Chapter 83 : Visiting the Department Store

Sun Zeyan was also a little worried. “Our factory doesn’t know how to deal with them. They’ve been piling up for so long, it’s really a headache! The factory’s performance hasn’t been great in the past two years, and the counters can’t sell anything. They just keep returning stock. No one even wants these as wages for the workers! I guess we’ll just have to keep stacking them here for now.”

Especially with the recent rumors, there was a high possibility that the factory might even go bankrupt!

Hearing this, Song Shiwei nodded in understanding. Although these cotton-padded jackets weren’t made from the finest fabrics, they were made from economical and durable nylon-blended fabric. Nylon had high strength, alkali resistance, abrasion resistance, and good elasticity. It was one of the best synthetic fibers and was extremely durable.

However, it had one drawback, it wasn’t soft enough. But these cotton coats seemed to have considered that issue, as the lining was made of acrylic, commonly known as “artificial wool.” It was soft, warm, strong, smooth to the touch, tightly woven, and resistant to deformation. Even after washing, it hardly shrank.

These cotton-padded jackets were exactly what ordinary people needed most.

Maybe the problem was in the way they were marketed.

City dwellers typically had stable jobs and preferred stylish, good-looking clothes. Naturally, they wouldn’t be interested in cotton coats that prioritized durability and warmth over appearance.

If they were going to spend money, why not spend a little more on fashionable coats and down jackets produced in the South?

Or a trendy cotton coat with eye-catching designs?

That’s why these cotton-padded jackets weren’t selling.

But if they were taken to Qilian Island and sold to the villagers at a low price, Song Shiwei felt they would still be in demand.

At the very least, it would be better than letting them rot in the warehouse.

After thinking for a moment, she said, “Director Sun, if I try to sell them, what price can you offer me?”

Sun Zeyan, who had been worried, thought he had misheard.

“What did you say?”

Song Shiwei smiled and repeated, “I said I’d like to take some and see if I can sell them. What price can you give me?”

Sun Zeyan was truly shocked. But when he came to his senses, he felt a bit disheartened.

“I don’t want to see you struggle. These cotton coats are really hard to sell. The workers tried selling them before, hoping to make a little money, but they couldn’t get rid of them at all! Forget it, forget it, you’d better not take them. It’ll just be a waste of your effort!”

Song Shiwei shook her head and smiled. “Director Sun, just because they don’t sell here doesn’t mean they won’t sell on Qilian Island. I won’t take too many, just let me try with ten first. What do you think? Of course, the price…”

Looking at the mountain of cotton-padded jackets in front of him, Sun Zeyan sighed. “What price? If you really want to sell them, just take them at cost five yuan apiece!”

Five yuan per jacket was incredibly cheap, almost not even covering the labor costs.

Because after doing some calculations, Song Shiwei knew that in this era, making a cotton-padded jacket required about three feet of fabric, which alone cost around two yuan and you also needed cloth coupons.

Even if you had the money and cloth coupons, there was no guarantee you could buy fabric at the supply and marketing cooperative.

And even if you managed to get the fabric, you still had to buy cotton for the filling. But cotton wasn’t easy to come by either. Sometimes the commune grew and distributed some, but that was never enough for an entire household.

Adding in labor costs, five yuan? The real cost was likely around seven or eight yuan!

Moreover, these cotton-padded jackets were selling for over ten yuan each in the city!

Not to mention the stylish cotton jackets from the South, the cheapest ones cost a few dozen yuan, while wool coats and down jackets could go for hundreds!

At five yuan a piece, it was an absolute steal. Even at six yuan, there would still be a profit! It was practically like buying fabric and cotton while getting the factory’s labor for free.

Sun Zeyan had no other choice. Rather than letting them rot in the warehouse, it was better to exchange them for some capital.

“Well, if you can sell one, I’ll give you 50 cents! What do you think?”  

Song Shiwei was suddenly delighted.  

“Okay! Then I’ll start with ten!”  

Sun Zeyan nodded. “Alright, I’ll have the warehouse manager write up a list for you. If you sell them all, or… if you can’t sell them, just bring them back and come find me directly!”  

Looking at the brand-new cotton-padded jackets in front of her, Song Shiwei was full of confidence.  

“Great!”  

Finally, she left Sun Zeyan’s office phone number so they could stay in touch if needed.  

Seeing that it would be difficult for her to carry all the clothes, Sun Zeyan asked the workers to use some scrap fabric to sew a bedsheet into a makeshift bag for her to wrap everything up.  

Although these cotton coats were very lightweight, ten of them plus the seven she already had made for a massive bundle once packed together.  

Fortunately, Xiao Zhang was with her. Song Shiwei thought that if she had come alone, she might not have been able to lift them all!  

After leaving the factory, she remembered that she wanted to bring back some cotton gloves for Sister Mei, so she asked Xiao Zhang to take the cotton-padded jackets to the dock and wait for her there.  

Meanwhile, she took the two children on a trip to the department store!  

The department store in Qing City wasn’t too far from the garment factory.  

It took about twenty minutes to walk there.  

Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin looked up at the two-story building in front of them, their eyes wide with excitement.  

“Wow! So this is a department store?”  

“Yeah, it looks so fancy!”  

The siblings had never left Qilian Island before. After all, Zhou Tingyue was in the military all year round and almost never had a chance to leave. Even when he did, it was only for missions, so he couldn’t bring the children with him.  

He rarely even took leave to visit home for Chinese New Year.  

After adopting these children and divorcing, Shen Xiu’e had been so furious that she fell ill.  

Since then, he hadn’t dared to return home, let alone bring the children with him. One reason was that he worried his parents might not accept the children, which could hurt their young hearts.  

So, marrying Song Shiwei was the first time he had gone home in years, finally putting Shen Xiu’e and Zhou Runde’s minds at ease.  

In fact, Song Shiwei felt that Zhou Tingyue was overthinking things. No matter how angry his parents had been, it was only because they cared about him!  

They weren’t truly mad at him, and from what she understood about the elderly couple, they weren’t the kind of people who would take their frustration out on children or treat them unfairly.  

So this year, for Chinese New Year, Song Shiwei was planning to take the kids back to Beijing to celebrate!  

As she led the children into the department store, Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin were like Granny Liu visiting the Grand View Garden everything was new and fascinating to them!  

They looked here, then there, marveling at everything they saw.  

“Mom, this is amazing! They sell so many cool things! There are even picture books!”  

“Yeah, look, brother! They have canned fruit syrup and soda!”  

“And over here! There’s a toy section!”  

“Wow, they have malted milk and milk powder!”  

“Look at this candy counter, the candies are so pretty!”  

Seeing the two kids frozen in front of the candy counter, unable to take their eyes off the treats, Song Shiwei smiled at the salesperson and said, “I’d like a pound of White Rabbit milk candy!”  

Then, pointing to the brightly packaged fruit candies that Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin were staring at, she added, “And a pound of these as well!”  

The two children were completely shocked when they heard this.  

Their faces immediately lit up with wide grins!  

After buying the candy, Song Shiwei noticed there were cakes for sale, so she bought some too. Locally, they were called guozi packed in paper boxes, with an assortment of different cakes inside. Many people liked to buy them as gifts when visiting relatives.  

Since the children rarely got to eat snacks, she also bought them a box of fruit.  

Zhou Lin was so happy his smile nearly reached his ears.  

Just then, someone suddenly shouted, “The radios have arrived!”  

In an instant, the entire department store erupted into chaos as people rushed toward the front counter!