Chapter 439: Chapter 469: I’m Being Serious
People’s lives were much better now, nothing like the past when they didn’t have enough food or warm clothes. Back then, a single garment would be passed down from the eldest child to the second, then patched up and handed to the third.
Qin Jiao and Shen Yi went back and forth, quickly working out a solution. The task of investigating the rival clothing factory would be handed over to Sun Jianhua and Chen Sheng. Meanwhile, Shen Yi and Qin Jiao would brainstorm new products and handle the advertising.
What had felt like a world-ending catastrophe now had a visible solution, and everyone at the factory was re-energized.
Moreover, with the end of the year approaching, even though the factory hadn’t turned much of a profit yet, they still had to consider giving out some extra bonuses to everyone.
Qin Jiao took out a pen and scribbled down a long list of notes and figures. She then handed it to Shen Yi. "Take a look. Do you think we can distribute the bonuses this way? To be honest, we haven’t actually made much money this year, and we need to hold on to the bulk of our working capital. We’ll need a lot of cash if we’re going to advertise or hire models over the New Year. But I was thinking, these employees have been with us through all the tough times. We can’t shortchange them, no matter what. We need to make them feel a sense of belonging and loyalty to the factory."
It was just the two of them in the factory director’s office.
Shen Yi propped his chin on his hand, nodding along as he listened. "My wife is right!"
"I’m being serious with you!"
"I’m being serious too. After all, it’s still daylight, and we’re out of the house," Shen Yi’s tone shifted as he paused, then added in a whisper, "If you’re really in the mood, though, I’m not opposed."
"Opposed my foot!" Qin Jiao gave the man a light, exasperated kick. "It’s almost the end of the year. Are there any relatives on your side we need to visit? A lot of people came to our wedding, so there must be a hierarchy of closeness. Anyway, on my side, there’s only one family. I’ll mail something to my uncle and aunt’s house later. Oh, right! Everyone’s been so busy, we haven’t prepared for the New Year yet. It’s less than a month away, we really need to get everything ready."
As Shen Yi listened, his gaze grew increasingly tender. "Okay," he said. "I’ll call my mom later and ask, then I’ll check with my grandpa to see which relatives in North City we should visit."
In his past life, Shen Yi had lived for decades without ever even considering visiting relatives.
But things were different now. They were running a clothing factory and needed to maintain certain relationships. More than that, Shen Yi now had someone to care for, which made him want to do more, to handle every detail perfectly.
Hearing him say that, Qin Jiao breathed a sigh of relief. After all, doing business in North City meant they really did need to leverage some of the Du family’s connections.
And those connections—they couldn’t just use them; they had to wrest them away from Shen Zhengfeng completely.
’That scumbag. What right does he have to still be using the Du family’s connections at a time like this?’
When Du Liya heard about the issue with the new spring collection’s designs over the phone, she immediately wanted to rush back, but Shen Yi stopped her. "Mom, if you have any creative ideas, just sketch out the designs and email them to us. That’ll be fine."
"But with something this major happening at the factory, how can I possibly enjoy my honeymoon in peace?"
"It’s fine, Mom. Aside from the design work, there’s nothing else you can help with anyway."
"..." Du Liya felt a sting.
After hanging up, she complained to her husband, Beidou, "Xiao Yi thinks I’m useless! Waaah!"
Beidou didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he comforted her. "No, no, that’s not it. He just doesn’t want to disturb our honeymoon. Besides, Xiao Yi and Xiao Jiao are so capable, they can definitely handle this problem. If they can’t, then we’ll help them, okay?"