Seeing Liu Yujuan's somewhat reluctant expression, Ji Xia became suspicious.
The four of them went to the department store, and Ji Xia began shopping.
Water cups, towels, mats, thermos flasks, combs, mirrors, etc. When she saw the old-fashioned small floral red cotton quilts, her disdain was clearly written on her face.
Seeing this, Rong Ruoshi couldn't help but tease, "Can you stop making that face? If you don't like these small flowers, there are also big flowers, and there are many colors."
Ji Xia glanced at the counter, her eyes showing even more disdain.
Forget it, it's too awful. I'd rather go back to the warehouse and get some fabric to make myself a four-piece bedding set.
She narrowed her eyes. The aesthetics of this era were indeed a bit outdated, which is why the popular styles of Hong Kong and Taiwan were so sought after.
If she also makes some fresh and cute four-piece, six-piece, or eight-piece bedding sets, could she try to enter the market?
Or a Chinese red wedding-style suit paired with a kimono would be absolutely stunning. Display it on the bed; it's guaranteed to look amazing.
However, it's not suitable to set up a stall on the street, but she has a shop, so she can open a specialty store.
Keeping this to herself, she picked out a new cotton quilt core weighing four jin (approximately 2 catties) and measuring 1.35 meters wide, bought three jin (approximately 0.5 kg) of cassia seeds, and gestured to the sales clerk to process the order.
Rong Ruoshi nudged him with her elbow, puzzled: "You only bought the comforter insert but not the duvet cover and sheets? And what's the point of buying cassia seeds?"
“I don’t like these sheets, so I’ll make a three-piece set myself when I get home. I’ll put the cassia seeds inside the pillow.”
"No, you just arrived in the capital and you're already making your own three-piece suit? Do you have a sewing machine?"
"I'm studying fashion design, do you think I shouldn't have a sewing machine?"
Ji Xia smiled slightly, forming a beautiful curve. After paying, she picked up the newly bought quilt and said, "Let's go. Let's buy some more food and then go to the bookstore."
"If you make your own duvet cover, don't you need to buy several feet of cotton fabric?"
Ji Xia suddenly thought of something and looked around with her almond-shaped eyes: "Cotton fabric is not necessary, I have some, but... there is no zipper?"
Department stores also sell zippers for everyday items, but they are all short zippers, used for pants or jackets, and the longest is no more than a foot.
Actually, the workshop also ordered a batch of zippers, all for women's trousers, and a short jacket, only 12 inches long, which was too short.
Her gaze lingered on the snaps and plastic buttons, but when she turned around, she saw Liu Yujuan carrying her newly purchased items, following behind Jiang Qingci, looking at the merchandise on the counter with envy, but not daring to approach.
Ji Xia leaned close to Rong Ruoshi and asked, "Is Yu Juan facing some family difficulties?"
"Yes, my aunt specifically asked me to take care of her."
Rong Ruoshi nodded, her expression showing some sympathy, but Ji Xia felt strange.
Whether you study fine arts or music, both are expensive majors.
Although there is no tuition fee at university, there is also a five-yuan food allowance every month, which is enough if you are frugal.
But studying art requires a lot of money, including paper, pens, paints, etc. Schools can't possibly cover all of that. Without some financial resources, how could they have afforded to go to Beijing to take the professional exams?
"Don't you know how talented she is?"
Rong Ruoshi explained her history of learning to paint. In her hometown, there used to be an old art professor who would occasionally create sand paintings when he was feeling down.
Liu Yujuan had seen it a few times while cutting pig feed, and she also tried to draw sand paintings herself, and even drew the faces of her fellow villagers very vividly.
The old professor returned to Beijing last year and was assigned to be a professor of traditional Chinese painting at the Academy of Fine Arts.
Since the resumption of the college entrance examination, the Academy of Fine Arts has only enrolled one or two hundred students for two consecutive years. Sometimes, the students who applied were not very talented and did not have a good foundation, but the Academy still had to admit them despite the pain.
This enrollment rate is less than one-third or one-quarter of that of ordinary schools.
The professor remembered Liu Yujuan's talent and felt it was a pity that such a talent was buried in the countryside, so he made a special trip to the countryside and brought her back to the capital to take the professional exam.
And coincidentally, the academic score requirements for art students are not high, and Liu Yujuan just barely passed the exam. It was rare for a rural area to produce a college student, so the village committee gave her a small reward, which she used to go to Beijing.
However, after a few days in the capital, she realized how expensive studying art was, so she dared not spend the little money she had on her.
Having heard she was extremely talented, Ji Xia's eyes flickered: "What did she study?"
"Like you, I'm studying fashion design. That professor analyzed it with her. Compared to other majors, fashion design is the most economical. You should know about things like traditional Chinese painting—how much does a sheet of raw or processed Xuan paper cost? How much do you need for a month? And then there are all sorts of brushes..."
Fashion design? If she has talent, that makes things easier. She can also take this opportunity to assess just how talented she is. If possible, it would be good to reserve talent in advance, as a reserve.
Ji Xia was self-aware that her talent was only average. Her designs were popular now, but she was only aware of the current trends and was also influenced by the aesthetics of later generations.
Besides, since she and Chen Jing plan to make their fortune in the clothing industry, it would be beneficial to cultivate such talent as soon as possible for the development of their business.
Even if that's four years from now, it's still possible to introduce her to some part-time job opportunities now.
Not only does her own small workshop need designs of different styles, but there's also Ji Xiangjun from Jiangnan. If Liu Yujuan has the talent, introducing her to Ji Xiangjun and Sun Xiaoyu would definitely be successful.
Ji Xiangjun and Ji Xia have already split the shares, but the operation of the factory there still cannot be separated from design.
Ji Xia had promised to send some design drafts every month and pay according to the design drafts.
If Liu Yujuan is interested, she can recommend that she try it.
After learning about Liu Yujuan's situation, Ji Xia's gaze towards Liu Yujuan became even more intense.
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