Ye Qiuwen had a gloomy face and didn't say anything. Ruan Xi couldn't help but smile again when she saw the expression on her face. Then she didn't waste any more time with her and continued walking into the street to find Xie Dongyang.
People were coming and going around me. After the Chinese New Year, many people had a new look - some young people followed the fashion and wore bell-bottom pants and clamshell glasses, and many women had their hair permed into a lion-like hairstyle like a poodle.
Thoughts that had been imprisoned for more than ten years have gradually become open, vivid and colorful in these changes.
Ruan Xi walked all the way to the middle of the street before finding Xie Dongyang. He was not conspicuous among the crowd of stalls. She walked through the crowd towards his stall. Xie Dongyang was delighted when he saw her and greeted her first: "Master Xi, you're back?"
Ruan Xi walked around to the back of his stall, took a breath and said, "It's so lively."
Xie Dongyang said: "In the first year, everyone was still waiting and watching. They didn't know which direction the policy would change. They were all conservative and afraid of getting into trouble if they did something wrong. But now it is relatively clear, so everyone is relaxed and not as cautious as before. When you came here, did you see so many women with permed hair, like lion dogs?"
Ruan Xi laughed, "I see, there are still many people wearing bell-bottom pants, the ones with big legs."
Xie Dongyang sighed and said, "You're right. Do you know what term came out at the end of last year? 'Ten Thousand Yuan Household'. They call those whose family income exceeded ten thousand yuan last year ten thousand yuan households. Once this term came out, I couldn't hide how much money I made a year. It happened overnight. Look at the stalls on the street. There are almost more stalls than people shopping."
Ruan Xi still smiled, "How is it? Is it still profitable now?"
Xie Dongyang shook his head. "With so many people setting up stalls, how can we sell as well as last year? You know what time I get up in the morning? I get up at five o'clock. Otherwise, I can't get a good spot here. A bad spot will have a big impact and I won't be able to sell anything."
Ruan Xi looked around and whispered, "It's so crowded, I don't even want to come."
As soon as she finished speaking, someone in front of the stall suddenly called her.
Ruan Xi turned around and saw that it was Old Madam Zhou, so she smiled and greeted her, "Grandma Zhou."
Old Mrs. Zhou looked at her and said, "Xiaoxi, I haven't seen you for a long time. Why don't you come? I'm waiting for you to make clothes for me. I've also introduced a few people to you. They all want you to make clothes for them, spring clothes."
Ruan Xi smiled and said, "I'm busy these days. I'll come to your house later this afternoon."
Mrs. Zhou nodded and said, "Okay, I'll wait for you at home."
After saying that, she walked away with her cane. Ruan Xi followed her gaze and warned her, "Be careful."
Mrs. Zhou waved at her, "It's okay."
After Mrs. Zhou left, two more people came over and looked at the stall, but they didn't buy anything and just left.
Xie Dongyang didn't care, as if he was used to it. He took back the topic and asked Ruan Xi: "So you don't plan to set up a stall?"
Ruan Xi looked at him and said, "I brought my family here and settled them in a house in the countryside. I plan to do something bigger this year. I came to you today just to ask you to help me."
Xie Dongyang was very straightforward: "What do you want to help me with? Tell me."
Ruan Xi didn't hesitate to say: "Get me a few second-hand sewing machines, about 70% new, not too old."
Xie Dongyang looked at her and asked, "How many do you want?"
Ruan Xi said: "At least four, or six or eight. I'll buy any you can find."
For Xie Dongyang, it is not difficult to find a second-hand sewing machine. After all, many families in the city buy sewing machines as gifts when they get married. Compared with sewing machines and bicycle radios, they are used much less frequently.
Most people don’t know how to make their own clothes, and sewing machines are just decorations in their homes. As long as you find someone who only touches a sewing machine a few times a year, most people will be willing to sell it.
Xie Dongyang thought for a moment and asked quietly, "You need so many units, are you planning to hire people?"
Ruan Xi nodded, but didn't elaborate further.
Xie Dongyang also knew that this kind of thing should not be discussed on the street. In this period of transition between old and new ideas, it would not hurt to be low-key in words and deeds, so as not to provoke jealous people to mess up things. So he nodded to Ruan Xi and said, "I'll find it for you."
Ruan Xi looked at him and asked, "What about you? Do you have any plans? If you don't have any other plans, when my clothes are selling well, you can come to me and sell them, and I'll sell them wholesale to you at a low price."
There are all kinds of stalls on the street now, but there is no stall selling ready-made clothes. The big cake of the ready-made clothes market is left here intact, and no one is touching it. If I open a ready-made clothing stall, there will definitely be a lot of people coming to buy.
Whoever takes the first bite of this big cake will become rich.
But Xie Dongyang thought about it and said, "Let's talk about it later. I'll wait and see."
Ruan Xi raised her hand and patted his shoulder, smiling and said, "Okay, I'll treat you to a Western meal when I'm free."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ruan Xi saw Xie Dongyang's eyes fixed for a moment.
She turned around and saw a fashionably dressed young woman coming to the stall.
The young woman had permed hair, wore a coat, cotton-padded shoes, and had a faint smile on her face.
Xie Dongyang was stunned for a moment, then he smiled awkwardly and asked, "Hello, what do you want to buy?"
The young woman had no intention of buying anything, and she started chatting with Xie Dongyang as if she was just chatting with him. "I heard that those who set up stalls last year made a lot of money, and many of them made 10,000 yuan. You... also made a lot, right?"
Xie Dongyang smiled stiffly, "I don't make much, just enough to make ends meet."
Ruan Xi looked at the woman in front of the stall and suddenly remembered who she was. She was Xie Dongyang's goddess!
The smile on the goddess' face became a little awkward. She looked at Ruan Xi, then at Xie Dongyang, and stopped chatting. She said, "Then you guys go ahead and be busy." Then she turned and left.
As soon as she left, the stiff smile on Xie Dongyang's face disappeared completely.
Ruan Xi looked at the change in his facial expression and asked, "You're not still sad, are you?"
Xie Dongyang said hurriedly: "That's not possible. Do you think I am such a person who can't let go of things?"
Ruan Xi patted his shoulder again, "Come on, young man!"
Ruan Xi and Xie Dongyang discussed the second-hand sewing machine and went for a walk on the street again. She searched for tools at these stalls and bought tape measures, squares, various types of scissors, chalking punches, seam ripper, chisels, awls and so on.
I have bought almost everything, except a pair of cutting tools.
Normally, you can use ordinary scissors to make one or two pieces of clothing, but if you want to make clothes in batches, you will need to use cutting shears. Cutting scissors come in different sizes, and she wants the kind that can be hand-held and can cut a hundred or so pieces of cloth at a time.
But after asking around, she found out that this kind of machine might not be sold anywhere in the city.
Since it is not available here, we naturally have to find a way to buy it from somewhere else.
With a father who was an official, it would be a waste if the gift was not used. So Ruan Xi went to the post office and called Ruan Changfu. She told him clearly what she wanted and asked him to find a way to get one for her and have someone send it to Beijing.
It was almost noon when Ruan Xi finished the phone call, so he went straight to find a place to have lunch.
In the afternoon, she went to Old Lady Zhou's house. There were two other old ladies at Old Lady Zhou's house. They all brought cloth and said they wanted Ruan Xi to make clothes. Ruan Xi naturally did not refuse. She helped them measure their sizes and took their cloth.
After talking about making clothes, Ruan Xi asked Mrs. Zhou, "Did your distant relative leave?"
Old Mrs. Zhou said, "Yes, she left. She said that people who set up stalls last year made a lot of money, so she wanted to try it this year. She was jealous of others who made a lot of money. There are so many stalls on the street now."
After that, she asked Ruan Xi, "Xiao Xi, how much did you earn last year?"
Ruan Xi smiled and said, "I don't make much, just enough to make ends meet."
Old Madam Zhou glared at her, "You are lying to an old lady like me, but we won't be jealous of you."
Ruan Xi smiled, chatted with her for a few more words, then left with the cloth.
She took the cloth to Xie Dongyang's repair shop, opened the door with the key Xie Dongyang gave her, then rode the tricycle, dragged the sewing machine, the cloth and other materials, and slowly went to the countryside.
It was already evening when I dragged the sewing machine into the yard. Ruan Cuizhi and Yue Haofeng were cooking in the kitchen. It was mainly Yue Haofeng who was doing it, while Ruan Cuizhi was holding Ruan Yue and playing with her, and also watching Dabaozi.
Seeing Ruan Xi coming back, Ruan Cuizhi and Yue Haofeng both greeted her. Ruan Cuizhi stood up holding Ruan Yue. Yue Haofeng put down the knife in his hand, went to the tricycle, and helped Ruan Xi move the sewing machine down.
Ruan Xi panted slightly and said, "This is the sewing machine I bought last year. It's the only one I have for now. I brought it back to do some work."
Ruan Cuizhi asked with a smile: "Did you get another job after going out?"
Ruan Xi nodded: "I received three spring clothes, from three old ladies who had been looking for me to make clothes for them."
Ruan Cuizhi: "Our Xiaoxi is really capable. She has regular customers in Beijing."
Yue Haofeng was moving and taking things from the tricycle. Ruan Xi went to the kitchen to get some water to warm her hands and quench her thirst. After drinking a few sips to moisten her throat, she asked, "Uncle Wu and Aunt Wu haven't come back yet?"
Ruan Cuizhi held Ruan Yue and sat down at the table. "Not yet. Xiaojie also went out with them. They said it was their first time out and they were unfamiliar with the place. They were worried that they would get lost."
Ruan Xi couldn't help laughing, "Xiao Jie is really capable now."
She has never been to the countryside, but now she dares to take people out to do things on her own.
Ruan Cuizhi also laughed, "Isn't it? This girl has changed a lot, especially in the past two years. She is very different from before. So it is better to study. The more you know and the more you experience, the more capable you will be. Staying in the mountains all your life, feeding chickens, pigs and farming every day, you really don't know anything."
Ruan Xi reached out and touched the head of Dabaozi who was standing in front of her, "You have to study hard in school, okay?"
Dabaozi nodded vigorously, "Cousin, I know that knowledge changes destiny!"
As he was talking, Yue Haofeng went to the kitchen to continue cooking. Just then, Ruan Jie, Ruan Changsheng and Qian Chuan came back.
When they got home, everyone gathered in the kitchen, mainly Ruan Changsheng, Qian Chuan and Ruan Jie talked about what they had done outside that day. Actually, there was nothing wrong. I just got familiar with the surrounding environment.
After chatting and eating, the day was almost over.
After dinner, Ruan Xi did not busy herself any more. She washed up early and went to bed to rest. She started cutting cloth and making clothes the next day. While she was doing it, Ruan Cuizhi was beside her to help her, lending a hand whenever she could.
Seeing Ruan Xi sitting behind a sewing machine, she asked, "Are these all the new patterns you drew?"
Ruan Xi didn't look up while making clothes. She smiled and said, "Yes, I drew a lot of styles in school last year, and many of them have been made into paper patterns. When you train the workers, I will make a sample for you to see, and then we can make it in batches directly. Once the cloth is cut and the sample is ready, we can make it according to the pattern. It will be very fast."
These are all things that don't require any brainpower. Just operate the sewing machine and follow the steps to sew the pieces of fabric. When there are many people, the work can be further divided, such as sewing cloth pieces, locking edges, cutting thread ends, making pockets and buttonholes, all of which can be further subdivided.
Ruan Cuizhi sighed and said, "This person's brain is so different from others'."
She learned how to make clothes from Ruan Xi, but she only learned a few simple styles, and they were always the same after cutting and making them over and over again. In her opinion, it is quite impressive to be able to come up with new styles and actually cut them out to make clothes.
To put it in an exaggerated way, this is simply amazing.
With Ruan Cuizhi's help, the three pieces of clothing were finished quickly. After finishing the clothes, Ruan Xi took them to the city to give to Old Lady Zhou and the others. After receiving her wages, she used the cloth coupons to go to the cloth shop to choose and buy cloth, and then went back to start making sample clothes.
When making samples, she asked Ruan Cuizhi to watch beside her, mainly to teach Ruan Cuizhi how to do it. Of course, they don't teach design and pattern making, but they teach how to sew and how to handle details, and everything is taught in a very detailed and clear way.
Ruan Xi asked Ruan Changsheng to tie a rope in the main room and hang the sample clothes directly on it when they were finished.
She also sorted and stored the remaining fabrics from making samples, because Yue Haofeng would need to take these fabrics to the factory to purchase goods. It would be easier once the business was established, as she could directly cooperate with the textile factory for a long time.
As the supplier, they can ask the textile factories to produce any fabrics they want.
On the last day of winter vacation, Ruan Xi bought six sewing machines with the help of Xie Dongyang. Yue Haofeng and Ruan Changsheng used a tricycle to carry the sewing machines from the city to the countryside one by one, and placed them neatly in the main house.
In addition to the sewing machine, Ruan Xi also bought two second-hand bicycles from Xie Dongyang's shop. The bicycles were left in the countryside so that Ruan Changsheng, Ruan Cuizhi and others could ride them wherever they went.
After Ruan Changsheng and Qian Chuan became familiar with the surrounding environment for a few days, they were able to get things done very efficiently. They quickly gathered several girls around 20 years old from several nearby villages.
The girls all went to the yard in groups to take a look. Only when they saw the sewing machines in the house and the beautiful samples of clothes hanging on the ropes did they believe it. Then they discussed it with their families and decided to come and learn the craft first.
After the people were trained, they were handed over to Ruan Cuizhi for training. Ruan Changsheng and Qian Chuan then had some free time and no longer had to go out every day. When they were recruiting people, they were often mistaken for human traffickers, and people thought they were trying to trick grown girls into selling themselves.
After Ruan Cuizhi became busy, Qian Chuan and Ruan Changsheng helped take care of the children.
After school started, Ruan Xi went to school with Ruan Jie, and left all the housework to Ruan Cuizhi and the others. She had nothing to worry about. Attend classes and study peacefully for a week at school, and then ride your bike to the countryside on Sunday.
The air in the early morning was cold, and even Ruan Xi's scarf was blown through by the cold wind.
When the sun rose above the distant rooftops, she parked the car outside the yard and got out, feeling the heat all over her body again. She pushed her bicycle into the yard and set it up, just in time to meet Ruan Cuizhi and the others having breakfast.
Qian Chuan waved to her from inside the house: "Just in time, come and have something hot and warm."
Ruan Xi took the scarf in and Ruan Cuizhi had already served the meal for her.
Ruan Changsheng asked her: "Xiao Jie didn't come with you?"
Ruan Xi took a sip of porridge and a bite of steamed bun and said, "If she is not allowed to come, she has finally been admitted to university. These four years cannot be wasted. She must study hard, otherwise, wouldn't it be a waste of time to get admitted to university?"
Ruan Changsheng looked at her and smiled, "What about you?"
Ruan Xi always treated herself as a child when she was relaxed in front of her family. She shook her body proudly and said, "I'm different from her. I'm extremely smart and I don't need to spend so much time studying."
Hearing this, Ruan Cuizhi and the others all laughed.
Qian Chuan said: "Xiaoxi, you are indeed smart. You are the smartest person I have ever met."
It would be really embarrassing to praise him again, so Ruan Xi smiled and said a few more words to change the subject.
She finished the last bite of steamed bun and the last mouthful of porridge, then put down the bowl and relaxed for a while.
After a while, he asked Ruan Cuizhi: "Third Aunt, how is your teaching going?"
Ruan Cuizhi also put down the bowl. "After a week of teaching, I feel that there is no problem with my skills. I have learned the sewing machine very well, and I can control the straight line, the curved line and the distance well. I feel that I can almost do the work."
She didn't actually give them clothes to practice on, but instead gave them some old rags and let them practice operating the sewing machines. Use these cloths to make small bags, insoles, and all kinds of small things.
Or if they have something that needs to be made at home, they can bring it over and make it.
As he was talking, the five girls who were recruited arrived one after another.
Ruan Xi followed Ruan Cuizhi and went to the main room to watch them sit down in front of the sewing machine and thread and mend their clothes. She looked at all five of them. The girls were young, clever, and quick learners, and they were indeed already quite skilled.
It is definitely not possible to let them measure, cut and make their own clothes, but if you prepare everything, teach them how to do it, and simply let them operate the sewing machine to do the task, it can basically be completed.
Now we have the sewing machine and the workers, and Ruan Xi has made several sample garments. What we lack now is naturally the fabric.
Ruan Xi handed the raw materials over to Yue Haofeng. Although Ruan Xi said to wait for her news, Yue Haofeng did not really wait at home. He has been running around this week, visiting countless textile factories near and far.
Of course, he was not running around blindly, but was running out with the fabrics ordered by Ruan Xi.
After Ruan Xi finished watching the five girls' craftsmanship, he went aside and said to Ruan Xi, "The fabrics we need are available from several manufacturers, and I have compared the quality and price. You are right, many factories have fabrics in stock, and they are discussing how to deal with them. It may not be long before they will directly promote sales without fabric coupons."
What they wanted was that they were in a hurry to ship the goods and didn't need the cloth coupons, so Ruan Xi nodded, "Then we'll wait a little longer."
There is no rush at this moment, as the girls can still hone their skills further.
While waiting for the fabric, Ruan Xi naturally continued to buy fabric to make samples. She mainly gave the making of sample clothes to Ruan Cuizhi, so that Ruan Cuizhi could bring a few girls to work here directly later.
A few days later, the pair of cutting sheets that Ruan Xi had asked Ruan Changfu to get were delivered here, and the only thing missing was cloth.
On Sunday, Ruan Xi went to the street again to buy cloth to make sample clothes.
Every time after making a sample garment, Ruan Xi would visit Xie Dongyang when she came to buy cloth.
It was through watching Xie Dongyang that I realized that the business of selling groceries at a small stall is becoming increasingly difficult. As there are more stalls, the variety of small commodities is becoming more and more diverse, and customers have more choices, it becomes increasingly difficult to sell them.
Of course, it is enough to make a living, but it is impossible to make a fortune from this.
Ruan Xi came to the stall and asked him again: "How are you doing recently?"
Before, Xie Dongyang would always say it was not that great, but this time he looked at Ruan Xi and said, "You won't see me next time you come. I've decided to go out and try my luck in the south. I heard that Guangzhou has good development."
Ruan Xi squinted at the sun and asked, "Have you really decided?"
Xie Dongyang nodded, "It's really decided."
He didn't have much to say about this matter. After he finished speaking, he asked Ruan Xi: "How is yours? Can the cloth problem be solved? If the cloth problem can't be solved, I'm afraid you won't be able to do it."
Ruan Xi smiled and said, "Don't worry, wait a little longer."
Xie Dongyang leaned closer to her and said, "If the cloth problem is solved, I think you can definitely succeed. Over the past decade or so, cloth has been in short supply, and each family could only get a small amount of cloth coupons, so there were no factories making clothes. Now there are no stalls selling clothes on the street. If you start this, you will be the first one, and it will definitely be a big hit."
Ruan Xi said without any modesty: "Then I will definitely explode."
Xie Dongyang raised his fist in front of him and said, "Just wait here for me to come back. When I come back in a respectable manner, we will work together if we have the chance in the future."
Ruan Xi also raised his fist, "Do you keep your word?"
Xie Dongyang: "That's a must."
Ruan Xi bumped his fist with him and said, "Then, I'll wait for you to come back."
After he said that, Ruan Xi had thought of all the options for cooperation. When the time comes, she will let him seize the opportunity to get involved in real estate first, and she can just invest as much money as she can. When he got started, she would just lie at home and count the money.
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