Free Web NovelChapter 384: Chapter 384: Single Product
Aston Marsh chuckled, seeing Adrian Hawthorne in a new light. The boy was calm and composed, keenly observant, had a clear thought process, and spoke exceptionally well. ’He’s definitely destined for great things.’ It was a good idea to form a positive connection with him now. Life was unpredictable, and this connection might just come in handy one day.
"You’re right. Right now, I’m worried the factory will go bankrupt. If it does, everyone there will be left with nothing."
Aston Marsh sighed, a weight settling in his chest. The towel factory had been built before the Liberation and had weathered decades of storms. He had seen it through its golden age—a glorious time when he was on the road all year round, the factory worked day and night to rush out orders, and their products were even exported abroad. But now, half the machines in the workshop stood idle, and the workers spent their days chatting and playing cards. Any sign of vitality was completely gone.
"The factory can go bankrupt? How is that possible? Isn’t it supposed to be an ’iron rice bowl’?" Goldie Thorne found it unbelievable.
Aston Marsh gave a bitter smile. "There’s no such thing as a truly guaranteed job in this world. If a factory can’t make money, it’s bound to fail. That’s just a law of the market. If the factory really goes under, I’ll have to go into business for myself too!"
Tang Xiaonan glanced at the towel hanging on the bed frame. It was a standard, long, striped towel in red, white, and blue. Most towels were like this at the time, unlike the towels of later generations, which came in a wide variety of patterns, colors, and styles. There were large ones and small ones, face towels, bath towels, and hair towels, and even wearable bathrobes and terrycloth blankets—all part of the towel family, with so many different types.
"This towel is ugly."
Tang Xiaonan pointed at the towel and said. ’It really is ugly.’ She had a soft spot for towels in cute, pastel colors. She used to love collecting all sorts of them, filling up an entire drawer. She might never have used them all, but she just loved having the collection.
Aston Marsh looked at his own towel. It was a "new" product from the factory—or rather, not so new. The factory had been producing the exact same style for over a decade. The employees didn’t have to pay for towels; they just went to the workshop and took them, grabbing a dozen or so at a time. When they ran out, they just got more. No one kept track.
"As long as a towel does its job, that’s all that matters. It’s not like you wear it out, so why does it need to look good?"
Aston Marsh didn’t take Tang Xiaonan’s words seriously. ’What does a little girl know, anyway?’
"People only buy things that look good. Nobody wants something ugly." Tang Xiaonan sighed inwardly. ’People in this era really have no aesthetic sense. This Aston Marsh still hasn’t realized the real reason his factory’s towels aren’t selling.’
’If all their towels are like this, it’d be a miracle if business was good.’
’Even if this was an era dominated by black, blue, and gray, people still had an appreciation for beauty. Besides, aesthetic sensibilities in the cities were slowly reawakening. The blue-and-red plaid skirt she was wearing proved that the tastes of city folk weren’t so bad.’
Aston Marsh’s expression faltered, and he grew thoughtful. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
’The little girl did have a point. If something was ugly, of course, no one would want it. But how good could a towel really look? It was just a small piece of cloth.’
Adrian Hawthorne asked, "Uncle Aston, how many different types of towels does your factory produce?"
"Just three or four types. We mostly make this kind, for washing faces. We’ve stopped producing the others."
"How many patterns are there?"
Aston Marsh thought for a moment. "Not many. There’s also a blue-and-gray plaid one and another with magpies and red plum blossoms. Those three are our most common designs."
He pulled two new towels from a box. One was blue-and-gray plaid, the other featured the magpies and red plum blossoms. The quality was actually decent—they were soft and thick—but the patterns and colors were another story entirely. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
The blue-and-gray plaid looked like it was permanently dirty—not a light blue, but a dingy, grayish-blue. The magpie and plum blossom towel, despite having a pattern, just looked tacky. By comparison, the simple striped one was the most tasteful of the bunch.
