Chapter 8: Operation Beauty
As Zhou Huichang listened carefully to Li Sishi's new method for earning pocket money, her eyes widened even more.
Before Li Sishi could finish speaking, an excited Zhou Huichang grabbed Li Sishi's hand: "Cousin! We can give it a try! If we can really succeed, we can definitely make lots and lots of money!"
In the past, she would never have thought of such a method—although the neighbors all said that she and her brother were good-looking, she herself was not very satisfied with her current appearance. Putting aside her nearsightedness and slightly plump figure due to puberty, her height of less than 1.6 meters alone had caused her to suffer a lot from her height.
How can a "model" like her convince others?
But Cousin Sishi is different. She's only a year older than them, but she's already almost 1.7 meters tall, and she's tall and slender. She was recognized as the school beauty as soon as she came back. Even many of their classmates would go to see her during breaks and imitate her behavior, as if they could somehow get some of her charm...
With my cousin's reputation as a living advertisement, this "beauty campaign" that teaches others how to match clothes, helps them choose and buy clothes, and teaches them how to pose is sure to be very popular!
Seeing Zhou Huichang's excited expression, Li Sishi smiled and continued to tell her some details, such as limiting it to once or twice a week, not bringing in too many "customers" at once, and using limited quantity to raise their seller's market, etc. Zhou Huichang nodded repeatedly like a chicken pecking at rice.
“I understand what you mean, cousin. This arrangement can be done on the weekend, so it won’t affect our studies. We can also use excuses like going to a classmate’s house to study to keep my mom in line…” Zhou Huichang thought about it more and more and felt that the plan was brilliant.
"It's good that you understand. By the way, do you have any suitable candidates on your side?" Li Sishi asked with a smile.
"Yes, of course! Plenty! Lots of them!" Zhou Huichang patted her chest confidently, recalling her female classmates who used to sneak peeks at her cousin and then imitate her. "Don't worry, I've got this covered. Cousin, just wait for the business to come to you!"
My older cousin is supposed to "teach" people, so she can't lower herself to attract customers. That's when she needs to step in!
Seeing that Zhou Huichang had already started flipping through the phone book with great interest, Li Sishi breathed a slight sigh of relief.
The 21st Miss Hong Kong pageant seems to be more than two years away, but given her current foundation, if she doesn't prepare well in advance, she could easily make a mistake and fail.
The law fulfills dreams.
Having experience in beauty pageants, Li Sishi naturally understands that participating in a beauty pageant is not a rash decision, and that one can rely on their looks to dominate the competition and win the championship.
The Miss Hong Kong pageant takes several months from the preliminary rounds to the final competition. Many expenses are not included, and most of the time, contestants need to prepare their own clothing. Without some money on hand, they would be in a miserable situation.
The two women, mother and daughter, still rely on the help of their uncle and aunt. In addition, given the aunt's personality of believing that all other professions are inferior except for studying, it will be much more difficult to persuade her to participate in a beauty pageant than in her previous life.
Moreover, her uncle and aunt had already helped her and her mother enough, and her mother's savings weren't much. She couldn't possibly do what she did in her previous life... throw a tantrum and beg her mother for money to participate in the beauty pageant.
Therefore, now is the time to try to solve the problem of campaign expenses while there is still an opportunity to do so.
Before Luo Xuan's accident, she had already started thinking about this: firstly, it could solve her own funding problem, and secondly, it could allow her cousin to access more model cases and gradually get to the real "design" stage.
She didn't have the magical luck described in later novels, nor did she possess any sharp skills to use future knowledge to make a fortune or start a business. Given the limitations of age and capital, she was able to reunite with relatives who had never faced such dangers, become a promising and outstanding student based on her memories of two lifetimes, and even have more than two years to prepare for the beauty pageant she had been longing for in both lifetimes... Heaven had already been very kind to her.
The reason she chose this scheme to make money was not to deceive naive young girls: in her previous life, from entering the entertainment industry to entering the circle of wealthy wives, she worked hard to learn a lot of fashion and matching knowledge, and even gained the initial qualification to integrate into the circle of wealthy wives by helping people "makeover".
While a student's wardrobe can't compare to that of a wealthy woman, there are expensive and affordable options. The true essence of styling isn't about brands or prices, but about achieving harmony.
Most secondary school girls in the port city are required to wear school uniforms from Monday to Friday according to the school rules. So on the weekend, they are like birds released from their cages, dancing happily in colorful clothes.
As instructed by Li Sishi, Zhou Huichang had arranged to meet five female classmates who aspired to further their "beauty" aspirations. He then used the excuse of going to a classmate's house to study to meet Li Sishi.
He set off openly and honestly with a girl carrying big and small bags.
The meeting place was chosen at one of the girls' homes. After confirming that no one in the family was home, the group couldn't contain their excitement and dumped all their clothes, big and small, onto the mat that had been laid out.
We are preparing to launch this "Beauty Campaign".
After carefully distinguishing the characteristics of each of the five people, Li Sishi and Zhou Huichang began searching through the corresponding piles of clothes.
"Okay, stand like this, chin up a little, hands here..."
"Come on, try this outfit on. Changchang, bring me that light blue silk scarf..."
"Shorter lengths would better flatter your leg shape..."
While teaching styling tips, Li Sishi also managed to get several clothes alteration orders for her cousin. She was incredibly busy all afternoon.
After discovering that their "clothing inventory" was missing those classic, foolproof pieces that Li Sishi had mentioned when teaching them how to style clothes, the five girls discussed it and decided to book a "shopping reference time" for tomorrow.
Seeing how cooperative these girls were, Li Sishi, as a good start, organized her memories and then taught them a short, easy-to-learn yoga pose for weight loss as a free gift. In this era where information access is far less convenient and fast than in the internet age of later generations, this kind of "body shaping secret" would be too much for even many white-collar women from ordinary families, let alone middle school girls.
The girls were overjoyed by this unexpected surprise, calling her "Sister May" in a sweet and cheerful voice.
Thanks to the vigorous promotion and live demonstrations by these girls, Zhou Huichang's business appointments were pouring in. Not to mention, the girls who wanted to join the "Beauty Campaign" were also fiercely competing, afraid of being a few days slower than others in becoming beautiful...
Gradually altering clothes and buying new clothes is no longer enough to satisfy some "big clients" who have some spare cash.
So Li Sishi immediately started recommending Zhou Huichang's design and clothing production model to them, shouting out gimmicks like "tailor-made, unique, and never wearing the same clothes as someone else," and then another round of money flowing in like water from a pigsty.
However, Li Sishi would not let Zhou Huichang spend a lot of precious time to complete these design orders by hand again—both of them had to take care of their studies, otherwise it would be a loss.
Therefore, relying on Zhou Huichang's past practice of renting machines to make clothes from a tailor stall in Liaojie, Li Sishi...
They reached an agreement with Sister Hong, Aunt Lan, Aunt Fang, Aunt Xiu, and others at the tailor shop: they would provide the design orders and customer sources, the tailor shop staff would help with the processing and production, and the profits would be divided according to the agreed ratio.
In this way, except for some special or difficult solutions that Zhou Huichang had to handle herself, the processing, modification and new customization were all outsourced to others. Zhou Huichang was only responsible for design and drawing and communication with all parties, which saved a lot of effort and ensured that she had enough time to study.
As for Li Sishi herself, she is also making the most of her time to study hard: although she has "studied for more than 20 years in total, including her time in high school, she still needs to put in a lot of hard work and sleep to achieve the excellent results she wants in the high school entrance examination."
A busy and fulfilling year seems to have passed in the blink of an eye.
That weekend, my cousin Zhou Huiguang had extra training, and Zhou Huichang was busy rushing to finish several newly received design orders, so the task of picking up Luo Xuan, who was on vacation, was handed over to Li Sishi.
Speaking of which, Luo Xuan was considered to be "doing quite well" inside. The labor work in the correctional facility was paid according to the type of work. Ordinary people without any skills would do the lowest-level jobs, such as cleaning and sweeping, or simple manual labor that anyone could do by looking at them, and would receive the lowest level of wages.
However, Luo Xuan's family owned a clothing store, and he himself worked there after leaving home. He had picked up a considerable amount of sewing skills through this experience, so the work he did there was considered "high-end."
Working on a sewing machine pays more and the work is easier.
Before Zhou Huichang outsourced her garment manufacturing, she and Zhou Huiguang visited Luo Xuan once. Afterwards, she was very envious of Luo Xuan's "sewing machine freedom"...
This left Li Sishi speechless: Cousin, you shouldn't be envious of this!
However, it must be said that Zhou Huichang really loves making clothes. If she didn't know that studying is more important now, she might not have been willing to leave Sister Hong's small stall full of sewing machines at all.
Recalling this amusing incident, Li Sishi couldn't help but smile, and then waved to Luo Xuan as he came out.
For a young man like him who has committed a minor offense and has a good attitude in admitting his mistakes, taking one or two vacations a year is still within the acceptable range. So, feeling that he would be out soon, Luo Xuan chose to take a vacation on his birthday, planning to spend the day with his girlfriend and the evening with his family.
He divided his hard-earned salary into three parts, one for his parents and one for his girlfriend.
In order to surprise his parents and girlfriend, Luo Xuan also...
He hadn't mentioned his family visit leave beforehand, so he arranged for Zhou Huiguang to pick him up today.
He was scheming quite cleverly, and as he spoke, he opened his handbag to show Li Sishi what he was doing.
Driven by curiosity, Li Sishi glanced at the document as he suggested and immediately estimated the amount: indeed, while it was called a "high" salary, it was only relative to the correctional facility and was still considerably lower than the average salary outside.
He also divided his salary into three parts—one-third of his annual salary, which, based on current prices, would only allow him to buy his girlfriend a slightly exquisite little trinket and then have a decent lunch.
Knowing that Li Sishi was temporarily picking him up in place of his cousin, Luo Xuan asked her to use her "girlish mindset" to help him decide what gift to give to his girlfriend who had been waiting for him for a year.
As they walked, Li Sishi took out the birthday gift that Zhou Huiguang had prepared from her bag.
Upon receiving the gift from Li Sishi and opening it, Luo Xuan couldn't help but laugh out loud, clutching the thin red envelope: "That Guangzai guy... he's so lazy!"
"It's good enough that someone still remembers your birthday. Look at your so-called brothers, which one of them has ever given you a gift? They only come a few times a year. Only my cousin and your parents come twice a month, rain or shine," Li Sishi said irritably.
"They have to make a living and take care of my girlfriend..." Before he could finish his sentence, Luo Xuan, who was walking beside him, fell silent, as if a record player had jammed.
"What's wrong?" Li Sishi subconsciously turned her head to look, only to see him staring intently at a young couple walking out of a boutique across the street, their faces a colorful mix of pale, red, and purple.
No, really...
Before Li Sishi could think further, Luo Xuan, like an old cat whose tail had been stepped on, gritted his teeth and charged across the street.
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