Chapter 25
After the reform and opening up, the state issued various policies to support local development. In order to keep up with the pace of reform and opening up and generate income for the county, the Qingshui County government finally joined the previous transportation company and supply and marketing company to set up a transportation team to take on long-distance transportation and make money. After a few years, the business has developed well. Some factories in surrounding counties and cities will come to them when they transport goods. The efficiency has increased, and the spirit of these drivers in the factory is particularly good.
Truck drivers are a very popular profession these days, but at the same time, driving long distances is not only hard but also dangerous. There are only so many regular positions, so they recruit non-staff personnel like Qin Yang to cooperate with regular employees, not only to be able to switch driving on the road, but also to increase safety on the road.
After Qin Yang learned how to drive, he joined the team because he was good at driving. He was arranged to work with Hu Da'er's son Sun Tieshu. They worked together for several years, traveling between Qingshui County and major cities in the north and south.
The truck they often drove was also a few years old. The front was the driver's room and the co-driver's seat, and the back was a seat for two people to sit together. Usually, when the two took turns driving, the other could sleep and rest in the back.
Because Qin Xiang was added, the rest time was also arranged separately. His third brother was forgotten, and Qin Xiang didn't want to let Sun Tieshu suffer a loss, so he bought a cigarette for him.
Seeing her being so polite, Sun Tieshu felt embarrassed and said to Qin Yang, "Qin Yang, look at your sister, she is so polite. She is not someone else, why should
you be so polite?" Qin Yang stuffed the cigarette into his arms and smiled, "Just take it if she gives it to you, Brother Tieshu. This girl may have to trouble you in the future, so just consider it as her bribe you in advance."
Sun Tieshu was also a straightforward person. He didn't refuse when he heard this. He was happy that the brother and sister were open and honest. No wonder his mother said that the brother and sister were worth dating. He smiled and said, "Okay, your sister is my sister. Just tell me if you have any problems in the future."
In fact, before leaving, his mother had told him to take care of others when he was away. His mother was still embarrassed about renting a house.
Sun Tieshu got on the car and said to Qin Xiang, "You can just rest in the back when you have nothing to do. We are going directly to Hangzhou this time. We will arrive in two or three days if we travel day and night." Qin Xiang
didn't have much idea about the journey in those days. She just did what others said. With her third brother around, she really didn't worry about other problems.
It's a pity that we can't go to Guangzhou, but if we think about it carefully, it's not bad to go to Hangzhou to see the situation.
Generally speaking, the economic development of the south is better than that of the north after the reform and opening up. Hangzhou's economic development has also been very rapid in the past two years. Not to mention the clothing and textile industries, even the nearby Wushi is developing a small commodity economy in full swing.
Qin Xiang had only 1,100 yuan of capital to work with. He probably couldn't wholesale much in Guangzhou. It would be good to start from Hangzhou by importing some small things like socks and underwear.
With this in mind, Qin Xiang felt much more comfortable. Sitting in the back, he either figured out his plan for this trip and what to do after returning, or listened to his third brother and Sun Tieshu chatting about all sorts of things. Qin Xiang was fascinated
by their talk about the changes in the north and south of the country, and occasionally asked a few questions.
Sun Tieshu sighed and said, "I heard from your third brother that you wanted to set up a stall. You are really brave."
Qin Xiang laughed when he heard it, "I have no choice. If I don't do it, I won't have a job. I can't just stay at home and eat and drink for free."
"That's right." Sun Tieshu is almost thirty years old this year. He is very talkative. He and Qin Yang almost talked all the way. "Now that society has developed well, you can have a full meal as long as you work hard. Many self-employed people have made money and become millionaires. On the contrary, those who work in factories are struggling every day with their fixed wages."
That's what he said, but it is definitely impossible for him to give up his job as a truck driver and become a self-employed person. Not to mention that the monthly salary of a truck driver is close to 100 yuan and there are other subsidies. Even in terms of decency, self-employed people are not comparable to truck drivers.
So Qin Xiang listened to whatever Sun Tieshu said, but didn't take it seriously.
Starting from Shandong Province and heading south, the road at that time was not like the highway in later generations. Some places were still dirt roads, which were extremely difficult to walk on due to potholes. Fortunately, Qin Xiang didn't get carsick, otherwise he would have been exhausted all the way to Hangzhou.
But walking at night is also full of dangers, so the two of them stayed awake all the time at night, and took turns sleeping during the day.
So Qin Xiang sat in the co-pilot during the day, but he could sleep soundly in the back at night.
After a safe journey for a day, Sun Tieshu even said to Qin Yang, "Maybe God knows that there is a beautiful girl in our car, so he keeps us safe all the way."
However, just as he finished speaking, a flashlight shone in the darkness and hit Qin Yang's eyes directly. Qin Yang subconsciously raised his hand to block the light, but he did not brake to stop as Qin Xiang thought. Instead, he turned the steering wheel and the car rushed forward.
The car jumped out more than ten meters, and Qin Xiang vaguely saw a group of ten or so people chasing the car through the rearview mirror. A closer look seemed to show that everyone was holding a stick.
The accident came so suddenly that Qin Xiang could not recover for a long time, and his heart was beating like thunder. If you can't guess what these people are doing, you are stupid.
Sun Tieshu cursed, "You are really asking for your life. The country is cracking down on you, but you still dare to block the road so blatantly."
Qin Yang, who was driving, pursed his lips and said nothing. He looked back at Qin Xiang until he could no longer see the gang. "Are you okay?"
Qin Xiang shook her head blankly, "Nothing."
She looked at her third brother's calm face with a complicated expression.
In her previous life, she knew that there would be people blocking the road when driving long-distance buses, but she didn't expect it to be so dangerous. She couldn't imagine what would happen to her third brother if he didn't react in time and the car stopped. How much of the cargo would be left in the car? Even if she called the police, there were no cameras everywhere on the road like in later generations. Could the cargo be recovered after the criminals ran away?
If she resisted, what would happen?
And she was on the train, what if the other party used her to threaten the third brother?
At this moment, Qin Xiang suddenly regretted following the train to save trouble. Although there was a possibility of encountering bad people on the train, as long as you were alert, nothing would happen. At worst, there were train police for help. If she encountered danger in such a remote place, she would be a burden to the third brother.
After another two hours, Qin Yang and Sun Tieshu switched driving positions. Sun Tieshu said, "You should take a nap too. I guess we'll be fine in the second half. It's our bad luck. We wouldn't have taken this road if we had known."
"Okay, call me when you're tired." Qin Yang agreed but didn't take a nap as Sun Tieshu said. He turned around and looked at Qin Xiang who was looking out the window and said, "Are you scared?"
Qin Xiang turned her head to look at him and nodded honestly, "Scared."
Qin Yang laughed, "Then don't do it anymore, okay?"
"No." Qin Xiang said seriously, "Third brother, I will take the train back by myself when I come back."
Qin Yang was stunned, and immediately understood his sister's thoughts. He thought for a while and said, "You may not encounter danger on the road. Now the country is strict, and such things have become much less common. Even if you encounter it, don't be afraid, just like tonight, as long as you react quickly, you can always run away. Those people value their lives the most and will not get too close. Third brother has seen a lot of such things, and it won't be more dangerous just because you are on the train."
But hearing is one thing, and real experience is another. She is afraid that her existence will bring different dangers to the third brother.
Qin Xiang did not argue, nodded and said, "Let's talk about it when the time comes."
She closed her eyes, and the appearance of the group of people just now flashed in front of her. Although she couldn't see clearly, she could imagine it. This was something she had never experienced in her life, and it was really impressive.
When it was almost dawn, Qin Xiang fell asleep in a daze. When passing a town, Qin Yang woke her up, "Xiangxiang, get off the car, move around and have breakfast."
Qin Xiang opened her eyes, but found that the car had already arrived in a town. The town was quite lively. The truck was parked on the road, and next to it was a breakfast shop, which sold steamed buns, fried dough sticks, and even southern rice noodles.
"Come back to your senses, have breakfast."
Qin Xiang got off the car, and Qin Yang had already fetched some water for Qin Xiang to wash up briefly, and then bought a portion of rice noodles, "Eat something warm on a cold day."
The brother and sister and Sun Tieshu sat there to eat breakfast, and then moved around for a while before getting ready to get on the car and leave.
At this time, a young man suddenly came over, sneaking up, looking at Sun Tieshu and then Qin Yang, and finally approached Qin Xiang and asked, "Sister, are you going to the south? Can you give me a ride?"
The young man looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, and he was handsome, but he looked young. His clothes were washed and a little white, and he looked at her expectantly. Qin Xiang shook her head, "My words don't count, I'm just a hitchhiker."
The young man felt a little regretful, but was afraid of Qin Yang, so he ran to get close to Sun Tieshu.
Qin Yang came over, looked at Qin Xiang and said, "Don't look for such a young partner in the future."
Qin Xiang laughed, "Why?"
"She doesn't look reliable until her hair grows out."
Qin Xiang couldn't stop laughing.
According to her age before rebirth, she was already over 40 years old. Not to mention this 17 or 18-year-old boy, even the 24-year-old third brother was still a young man in her eyes. It was just because she was reborn back to her youth that she subconsciously put herself in the position of a younger sister in front of the third brother. Seriously, her mental age was more than ten years older than the third brother.
But she couldn't say this, she could only laugh alone. Qin Yang saw her looking at him with a kind look and felt strange, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"No." Qin Xiang couldn't help laughing, lowered her head to eat, and couldn't help but curl up the corners of her mouth.
The young man over there seemed to have hit a wall with Sun Tieshu, and left with his head down.
Qin Xiang sighed, "It's so good to be young."
Hearing
this, Qin Yang raised his eyebrows and laughed, "How old are you? Aren't you only twenty?" Qin Xiang was stunned.
Yes, twenty years old.
In the future, people in their twenties are still in college. It is the time of youth and beauty. They may be enjoying college life, but she has already experienced a marriage.
After breakfast, they each found a place to go to the toilet, and then got in the car to continue their journey.
The closer they got to Hangzhou, the more excited Qin Xiang became. Fortunately, there was no danger on the road behind, and they finally arrived in Hangzhou safely.
As soon as they entered Hangzhou, Qin Xiang found the difference here. Not to mention their Qingshui County, even their city could not be compared with this place. Maybe it was because it was the Lantern Festival, there were a lot of people on the street, and the people here dressed more freely than in the north, and the colors of their clothes were brighter.
Qin Xiang looked at the cotton-padded jacket and coat she was wearing. When she married Wang Junsheng, her mother had specially found a tailor in the county to make them. At that time, many young girls and wives envied Qin Xiang for having such beautiful clothes. She didn't think much about it before, but now she looked at what others were wearing and then looked at what she was wearing, and it was not good enough, a bit rustic.
Seeing her eyes on the clothes worn by the people outside, Qin Yang turned around and asked, "I like what your third brother buys for you."
Qin Xiang came back to her senses, "Third brother, you may have forgotten the purpose of my coming here. I'm here to buy goods, so I must see what's popular here."
"Okay." Qin Yang agreed, but he had made up his mind to buy beautiful clothes for his sister.
Sun Tieshu and Qin Yang had been to Hangzhou more than once, so they didn't have much feeling, but Qin Xiang had only been to Hangzhou in the later life in her previous life, but not in the 1980s.
To be honest, she didn't go with Wang Junsheng until he graduated from university and arranged a job in the provincial capital. After she got there, she had no job and could only be a housewife at home. It was not until the late 1980s that Wang Junsheng was not doing well in the unit, and she gritted her teeth and insisted on going out to work to earn money to support the family. At that time, she only had a high school diploma, which was enough in the 1980s, but because of her limited vision, she could not find many suitable jobs. She had done all kinds of hard work. It was not
until the early 1990s that Wang Junsheng's business started to take off and refused to let her go out to work, so she stopped those jobs and started working as a handyman in Wang Junsheng's company to help him with some things. But she spent most of her time in the provincial capital during those years, and had few opportunities to go out of the province. It was not until the company grew bigger and bigger that it slowly went to the whole country. But it was already the late 1990s, and the development of various places was no longer the same as it was a decade ago.
Looking back now, Qin Xiang only felt disgusted, and all her efforts were really in vain. She couldn't help but wonder, if she had left Wang Junsheng and gone out to play in her previous life, would her life have been different?
The car entered the city of Hangzhou while I was distracted. Sun Tieshu began to explain the arrangements for the next few days. "We will go directly to the supply and marketing company to deliver the goods. We will stay here for two or three days to have a good rest. Sister Qin Xiang, if you want to buy something, you must buy it all during these few days. We can't delay the return trip too late."
Qin Xiang nodded, "Okay, I understand. Thank you, Brother Tieshu. If I can't finish it, you and my third brother can do it. Go first, I'll just take the train back later."
Hearing this, Qin Yang disagreed, "It's still too dangerous for you to go alone. Get as much goods as you can in these two days. If you can't get anything, you have to come back with me."
Qin Xiang was helpless, "But I go back and forth to trade goods just to make money. If I can't get the right things, then I've worked in vain."
Qin Yang: "Then how much you lost, the third brother will compensate you when the time comes."
"That's not good. Can I always let you cover the bottom line for my business? That's impossible." Qin Xiang rejected the proposal and could only agree to try his best to finish the work. After all, the rent is one day's stay, and it will all be costs if you live for a long time.
The car went slower after entering the city. It was already noon when they arrived at the supply and marketing company. The car drove into the warehouse. Sun Tieshu handed over the goods to the people there and prepared to leave.
Qin Yang said, "We will find a guesthouse nearby. I will go with you to see what goods you want to import in the afternoon." Qin
Xiang nodded. They were more familiar with this place than she was. It was right to follow the third brother.
There were guesthouses and some private small hotels nearby, but because of habit, they stayed in the guesthouse. After all, it was a public property and the safety was much better than that of a small hotel.
Nowadays, identity cards have not yet become popular, and letters of introduction are still required to stay in guesthouses. They booked two rooms and stayed there. Qin Xiang lay on the bed, feeling tired all over.
After getting up and washing his face, Qin Yang came over and knocked on the door, "Come on, let's go eat first, I'll take you out for a walk in the afternoon."
Qin Xiang smiled, "Third brother, you're tired after the journey, I'll go out for a walk by myself in the afternoon."
Qin Yang glanced at her and said nothing. Qin Xiang no longer mentioned going back alone, it was obvious that the third brother was not at ease with her.
Compared with Qingshui County, where there are relatively few self-employed households, there are many more self-employed households here. There are storefronts of self-employed households everywhere on both sides of the street, some selling food and drinks, some selling clothes, and even a street selling food and drinks.
Qin Xiang is not picky about food, and she just follows them to eat until she is full. Sun Tieshu wants to go back to sleep, but Qin Yang is determined to follow Qin Xiang.
Qin Xiang didn't go far and bought a map of Hangzhou from a newsstand. At first glance, he was helpless. There were some knitting factories and clothing factories in Hangzhou, but it would take a few more years to develop a large-scale wholesale market.
This reminded her of nearby Wuxian County. Nowadays, small commodities have developed, but they are still in their early stages.
The development of all walks of life is not the same, and it is not easy to sell goods. If she can't find high-quality and low-priced goods in Hangzhou, then she really has to go to Wuxian County.
Seeing her frown, Qin Yang couldn't help but ask, "What? If you have any difficulties, tell third brother."
Qin Xiang shook his head, "It's okay, let's go over here and have a look."
She pointed to a location on the map, which was marked as a knitting factory, and there were some signs of clothing factories nearby.
Qin Yang had been here several times, but unfortunately, the goods carried by their fleet were mostly food and daily necessities, and there were fewer items such as clothes.
Looking at the distance, they had enough time, and there were many buses here, so the brother and sister simply took a bus. When they
got there, there was indeed a large-scale knitting factory, and there was also a store dedicated to entertaining customers, but after they went in and explained their purpose and the quantity of goods they wanted, they were all indifferent.
However, an older sister who was about to go out said in a Suzhou accent, "She doesn't want to pay attention to you because she doesn't think you are rich and can't afford to buy large quantities of goods."
Qin Xiang was stunned, and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So that's the case.
I knew that I had too little money, but I didn't expect that I would be rejected like this.
The older sister was waiting to get the goods, so Qin Xiang chatted with her for a few words.
Qin Xiang learned that this girl came from Jiangsu Province. Because it was close and convenient to travel back and forth, she often came here. Qin Xiang said sincerely, "Sister Liu, it's getting late now. How about I treat you to dinner tonight and make friends?"
Liu Minhua was stunned and realized that this girl wanted to ask her something. However, the other party was not from Jiangsu Province, but from the north, so there was no conflict with her. She thought about it, but still shook her head, "I know what you think. This knitting factory is considered large in Hangzhou. There are some small knitting factories nearby. If you don't have much money, you can try those small factories. Here..."
She pointed, "If you don't have three or five thousand yuan, they won't pay attention to you. The small factories over there are different. Some even have counters next to the stores for retail sales. You can go there and have a look."
Qin Xiang was very grateful for this information and still wanted to treat Liu Minhua to dinner. Liu Minhua felt that the other party was sincere and agreed after hesitation, "Okay, let's eat at Chengping Hotel later. I'm tired after a few days and don't want to walk far."
Qin Xiang looked at the map and knew that it was not far from where she lived, so she agreed immediately.
Liu Minhua was called to pick up the goods. Qin Xiang did not stay here. She and Qin Yang went to look for a small factory nearby. There are indeed
many factories nearby, some producing knitting products and some producing clothing, but you can see the difference when you look at each one. Not to mention other things, the styles of the things are very different.
Although the knitting factory just now was arrogant, it did have the capital to be arrogant. The styles and types of socks are complete and novel, and even the underwear has patterns and colors that other factories do not have. The socks produced by the small factory here are of a single variety, the styles are old, and it is difficult to see new patterns. After the comparison, it is difficult to choose such a small factory.
Qin Xiang and Qin Yang visited several small factories, and they all faced the same problem.
Thinking about the development of state-owned factories in the next few years, Qin Xiang knew that these small factories would not last long. They could not keep up with the characteristics of the times, and it was difficult to sell their products. If they could not make money, they would not have the funds to update equipment and develop new products. This was a vicious cycle. Such small factories would soon be eliminated by the market.
But elimination was also a matter of the future. Even if they were not doing well now, they were still big trees that she could not afford to offend or even want to climb.
When Qin Xiang was chatting with the sales staff in the store, she found that these sales staff still maintained the arrogance that is unique to state-owned enterprise employees. On the one hand, they hoped that more individual business owners would come to wholesale, but on the other hand, they looked down on individual business owners, thinking that they worked hard but still had to beg the employees of these factories. Anyway, whether they could sell or not, the state would back them up, and their jobs were guaranteed.
Qin Xiang looked around and saw that it was getting late, so she didn't say which company to order from. If she just ordered socks, 1,100 yuan would be enough to order a lot, but Qin Xiang had just arrived, and she wanted to take advantage of the time when she invited Liu Minhua to dinner in the evening to learn more about the situation here before making any plans.
Qin Yang didn't know much about this, so he asked, "Aren't you buying it today?"
"Wait a minute, ask Sister Liu when we have dinner tonight." Qin Xiang said, and prepared to go with Qin Yang to keep the appointment.
Qin Yang admired Qin Xiang's courage. He was not afraid of him going around, but he was a little scared to go to these factories and deal with people.
What's more rare is that Qin Xiang can talk about these things very clearly. When Qin Xiang asked the salesperson in those knitting factories, some questions were not even clearly explained by the other party, but Qin Xiang knew them.
Things like socks and underwear actually have many types, what kind of fabrics and styles, these don't seem to be much different to Qin Yang, but his sister can tell which one is better from the same style in different factories.
Isn't it just the price difference?
Qin Yang followed obediently, and suddenly felt that Qin Xiang might be right to take this path.
The two of them went to the vicinity of Chengping Hotel, but Liu Minhua had not come out yet. The brother and sister looked at Hangzhou at that time on the street. Qin Xiang saw an old lady selling tea leaf eggs nearby, so she bought two tea leaf eggs and chatted with the old lady while eating them.
The old lady asked, "You are from other places, right?"
Qin Xiang smiled and nodded, "Yes, now that the national policy is good, I came here to see if there are any suitable goods to take back and make some money."
"That's right, in the past two years, there are really many people in Hangzhou who trade goods." The old lady nodded and said proudly, "Although our Hangzhou City is not as good as Guangzhou, which relies on the port city for development, it is also very good. The things produced by some big factories are not worse than those there, and the styles are also new. Many units in the surrounding areas come to purchase."
Qin Xiang had a very strange feeling when she heard this from an old lady selling tea eggs. She smiled and said, "Auntie, you know a lot. Do you know which clothing factory sells the best clothes?"
"Of course." The old lady said with some pride and arrogance, "Don't look at me as a tea egg seller, but my daughter is amazing. She is the workshop manager of the Second Garment Factory in Hangzhou. How can a mother like me not know what's going on in Hangzhou? The clothes of the Second Garment Factory in Hangzhou are the best-selling because of their good styles."
This sentence directly excited Qin Xiang's heart, "Your daughter is the workshop manager of the clothing factory."
"Of course." The old lady frowned when she saw her eyes were shining, "I can't give you a backdoor, that won't work."
Qin Xiang laughed, "We are all law-abiding citizens, how can we get a backdoor? It's impossible. We have to rely on our own abilities and work hard."
The old lady was very satisfied with this and agreed, "Young people should really have this idea. It's better to rely on yourself than on anyone else. Look at me, I'm still selling tea eggs at my age."
As she was talking, Qin Xiang saw Liu Minhua coming over, so she said to the old lady, "Auntie, what's your name? Although there is a big age difference between you and me, "We are good friends, but we really get along well. I will come to buy tea leaf eggs from you later."
Seeing that she did not ask about her daughter-in-law, the old lady said, "My surname is Ma. Come and chat when you are free."
While she was talking, a woman in her thirties came hurriedly, "Mom, why are you here again? Didn't you agree to come out when the weather gets warmer?"
Qin Xiang glanced at the other party, then at Aunt Ma, and said, "Aunt, I'll leave first."
In terms of her current strength, she is indeed not as good as others. Even if Aunt Ma helps her to make connections, she does not have so much money to go to the factory to buy goods in bulk. Rather than leaving people with the impression that she wants to take advantage of others, it is better to leave early and leave a good impression. Maybe she will come to Hangzhou again in the future. If she buys tea leaf eggs a few more times, she will become familiar with Aunt Ma. When she has enough money to wholesale clothes in the future, it won't be too late to let Ma take charge, and it won't be too difficult.
"Okay, see you later."
Ma's daughter glanced at the other party, "Oh, you know such a beautiful girl."
Ma rolled her eyes at her and packed up her things, "No, she is young and has come from a long way. She bought tea eggs and chatted with an old lady like me, so we know each other, right?"
Qin Xiang walked out a few steps, turned around and smiled at Ma, then walked towards Liu Minhua.
Liu Minhua said, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. I just went to the train station to check in my luggage. I'm so busy and it's already here."
"We just got here too." Qin Xiang was polite and enthusiastic, and directly invited Liu Minhua to a nearby state-owned hotel for dinner. Liu Minhua shook her head, "We're all here to make a living. I know what you're thinking. Let's just find a small restaurant nearby to eat and chat. There's no need to make such a fuss."
In other words, the two of them were not from the same place, so there would be no competition. The other party seemed to be smart, so it would be good for them to exchange and learn from each other. Otherwise, Liu Minhua wouldn't have had this meal. She had been a self-employed person for so long, and she didn't need to worry about a meal. After
Liu Minhua said this, Qin Xiang breathed a sigh of relief. She was ready to spend a few dollars to get close to the person and ask for something useful, but she didn't expect that the person was so sincere. Qin
Xiang said, "Okay, but let's go over to eat what Sister Liu likes."
Liu Minhua casually pointed to a restaurant nearby. "Let's go in and cook two dishes. After eating, I want to go back and rest early. I have to continue to buy goods tomorrow."
The three of them entered the small restaurant. Qin Xiang asked Liu Minhua to order the dishes and ordered two more for herself. Then they started chatting about the business of being a self-employed person.
Liu Minhua knew that this was her first time here, so she didn't hide it and told her about the situation of some factories in Hangzhou. Qin Xiang also analyzed some things from it.
Just like what I saw this afternoon, some small factories are about to be eliminated because their products are not updated quickly enough. And some large factories have high thresholds for cooperation.
Then, Liu Minhua continued, "Among the clothing factories in Hangzhou, the clothing styles of the Second Clothing Factory are the most advanced. It is said that their factory director specially sent designers to Guangzhou to record all the new things, so the clothes made there are the most popular among the self-employed people who resell goods. But at the same time, the threshold of such a large factory with a large number of shipments is high, and there are only so many people in the sales department. Individuals who want small quantities are not willing to receive them."
Liu Minhua pointed at herself and said, "Don't think that I can get the goods from the knitting factory. When I went to the Second Clothing Factory, no one cared about me. I also followed a friend to get some goods by making contributions and finding connections. Most of the clothes in their factory are for department stores in big cities."
"The Second Garment Factory." Qin Xiang felt that this was destined by fate. Wasn't the daughter of the old lady selling tea eggs she met just now from the Second Garment Factory?
Unfortunately, she didn't have enough funds now. The prices of new clothes were correspondingly high. Even if she received the guests, she wouldn't be able to make much money.
It was too early for Qin Xiang to consider this now. The current problem had to be solved. She had thought of many ways on the way here. After listening to Liu Minhua's analysis, she also had her own ideas. "The things I went to the Hangzhou Knitting Factory yesterday were really good, and they were really unwilling to receive me, so I wanted to do a small business with Sister Liu. I wonder if you are willing."
"You tell me first." Liu Minhua has been in this business for almost two years and has seen all kinds of people. Although the girl in front of her was dressed ordinary, she had a good temperament and gave people a good feeling, so she followed her out for this meal.
Qin Xiang said, "Look, you can get the goods from the knitting factory in Hangzhou, but I can't, but I want the goods from their factory, so can you help me get the goods from the factory, and then I will give you a commission according to the quantity, what do you think?"
This proposal was unexpected by Liu Minhua. To put it bluntly, they are self-employed to make money from the price difference, but in the past, they bought goods from here at a low price, and then sold them back to make a profit. Qin Xiang's words let her make a small profit before leaving Hangzhou. If you have money but don't make money, you're a bastard. Anyway, she has to get the goods from there, and it doesn't make much difference whether she gets more or less. Qin Xiang doesn't look like someone who wants too much, so even if she pays first, it's not a big problem, at most she just has to make one more trip.
But she was curious about how Qin Xiang calculated the money.
Qin Xiang had been thinking about this all the way, so he said, "I basically looked at all the styles in their factory in the sales department yesterday. What I mean is, I'll make a list and you buy them. No matter what style, I'll give you two cents for each pair. What do you think?"
Two cents for a pair may not seem like much, but there are so many socks. Even if Qin Xiang is just making a small move, the quantity he wants must be over a thousand pairs, which would cost twenty yuan.
But Qin Xiang was also worried that Liu Minhua would not appreciate such twenty yuan. Liu Minhua looked like a self-employed person for a long time. Now that self-employed people make money, twenty yuan might not be worth it to him.
It was just as Qin Xiang thought. Although twenty yuan was not a small amount of money for Liu Minhua, it was not a deal that she would particularly like.
But she inexplicably liked Qin Xiang, a person with a lot of ideas and the courage to think and act. She was just helping out, and maybe she would gain a friend. Even if they were not from the same place, who knew that she would not need him in the future?
Liu Minhua hesitated for a moment, and finally agreed, "Okay, if you trust me, give it to me."
Qin Xiang was happy when she heard this, and quickly invited Liu Minhua to have dinner, and she took out a pen and paper to write down the style, item number and quantity she wanted.
This Hangzhou knitting factory not only produces socks, but also underwear. Qin Xiang asked for all of them, regardless of whether they were for men or women or adults or children.
Liu Minhua took a glance and was surprised. "You took a look at all these numbers yesterday and wrote them down?"
"I wrote them down." Qin Xiang checked carefully and taught Liu Minhua after finding no mistakes. "I just started. When I looked at them yesterday, I thought about writing them down. If I need them in the future, I can call and order directly. But I didn't expect that no one would bother to pay attention to me. I have to thank you, Sister Liu, for your generosity and willingness to help me. Otherwise, my trip would be in vain. But this time I can only buy a small amount to try it out."
Liu Minhua often comes here to get goods, so she naturally knows which styles are good to sell. Most of the styles written by Qin Xiang are good-selling styles, and some are new styles in the factory. Even she herself is not sure whether to take the goods. .
She couldn't help but look at the person in front of her. Although Qin Xiang was doing it for the first time, she was smart, had good vision, and was brave. These were her strengths.
Liu Minhua thought for a while and said, "I changed my mind."
Qin Xiang's heart sank, thinking that she thought the money was too little, but then she heard Liu Minhua say, "I'll buy these goods for you for free. You still have to wait for me here tomorrow afternoon. We'll pay and deliver the goods."
Qin Xiang was surprised to hear this. She didn't expect the other party to suddenly not accept the money. Qin Xiang was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly thanked her, "Thank you, Sister Liu. I will treat you to a meal at the state-owned hotel tomorrow no matter what."
Liu Minhua did not refuse this time, "Okay."
After having dinner with Liu Minhua, Qin Xiang benefited a lot. She did not have a public telephone in Qingshui County, so she took the initiative to ask for Liu Minhua's phone number and agreed to keep in touch if there was anything. After receiving the goods tomorrow, she will have dinner with Liu Minhua to get familiar with each other, maybe she will need help in the future.
When they were walking back, Qin Yang asked her, "So what conclusion did you come to?"
Qin Xiang pondered for a moment and said, "Third brother, I plan to focus on socks and underwear this time. I only have so much capital, and I'll talk about clothes later."
For ordinary brocade socks and pure cotton socks, she can take them to the big market in the countryside to sell.
Don't think that the rural poor have no consumption capacity at this time. No matter how poor, they still have to eat and wear. Moreover, after the implementation of the household contract responsibility system, the lives of rural households have become much better. I don't want to buy big outerwear, but can I not buy necessities like socks and underwear?
Naturally, she had to sell something durable to go to the big market. Those trendy stockings might not sell as well as ordinary socks.
She planned to go directly to a small knitting factory she liked to negotiate the price and buy ordinary cotton socks and brocade socks. She asked Liu Minhua to help her get five kinds of lace embroidery brocade socks from the Hangzhou Knitting Factory at 30 cents a pair, and she asked for 100 pairs of them. She also asked for 200 pairs of red pure cotton socks with people on them at 25 cents a pair for men and women. As for the long silk stockings that were newly released by the factory at a wholesale price of 2 yuan a pair, Qin Xiang thought that she would not be able to sell them in this season, so she marked them out again.
As for underwear, the women's style has more patterns, and I ordered 300 pairs of several patterns and colors, and 100 pairs of men's style.
Just these, I have to spend more than 400 yuan. Add to that ordinary cheap socks, and the total cost is at least 700 yuan.
Qin Xiang told Qin Yang about his plan. Qin Yang thought of the scene at the country market, "Can they be sold?" "
Let's try. Ordinary socks are cheap anyway. I compared them and the most ordinary ones only cost 1.5 cents a pair. The cost is cheap too. I plan to make small profits but quick turnover and hold a buy-and-get-one-free promotion. I shouldn't have any trouble selling them." Qin Xiang paused, "Of course I don't want to spend all this money on socks and underwear. Third brother, I want to go to Wu County. Small commodities there have developed. I want to buy some small accessories, hairpins, and hair ornaments and sell them when I set up a stall in the county."
Qingshui County is indeed not well developed now, but there are many factories and naturally there is no shortage of wealthy people.
And when she went to her second brother's house, he mentioned that the county intends to open a night market on that street to promote economic development. She now has a ready-made stall, and she can open the stall by telling the management bureau. She can sell socks and underwear, and hairpins and other things as well, it's a piece of cake.
Qin Yang frowned and disagreed, "Although it's close, it may take more than a day to go back and forth, and I'm worried about you going alone. You already have a lot of socks and underwear, enough for you to sell for a while."
"Don't worry. I'll take the bus there and take the bus back. If I can't catch up with you, I can take the train back by myself. There are trains from Hangzhou to the provincial capital. It will be convenient for me to take the bus back when I arrive at the provincial capital." Qin Xiang looked at Qin Yang and said, "Third brother, I am determined to take this route. This time I can follow you and get your protection, but you can't take turns with others to run here every time. What about in the future? I have to get used to fighting alone."
She wanted to persuade her third brother to work with her now, but she took it for granted before. Being a self-employed person is not as simple as she imagined. It is different from starting a business like Wang Junsheng in her previous life. Wang Junsheng had worked in a state-owned factory for several years when she started her business. Although she was not very successful, she had learned a lot of skills and met some people, so she had a certain foundation when she started.
But reselling goods is different. There is not much technical content. After all, she is not at the level of designing and opening a factory. There are more things to pay attention to, from finding sources of goods to how to choose styles and types, how to arrange, and how to set up the stall. All these need to be considered. Before she got the profits, Qin Xiang couldn't convince her third brother, but if she was scared by the danger that didn't happen before she started, then she really didn't need to start.
Qin Yang couldn't refute these words, but he couldn't trust Qin Xiang alone.
The next morning, Qin Xiang still boarded the car to Wuxian. Before getting on the car, Qin Xiang said to Qin Yang, "Third brother, I am not a child anymore, you have to believe me. And the social environment in the past two years is much better than the previous two years. It's still early now, I will go early and come back early, and try to come back in the afternoon. Don't forget, I still have to find Liu Minhua to pick up the goods."
It only takes an hour to get there by car from Hangzhou. When Qin Xiang arrived there, he saw the small commodity market that was initially developed. At that time, the small commodity market was still relatively simple, and the stalls were still the most primitive cement platforms, and the stalls were crowded together.
But even in such a situation, this small commodity market was bustling with people coming and going. And not far away, a building was being built. As far as Qin Xiang knew, it was the second-generation small commodity market that would be put into use at the end of the year.
The target customers of today's small commodity market are still only the surrounding cities. After a few years, the commodities here will be sold nationwide and even to the world.
Qin Xiang breathed a sigh of relief, pulled in her shoulder bag, and rushed into the crowd with a luggage bag in her hand.
Unexpectedly, she had not run two meters when a figure suddenly bumped into her from the side. Qin Xiang became alert and touched her luggage bag. It had been cut with a big hole, and a cloth bag inside was gone.
Qin Xiang looked up and saw a short figure looking back at her with a smug look, and then ran quickly to the front.
"Catch the thief!" Qin Xiang shouted and chased after him quickly.