Free Web NovelChapter 137: Chapter 137: First Come, First Served
「The next day.」
Wen Ci woke before dawn. She got out of bed, walked to the window, and pulled open the hotel curtains. Outside was Shen City’s Huangpu River. Though she hadn’t stayed at the Peace Restaurant last night, Wen Ci had still found a place near the Bund.
Xu Jinghe had said that of all the hotels in Shen City, aside from the Peace Restaurant being the safest, only the ones around the Bund were relatively safe.
The hotels around the Bund weren’t as expensive as the Peace Restaurant, but they still cost nearly a hundred yuan a night.
Wen Ci’s heart had ached when she paid last night.
’One night at a hotel on the Bund costs as much as a warm, practical sweater.’
Suddenly, the landline in the room began to ring. Wen Ci walked to the bedside to answer it. "Hello?"
Xu Jinghe’s voice came through. "It’s me. I was wondering, do you want to wait until nine and go with me to the mall to check out the latest Southern styles? Or should we just head straight to the factory?"
"Let’s go straight to the factory," Wen Ci replied.
’I already saw the popular Hong Kong styles around the Bund last night. Nearly all the men and women out shopping were wearing them.’
Half an hour later, Xu Jinghe arrived in his car to pick Wen Ci up.
Wen Ci got straight to the point. "Last night, I took a close look at the people wearing those Hong Kong-style outfits. The material looked really coarse. Why is that?"
"To get ahead of the competition."
You have to be first to capture the market. But as more and more manufacturers join in, the first batch to enter the market gets weeded out. Their goal is just to make some fast money.
His aim in the apparel business, however, was to develop high-quality goods.
To that end, he had made a special trip to Hong Kong to speak with manufacturers there. His factory had already begun producing high-quality, Hong Kong-style apparel, but the old, piled-up inventory was taking up too much space.
"Those first-wave manufacturers have poor quality, so consumers will learn to avoid them. But they still made their quick buck."
Wen Ci understood.
After driving for an hour and a half, they arrived at Xu Jinghe’s clothing factory. They had just gotten out of the car and were heading for the office when an employee approached Xu Jinghe to give a report.
"Boss, perfect timing. There was something I wanted to talk to you about. It’s about that pile of old clothes in the warehouse. I’ve thought of two ways to handle them. First, we could sell them to the market at a low price. Even though the styles from Hong Kong are popular right now, the quality of our clothes isn’t bad; they’re just a bit dated.
"The second option is to take all the old clothes apart and use the fabric to make new styles. What do you think of these two ideas, Boss?"
The employee giving the report didn’t dare to look at Xu Jinghe. Seeing his boss remain silent, he took two old garments from the warehouse out of his bag and said,
"Boss, look. The quality of these garments is genuinely good."
Wen Ci carefully examined the garments in the employee’s hands. ’The quality really is good,’ she thought. ’But taking them all apart to use the fabric for new pieces would be more expensive in terms of labor.’
Xu Jinghe glanced over at Wen Ci. "So, Sister-in-law, are you confident you can make a profit with these?"
Wen Ci smiled. "I wouldn’t have made any promises before seeing the clothes from your factory, but now I can guarantee it. This batch will absolutely be profitable."
’The quality is better than the northern factories, and the price is lower.’
’Then, not only could I sell them retail on the street, but I could also supply them to the various department stores. Just marketing them as ’first come, first served’ would be enough to turn a profit.’
"How about we start you with two hundred thousand yuan worth of stock to test the waters?"
"Deal!"
Xu Jinghe said she would only need to put down half as a deposit.
The employee looked completely baffled. "Boss, so... we have a plan for that batch of clothes from the warehouse now?"
Xu Jinghe nodded and said unhurriedly, "Mhm. Ah Ze, what do you think about taking that batch of clothes from the factory and selling them up north?"
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