Liu Meiyu watched carefully in the factory for two months. The first batch of Huamei spring clothing that she designed and sampled herself was finally delivered.
Tens of thousands of pieces of clothing were neatly stacked in the warehouse, which surprised both Yao Shunliu and Zhao Heping.
Zhao Heping, in particular, was so shocked that he didn't dare to speak for a long time.
He just came to work here in the warehouse last week. Within a few days, the originally empty warehouse was piled with so many goods. How much does this cost?
Yao Shunliu was sighing. He used to sell bell-bottom pants on the street and was already very satisfied with making hundreds of yuan a day. Who would have thought that in just two years, he would have hundreds of thousands of goods stored in the warehouse waiting to be sold.
"Are we handing out flyers or holding a raffle this time?"
With the previous sales experience, Yao Shunliu truly realized the benefits of "marketing".
"Put it in the newspaper."
Liu Meiyu thought for a few seconds and decided to take this opportunity to promote Huamei's reputation and warm up the brand effect in advance.
Handing out flyers and holding lucky draws could only boost sales in the short term. She wanted to make Huamei a mainstream domestic clothing brand in the 1980s, and in addition to the clothes themselves, she also had to rely on publicity.
"You mean placing advertisements in newspapers?" Yao Shunliu responded quickly.
Liu Meiyun nodded.
In the early 1980s, when television was not yet fully popular, newspapers and radios were undoubtedly the best propaganda media, especially newspapers, which made it easier and cheaper to obtain information.
“I just don’t know if they will agree to let us put ads there.”
Although Yao Shunliu thought this method was good, the advertisements they had seen in newspapers before were basically from large state-owned factories, such as White Rabbit, Snow Cream, Longines watches, sewing machines...
Individual business owners like them are afraid that others will ignore them.
"Let's try it first, and we'll see if it doesn't work." Liu Meiyu was very optimistic.
Giving up without trying is not her style.
And now people are becoming more and more open-minded. Last month she saw a wedding advertisement in the newspaper. If it doesn't work out, she can just use money to pay for it.
It’s just that ideals are full of hope, but reality is very real.
Liu Meiyu and Yao Shunliu visited several newspaper publishing houses in two days and met with several "editor-in-chief" and "directors". At first, they were quite enthusiastic, but in the end they were stuck on the condition that they were "self-employed".
"This is the only one left. Are you still going?" Yao Shunliu took out a small notebook with the homework he had done in advance.
There were all newspaper publishers that might be able to place advertisements for them, but the others had already politely declined their applications. The only one left was a new newspaper that was just established two months ago, called "Drama and Film". Its content mainly focused on film, opera, and drama information.
Yao Shunliu felt that their target audience was too small and that the newspaper had just been established. Many people did not even know about the newspaper, let alone give it a fancy advertisement. He was afraid that his efforts would be in vain.
"Go, why not? Maybe hope is just ahead!"
Even though she has been rejected so many times, Liu Meiyun remains optimistic.
"You want to advertise in our newspaper?" The newspaper director held a teacup and looked at Liu Meiyu and Yao Shunliu in disbelief.
Advertising is not uncommon. What is unusual is that the people who came to him to discuss advertising were not from a state-owned factory, but two self-employed individuals.
"Yes." Liu Meiyu nodded with a smile, and took out a new fake collar from her own store to show the director of the newspaper: "We designed this ourselves and asked a clothing factory to produce it. The quality and style are definitely not inferior to those from Shanghai. We currently have two stores, and we wanted to advertise before the spring clothes are on the market, so that more people will know about us."
The director put down his teacup, took the fake collar and examined it carefully. It was made of the popular "Dacron" fabric at the time. He couldn't tell the difference in quality, but the style was definitely different from anything he had seen before.
He couldn't tell what the difference was, but it seemed to be more upright than usual.
"How much do you sell this for?" the director asked curiously.
"6 yuan" Liu Meiyu replied.
The director frowned and looked at the fake collar in his hand for a long time. Yao Shunliu thought it was going to fail, but then he took out 6 yuan from his pocket and gave it to them.
"Then sell this one to me first."
"Director, if you like..." Yao Shunliu saw that there was a play and was just about to say a few words to make the situation better, without asking anyone to pay.
Liu Meiyu, who was standing next to him, took the money from the director first and interrupted him, saying, "If you like it, you can take some time to visit our store. We have many spring styles this time, and the quality is all from state-owned factories. If you like it, you can buy two more. We have a 25% discount a few days before it goes on sale. When the discount ends, a fake collar like this will cost 8 yuan a piece!"
A fake collar from Shanghai to Beijing costs 8 yuan each. Liu Meiyu gives a 25% discount, so even if it's only 2 yuan cheaper, she still makes almost half the profit.
Yes, the profit margins in the apparel industry are just that huge.
A fake collar only needs to go through the production line, which spreads the labor and machine costs equally, saves transportation, and has no middlemen, so the only thing that costs more is the raw materials.
"Have you thought of the slogan? How much space do you want for the ad? What's your budget?"
The director's sudden question made Yao Shunliu stunned for a moment, and two lines of tears almost fell.
It’s not easy, they have been running for two days, and this is the first time I ask them what their advertising slogan is!
"We have no problem with the budget, as long as it is in the most eye-catching position, and it would be best if it can be published for seven consecutive days."
Compared to Yao Shunliu who was so excited that he wanted to wipe away tears, Liu Meiyu was obviously much calmer. She stated her needs in an orderly manner. However, it was the director who became restless.
"You want to publish it for seven consecutive days? That price is not cheap!"
"That's fine. If we can do it, we can pay half of the advance payment first."
Fearing that people might think they were at risk of defaulting on their debts, Liu Meiyun simply offered to pay half the money first.
How much did it cost to place an advertisement in a newspaper in the 1980s? A few thousand at most. Could it be as expensive as CCTV’s golden advertisement?
But there is a reason why they are expensive. Liu Meiyun remembers that there were several companies on the verge of bankruptcy. They spent all their assets to place advertisements on CCTV. As a result, they turned around overnight and not only did they not go bankrupt, but they also came back to life and created miracles in sales.
When Liu Meiyun's business becomes bigger and she has enough money in her pocket, she will definitely go to TV stations to place advertisements.
If you are reluctant to spend money on advertising, you won’t be able to attract new customers.
However, this is all in the next few years.
Now, she has to deal with the director of this newspaper first.
"How about this, you guys come back in three days and we'll have a meeting to discuss it first."
The newspaper director stood up from his seat with a cup of tea and chatted for a long time, but in the end he couldn't come to any conclusion.
Yao Shunliu sighed, his mood was like a roller coaster, how happy he was just now, how disappointed he was now. In his opinion, this was the director's polite refusal.
But Liu Meiyu didn't think so. On the contrary, she was quite confident, otherwise the director would not have asked them to come back in three days.
"Did I say something wrong just now?"
After coming out of the newspaper office, Yao Shunliu remembered that he had just been interrupted by Liu Meiyu, and humbly asked for advice.
Liu Meiyu nodded, "If we had just given him that fake collar, he would have been kicked out before he could finish his tea."
"Not really?" Yao Shunliu stopped, unable to believe it. It was just a few dollars and not that expensive.
"No matter how expensive it is, if you give it to him at that time, its nature will change. And when dealing with people, besides being polite and courteous, you also have to consider the person, the situation and the occasion."
Liu Meiyu didn't know how to explain it to Yao Shunliu. Anyway, when dealing with people and discussing matters, vision and prediction are very important, and he has to experience and comprehend these things slowly on his own.
She also fell many times before she was able to achieve this level of skill.
During the three days of waiting for the news, Liu Meiyu was not idle at home.
The triplets will be entering junior high school in the second half of the year. Except for the eldest son, whose grades are of no concern, the second and third sons have been experiencing ups and downs, with grades more volatile than an electrocardiogram.
"Where are the three of them?"
Liu Meiyu came out of the kitchen after cleaning up and saw the three boys who had just finished their meal in the living room. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared again. She was just about to check how they were doing with their extracurricular vocabulary memorization.
"Let's go to Tiantian's house!" The old man sat on the sofa, pushed his reading glasses, and replied before Lu Changzheng.
Lu Changzheng nodded, but couldn't help complaining, "Yes, they ran away as soon as you entered the kitchen. They were probably afraid that you would check their work."
The old man glared at Lu Changzheng, and through the lenses of his reading glasses, his eyes clearly said: Try to please your wife instead of selling out your own son.
"They all brought their homework with them, so they will have finished it when they come back, don't worry." The old man covered for his great-grandson.
Liu Meiyun took off her apron and said in disbelief: "I'll go take a look."
New Year's later, Political Commissar Zhou's family moved from the island to the military compound. Tiantian has grown up now and is in the same class with the three boys in their family. She will also go to junior high school next year.
But I heard from Political Commissar Zhou that Tiantian doesn't like studying very much. She has become wild on the island. She climbs trees to pick fruits in the summer and rolls in the snow in the winter. She has to be urged to do her homework. What's more troublesome is that she is sometimes braver than boys and never shows any fear when fighting with others on the island.
Liu Meiyu couldn't believe that a girl who was so sweet and cute when she was a child had grown up to be described by Political Commissar Zhou and his wife as if she were her own son.
Mainly when the family just moved in, when people came to visit their home, Liu Meiyu saw that Tiantian had not changed much from when she was a child, still with a round face, big dark eyes, and looked cute and well-behaved.
When Liu Meiyu arrived at Political Commissar Zhou's house, she was about to knock on the door when she heard the sound of a TV coming from inside.
It is indeed true. It is impossible to expect a top student to motivate three poor students to do their homework obediently.
She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. After waiting patiently for two minutes, the door opened.
"Aunt Meiyun."
Zhou Tiantian was wearing a replica military uniform, looking very heroic, with a wooden pistol given by her grandfather on her waist and a red star hat on her head. When she saw Liu Meiyu standing at the door, she called out to her politely and smiled sweetly at her. Her face was chubby like a baby, and she looked very cute, but her eyes seemed a little guilty.
"Tiantian, where are your parents? Auntie will bring you some fruit."
"My parents went to the playground for a walk!" Tiantian replied with a smile.
Liu Meiyu couldn't help but rub the little girl's head. She felt that the little girl even spoke sweetly, not as wild as Political Commissar Zhou said.
Walking into Political Commissar Zhou's home and looking over towards the sound of the TV, Liu Meiyu suddenly paused.
She saw her second son and youngest son tied to a bench with bed sheets, each with an apple stuffed in his mouth. The difference was that only half of the apple was left in Xiaobao's mouth.
Her eldest son was sitting on the sofa in Political Commissar Zhou's house, staring at the TV screen.
The TV was playing the recently popular domestic TV series "Eighteen Years in the Enemy Camp".
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Mom, they are playing Ghost Rider." Lu Dabao took the time to turn around and explain to Liu Meiyu.
The corners of Liu Meiyu's mouth twitched, and seeing that Erbao was about to drool, she went over and took the apple from him.
"Mom, Tiantian is teaching us how to untie the rope. Uncle Zhu from the island taught her! She is so good that she can even untie a knot!" Lu Erbao looked at Zhou Tiantian with admiration.
Liu Meiyun: "..."
Xiaobao beside him ate the apple in two bites and said, "Yes, Mom, do you want to learn? I'll teach you when I learn it."
Liu Meiyun: "..."
"Dabao, why don't you have a piece?" Liu Meiyu held back her rising blood pressure, thinking that among her three sons, there must be one who is not stupid.
Lu Dabao turned around, his expression and eyes were exactly the same as Liu Meiyun's, looking at the two brothers as if they were idiots: "If it can be untied, it's not a dead knot, and the one you two tied cannot be untied by yourself, Tiantian just got the steps wrong."
"Impossible!" Zhou Tiantian held her head high and had no doubt about her skills.
Lu Dabao didn't waste time talking to her. He just pulled over the extra bed sheet and tied her hands the same way Zhou Tiantian had done before: "Is this the way you tied it just now correct?"
"That's right! That's how I tied it!" Zhou Tiantian's face was full of confidence.
Lu Dabao nodded with a cool expression: "Then solve one for me."
“…”
Obviously, after a 35-minute episode of the TV series was over, Lu Dabao found it boring and dragged his mother back home, while Zhou Tiantian, Erbao and Xiaobao were still struggling to untie the rope...
Liu Meiyu was speechless after seeing this.
Now she finally understood why Political Commissar Zhou and his wife wanted to go out for a walk...
Staying at home can easily lead to high blood pressure.
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