Chen Jing and Ji Xia never expected that Lin Chen and his two assistants had no idea that the factories in the south and Changzhou were related to them.
It's not surprising, really. The factory in Changzhou claimed to be a collective joint venture, while the small workshop in the south was unregistered and the fact that the owners were Ji Xia and Chen Jing was unknown even to Captain Chen, except for Secretary Ji.
As for the female workers in the factory, all that was known was that Ji Xiangjun arranged for Chen Jing to work there, while the other employees were introduced by Chen Jing.
Why Chen Jing could still manage things at the factory even after he left was something that others couldn't understand, and not many people thought about it deeply.
Chen Jing chuckled to himself as Lin Chen gave him money. The streets were filled with Ji Xia's new designs, and he was genuinely happy to see them.
They also overlooked the fact that many of the new styles produced by Sansheng Garment Factory have recently been counterfeited and copied.
The small workshop in the courtyard also expanded. From the initial fourteen people, after two or three weeks, it was fully staffed with thirty sewing machines. They also recruited three employees who knew embroidery, led by Hou Xiaolian, who were specifically responsible for embroidered parts.
The bedding orders that Ji Xia brings back each week are also handled by a female worker. Ji Xia is only responsible for color matching and drawing, while the rest is left to the production line.
Although the orders were small, only a dozen or so, they felt it was a good start.
Halfway through dinner, Ji Xia suggested, "Did you bring the key to the Wangfujing store? I'd like to go check it out."
Chen Jing looked at her suspiciously: "I didn't bring it, but I can go back and get it, what's wrong?"
"I want to go and see how to set up that shop. It's October, and there are only two months left until New Year's Day. I should start preparing."
They need to apply for a business license after New Year's Day, and then open for business. But before New Year's Day, they need to finish the renovation, stock the shelves, hire employees and train them in sales techniques. There are more than two months, so there isn't much time.
"Okay, you can eat here slowly, I'll go back and get the key."
Half an hour later, Ji Xia finished her dinner, and Chen Jing came over and took Ji Xia to Wangfujing Street.
Wangfujing Street is brightly lit, and colorful lights twinkle in the city sky. People who have worked all day come to the bustling central street of Beijing to stroll, shop, and enjoy a vibrant nightlife.
The night markets on both sides of the street are more lively than they were a few months ago. A few months ago, Ji Xia only saw a few small stalls selling clothes, but tonight, almost half of the street is lined with stalls selling women's clothing.
Ji Xia followed the flow of people to several shops and found that several of her new designs seemed to have become common items, with almost half of the stalls carrying these styles.
She looked at Chen Jing in surprise: "Did you produce so many of these styles?"
"Nonsense, of course not. For each style, we have at most two or three hundred pieces. Most of these were transported from the south by the Lin family."
Ji Xia shook his head with a wry smile, speechless: "It seems that for the next few styles, I will try to separate the styles from those in Beijing, Jiangnan and my hometown commune. All the goods produced by several factories will be transported to Beijing. This is like fighting with myself."
Moreover, the vendors had been undercutting each other's prices, which ultimately hurt her the most.
Chen Jing thought for a moment and nodded in agreement: "Different styles are fine, after all, local customs and aesthetics vary from place to place. However, you have to go to school, can you design so many?"
"Don't worry, I'll find a few more senior students at school to help me. I'm sure they're all willing to earn some money."
Ji Xia pondered which senior student would be more suitable and which senior student was capable of handling things independently.
Actually, the design sketches that Liu Yujuan showed her today were quite inspired, but she didn't quite understand the foresight required for the upcoming season.
I followed the flow of people for a while and saw steamed beef buns on the street. I bought more than a dozen of them and planned to take them home for breakfast the next morning.
Besides the beef buns, there was also soy milk. Ji Xia couldn't stand the strange taste. It was a pity that there was no Joyoung soy milk maker available. If there were, she would definitely buy one and make soy milk at home every day.
After wandering around for half the night, the two arrived at their shop.
On the brightly lit Wangfujing Street, only two shops had dark entrances, one of which was the shop she had bought.
Chen Jing led Ji Xia through a back alley and opened the back door of the shop to take a look.
The shop is a large, single-level two-story building, with an average of 163 square meters per floor. It's quite spacious.
The shop was originally a teahouse, with four small private rooms separated in the back. There is a staircase on the right that leads directly upstairs, making the front area seem smaller.
Ji Xia looked at the area displayed in front of her with a calm mind. There was still at least 100 square meters left, which would be enough if it were divided in half.
“I want to divide the first floor into two parts, with the left half decorated as a bedding store and the right half designed as a women’s clothing store.”
"Of course, at least 50% of these bedding items are for weddings, while the right side is half red embroidered kimonos for weddings and the other half displays bridesmaid dresses."
In short, this store is mainly themed around weddings.
After hearing her idea, Chen Jing reminded her, "Do you think it's appropriate for us to open a store now? I've checked the nearby shops, and they're either century-old brands or joint ventures, with state-owned enterprises holding at least half of the shares."
Ji Xia smiled slightly, her lips curving upwards: "Don't worry, I have reliable sources of information. Private business licenses will be available next year, probably starting on New Year's Day."
She gestured: "I plan to set up a bed counter here, a clothing counter on the other side, and use the back rooms as warehouses."
As for interior design, she'll ask the senior students majoring in interior design at school tomorrow; those who get into art academies are all talented individuals.
Upon hearing Ji Xia's reminder, Chen Jing suddenly felt the urgency of time: "I just finished waiting for Master Lin from last time to finish his current job, and now he's tidying up another courtyard house."
"We're not in a rush to move into the courtyard house. We'll renovate this place first after the design drawings are finalized."
Of course, in addition to interior design, decoration, and design drawings for kimonos, including four-piece, six-piece, and eight-piece sets, we also need to ask Ji Xiangjun to help order a batch of silk fabrics and threads, as well as a large amount of cotton.
As the plans were listed one by one, Ji Xia felt overwhelmed. Her workload was enormous, and even without classes, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to finish them.
After returning to the courtyard house, Ji Xia summoned Chen Qiuyu and Hou Xiaolian to discuss the upcoming production plan.
Upon hearing that he was to design wedding-themed bedding and a wedding kimono, Chen Qiuyu felt overwhelmed.
She subconsciously looked at Hou Xiaolian: "Let Xiaolian be in charge of the wedding-themed designs. She embroidered the most patterns and made the most embroidered kimonos last year."
Hou Xiaolian, who enjoyed showing off kimonos, asked with a hint of suspicion, "Sister Xia, have you drawn any design sketches for the kimonos since you came to the capital?"
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