Chapter 266 Traveling back from the modern times to the 21st year of the Republic of China

Two rows of flower pots occupied the best position on the balcony, one row was planted with begonias and the other row was planted with pansies.

With sufficient sunlight and water, in just four or five days, on the day of the Shanghai Girls' High School Entrance Examination, many seeds had sprouted tender buds from the soil.

Ye Heqi stood in front of the flower pots, poking this and tapping that with her index finger.

Not bad, not bad, the seeds sprouted today, which must be a good sign.

It seems that they also think that she can get into the top three.

With the blessings given by the seeds, Ye Heqi came to the examination room with Yao Rong in a heroic and high-spirited manner.

The examination room is located inside the school.

Because the number of applicants is not large, the admission method adopted by the girls' high school is the pass system. As long as the score reaches the passing line, you can enter the school.

Ye Heqi has been studying very hard during this period. After receiving the test paper, she started answering questions and almost didn't encounter any questions that could stump her.

There are a few additional questions at the end of the test paper, which test a wide range of subjects and cover a lot of subject knowledge.

This may be a bit confusing for other candidates, but for Ye Heqi, the nine-year compulsory education is not in vain.

The girls' school reads the papers very quickly. The next morning, the results were announced. Ye Heqi ranked first with a score exceeding the full score.

Fan Xiangxue handed her the admission letter: "You are the only candidate who answered all the additional questions correctly."

Ye Heqi smiled without too much pride: "Thank you, Teacher Fan, I will work harder in the future."

Back home, Yao Rong had already prepared the meal, all of which were Ye Heqi's favorites.

Ye Heqi handed Yao Rong the admission letter, and Yao Rong's face was full of smiles: "I knew that Heqi would be fine."

"By the way, I made a crossbody bag for you, and some small ornaments for decoration. You can keep it for your own use, or give it to your classmates."

These small ornaments are free, but the style is unique and rarely seen outside.

It is very suitable to be given to classmates as a meeting gift.

Ye Heqi happily accepted it and asked Yao Rong how the cheongsam was made.

***

After finishing her work, Bei Lin left the newspaper office and took a rickshaw to the downstairs of Yao Rong's house.

Just as she was about to go upstairs, she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Ah Lin, wait for me."

Looking back, Fan Xiangxue just got off the rickshaw.

"Xiangxue, you are here too?" Bei Lin said with a smile.

Fan Xiangxue smiled and said, "Yes, I haven't seen Yao Rong for a long time since we parted at the salon last time. So, as soon as I heard that I was going to be invited to dinner, I came here."

Bei Lin and Fan Xiangxue went upstairs together.

Bei Lin asked, "Yao Rong suddenly invited us to her home for dinner. Is there any happy event?"

Fan Xiangxue said, "It should be to celebrate Heqi's admission to the girls' school."

After hearing about Ye Heqi's grades from Fan Xiangxue, Bei Lin also believed Fan Xiangxue's guess.

So when the door opened, they didn't notice anything unusual when they saw Yao Rong for the first time.

It was not until they sat down on the sofa and took the tea handed to them by Yao Rong that they looked at Yao Rong's clothes in surprise.

The whole dress was made of black cloud pattern fabric, and the hem was as long as the middle of the calf.

Compared with the previous clothes without waistline design, the cheongsam has a smooth waistline, the collar is still a high collar, and the sleeves are inverted large sleeves.

Lace lace is sewn on the edge of the cuffs as an embellishment.

This dress not only retains the original traditional clothing elements, but also avoids the shortcomings of the original clothing that is bulky and cumbersome. It boldly shows the graceful curves of women, but without any sense of frivolity. Instead, it highlights Yao Rong's gentle and elegant temperament to the fullest.

Yao Rong sat opposite Bei Lin and Fan Xiangxue, picked up the cup and took a sip of tea, then asked with a chuckle: "What do you think?"

If Fan Xiangxue showed surprise, then Bei Lin showed delight.

"Is this the cheongsam that Heqi mentioned?"

Ye Heqi came out of the kitchen with a spatula in her hand. She had been busy in the kitchen just now. "Yes, Editor-in-Chief Bei, do you think this style of clothing can meet your requirements?"

Bei Lin praised her generously: "Yes. Very much."

"This dress not only abandons the top and skirt, but also conforms to the female aesthetics, and also removes the cumbersomeness and cumbersomeness, making it easier to get up, lie down and move." "

The best thing is that I see a lot of ethnic elements in it. These elements instantly distinguish the cheongsam from the dress."

Some time ago, the Women's Times was discussing the reform of contemporary women's clothing. At that time, Bei Lin was thinking, what kind of clothes can meet these needs at the same time.

Now, the answer is perfectly presented in front of her.

Fan Xiangxue's compliment was even more direct: "If I were a customer, I would be happy to buy a few sets of clothes like this to wear."

This kind of clothes is decent and beautiful, not only suitable for daily travel, but also suitable for attending various important occasions.

Yao Rong's eyes curved slightly: "I feel relieved when I hear you say that."

The fillings for the dumplings have been prepared, and several people sat together, making dumplings while chatting about the follow-up arrangements.

There are two ways to do clothing business these days.

The first way is to open a tailoring shop.

This kind of shop is very small in scale, mainly helping regular customers to customize clothes.

The advantage is that Yao Rong can run a good shop alone; the disadvantage is that the output cannot keep up and the profit is very small.

Clothing styles are actually very easy to "copy".

Once the cheongsam is released and becomes popular, countless people will follow suit.

Even if Yao Rong's shop is the first to design the cheongsam, if the production volume cannot keep up, customers can't wait for several months or even half a year for a dress, right?

The second way is to open a clothing factory.

Looking back at the history of the Republic of China for more than 30 years, the textile industry is a well-deserved pillar industry. There are countless textile factories of all sizes in Shanghai.

As a downstream industry of textile factories, clothing factories lack core competitiveness.

Those wealthy families are not short of money, and prefer to find tailors to come to their homes for custom-made clothes, or go to buy Western-style clothes.

Most of those who are willing to buy ready-made clothes directly are middle-class and lower-class people.

If you want to harvest this market, the price of ready-made clothes cannot be too high.

In this way, the profit of clothing is naturally reduced.

The advantages of opening a clothing factory are very obvious, and the production volume can keep up. As the first person to eat crabs, Yao Rong will definitely make a lot of money from this.

But the disadvantages are also obvious, with large investments and high risks. After the clothing factory has reaped the first wave of dividends from cheongsam, if it cannot introduce new products, it will inevitably be difficult to continue.

The pros and cons of these two paths are clear at a glance.

Yao Rong's choice is of course to

take over a clothing factory and then start his own factory.

"Heqi and I have discussed this."

"No matter how bad our situation is, it won't be worse than when we just escaped from the Ye Mansion."

"This clothing factory is just an attempt. If the attempt is successful, everyone will be happy."

"If the attempt fails, just think of it as us paying tuition."

Ye Heqi nodded.

The eyes inherited from Yao Rong would always unconsciously widen slightly when looking at others.

So the way she looked at people always appeared sincere and firm.

With a kind of recklessness of a newborn who is not afraid of cows, yaks and tigers, there is also a courage that is not afraid of thousands of dangers.

After all, what is there to be afraid of?

She didn't know why she traveled back more than a hundred years ago. She

also didn't know what the meaning of her travel was.

She couldn't see that far, nor could she see through the trajectory of fate.

But it doesn't matter if she can't see through it. Anyway, these don't affect her every step.

Because she is standing on the shoulders of giants.

The advantage she has is that she has spanned a hundred years of information gap.

Only time can give answers to many things in this world. Fortunately, she glimpsed the correct answers for the next hundred years.

When she was trapped in the Ye Mansion, this sense of separation was the source of her pain.

But when she escaped from the Ye Mansion, the world was vast and this soul separation became a gift from fate.

She used this gift to help her mother complete her awakening.

Next, she will use this gift to do more things.

——Let's start by opening a clothing factory and recruiting female employees.

"Editor-in-Chief Bei, Teacher Fan, do you know any clothing factories that are planning to sell in the near future?"

"Also, do you know any women who are willing to work in my textile factory?"

"We offer a high salary, and there will definitely be no problems of withholding employees' wages or delaying wages."

"It would be best if you have experience working in a clothing factory before. If not, it doesn't matter. We can provide pre-job training. But those with experience will definitely get more salary."

Bei Lin and Fan Xiangxue looked at each other.

Originally, they were still worried whether this step was too fast and too big, but after listening to the mother and daughter, this worry completely disappeared.

If you have the courage to lose in a row, what else is there to be afraid of?

Bei Lin smiled: "When I was reporting on women's clothing before, I knew a lot of people in this field. I can help with the transfer of clothing factories and the recruitment of female workers."

Fan Xiangxue was also very straightforward: "There are many procedures to open a factory. If there is no acquaintance to help, you may take a lot of detours. I happen to know the wife of the president of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce. Her daughter used to be my student. She should give me this face."

Yao Rong was very grateful for this.

She knew that Bei Lin and Fan Xiangxue had no shortage of money to buy clothes, and she was willing to help.

——The vast majority of upward channels in this world are firmly controlled by men. It is not easy for women to receive education, and it is even more difficult to make a career. If they don't help each other, when will the world improve?

But it is one thing that they have enough, and it is another thing whether Yao Rong expresses it or not.

Giving without any return, even if it is voluntary, will easily chill others' enthusiasm.

Yao Rong's way of thanking is also very simple and rough.

When the clothing factory is up and running, she will buy all the clothes that Bei Lin and Fan Xiangxue will wear this year!

In the future, if they don't buy all the clothes themselves, they will definitely be tailor-made at cost price!

***

After seeing off the guests, Ye Heqi sat in the living room, thinking back to those messy thoughts just now, and suddenly laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" Yao Rong closed the door and turned to look at Ye Heqi.

Ye Heqi originally wanted to deny it, but when the words came to her lips, looking at Yao Rong's gentle eyes, Ye Heqi inexplicably developed a desire to confide.

After all, the person in front of her is the person she is closest to and trusts the most in this world.

Ye Heqi pulled Yao Rong to sit on the sofa, with his head gently resting on Yao Rong's knees: "Mom, I've been conceiving a new novel recently."

"The last novel I wrote had you as the protagonist. So this novel, I plan to make myself the protagonist."

Yao Rong's heart moved slightly, and followed Ye Heqi's words and asked: "What is the subject of the novel?"

Ye Heqi continued: "In the tenth year of the Republic of China, that is, in 1920, Ye Heqi, who was loved by her mother, traveled through time and space a hundred years later and became Ye He, an orphan abandoned by her parents in 2020."

Yao Rong thought to herself that as expected, her voice slowed down a lot, and her fingers rhythmically combed Ye Heqi's scattered hair, allowing Ye Heqi to relax better.

"Are you going to write about China a hundred years later through the eyes of the protagonist Ye He?"

Ye Heqi's eyes lit up and she said in surprise, "Mom, you guessed it right!"

After a pause, Ye Heqi's voice became low again, "But I'm struggling with another problem now. It's about the setting of the novel."

The sun was setting, and the afterglow was pouring in from the window, stretching the figures of Yao Rong and Ye Heqi.

Yao Rong gently covered Ye Heqi's eyes to prevent the sun from shining directly into her eyes.

After his vision was blocked, the voice in his heart became clearer. Ye Heqi recounted his inner confusion: "I want to name the novel "Zhuang Zhou Mengdie"."

"I have told this story to mother before. Do you remember it?"

"I remember it." Yao Rong replied.

Ye Heqi smiled and continued, "Zhuang Zhou Mengdie, Zhuang Zhou Mengdie, am I Zhuang Zhou or the butterfly? Am I the Ye He of the future, or the Ye Heqi of the Republic of China? Did I stray into this era, or did I stray into the future?"

"I feel like the protagonist in the story seems to lack a place for her soul to settle. She has existed in both worlds, and she is like a visitor to both worlds. Sometimes when I stop to think, I always feel like I am drifting."

Ye Heqi spoke out all the confusion in her heart.

In the end, even she felt that it was too complicated and that this question was difficult to answer.

So she felt like she had given up on herself.

"Forget it, mother, I'm just talking nonsense, just listen to it casually, don't take it seriously."

At this moment, a familiar voice dispelled Ye Heqi's confusion.

Yao Rong said: "In fact, I think the name of the protagonist has already explained her fate."

"What?" Ye Heqi slightly moved Yao Rong's palm away, propped up half of her body with her hands, and looked at Yao Rong.

Yao Rong did not immediately explain the confusion, but made a new request: "Where is the longevity lock that your great-grandfather gave you, go and find it."

"Oh, oh, oh, okay." Ye Heqi jumped off the sofa and ran barefoot into the house.

Yao Rong couldn't help shouting behind her: "Put on your shoes! The ground is so cool!"

"Oh, it's okay, it's just a few steps." Ye Heqi ran out in a flash, still holding the longevity lock engraved with her name in her hand.

Ye Heqi didn't take much with her when she left the Ye Mansion, but this was something she would definitely take with her.

Because it was the only thing that Master Ye left for her before he died.

Yao Rong took the very heavy longevity lock and used her fingertips to feel the three words "Ye Heqi" deeply engraved on it.

"According to what you said, the name of the protagonist in the future is Ye He, and the name in the Republic of China is Ye Heqi, right?"

"I think this story should not be called "Zhuang Zhou Mengdie", because the protagonist of the story is not a butterfly, but a fairy crane."

"This fairy crane flew to the future and became Ye He."

"But she was just a passer-by on the way to the future, so she flew away, flew from the future to the Republic of China, settled in the Republic of China, and became Ye Heqi of the Republic of China."

Ye Heqi looked at Yao Rong in shock. It was the first time she heard such an explanation.

But how to say it, it's too reasonable!

The logic is very tight.

"Also, I remember you said that the protagonist will be an orphan abandoned by his parents in the future, right?"

"Family ties are the bond of most people in this world. The protagonist has no ties and concerns in the future, and all her ties are left in the Republic of China."

Yao Rong smiled slightly, staring at Ye Heqi.

She gently held Ye Heqi's hand, as if holding a precious treasure: "Heqi, am I not your anchor in the world?" Does

the soul lack a foothold?

Is there always a sense of drifting?

It's not like that.

Whichever world I am in, you are from that world.

I am your anchor in the world.