Ji Xiao returned a few days later. After returning, he went straight to the shop to find Xia Liang and told her about his gains from the trip to Northeast China. He said that they had reached an agreement on a fixed forest farm, and that all the timber would be shipped there from now on.
Hearing this good news, Xia Liang was overjoyed. Previously, the furniture factory's timber supplier was like the garment factory's fabric supplier—extremely expensive. Now, having secured a stable supplier was fantastic. Xia Liang sighed and said, "Ji Xiao, let's rest for a couple of days, then see if we can find a suitable accountant. We have three factories; we can't function without a proper accountant." To her surprise, Ji Xiao laughed. Xia Liang looked at him questioningly. Seeing Xia Liang looking at him, Ji Xiao coughed twice and said, "Ji Xiaodie studied this; we can have her help us with the calculations." Xia Liang's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? That's wonderful! It's like finding a needle in a haystack! I was worried about not finding one, but Xiaodie is the one. Here's the arrangement: see if she'd be willing to work here. She just needs to calculate the factory's increases each month; she doesn't need to report to the factory every day. It's fifty yuan a month per factory; I'll give her two hundred yuan." Now it was Ji Xiao's turn to be puzzled. Seeing his expression, Xia Liang realized she hadn't... She had told him about buying another factory, and then said, "It's like this, when the garment factory first started operating, we asked the former factory manager to help us get a batch of fabric, right? The material was similar to what I got in Guangzhou, but the price was twice as high. But it wasn't sustainable to keep going to Guangzhou, so I thought I'd start my own fabric factory. It's always better to have our own supply. That factory is in the suburbs, very remote, and the prices are cheap. It only cost me 50,000 yuan to take over the employees like the garment factory did. As for this factory, I won't give you any shares. I plan to leave it for the two kids to earn some pocket money later." Xia Liang had thought Ji Xiao would be a little unhappy, but to her surprise, he laughed and said, "That's great news! Sister-in-law, I didn't expect my two little nieces to have a factory before they even came of age. They're so lucky."
Ji Xiao went home and told his younger sister that Xia Liang had asked her to be the factory's accountant. The girl was initially happy, but then worried: "What about my shop? I still want to open a shop with my sister-in-law!" Ji Xiao was speechless: "It's not like you have to go to the factory every day. You just need to take some time to settle the factory's accounts, and no one will bother you the rest of the time. Besides, does opening a shop mean you have to be there to watch over it? What if you open ten or eight shops? Can't you use your brain?" Ji Xiaodie, scolded by her brother, stepped forward and punched Ji Xiao a few times to vent her anger: "Fine, I'll go find my sister-in-law tomorrow."
Although several factories had started operating, Xia Liang was still busy. She took Duan Wenchun and Zhou Xiong to rent houses and open shops everywhere. They looked at about seven or eight shops, all decorated in the same style as the first one. The sign above the door read "Yunzhi Clothing" in big characters, with a smaller line below saying "7th Branch." Many residents in the neighborhood asked, "This is the seventh shop? Your boss is really amazing!" Tian Longhui, who was supervising, replied, "Indeed, our boss chooses the most fashionable clothes, which are imported from Hong Kong. The quality is also very good, and customers often come to buy from them." When everyone heard that the clothes were from Hong Kong, they knew they were indeed high-quality, so they gathered around to watch them decorate.
Xia Liang was busy recruiting sales staff. With so many stores opening at once, it was impossible to manage them all without someone to look after them. This was another headache for Xia Liang – where could she even begin recruiting? Unlike in later years, where posting on job boards in certain cities would immediately attract inquiries. Just as she was racking her brains, she heard her eldest daughter say, "Mom, why don't you try the train station? When I came from Grandpa and Grandma's house before, I saw many people coming to Beijing for work at the train station. You could check there and see if there are any openings recently." Xia Liang suddenly understood. Yes! Why hadn't she thought of going to the train station? Even in later times, Beijing was a place many people longed for. People from Beipiao were everywhere. She went up and hugged her eldest daughter, who had reminded her, giving her a big kiss: "My sweet baby is so smart, thank you for reminding Mommy." Little Gu Yunxi was a little smug: "You're welcome, Mommy." Little Gu Yuanzhi, standing nearby, was jealous: "Mommy, you haven't kissed me yet!" She pouted angrily. Xia Liang went up and picked up her second daughter, kissing her twice on the cheek before putting her down and heading to the train station.
Just as Xia Liang had expected, there were many young women from out of town at the train station. They were too young to stay at home and had come out to make a living. Xia Liang found a dozen or so girls around eighteen or nineteen years old, checked their letters of introduction, and only took them to the shop after confirming that there were no problems. They all looked disheveled, probably having traveled for several days without proper rest. Xia Liang had originally planned to arrange training for them today, but then thought it best to let them rest. He couldn't be a villainous capitalist, so he took a few of the girls to the nearest furniture factory, arranged dormitories for them, and told them when to eat. The girls were a little scared at first, but seeing such a large factory put their minds at ease. After all, such a large factory could easily accommodate a few of them.
Each floor of the factory dormitory was equipped with a public toilet and a public shower room. Two rows of shower heads were installed on the wall, and the old man who had to tend the boiler in the summer had to provide hot water 24/7, 365 days a year. After the young girls took a bath and changed into clean clothes, each one of them blossomed like a flower. After all, they were at a very beautiful age and didn't need much dressing up to be pretty.
The next day, the girls followed Chen Yanling, who had come to pick them up, to the store. Xia Liang was extremely satisfied to see that they all looked quite energetic. She taught them how to sell clothes and how to pay attention to customer service. After all, in this era, the salespeople these young girls had encountered were all arrogant and didn't care about service at all. Xia Liang was afraid they would think that selling clothes made them superior, so she consciously guided them towards the idea that the customer is always right. In this way, the dozen or so girls trained at the store during the day and returned to their dormitory at the furniture factory to rest at night. They were all at the beautiful age of flowers and learned quickly. In just a few days, they were quite proficient. Xia Liang then began to test them, having them serve customers when they entered the store to see if they had truly learned. The final answer was that they all passed. Xia Liang applauded them: "Excellent! From now on, the store is in your hands. All the clothes in the store will be displayed in the same way, and the prices will be uniform. For the first month, I will give each of you eighty yuan. Starting from the second month, I will not give you one hundred yuan anymore." "For every piece of clothing or pair of pants you sell, I'll give you 50 cents. It's all about how well you sell; I don't care how much you make." The girls had never seen sales like this before, and they were all chattering amongst themselves. One of them asked, "What if I sell more than a hundred dollars? Will I still get paid?" Xia Liang nodded, "That's right, 50 cents per piece, five dollars for ten pieces, fifty dollars for a hundred pieces, five hundred dollars for a thousand pieces, there's no upper limit. As long as you have the ability, I'll pay you whatever amount you want." Some of the girls were happy, thinking they could earn a lot this way, while others worried that not many people would buy clothes. Xia Liang saw everyone's thoughts and said, "Don't worry, I'm giving you a one-month trial period. You can see how the sales are this month. If it really doesn't work out, I have a factory, and you can work there." Hearing this, the girls finally felt relieved.
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