vase. When she went to pay, she saw Zhiwei still reading a book and jokingly said, "The boss is so leisurely."
Zhiwei only realized it was her when she heard the voice, and quickly put down her book, saying, "Why didn't you mention it when I came today?"
Jingnan said, "You opened your business yesterday, so I have to come and support you today."
Xiaoli then realized that the customer was actually a friend of the boss, and for a moment she didn't know whether to charge her or not. Zhiwei readily said, "Give her a 50% off VIP card, wishing her a prosperous opening today!"
Jingnan asked her how business was. Zhiwei said, "It's alright. Since this used to be a pretty good home goods store, some regular customers who didn't know about it before come in to take a look. Although they look more and buy less, it's still a good start."
Jingnan said, "That's great. Your glass flower paperweight is even prettier than the drafts I saw. It's really nice. By the way, I see you have quite a few of your own designs. Have you applied for any design patents?"
"These? They're just random doodles, there's no patent involved."
Jingnan couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I wasn't paying attention, and you slacked off. No matter how casually you draw, it's still your design. What a pity if someone else copies it? Besides, you had someone else work on it. They already have the design drafts; it's too easy for them to imitate it."
She resignedly said, "When we get back, I'll take over your work and help you apply for design patents for all these designs; the approval process is faster. By the way, under which company will you register them?"
"My shop only has a business license, not a company."
"Here's what we'll do: I'll help you register a design company first. You can put all your design patents in this company. This store will still be a separate gift shop, and you can purchase the products you design yourself from your design company."
"By the way, our Fumao Group has an e-commerce platform. If the products you design sell well, you can open a store on the e-commerce platform and sell them to more places."
Zhiwei stared in disbelief and said, "Attorney, my little shop has only been open for less than a week, and my turnover has just exceeded a thousand. You're already planning such a big project for me. Why use such a sledgehammer to crack a nut?"
Jingnan said with a grin, "If you want my and Miss Xu's side business to make a lot of money, you'd better work hard."
She added in a cheeky tone, "However, if you want to open a store on our platform, according to our company's code of conduct, you should theoretically have to make a declaration."
Zhiwei was both amused and exasperated. "My two or three transactions aren't even enough for Mr. Li to waste his time on. How about I open a shop on Taobao?"
Jing Nan said in a serious tone, "If our company's senior executives and their relatives want to open stores on the platform, then they have to apply for approval. Ordinary employees like me don't need to."
Zhiwei was completely overwhelmed. "No wonder every company needs so many legal counsel. You guys are really meddling in other people's business."
That evening, when Zhiwei and Li Fuqiang were having dinner, she told him about her conversation with Jingnan as a joke.
After listening, Li Fuqiang said, "It seems the company's legal department has done a lot of work. This Jingnan has done so much for you, I guess I'll have to ask Youlin to increase her year-end bonus."
Zhiwei quickly said, "Jingnan is very capable, but you should follow the rules regarding her promotions and performance evaluations at the company. She helps me here, so I'll settle things with her separately. You don't need to worry about me."
Li Fuqiang asked, "You've been tinkering with so many things, should I ask the company to buy some gifts from you next time?"
Zhiwei said, "No, no, no, my little shop doesn't have that much volume. I only have four or five of each item. Let me test the waters and see which items sell well."
"Besides, if I were to follow your path, why would I bother with all this? I just want to try and support myself with my own abilities."
Li Fuqiang raised his hands in surrender, "Whatever the beauty says is right." Even Bo Chen is so charming, who can resist?
When Zhiwei got home that evening, she scrolled through her WeChat Moments and found that Jingnan had posted a nine-grid photo collage, talking about how she had visited a shop called "Rose Diary" in 798 that day and how unique the items were.
She even took close-up shots of that glass paperweight. One of them had a little water in the flower's stamen, and then a frangipani flower floated in it, adding to its elegance.
Zhiwei specifically replied to her Moments post, winking and saying, "I feel like I need to pay you another advertising fee." She added, "Sure enough, this looks really good with flowers on it. I'll try displaying it like this in my shop next time."
A couple of days later, Jingnan even brought the paperweight to the company and placed it on her desk. A few days later, Youlin happened to pass by, saw it, and complimented her on how pretty it was.
Jing Nan said casually, "Yes, this was designed by Miss Shen herself. I saw it at first sight in her store, and it really is beautiful."
Youlin immediately understood which Miss Shen she was referring to. She gave her a deep look, realizing that Youlin had a firm grip on this connection. Back then, no one was willing to step forward and challenge the company's legal department to negotiate the contract, but Jingnan volunteered, even directly asking whose interests she represented. The terms and conditions were far more generous than anything her predecessors had offered. Although this was a deliberate favor from the boss, without her drafting the terms, the boss probably wouldn't have thought of such a comprehensive solution.
She's already made a name for herself with the boss; he even invited her to his engagement party, and now that the boss's wife is opening a shop, she's making a point of supporting her. She's a smart woman.
Youlin's mind raced. "Really? That's great! Where's the shop? I'll check it out next time."
Jingnan took out a card from Zhiwei's shop earlier from his bag and handed it to Youlin with both hands, saying, "Here it is."
Youlin smiled, nodded, took it, and left.
Zhiwei was completely unaware of the turmoil behind it all. She was busy preparing the second batch of goods. The chubby rabbit was indeed popular, and the first batch of cushions and dolls quickly sold out. She contacted workshops in Suzhou and placed an additional order for glass products. She also asked Huang Zijun to introduce her to a reliable small processing plant that specialized in making fabric products.
Lin Yan would occasionally come to the store to sit and offer her some display suggestions. "You have a good name for your store, 'Rose Diary,' which is both elegant and friendly, making it memorable."
"I just came up with this randomly," Zhiwei laughed. "I always felt that roses, though they look delicate, are actually very resilient and can bloom all over the mountains and fields."
"It sounds like you're talking about yourself," Lin Yan joked.
Zhiwei smiled but remained silent. She stood in the shop, watching the afternoon sunlight stream through the glass windows, casting warm dappled patterns on the exquisite objects. This was her own little world, where every item had been selected or designed by her, imbued with her aesthetic sense and warmth.
Xiaoli quietly tidied the shelves, placing the newly arrived rabbit plush toys in a prominent position. Occasionally, tourists would stop outside, pointing and commenting at the shop window. Zhiwei picked up the book she had just put down, but couldn't concentrate on reading a single word.
A strange sense of fulfillment welled up within her, unlike the feeling of owning a luxury house and fine clothes, or the supplementary credit card given to her by Li Fuqiang. This was a world she had built herself, bit by bit, and although it had only just begun, it had already given her an unprecedented sense of security.
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