Chapter 91 Chapter 91 Hongmian Garment Factory
Nancheng itself is a large city, but arriving in Guangshi still astounded Yu Guodong. Apart from anything else, the sheer number of people here was truly overwhelming. The train station exit was practically teeming with people. This feeling was even more pronounced once he boarded a taxi and saw the endless stream of cars and people traversing the wide streets.
Especially, although the people here are all in a hurry, they always seem to have a kind of vitality that is different from people in other cities. Everyone is energetic and full of hope and passion.
“This building is really tall!”
"There are so many cars on the road. Aren't those red and green ones taxis?"
"Hey, hey, hey, that person, is that a foreigner? Oh my god, he looks so different from us!"
…
A grown man kept muttering all the way, and the taxi driver who was driving them was in a good mood and occasionally interrupted him.
"The most popular ones are from Baiyun Automobile Company. They were the first taxi company to open after the reform and opening up. They did a great job, and many other companies have followed suit in the past two years. We do have a lot of taxis, but it's still not enough. By the time of the Canton Fair, the supply will be even tighter."
"Yes, they are foreigners. There are more and more foreigners here these days. They look all sorts of weird. Some are frighteningly white, some are frighteningly black. Just tell me, they are all human beings, how can there be so many differences?"
…
Liu Mianmian and the others didn't interrupt much. Jiang Hongmei and Liu Anmin were similar to Yu Guodong when they first arrived last year, but now that they're familiar with him, they've gotten used to it. Liu Mianmian, on the other hand, had seen him so many times in her past life that she didn't feel anything.
In her previous life, she had been to Guangzhou. Her company came there to attend the Canton Fair. She was busy every day and had to squeeze in time to have breakfast.
Yu Guodong felt that Guangshi was prosperous, but Liu Mianmian felt that the Guangshi before her was very different from what she remembered. In her memory, Guangshi was full of tall buildings and exuded the atmosphere of a modern metropolis everywhere, unlike the city before her, which was still in the initial stage of development.
But it does look much more prosperous than other cities.
The new wholesale market has opened. They bought five stalls before, but now they keep two and rent out three.
The garment factory can actually only be considered a garment workshop now, and it is located not far from the wholesale factory.
I rented a large house from a local. It has three floors in total. The third floor is for living, and the first and second floors are workshops.
In fact, Liu Anmin has been here for so long, and what he envies most is the locals. The houses of each family are not counted by rooms, but by buildings.
Take the landlord of their clothing factory, for example. They own five buildings. While it's easier for those who rent them as factories, as they pay the rent all at once, three of the buildings are rented out to individuals, so collecting the rent every month is a real struggle.
That being said, if he had so many houses, he would be rushing around collecting rent every day.
"This is our Hongmian Garment Factory." After getting off the taxi, Liu Anmin happily introduced it to Liu Mianmian and the others.
He was really happy. More than a year ago, he was still worried about his daily livelihood. More than a year later, he had become the deputy director of a garment factory. Not only that, he also invested in wholesale stalls and clothing stores. His net worth had long surpassed those millionaires in the newspapers.
Sometimes when he lay in bed at night and thought about it, he couldn't believe it was true.
Liu Mianmian looked around the garment factory. Overall, it was a bit simple, but at that time, most small processing factories in Guangzhou were like this.
At that time, there was no distinction between industrial and residential areas; these small processing plants were set up in residential areas, blending in with the surrounding residential buildings. She had just seen an elderly woman carrying a vegetable basket enter the building next door.
But she was actually a little curious: "Although ours is not as noisy as those factories with large machines, with so many sewing machines running, it is still quite loud. Do the residents next door have any objections?"
Liu Anmin led them inside and said, "Well, this area is full of rental houses. It's a bit noisy, but there are many processing factories here, so the rent is cheap."
Just tolerating a little noise can save a lot of rent, and he would be happy to do it if he were in his shoes.
All right.
Liu Mianmian thought with a rare sense of envy that she had forgotten that there wasn't much else in Guangzhou except for the landlady and the landlord. These people probably lived somewhere else. This area was rented out anyway, so no matter how it was built, it wouldn't affect them.
After visiting the factory, Liu Mianmian and Yu Guodong came out again with their luggage.
Liu Anmin helped book a room at a nearby hotel. Yu Guodong actually thought it unnecessary to spend the money; he could just find a place to stay in the garment factory. However, since Liu Mianmian wanted to stay at the hotel, he had to accompany her. They were unfamiliar with the place and might be in danger.
They had dinner at a nearby restaurant that served local cuisine. The Cantonese dim sum was very authentic. Liu Mianmian hadn't eaten this kind of snacks since she traveled to this era, so it was no surprise that she was full.
The public security in Guangzhou was not very good at that time, so they did not dare to go out. After dinner, they returned to the hotel. Liu Mianmian was also very tired after running around for several days. She called Shen Weizhou at the hotel front desk and went back to her room to sleep.
The next morning, when Liu Mianmian just walked out of the room, she unexpectedly met the round-faced girl Fang Yunyun and the melon-faced girl Wang Qian whom she had met on the train before.
Fang Yunyun was pleasantly surprised: "Sister Mianmian, so you're staying in this hotel too?"
Wang Qian also smiled at Liu Mianmian.
Liu Mianmian smiled and said, "Yes, this is really a coincidence."
Fang Yunyun took the initiative to invite Liu Mianmian to have breakfast together. Liu Mianmian knocked on Yu Guodong's door, and then the four of them went out together.
After spending two days and one night together, Liu Mianmian had some understanding of them.
Fang Yunyun's brother is a good cook. After the reform and opening up, he ran away from his hometown and started selling boxed lunches with others. His business is quite good. Fang Yunyun just graduated from a technical secondary school and was assigned a job in her hometown. However, she had previously come to Guangzhou with her brother and didn't want to stay in her hometown. She wanted to find a job in Guangzhou.
Wang Qian and Fang Yunyun are classmates. She didn't say much about her situation, but Liu Mianmian guessed a little.
Her personality was probably caused by her environment. She might not have a good relationship with her family. It's even possible that she ran away without telling her family this time.
Because sometimes when she was walking on the road, she would subconsciously look back, as if she was afraid that someone would catch up with her.
There are many factories nearby, and Fang Yunyun's brother sells boxed lunches nearby, so it's not entirely a coincidence that they met here.
However, speaking of coincidences, there are even more coincidental things.
According to Fang Yunyun, before they came here, her brother had actually found a factory for them, which was the Dinghao Garment Factory not far from the hotel.
Then yesterday afternoon when they went there, they actually ran into the man with high cheekbones on the train. That man turned out to be the nephew of the workshop director of the garment factory, who came there to work as a junior manager. The most disgusting thing was that the factory arranged the same office for them.
They backed out on the spot.
Especially after seeing the man's smug and obscene expression.
He could be so unscrupulous in front of strangers on the train. They were in the same office with him, and he had a relative who was a leader in the factory. It went without saying that this man would be even worse.
The two of them were smart and didn't quit directly. They just found an excuse, saying that her brother was short of staff and they had to go over to help for a few days and then come back to work after the work was done.
Although there are many factories here, there are also many people looking for jobs, and jobs are not easy to find, so the factory was not afraid that they would go back on their word and agreed on the spot.
Fang Yunyun and Wang Qian planned to look for a job first. If that didn't work out, they would go to work for her brother and help sell lunch boxes.
It was only at this time that Liu Mianmian found out that the two of them were students of a textile and clothing school, who understood fabrics and dyeing and weaving techniques, and had also studied fashion design.
When she heard that they were going to look for jobs after dinner, she gave them a number and told them to try the Hongmian Garment Factory if they didn't find a job.
Before they even started looking, an opportunity came to them. Fang Yunyun and the others were naturally very happy. They thanked him again and again before leaving together.
After the two walked away, Yu Guodong couldn't help but ask, "Can they find jobs on their own?"
Originally, the job was secured for them by Fang Yunyun's brother with their academic credentials and award certificates. Dinghao Garment Factory is considered one of the larger factories in the area.
It seems that Fang Yunyun's brother was able to come to Guangzhou to make money so early and run such a prosperous business. He must be a talkative and lively person. It is no surprise that he could help them find jobs.
They themselves may not have this ability, and may be easily deceived and bullied.
Anyway, Yu Guodong felt that if his sister had this kind of personality, he would be worried even if she left the village and went to the countryside, let alone going to Guangzhou to find a job.
Liu Mianmian shook her head and laughed: "You have to give it a try, otherwise how can you make progress?"
The two little girls are actually not stupid, they are just a little timid and have soft personalities, but this can actually be developed over time.
She wanted to recruit people to the Hongmian Garment Factory, but their factory was indeed too small at the moment and could not be compared with the Dinghao Garment Factory.
It's hard to say whether they are willing or not, so it's better to let them try first. If they can find a suitable factory, she will be happy for them. If they can't find a suitable option, joining the Hongmian Garment Factory would be the best.
And this time won’t be too long.
Since they chose to stay in a hotel, it must be because Fang Yunyun's brother's place wasn't very convenient for them to stay. Since they had come here to find work, it was impossible for them to rent a house before finding a job. Staying in a hotel would cost money every day, so they would definitely move out as soon as they found a job.
When the brother and sister returned to the hotel, Jiang Hongmei and Liu Anmin were already waiting there.
They made an appointment to go to the wholesale market together today.
When it comes to clothing, style is the most important factor, followed by fabric. Fabrics are sourced from similar sources, so ultimately, style is what determines whether or not a garment sells well.
There are so many large and small clothing factories in Guangzhou. Except for some large factories that have their own designers and produce their own clothing styles every quarter, most of the patterns of other small factories are copied.
After all, there are only a few popular styles, and they are all similar. With so many wholesale stalls, it is almost transparent which style sells well and it is impossible to hide it.
Hongmian Garment Factory currently follows this model, selecting some of the more popular styles on the market, or modifying the styles from Hong Kong dramas and Hong Kong fashion magazines.
Of course, it is impossible to expand the business in this way.
So you still need a designer and your own brand.
Liu Anmin has recently been in contact with a designer from a large factory, hoping to poach her or have her work part-time as a designer at the Hongmian Garment Factory. However, the other party has not agreed and there has been no follow-up.
Although Liu Mianmian is not a fashion designer, she knows what is popular in this era and what will be popular in the next few years. Before she had her own brand, she felt that what Hongmian Garment Factory needed most was a batch of "explosive items".
Yes, a batch.
And they are divided into different grades, including fast-moving consumer goods that sell in large quantities and mid-to-high-end high-end products.
This is also the reason why they kept two wholesale stalls for themselves.
First go to the wholesale market to determine the style direction of fast-moving consumer goods, and also think about the style of high-end products.
After coming back from a walk, Liu Mianmian took out two sheets of manuscript paper and gave them to Liu Anmin during dinner, asking him to contact the designer from the big factory again and give the two sheets of manuscript paper to her. There was no need to say anything else.
Liu Anmin glanced at the manuscript paper, first his eyes widened, then he scratched his head, looking puzzled.
Unfortunately, Liu Mianmian had no intention of clearing up his confusion.
After spending two more days at the wholesale market, on the third day, when Liu Mianmian came out of the room in the morning, she saw two people standing in the corridor.
To be honest, she was a little scared.
After seeing that it was Fang Yunyun and Wang Qian, she breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "What are you doing so early in the morning?"
The two men stood there like door gods, looking neither like they had just left the room nor like they were about to leave. Liu Mianmian quickly realized: "Are you here to see me?"
But after a few days, Fang Yunyun and Wang Qian seemed to be a little different from before.
Liu Mianmian looked at the two of them and felt that they seemed a little darker and thinner. Even the light in Fang Yunyun's eyes seemed a little dimmer.
He must have suffered a lot these days.
Fang Yunyun forced a smile, her voice a little soft, and she looked unsure, "Sister Mianmian, we, we want to work at the Hongmian Garment Factory, but, but we're afraid they'll ignore us. Could you help us by giving us a heads-up first?"
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