Chapter 172 What are the goals and ambitions behind this unique skill?
Qin Xiangxiang turned her head and saw Zhou Aodong with a serious face. She felt both excited and trembling. This was her own mother.
"Mom!" Qin Xiangxiang rushed forward like a sycophant and hugged her mother's arm.
Chen Shulan smiled and said, "You and your daughter look so alike."
Qin Xiangxiang and Zhou Aodong were both outstanding in appearance. Their daughter was bright and elegant, with an oval face like a rich peony and almond-shaped eyes full of shimmering light. Their mother, Zhou Aodong, was much colder and more stern, often with a stern face, more like a winter plum blossom.
Zhou Aodong pulled her daughter into her room. This year, she was representing the Shanghai 316 Textile Factory and was sharing a room with another woman, Aunt Jiang. Aunt Jiang was always busy and had gone out to play, so only the mother and daughter were in the room.
Zhou Aodong glared at his own daughter and gave her a candied hawthorn on the head: "That'll teach you to call other people 'Mom' without permission!"
"They called out to me so affectionately."
Qin Xiangxiang quickly said, "Mom, you are my only mother! That Factory Director Chen is shameless and takes advantage of me."
"Hmph!" Zhou Aodong was very possessive of her own daughter. Over the years, she had only this one daughter, so she was unwilling for her daughter to call someone else "Mom".
Zhou Aodong asked, "Think about it, what are your goals and ambitions for participating in the Canton Fair this time?"
Qin Xiangxiang was stunned: "?!"
She thought to herself: Mom, we might not be biological mother and daughter. Apart from looking similar, we don't have any other similarities.
Her mother and Chen Shulan are birds of a feather.
Qin Xiangxiang stammered, "I...I have a little bit of a goal and a little bit of ambition."
She actually had no specific goal; she was just on a business trip paid for by the company.
Shouldn't people be content? Their factory has already met its production target for this year, and they've earned enough foreign exchange.
Now we should happily wait for the year-end celebrations.
“You need to choose a new target sooner rather than later. Do you think you can still win easily?” Zhou Aodong said with a serious face. “At this Canton Fair, many other factories have also produced high-count yarn, such as XX No. 2 Factory. They produce high-count yarn, and their poplin is much better than yours. They have also learned the Mawangdui pattern this time.”
"If you stop moving forward, do you think you can still rest easy?"
Qin Xiangxiang was completely stunned, but she tried her best to keep her expression blank: "!?"
Talking to my own mother is like talking to a brick wall; this is probably the generation gap between mother and daughter.
Zhou Aodong: "That Factory Director Chen even said you were shrewd. Did I guess right when you looked so dazed?"
Qin Xiangxiang had no choice but to bite the bullet and get away with it: "Mom, I'm all grown up now, I have my own ideas."
"Okay, as long as you have your own ideas."
Zhou Aodong seemed genuinely intimidated by her, thinking she "had her own opinions," but how could she possibly have such ideas?
They didn't have many items to showcase this time, just some Yinlin silk and Langyong yarn. They didn't have much poplin silk, as they didn't plan to make too much, since they weren't sure they could get that many medium and long cotton quotas.
Qin Xiangxiang changed the subject: "Mom, let me give you a few pairs of work sandals that we make ourselves on our island."
Autumn in Guangzhou is not much different from summer. Although it is still time to wear sandals, the Canton Fair has strict requirements. Everyone must wear proper shoes, as sandals and slippers are considered disrespectful in formal occasions.
Zhou Aodong was stunned: "Sandals?"
"These are top-quality sandals that your daughter made by hand. Mom, wait for me to go get your daughter's filial piety gift." Qin Xiangxiang ran back to get the sandals. She and her mother were the same shoe size, so if she could wear a pair, her mother could too.
To prepare for this publicly funded trip (X), Qin Xiangxiang specially prepared several pairs of new shoes, all of which she made herself to satisfy the sense of ritual of traveling.
Among them was a pair of slippers with an "H-shaped" design, which Qin Xiangxiang highlighted to her mother, saying, "These slippers are suitable for walking on sand and playing on the beach."
This is Qin Xiangxiang and Li Jianzhi taking their two children to the beach for photos. Li Jianzhi suggested a method to improve the slippers, as ordinary slippers accumulate sand and cause friction when walking.
The "H"-shaped sandals are "beach fun shoes," with an H-shaped horizontal bar to block sand and holes on both sides to let sand out, making them very convenient for walking on sand.
Wearing ordinary slippers, you'll start to shake your feet after a few steps on the sand, but wearing H-shaped slippers allows you to walk briskly forward.
These flip-flops are suitable for the beach and are also known by Qin Xiangxiang as "island-exclusive flip-flops".
The sandals that their textile factory produced, which they weren't actually engaged in, just happened to meet the needs of the residents of the thousands of nearby islands.
Zhou Aodong pinched her cheek and scolded her playfully, "Don't think about playing all the time."
However, she still accepted her daughter's filial piety with a smile.
After setting up the booth, the Canton Fair began. Qin Xiangxiang reminded everyone to keep their Canton Fair credentials safe, and then entered to the sound of rousing music. She overheard many people whispering:
"Year after year, there are even more buyers this year."
"It used to be only a little over ten thousand, but now it's almost thirty thousand!"
"There are more than 100 countries."
"Will there be even more next year? It'll be too crowded to even fit everyone in."
...
Gao Rong asked Qin Xiangxiang curiously, "Weren't there even more people last year? I heard a lot of people in the city saying that there are a lot of strange-looking people at the Canton Fair this year."
"There weren't this many last year."
Gao Rong looked around and said, "The people over there are wearing slippers and sandals when they come in."
Qin Xiangxiang glanced at it: "It seems to be a Middle Eastern country. They usually wear slippers."
"We can wander around later. There are lots of children's toys, so we can buy some gifts for the kids."
“We can also buy the items at the Canton Fair, but they are all export models, which are more expensive than the domestic models.”
Feiyan Textile Factory's own booth only displayed Yinlin Silk and Langyong Yarn, which did not stand out among the many textile products this time, and there was no photo wall set up.
Meanwhile, many silk printing factories in the surrounding area also produced imitations of the Mawangdui patterns, attracting buyers to stop and look frequently.
Although all of them are for generating foreign exchange for the country, there is competition among different factories, different ports, and different trading companies.
Zheng Jianguo from Hongxing Textile Factory pulled off a spectacular show at the Canton Fair.
Their factory has a unique eighth-level sewing worker, Zeng Jinfeng, who possesses superb skills and a unique family-inherited needlework technique. This time, Hongxing Textile Factory came prepared.
They brought their sewing machines to the booth.
Zeng Jinfeng, a skilled level eight sewing worker, performed astonishing feats such as "blindfolded overlocking" and "single-needle micro-carving" in front of everyone.
"Wow, amazing! Is this some kind of acrobatic performance?"
"This is a real skill! It's blindness!"
Zeng Jinfeng operated the sewing machine, quickly sewing miniature patterns in front of foreign buyers, drawing applause from the crowd.
Zheng Jianguo, with a rosy complexion and a face full of pride, said: "Our Hongxing Textile Factory has the best female sewing workers. Without the best craftsmen, even the best fabrics are a waste!"
"Our factory has real skills!"
Qin Xiangxiang and the other people from Feiyan Textile Factory were also watching the show from the sidelines. It has to be said that Zeng Jinfeng is quite capable. She can perform almost like an acrobat, turning the exhibition booth into a stage. Several buyers placed orders.
"Director Qin, why don't you send someone from your factory to show off their skills?" Zheng Jianguo was beaming with pride. Seeing his biggest worry, Qin Xiangxiang, he couldn't resist jumping in and kicking him while he was down.
Their Red Star Textile Factory had level eight sewing workers and Zeng Jinfeng, who possessed exceptional skills. But what did Feiyan Textile Factory have? They didn't have any workers with real skills at all.
Even for poplin, other factories that specialize in producing high-count yarns are many times better than them.
Wow, an amazing skill?
Should we ask factory manager Qin Xiang to perform a "swallowing fabric alive" act?
As soon as Director Zheng finished speaking, Zeng Jinfeng's apprentice chimed in, "Give us a performance! Give us a performance!"
What should have been a proper trade fair was transformed into a circus performance. However, all the overseas buyers present were in high spirits, especially many who were attending the Canton Fair for the first time, exclaiming repeatedly, "The shows at this trade fair are so amazing!"
"It was even more wonderful than the model operas that were arranged."
So the buyers joined in the commotion, shouting, "Give us a performance! Give us a performance!"
Gao Rong's face turned pale, and Yang Zhixia was also very nervous. What could this group of people possibly perform? They weren't top-notch seamstresses; they were textile workers.
The only person skilled in hand sewing is the factory manager, Qin Xiangxiang.
Gao Rong whispered to Qin Xiangxiang, "Factory Director, can you also do blindfolded hemming?"
Qin Xiangxiang thought to herself: I know nothing!
Are you out of your mind, coming to the Canton Fair to perform acrobatics and tricks?
But when it comes to fancy tricks—I can do them too.
No, my fabrics will.
Qin Xiangxiang immediately thought of their new product, Hidden Scale Silk. Although it looked the same as silk on the surface, it was unremarkable among the many textiles at the Canton Fair.
However, it is wear-resistant and durable.
It has even undergone military-grade testing.
Isn't this the "acrobatic silk" of silk?
Qin Xiangxiang said to the person next to her, "Go and get a glass of red wine to serve the foreign guests!"
The translator relayed Qin Xiangxiang's words to the surrounding buyers. Upon hearing this, the buyers knew that a performance was about to take place and were all captivated.
"Magic? Acrobatics?"
"Use red wine?"
The red wine was brought over. Qin Xiangxiang instructed Yang Zhixia and Gao Rong to tear off their hidden silk robes and splash the red wine onto the wine, causing the crowd to gasp in surprise.
It can then be quickly wiped clean.
Next, it was shown being soaked in water; after being taken out and shaken dry, it looked brand new and required no ironing.
Qin Xiangxiang said, "Bring some sandpaper. You can all try rubbing it yourself. It won't damage you at all!"
"My God! Is this magic or a miracle?"
"Is this still the delicate silk?"
The buyers were absolutely ecstatic; it was a miracle. At that time, research on imitation silk was still in its infancy, only about ten years old. The mainstream silk was still traditional silk printing, and imitation silk products had not yet gained much popularity.
The onlookers and buyers exclaimed in surprise, "Such sturdy silk?"
Even knowing it's a blend of imitation silk and real silk, the price is less than half that of real silk, and it also has the characteristics of being durable and crisp, making it very suitable for making mid-to-high-end clothing.
"I need to purchase this!"
"I want this too."
...
Director Zheng was dumbfounded. While they were having live performances of amazing skills, they were having silk perform their own.
Qin Xiangxiang sighed, "Director Zheng, sometimes I really feel helpless. You are our Feiyan Textile Factory's 'lucky charm'."
"This is a new silk blending technology that we developed with the silk mill. We don't know how to promote it yet."
"You've come up with a brilliant idea for us."
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