Chen Lishu quickly opened the two nylon bags and, with Wang Aixiang, poured the clothes inside onto another spread-out clean bag.
Wang Aixiang was quite startled when she saw the large pile of clothes in front of her.
Before, she hadn't thought much of it looking at the fabric, but seeing so many clothes now felt rather "spectacular."
The two of them did a general check. Finding no quality issues due to squeezing during transport, they began to sort them again.
“Aixiang jie, this batch of clothes is limited in quantity. We won’t sell the loose ones. Didn’t your friends express interest in taking stock before? Since they’ve been branded, our clothes will have a unified selling price from now on.”
Wang Aixiang was confused, “What’s a unified selling price?” Isn’t it enough if they can be sold? Do they also have to manage how much they sell them for?
Chen Lishu patiently explained, “Once they carry our ‘Shuse’ trademark, we must be even more strict with ourselves. For now, my market positioning is for the general public, striving for affordability.”
As Chen Lishu spoke, she picked up a short-sleeved shirt and showed the trademark inside to Wang Aixiang. “Take this short-sleeved shirt for example. In those Yimin stores, clothes of the same quality and workmanship would sell for fourteen or fifteen yuan, right?”
Wang Aixiang nodded, “When they have new stock, people line up for a long time. But aren’t they said to be for export re-imported?”
Chen Lishu smiled, “Yes, the same items are more popular when labeled as export re-imported. In the future, I also want people to mention ‘Shuse’ and for everyone to eagerly queue up.”
Wang Aixiang thought of such a scene, and for some reason, her heart also surged with excitement.
“So, we can’t just sell the clothes to them and be done with it. Think about it, if we sell them at twelve yuan wholesale, but they sell them for fifteen, then what advantage do we have compared to the ready-made clothes in the stores? Who will want to buy our clothes in the future?”
After all, most people nowadays value affordability. As long as they are practical, durable, and cheap, they would rather forgo stylish designs.
Wang Aixiang nodded, acknowledging that it was indeed the case.
“Therefore, if they want to take stock, it’s twelve yuan per piece. Their retail price is thirteen. If any are found to be arbitrarily raising prices, they will no longer be supplied with goods once discovered.”
Understanding the reasoning, Wang Aixiang nodded heavily. “Meizi, I understand. I’ll go and tell them about this in a bit. If they want to take stock, they must abide by our rules.”
Chen Lishu nodded, then paused and added, “When they pick up the goods, you specifically tell them, and when they sell, you specifically tell the buyers that our ‘Shuse’ clothing is produced in Shanghai.”
Wang Aixiang’s eyes widened. “Produced in Shanghai? But we are clearly…”
Chen Lishu smiled. “We’ll just say the factory is in Shanghai. Would they really go to Shanghai to investigate for a piece of clothing? Besides, in a couple of years, when policies improve, we can open a factory there, can’t we?”
Nowadays, people have a special reverence for Beijing and Shanghai. Anything produced in these two places, even inconspicuous insoles or socks, is definitely of good quality.
Wang Aixiang subtly swallowed. Opening a factory in Shanghai? The thought alone felt like a dream.
As Chen Lishu was about to leave, her gaze fell on the last piece of gabardine fabric on the kang, and she couldn't help but be stunned. “Have the others sold out so quickly?”
Wang Aixiang smiled. “Meizi, I really admire you for this. Ever since you made up the price difference that time, you don’t know what people were saying. They said you were principled, and they wouldn’t fall short. They’d rather earn less to help you sell this fabric. Some even joked that the sooner it sold out, the sooner they could get other fabrics.”
Chen Lishu smiled and nodded. “Alright, Aixiang jie, tell them that in the future, whatever we have, we’ll prioritize them for taking stock.”
“Okay!” Wang Aixiang responded heartily. After seeing Chen Lishu out, she went back to get a short-sleeved shirt, locked the door, and went to find her friends.
Besides discussing the clothes, she also relayed what Chen Lishu had said.
Some were somewhat dissatisfied upon hearing that the selling price would be regulated after taking stock. However, they could earn one yuan per item resold, and it was a business that had never been so profitable. Moreover, the clothes were stylish and easy to sell, so their slight dissatisfaction could be completely ignored. They had all earned quite a bit of money recently, and buying twenty or thirty pieces of clothing was not a problem. Some, seeing the profitability, wanted to buy more, but with only over a hundred pieces in total, if some took more, others would go without. Wang Aixiang could only promise to give them more next time they had stock.
Thus, from when the one hundred and thirty-two pieces of clothing were transported back to when they were all sold, it took less than two hours.
On the other side, Li Zhengxing finally returned to the factory after traveling outside for more than half a month.
Although it was hard work, the results were satisfactory, with a total of fifty thousand yuan in orders secured. The factory director and the Party secretary, who had been holding their breath, finally let out a sigh of relief.
“As expected, it still has to be you, Old Li, to go out. With fifty thousand yuan in orders, it can finally alleviate the factory’s backlog issues. Otherwise, with all the money tied up in this batch of fabric, not only would it be a problem to pay the factory workers, but there wouldn’t even be enough money to purchase raw materials.”
After leaving the factory office, Li Zhengxing did not forget about the batch of fabric that Liu Xiaoting from Qingshan Garment Factory had requested. Since he was already delivering goods to their factory, he went to the warehouse to inform the storekeeper.
The fabric she wanted contained spandex. The factory’s technology in this area was not yet mature, and coupled with production quotas, the output had always been low, with limited supply to the outside. Even for Li Zhengxing, he could only allocate ten bolts to her for the time being.
However, these ten bolts were temporarily enough for Liu Xiaoting. Made into underwear, it would yield several hundred pieces. She was now an administrator in the factory and, taking advantage of her position, had privately found several willing helpers. For a processing fee of two mao per piece, even though they could only work on it after work, they were all skilled hands and could produce dozens of pieces daily.
…
Time flew by, and it was the day of the city-wide college student English competition. Zhang Xue specifically went to the cafeteria with Chen Lishu for a bowl of noodles, even adding two eggs for her.
“Wishing you a perfect score,” Zhang Xue said, placing the peeled eggs she was holding into Chen Lishu’s bowl.
“Thank you,” Chen Lishu said. After taking a few bites, she looked up, “Why aren’t you eating?”
Zhang Xue propped her chin on her hands. “I can’t eat.”
Chen Lishu stopped her chopsticks and asked worriedly, “Are you feeling unwell?”
“You eat yours. I’m just too nervous to eat.”
Chen Lishu: “…” If she remembered correctly, wasn’t she the one competing?