Chapter 133 Mawangdui, you are truly an honest man.
In October, the goods from Feiyan Textile Factory had arrived in Guangzhou, and Qin Xiangxiang and others were about to take a boat to the Canton Fair.
"I'm taking Suisui with me this time, and Jinling will come along too." Qin Xiangxiang couldn't bear to be away from her daughter, so she decided to bring the one-year-old to broaden her horizons.
Little Fatty looked on with longing: "I want to go too!"
"Mom, how many days are you going? Will it just be me and Dad at home?"
Qin Xiangxiang said, "When Dad isn't home, you should take care of yourself. I'll ask Aunt Zhong Li next door to look after you. If you're afraid to be home alone, you can go to Aunt Zhong Li's house or Aunt Bai Yun's house."
Li Jianzhi: "I told their teacher that it's okay for Xiaopang to stay at school instead of going home for a while."
The chubby boy let out a pig-like scream: "I don't want to live at school!"
"I want to go to Guangzhou too!!! Mom, please ask for leave for me! I want to go to Guangzhou too!"
Li Jianzhi: "Study hard, and you'll have plenty of opportunities to go to Guangzhou in the future."
Little Fatty continued to squeal like a pig being slaughtered, and Sui Sui imitated him with two dry howls. Qin Xiang packed her luggage for herself and her daughter. Before leaving, she felt a little melancholy. She was not a person who liked to travel far. She preferred to stay at home, eating, drinking, and sleeping well.
And it's a huge headache, do we really have to communicate with foreigners?
"Can the T-shirts from our factory even sell? They're all either 'salted fish' T-shirts or Chinese character T-shirts..."
Li Jianzhi comforted her, saying, "It's good to get some orders. Besides, failure is the mother of success."
Qin Xiangxiang: "???? Is that how you comfort someone?"
“If these clothes don’t sell, cotton textiles are not hard to sell in our country. By the way, after we return from the Canton Fair, you can send someone to Hunan Province to conduct research and investigation.”
Qin Xiangxiang was stunned: "Why?"
“Mawangdui.” Li Jianzhi uttered these three words naturally. In the following 2020s, the cultural relics unearthed at Sanxingdui became a very popular topic, leading to the development of various cultural and creative products by Sanxingdui.
These Sanxingdui cultural and creative products have an extreme attraction for foreign tourists. There are countless Sanxingdui cultural and creative products, such as refrigerator magnets, gold masks, bronze mask ice cream, etc.
In the 1970s, the most popular archaeological topic was Mawangdui.
A large number of ancient textiles such as silk, gauze, brocade, and gauze were unearthed from Mawangdui. If we can make use of these and develop corresponding Mawangdui cultural and creative textiles, it could also set off an overseas trend in this era.
Like Sanxingdui, Mawangdui is a world-class discovery for scientific research. Creating Mawangdui-themed T-shirts could also generate buzz.
Qin Xiangxiang: "!!!!!!!"
"Li Jianzhi, you damned man, you're so clever!" Qin Xiangxiang was shocked. She seemed to vaguely remember that there was such a thing. In her dream, Mawangdui was indeed a hot topic. It was 1972, and the archaeological excavation of Mawangdui had attracted worldwide attention.
People from silk factories have also made special trips to Mawangdui to investigate and replicate the textile patterns unearthed from Mawangdui. When these textiles were unveiled at the Canton Fair, they caused a sensation among overseas visitors.
Qin Xiangxiang estimated that a silk factory in Shanghai had already visited and investigated Mawangdui, and planned to promote the replica Mawangdui silk products overseas at the Canton Fair next spring, causing a sensation and winning a large number of overseas orders.
“Li Jianzhi, although you are very smart, our Feiyan Textile Factory is just an ordinary textile factory, not a silk weaving factory. We don’t have that ability, we can’t afford to play this game.”
Even if Qin wanted to know that replicating the silk products from Mawangdui could cause a stir overseas, it was simply something that a small factory on a remote island like theirs could never dream of.
Li Jianzhi felt very strange: "Why?"
Most cultural and creative products are just gimmicks to fleece consumers; do they really need any complex technical components?
Qin Xiangxiang: "Are you stupid? We can't replicate it."
Li Jianzhi was stunned: "???"
"Do you think your wife has that ability? You overestimate me."
Li Jianzhi pursed his lips, paused for a moment, and said, "Wife, you are such an honest man."
Qin Xiangxiang: "???"
"I asked you to make cultural and creative products based on Mawangdui, and you actually said you wanted to replicate the silk products unearthed from Mawangdui?" Li Jianzhi couldn't help but sigh. People of this era, including his wife, were too "honest" in their thinking. This didn't seem like someone who knew how to do business.
Who will make 1:1 replicas of those cultural and creative products for you in the future?
If a silk pattern were to be replicated exactly, the resulting item would be beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Qin Xiangxiang: "Isn't that right?"
Li Jianzhi: "What I mean is, you can also print a pattern on your clothes, say it's a pattern unearthed from Mawangdui, or just add a pattern to the collar and cuffs."
“Ordinary people in our country can’t afford silk clothes, and ordinary people in other countries can’t afford silk clothes either, but buying a cotton T-shirt related to Mawangdui is something that everyone can afford.”
Li Jianzhi couldn't help but lament that people in this era didn't know how to do business, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. Many foreigners came to China for tourism, but they couldn't afford to buy traditional craft products from scenic spots.
Especially silk and embroidery products, all of which are exquisitely crafted and cost thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars, making them inaccessible to ordinary foreigners.
But in fact, the market for ordinary lower and middle-class people is also very broad.
Qin Xiangxiang suddenly realized: "I understand, you mean we should sell things under the name of Mawangdui, just something related, right?"
"Yes, many people just join in the fun. If the quality is good and the price is low, and the cost is not high, of course they are willing to buy some as souvenirs."
It's really just riding the wave of popularity!
"Okay, I'll have someone try it when I get back."
Qin Xiangxiang took her daughter Suisui with her to Guangzhou, along with Assistant He, Representative Xie, Li Jinling, Yang Zhixia, and others—a total of ten people. They traveled south by boat to Guangzhou and checked into the Guangzhou Guesthouse.
This time, I didn't have to sleep in a dormitory-style room; I slept in a double room, which cost two yuan a night—the standard travel rate. The room had a sofa and a black-and-white TV.
Qin Xiangxiang shared a room with Li Jinling. Li Jinling was extremely excited: "Sister-in-law, I have never stayed in such a nice house before. There are high-end sofas and a black and white TV."
Li Jinling circled around the television, but dared not touch it. Back in the village, it was already a great thing to be able to see a radio, let alone a television that could receive images.
Qin Xiangxiang turned on the TV. The black and white TV signal was weak, with only two channels: CCTV and the local Guangdong TV station. They usually only broadcast TV programs in the morning, noon and evening.
There were no television programs when they arrived.
Li Jinling said disappointedly, "This is so boring. Are we just going to buy this to watch snowflakes at home?"
Qin Xiangxiang: "Usually, there are exciting programs in the evening. After the news at seven o'clock, some cultural programs will be broadcast, and sometimes there will be movies, or acrobatic and song and dance performances."
"Acrobatics? That's great!"
Qin Xiang checked the TV antenna and thought it was a pity. They had come all the way to Guangzhou, but they still couldn't secretly watch Hong Kong TV dramas. It was the early 1970s, and many families had bought black and white TVs. As long as they installed a fishbone antenna, they could receive two Hong Kong TV channels.
People were already doing this in 1972 and 1973, and it was a persistent problem that could not be stopped. By the late 1970s, every household was randomly setting up antennas to receive signals.
Qin Xiangxiang and her group ate some local specialties in Guangzhou. When they returned to the guesthouse, they found an old acquaintance. Chen Shulan, the director of the silk weaving factory, was also staying at the guesthouse with her factory staff. Qin Xiangxiang and her group stayed on the third floor, while Chen Shulan and her silk weaving factory staff stayed on the second floor.
"Director Qin, we meet again." When Chen Shulan saw Qin Xiangxiang and the others, her face showed a hint of arrogance. The silk products produced by their silk weaving factory have always been hot-selling export products, and they never have to worry about selling them.
As far as Chen Shulan knew, Qin Xiangxiang's textile factory mainly produced cotton fabrics or cotton blends. In China, when people lacked food and clothing, pure cotton products were extremely precious. However, abroad, pure cotton and polyester-cotton blend clothing were considered the lowest-end textiles.
"I didn't expect your factory to be invited to the Canton Fair."
Qin Xiangxiang said, "Director Chen, I think you really have a bad memory. I remember telling you this on the phone last time."
"Oh, really? I forgot."
Chen Shulan asked curiously, "What products does your factory make? Fine cotton cloth?"
Qin Xiangxiang: "There is cotton fabric, but mainly ready-made clothing products such as T-shirts."
Chen Shulan said, "I wish you can get an order worth tens of thousands."
At that time, the Canton Fair could only receive scattered orders, mostly ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of pieces. However, seven or eight years later, Sino-foreign cooperation could be adopted, such as cooperating with Hong Kong capital to set up factories, which could circumvent the foreign trade restrictions imposed by Europe and the United States on the export of textiles to China.
Qin Xiangxiang said, "Director Chen, I also wish you all the best in securing more orders."
In this guesthouse, besides the two factory directors, there was another person from Sany Cotton Textile Factory, Liao Shoucheng, the factory director of Sany Cotton Textile Factory. This Director Liao took the initiative to warm up to Qin Xiangxiang.
Director Liao clearly didn't care much about the Canton Fair, because cotton textiles were mainly for domestic use and silk products were mainly for export. The cotton textile factory didn't care about export trade; it was just there to join in the fun.
Factory Director Liao said to Qin Xiangxiang, "We mainly deal in cotton textiles, so there's no need for us to compete in the foreign trade market. It's a thankless task and doesn't benefit us at all."
“Our cotton cloth is so valuable in the country that it’s like an emperor’s daughter who never has to worry about getting married. Why should we sell it cheaply to foreign countries?”
For cotton textile factories, engaging in foreign trade offers no real benefit. Domestic operations provide stable annual profits, and domestic consumers are less demanding, while foreign customers are picky and demanding.
As for foreign exchange? It's good to earn foreign exchange for the country, but why bother keeping so much foreign exchange for your own factory? If you can sell it, sell it; if you can't, then forget it.
Textile foreign trade companies want to increase their foreign exchange earnings, while textile factory leaders like Director Liao tend to focus on the domestic market, lacking ambition and simply maintaining stable production according to the national plan every year... This has been how things have been for many years.
Domestic cotton fabric sales are very comfortable.
There were many people like Director Liao. It wasn't until 1984, when the country thoroughly formulated policies to provide factories with benefits such as "export tax rebates and foreign exchange retention," that many people changed their mindset and became enthusiastic about foreign trade.
However, in reality, textile factories run by people like Director Liao might not survive until 1984. While domestic cotton textile factories are living comfortably now, after 1977 or 1988, with the opening up of market competition, many unambitious textile factories suffered losses due to poor management.
In 1983, cloth rationing was completely abolished nationwide, and the market was opened up to supply. As a result, many textile factories could not sell their textile products and continued to suffer losses.
In the 1980s and 1990s, many textile factories suffered losses and went bankrupt due to poor management, and were forced to close down, resulting in mass layoffs and unpaid leave for workers.
In the early 1990s, many textile factories went bankrupt and closed down. In fact, these textile factories had started to lose money year by year around 1984. After seven or eight years of continuous losses, they were completely beyond saving by the early 1990s, and a large number of workers were laid off.
"Director Liao, we must be prepared for unforeseen circumstances. Now that we are introducing chemical fiber production lines to China, we urgently need foreign exchange. We should contribute our efforts and build a good reputation in overseas markets."
Factory Director Liao smiled and shook his head: "How could there be a crisis? People always need to wear clothes."
Qin Xiangxiang said, "Once the chemical fiber production line is completed and the domestic textile production capacity increases, with an average of 15 meters of cloth per person per year, when supply exceeds demand, we will need to rely on overseas markets."
"Fifteen meters of cloth per person?" Director Liao's eyes widened. "Director Qin, you really dare to dream!" Currently, the average person only has about five meters of cloth per year, enough to make one or two sets of clothes.
Qin Xiangxiang said, "Our factory also produces polyester and polyester-cotton blends, so we know about this. Around 1976, when the chemical fiber production line is built, we will have a large amount of chemical fiber raw materials every year, which will enable us to produce more chemical fiber fabrics or blended fabrics..."
"Director Qin, what you said makes some sense, but don't blame me for not reminding you, your idea is good, but cotton textiles don't fetch a good price abroad, and cotton textiles are considered low-end goods in foreign countries."
"Even if you make them into ready-made clothes—they still won't sell. People will think your cotton fabric and patterns are tacky."
"Our cotton garments aren't selling, we can only sell raw fabric at low prices, which is a huge loss."
Although Director Liao admitted that Qin Xiangxiang's words made some sense, he still wanted to persuade the other party to stop making trouble, as it was useless.
If the supply of cotton products really exceeds demand, then... there will naturally be a solution, right?
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