Chapter 86
Zhen Zhen decided on the flavors and recipes for the three types of noodles, and started selling the bulk instant noodles at Hao Po Po.
"Hey, boss, do you sell instant noodles?"
Fang Lingxiu parked her bicycle at the door of Haopo Po's house. Fang Lingxiu was the eldest sister in Zhao Meilan's unit, an accountant in the department store, and was in charge of food procurement.
"Accountant Fang," Zhen Zhen called out, "Your new coat? Oh, it must be made of cashmere, right? And it has a real fur collar! How much does it cost?"
Accounting and purchasing is already lucrative, not to mention Fang Lingxiu has someone above her, so she has always lived a comfortable life, otherwise others would not go hungry, but she comes to visit her mother-in-law twice a week.
Fang Lingxiu asked someone to buy this cashmere coat from another place during the Chinese New Year. It has a large black fur collar. This style is not available in the county, and many people don't know that her clothes are worth a lot of money. Fang Lingxiu wanted to show off, but she couldn't find a chance. When she heard Zhen Zhen say this, she was immediately happy.
"Boss Zhen, guess how much this dress of mine costs?"
Zhen Zhen touched the collar of his coat, looked at the needlework, and said seriously:
"This material is really good. I think it would cost at least a thousand. Even if you know someone who can help you, you can't get it without seven or eight hundred."
Fang Lingxiu burst into laughter. "It's not as expensive as you said. It's probably only three or four hundred. You are a wise judge of goods, Sister Zhen. People in my unit guessed it was one or two hundred."
Zhen Zhen disagreed, "How can you buy this kind of clothes for one or two hundred? You can't even buy a fur collar."
"Then it seems I didn't lose money."
"I definitely didn't lose money. This dress suits you and makes you look elegant. When I first saw it, I thought you were the wife of an official from a big city."
Fang Lingxiu laughed so hard that she couldn't stop, and said that Zhen Zhen was exaggerating.
Zhen Zhen took the opportunity to say, "Accountant Fang, you people in purchasing should know the market situation of instant noodles, right? To be honest, my family has made a few new instant noodles, but I'm not sure which one to promote. Can you help me find out?"
Fang Lingxiu agreed immediately, "These are all trivial matters. It just so happens that I have a relative in Beijing who is in charge of this category. I'll call and ask for you."
"Thank you very much!" Zhen Zhen stuffed a few packets of instant noodles into her hands. Fang Lingxiu declined, then accepted them with a smile, paid the money, and left with satisfaction.
As soon as she left, Jiao Huilan came over and asked in confusion, "Mom, although her clothes are made of cashmere, the purchase price is only a hundred yuan. Why would it cost seven or eight hundred yuan?"
Zhen Zhen smiled and said:
"When you meet someone, you should reduce their age; when you see something, you should add money. When you guess someone's age, you should say a few years less to make them happy. When you guess the price of something they bought, you should say it higher so that they feel they have not wasted their money."
Jiao Huilan suddenly realized and said with a smile: "Mom has so many ways to deal with people. I have to learn from her."
"Do you think your mother has lived such an old age in vain? If you can make someone happy, why do you have to tell the truth and make them unhappy? Isn't this just annoying them?"
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law chatted for a while, and then Meng Pandi came in with a stern face, "Auntie, I'm here."
Meng Laidi followed Meng Pandi and sneaked in like a thief.
Zhen Zhen frowned slightly. She really didn't like Meng Laidi. This girl had been dishonest since she was young. Zhang Qiaohong had asked her many times to recruit Meng Laidi as an apprentice, but Zhen Zhen refused every time.
If a girl is not decent, attracts many men all day long, and has no brains at all, she will get into trouble sooner or later.
It would be fine if something happened somewhere else, but if it happened to Zhen Zhen, I don’t know what Zhang Qiaohong would say.
"Brother Lai, why are you here?"
Meng Lai Di laughed dryly and said, "I have nothing to do at home, so I came to your place to play for a few days."
"Does your mother know?"
"I know, she was the one who called me here, saying that Pandi has become a manager at your company and can earn more than thirty yuan a month. She also said that you are helping my uncle's family, not mine."
Zhen Zhen was so angry that he fell backwards. Is Meng Laidi stupid? He just said whatever he wanted.
Zhen Zhen laughed angrily, "You are honest. It seems your mother said a lot of bad things about me."
"My mother is right. I know you don't like me, but how am I worse than Pan Di? If you tell me, can't I change? Anyway, I don't want to stay in Batou Village. I want to come to the city."
"If you want to make a name for yourself, why don't you learn tailoring from Xiaohong? Nowadays, everyone in the village makes a good living by doing garment processing. Their wages are not less than mine."
"You'll still be stuck in the countryside, what's the point? I just want to stay with you."
Zhen Zhen was very kind to Meng Pandi. He not only taught Meng Pandi how to do things and behave, but also instructed Meng Pandi on how to dress and put on makeup. Whenever he had the chance, he would send Meng Pandi to learn cultural knowledge.
But the prerequisite is that Meng Pandidi is hardworking, efficient, quick-witted and warm to others.
There is a lot of traffic at Haopo Po's place, and she is the one who moves the goods in and out.
She never needs to be urged to do things. When the snacks here were running out, she went to restock them without Zhen Zhen saying anything.
The table where salted meat is sold is always dirty, and it is Pan Di who cleans it. It is hard for a little girl like her to not mind the dirt or the tiredness.
If Meng Laidi was half as diligent as Meng Pandi, Zhen Zhen would not despise her.
"Okay, since you want to be like Pan Di, I'll give you a chance. Go unload the goods on the truck at the door, move them to the warehouse, and arrange them in batches."
Meng Laidi's eyes widened. "Moving goods? I'm here to be a manager, why do I have to do rough labor?"
Zhen Zhen laughed, "Managers don't move goods? Pan Di can be a manager because she can do everything. Come on, brother, I'll give you a chance. As long as you can endure hardships, I'll keep you. How about that?"
Meng Laidi was obviously unhappy. She looked good. If she dressed up a little, she would definitely be more popular than Meng Pandi. Isn't being a manager just about wearing high heels, putting on makeup and standing at the door to greet customers? She would definitely do a better job than Pandi, but her aunt actually asked her to move goods?
Meng Laidi grumbled to herself, but did not dare to disobey her aunt, so she ran to the door to unload the goods with a wronged look on her face.
Meng Laidi was unloading a box of chili sauce. She took great pains to move the goods from the cart, but the chili sauce was too heavy and her feet went weak, causing the whole box of chili sauce to fall to the ground and break into pieces.
A group of people heard the noise and gathered around. Song Xiaoyu pouted. In the past, Meng Laidi always liked to laugh at her for being ugly. She, Song Xiaoyu, was not pretty and was lazy, but she knew what was right and wrong and never slacked off when doing work for others.
Meng Laidi, on the other hand, relies on her good looks and refuses to be down-to-earth. With her behavior, she can't stay here for two days.
Meng Pandi looked at the broken glass on the ground with his eyes wide open. "If you can't move it, you can ask me to help you. How can you do the work like this? It's such a waste!"
Meng Lai Di was unhappy, "I think you are deliberately making things difficult for me."
"Make things difficult for you? Who do you think you are? I have nothing to do and I spend the whole day thinking about making things difficult for you?"
After Meng Pandi finished speaking, she easily picked up a box and placed it in the warehouse. She moved ten boxes in a row without even taking a breath, which made Meng Laidi feel a little embarrassed.
"I'm just not suited to moving goods. I'm suited to dressing up nicely and standing at the counter to receive customers."
"You're still receiving customers? The brothel is long gone. Who do you think you are?" Meng Pandi was so angry that he threw the broom at her. "Hurry up and clean it up for me. Don't hurt the customers."
Meng Lai Di was upset. Even if she couldn't beat Meng Pan Di, she was better than the ugly Song Xiao Yu, right? Even Song Xiao Yu could sell clothes for the clothing store, so why did she have to do these rough jobs?
"I'm not working in the grocery store anymore. I want to sell clothes for Aunt Huilan."
"Selling clothes? Forget it!" Meng Pandi was merciless. This Meng Laidi was too annoying. He was lazy and only knew how to hold them back and bring shame to their family.
Upon hearing this, Zhen Zhen did not embarrass Meng Lai Di, "Laidi, since you asked, I will give you a favor. Change your clothes this afternoon and go to work at Huilan's clothing store."
Jiao Huilan naturally would not refute her mother-in-law and agreed immediately.
"Since mother has asked, you should come and give it a try! Let me be frank with you, if you can't do it well, I won't let you stay even if we are relatives."
Meng Laidi agreed immediately, "Don't worry, I'm much better looking than Song Xiaoyu, and I'm definitely better than her!"
Song Xiaoyu pouted, very angry, "What a beauty! She's not even a fairy! I think she needs to wipe her mirror. How much dust must have fallen on it to be so confident!"
Meng Laidi snorted, took his work clothes and went inside to change.
Meng Laidi is tall and thin, and looks good. After changing into work clothes, he really looks like a salesman.
When Zhang Cuihua brought the chili sauce, she saw Meng Laidi standing at the door of the clothing store as the God of Wealth, so she whispered:
"Why are you here, brother?"
Zhen Zhen told her what happened. "She can't do anything. She's just like a lazy donkey. Even with a whip, she won't move. I don't know what her mother was thinking. She sent her to me."
"Laidi is 18 years old this year, right? Could it be that Qiaohong wants Laidi to marry in the county?"
"What does this have to do with me?"
"You are stupid!" Zhang Cuihua explained to her, "Qiaohong's ancestors were all from the countryside for 18 generations. How could she know any city people? Now that you have opened a factory, you will inevitably come into contact with some people of status. She asked Lai Di to come to you because she wanted him to target powerful people so that he could become a phoenix."
Zhen Zhen finally understood, "How could someone with power and influence like her? I'm telling you, among all the granddaughters of the Meng family, only Meng Laidi is not good enough."
"Just be content! I didn't ask Meng Hua to introduce her to a second-generation official. I think he loves you!"
Zhen Zhen laughed when she heard this. She broke the beans that she was going to make that night. Zhang Cuihua came over with a stool to help her. "By the way, Guizhi, I don't have that thing anymore!"
"What is it?"
"What a shame! I won't come to blame you anymore."
Zhen Zhen was stunned. "How old are you? It's too early! Do you want to go to the hospital to get some medicine and delay it for a few years? I heard that women age faster if they don't come back."
Zhang Cuihua waved her hands, "What medicine do you want to take? It's better not to come. Don't look at me as a rural woman, but I have also thought about why we women have to give birth to children? Men don't have to do anything and can have children. It's really unfair to us women!"
"That's right. Giving birth is a lot of pain," Zhen Zhen sighed and put the beans aside. "I heard that menopause is also a bit painful."
"That's right. I've been sweating on my back lately, feeling extremely anxious, and having a dry mouth. I can't sleep every night, and I'm already angry. My husband snores loudly, and he sleeps like a pig. The more I think about it, the angrier I get. I kick him a few times every night."
"Kick him a few more times. He doesn't know anyway."
Zhang Cuihua laughed twice, "Guizhi, after Gouzi and I save some money, let's go out for a walk, shall we?"
"Where do you want to go?"
"I don't know, I just think it's boring," Zhang Cuihua sighed, "As a country boy, don't you think I shouldn't have these thoughts? Country boys want to hang out before they've even filled their stomachs. In other people's eyes, they're not doing their jobs properly."
Zhen Zhen smiled and said, "People with poor living conditions cannot live too clearly. If they do, they will suffer. Although you are not well educated, you have a clear mind. You feel that you have been trapped in Batou Village all your life, revolving around men, stoves, and children. You have not realized your self-worth and have not lived a clear life."
"How about you make a lot of money? That really hits the spot. Two of my classmates have passed away, and I don't know how long I will live at this age. I want to go out and see the world."
Zhen Zhen pondered, "How about this, in a few months, I will go to Beijing to hold a trade fair, you and Gou Zi Niang come with me to help me, I will pay for your accommodation and tickets, how about that? Tell others that we are going to Beijing to sell things, don't say we are going out to have fun."
"It's our duty as Gouzi's wife and I to help you. You don't have to pay for us. We've made some money from selling chili sauce. To be honest, I've saved nearly two thousand yuan. If I don't spend it, my son will cheat me out of it in the future. It's not worth it."
"It's settled then."
Accountant Fang quickly replied to Zhen Zhen, saying that the Sanxian noodles sold best in Jing City, and that there were no chicken soup noodles and braised beef on the market. Her relatives in Jing City were quite interested in it, and said that if there were any samples, they could send a few packs over. If they liked them, they would purchase from Zhen Zhen on a long-term basis.
Zhen Zhen was very grateful to Accountant Fang. "If the deal is successful, I will personally visit Accountant Fang to thank him."
Accountant Fang smiled happily, "Hey, we are all Meilan's friends, why are you being so polite to me?"
With what the accountant said, Zhen Zhen planned to make all three types of instant noodles. The bagged noodles would be mainly fresh and delicious, while the barrel noodles would be mainly chicken soup and braised beef.
After repeated adjustments by factory staff, Zhen Zhen finally determined the formula for the instant noodle seasoning packet. As for the dough, it was cooked at high temperature and fried in palm oil.
The instant noodles made in this way are much more fragrant than those bought on the market.
Just like that, Zhenxin instant noodles officially went into production. The production line and vegetable dehydrating machines purchased from the island country were far ahead of domestic technology. More importantly, Zhenxin invested in the barrel instant noodle production line purchased at a high price, making Zhenxin the first private enterprise in the country to possess this technology.
As for the packaging of the instant noodles, Zhen Zhen hired a student majoring in design to help. Zhen Zhen verbally stated his requirements and the student designed it.
Nowadays, all walks of life are crossing the river by feeling the stones. Regardless of professionalism, as long as they can produce results, it is good.
Zhenxin instant noodles come in two packaging colors: orange and red. The packaging is printed with hot instant noodles topped with beef cubes, vegetable leaves, and carrots, making people drool just by looking at the picture.
Meng Daguo looked at the packaging of Zhenxin instant noodles and said excitedly:
"Mom, this packaging is really high-end, better looking than any instant noodles on the market."
Zhen Zhen smiled and said, "How can my mother's taste be bad? Oh, Daguo, go to Accountant Fang's house and bring some instant noodles to them. Ask for the addresses of her relatives and send some samples to them."
"Okay, Mom, just tell me if I have anything else to say." Meng Daguo waited eagerly for his mother to call him.
Zhen Zhen suppressed her laughter and said, "Send the photos of Huilan's new models to Manager Qiu."
"Why!"
"Call Meng Hua and ask him how he is doing and whether he has encountered any difficulties in life."
"I know, mother misses her son!"
"You little brat has learned bad habits and now you know how to tease your mother!"
Meng Daguo smiled, hung instant noodles on the handlebars of his bicycle, and rode away happily.
In order to hold a trade fair and make the Focus Women's Clothing brand famous, Zhen Zhen drew a lot of clothing styles for Jiao Huilan.
At a trade fair, regardless of whether the clothes are in season or not, sometimes winter clothes sold in the summer are better, giving customers the illusion that they are buying at a bargain during a clearance sale.
"Huilan, remember that our price tags are all high. For example, this coat has a price tag of 399. When we sell it for 99, customers will think they got a good deal."
"We sell down jackets for 129, but the list price should be at least 499."
"For skirts, mark up the price too. Remember not to make the size too small. If it's too big, you can alter it. If it's too small, it won't be good."
The clothes at the trade show are mostly one-size-fits-all, which is what makes Focus women's clothing different from other clothing. Focus has launched a lot of casual and loose styles that are not picky about size and can be worn by most people.
Jiao Huilan wrote down everything she said, "Mom, we have stockpiled tens of thousands of pieces of clothing. We can sell them all, right?"
"No, Manager Qiu wrote back last time saying that their store has a lot of traffic. I asked him to set up a display stand in front of the store, hire a few models to walk the runway, and hold a promotional event or something. Tens of thousands of pieces won't be a problem."
Jiao Huilan looked confused and had no idea what a model's catwalk was, but her motto was -
What my mother-in-law says is always right! Even if it’s wrong, it’s still right!
She doesn't need to understand, whatever her mother-in-law says is what she does.
So, Jiao Huilan agreed immediately and went to discuss the inventory matter with Song Xiaoyu.
As they were talking, a woman wearing patched pants and carrying a sack walked into Focus Women's Clothing.
The old lady spoke in a low voice and seemed unsure. After a long while, she whispered:
"Girl, I want to buy some clothes."
Zhen Zhen called Meng Lai Di and said, "Lai Di, my elder sister wants to buy some clothes. Please help her."
Meng Laidi was smiling at first, but when he saw the old lady's clothes, his face immediately fell.
"This... You are dressed like a beggar. Can you afford it?"
The old lady startled her and said, "I have money. I sold the scraps I had saved for several years and made some money. I want to buy some clothes. Girl, please help me get that hemp green skirt so I can try it on for size."
Meng Laidi turned his head and pretended not to hear.
The lady pulled her sleeve and said, "Girl."
The old lady's fingers were rough, and there were indelible black marks under her nails.
Meng Laidi seemed to be entangled by something dirty, and pushed her away in disgust, "Just talk, why are you pulling and tugging!"
The old lady blushed, "I...I just want to try on that skirt."
"What are you trying? Do you know how expensive our clothes are? You can't afford them even if you try them!" Meng Lai Di snorted and said to the female clerk beside him, "There are all kinds of people here, they think we are a beggar's den! To be honest, not everyone can afford our clothes."
Zhen Zhen's eyebrows were wrinkled into the shape of a "川" character.
She knew that Meng Laidi was a mediocre person, lazy and fond of having affairs with both men and women. As an elder, she was unwilling to have such a young man around her for fear of being criticized.
But she didn't expect Meng Laidi to be snobbish! Didn't Zhen Zhen say that even if the aunt's clothes are a little shabby, who's life is better these days? If it weren't for Zhen Zhen's help, it would be great if Meng Laidi's family could have enough to eat. She has only been out of poverty for a few days, and she is so embarrassed!
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