Chapter 57: Establishing a Factory

Chunsheng Supply and Marketing Cooperative, although not located in the new urban area, was adjacent to it, with a good location.

Therefore, there were many self-service malls, shops, department stores, etc. around it.

As a result, the two were surprised that Chunsheng Supply and Marketing Cooperative was still doing so well under the pressure of these competitors.

Upon closer inspection, they found that many of the customers were young women.

After observing for a while, the two understood the situation.

It turned out that these people were attracted by the jewelry counter in the supply and marketing cooperative.

Manager Liu was very optimistic about the jewelry business, so she took it seriously.

In addition to the various hair accessories purchased from Xu Sangluo, the jewelry counter also purchased some low-to-mid-range jewelry from other places.

The independent counter was surrounded by glass cabinets on three sides, and there was also a large vertical glass cabinet behind it.

Inside, rows of shelves were filled with various dazzling jewelry.

Among them, the over 30 styles of pearl and jade hair accessories made by Xu Sangluo were the most eye-catching.

Each one was very delicate and trendy, the kind that any girl who loved beauty couldn’t resist.

Even if they couldn’t afford it, they would still stand and admire it for a while.

At the same time, they would also buy other fabric accessories that were also inlaid with pearls and jade.

Now, Xu Sangluo’s hair accessories had increased to about 100 styles.

Pure pearl and jade styles accounted for 35 styles. Because they focused more on craftsmanship, Qin’s mother selected ten reliable people to specialize in making them.

These were complicated and slow to make, so Xu Sangluo gave them a fixed salary of 200 yuan per month.

Each person was temporarily responsible for 3 styles. If a style sold well, they would receive a bonus at the end of the month.

The bonus was 1% of the sales of that style for the month.

A salary of 200 yuan was definitely not as much as piecework, but they only needed to work two shifts a day and could take one day off a week. If they worked overtime at night, they could get extra overtime pay, so it wasn’t a bad deal.

Therefore, these people agreed.

The remaining 70 or so styles of fabric hair accessories, Xu Sangluo now basically added pearl and jade embellishments, but the craftsmanship was not difficult.

It was just that the pattern makers were busy. They not only had to make patterns for clothes but also for hair accessories.

So, the number of pattern makers had increased to six, working three shifts a day, with a monthly salary of 100 yuan.

To get back to the main point, after learning about the jewelry counter, Manager Zhao became interested.

Manager Zhao was responsible for the Southern Building department store. He could tell at a glance the market demand and potential of a product.

So, when he saw these dazzling jewelry under the glass, his eyes lit up.

He had seen many of the jewelry before, but many of the hair accessories were new to him.

But it had to be said that they were all very delicate and trendy, and they would definitely sell well. They might even start a trend.

Therefore, Manager Zhao had the idea of introducing them.

The market is now starting to favor young people.

Young people can earn money and are willing to spend it, unlike the older generation who hold onto their money and are reluctant to spend it.

Just look at these women surrounding the counter.

They buy a pearl and jade hair clip for ten or twenty yuan without hesitation.

If it were the older generation, which ordinary family would dare to spend money so easily.

He has been trying to find ways to attract new customers to the mall and inject some vitality.

The jewelry at Chunsheng Supply and Marketing Cooperative is not the first thing he has his eye on.

The mall has already introduced over 20 trendy products, and the results seem to be good so far.

But they are still missing women’s hair accessories.

Although the mall has hair accessories, they are either high-end jewelry products or very ordinary, common types.

There are no new styles that can be sold at a mid-range price, which should attract a group of low-to-mid-end young customers.

After listening, Manager Liu was very surprised.

Although she also liked hair accessories, to be honest, she thought that selling them at the supply and marketing cooperative would be enough.

She found it a bit unbelievable that a large department store like the Southern Building would also be interested.

But when she learned that the other party wanted to try to transform the mall and attract new customers, she understood.

It wasn’t that they liked these accessories so much, but they were willing to try anything, even if it meant killing a hundred by mistake rather than letting one go.

When she learned that the Southern Building had recently introduced many new things from both domestic and foreign sources, she understood even more.

However, she could only smile wryly at Manager Zhao’s proposal for cooperation.

“Manager Zhao, it’s not that I’m holding onto the supply, nor that I’m unwilling to cooperate with you, but these things are all from a small private workshop. They are all handmade crafts, and the daily output is limited. I often don’t have enough to sell here, and I really can’t supply enough.”

“What?” Manager Zhao was surprised when he heard this, “A small workshop?”

Manager Liu nodded and thought for a moment, “How about this, I’ll ask them first to see if they can increase the quantity. If they can, I’ll call you and let you know, okay?”

Manager Liu actually wanted to get on board with the Southern Building.

This was the oldest and largest mall in Guangzhou, with extensive connections and supply channels.

Especially since they also had connections in Hong Kong.

Manager Liu had always wanted to import some new products from Hong Kong, and now was the perfect opportunity.

But she wasn’t sure about Xu Sangluo’s side.

She wasn’t against finding a factory to produce them.

But factories usually have high minimum order quantities, which a small supply and marketing cooperative like hers couldn’t handle.

If the Southern Building sold well in the future, it wouldn’t be impossible.

But for now, she could only rely on Xu Sangluo’s side.

Manager Zhao was a little disappointed when he heard this, but he still nodded, “Okay, then I’ll trouble you, Manager Liu. If it doesn’t work out, don’t force it.”

He just wanted to find some new products, and it wasn’t necessarily this one.

Perhaps they could find time to visit Hong Kong.

Manager Fang received the call and immediately rode his bicycle to Gaoshui Town.

He was now familiar with the way to Gaoshui Town.

Xu Sangluo was at home, so he told her about it.

Manager Liu didn’t mention the Southern Building at first, only saying that a mall wanted to buy some goods and asked her to help inquire.

But Manager Fang, through subtle hints, managed to extract the key word “Southern Building” from Manager Liu.

He had been working with Xu Sangluo and had a very good impression of her. He was also willing to do her a favor and told her about the Southern Building’s interest in her products.

He wasn’t afraid that Xu Sangluo would stop supplying him after getting the Southern Building, because they had signed a contract, and he still had the right of priority.

Of course, he also trusted Xu Sangluo’s character.

Xu Sangluo knew about the Southern Building, of course, so she was particularly surprised.

She never expected that those things would be noticed by the Southern Building.

This matter had to be taken seriously.

The Southern Building was a local tycoon in Guangzhou, and it was also a trendsetter. If she could establish a relationship with them, many things would be easier in the future.

However, she didn’t give Manager Fang a definite answer. She only said that she could expand the workshop and temporarily provide a daily output of 20,000 pieces.

If the Southern Building’s sales were good, she would consider building a factory.

She then quickly called Qin’s mother and Qin Zhiyi to discuss it.

The two of them might not know much about the Southern Building, but she was very clear.

It was the commercial center of Guangzhou, and its sales performance had consistently ranked among the top ten in the country in the 1980s and 1990s.

She briefly explained the situation of the Southern Building to them and then told them about her plan.

Although she didn’t give Manager Fang a definite answer, she had already decided to build a factory.

But their current funds were far from enough to build a factory, so they could only start with a semi-factory.

Because time was tight, she asked Qin Zhiyi to help buy 20 sewing machines.

Liu Boss had connections with the county machinery factory, so if things went smoothly, they could get them in two or three days.

Of course, she wouldn’t let them do her a favor for free.

She paid an extra 50 yuan per sewing machine as a middleman fee.

She asked Qin’s mother to increase recruitment.

To get the goods out first, they would stop making clothes for a day and focus all their efforts on making hair accessories.

She didn’t think her products were so good that they would be noticed by the Southern Building.

There was definitely some luck involved, and she wasn’t willing to miss this opportunity.

So, time was money now.

The autumn harvest in the brigade had just ended, and many people came to take some work to do after learning that the Qin family needed people to do handicrafts.

Xu Sangluo checked her accounts.

The hair accessories had been doing well and were stable, with an average daily income of about 8,000 yuan.

After deducting the cost of buying…

Materials, machinery, wages, etc.

Currently, the two of them have about 60,000 yuan in cash flow that they can use.

This amount of money was already a lot, but it was not enough if they wanted to start a factory.

The two biggest expenses for starting a factory were equipment and site and construction.

For equipment, they would leave it blank for now and fill it in slowly. At most, they would hire more temporary workers.

Although it would cost money and time, there was no other way for now.

As for the site, it would take a lot of time just to go through the procedures from scratch, and the investment would be large.

She planned to see if there were any old, unused factories that could be rented first.

To this end, she called Xu Xingtao and asked him to help her find out.

It was already night, and she went to the commune to borrow a public phone.

Fortunately, the old man guarding the gate was kind and let her in.

At this time, she couldn’t possibly call Xu Xingtao’s office phone, so she called his home.

At this time, there were three people sitting in the living room of the Xu family.

Xu’s mother had just sat down with a plate of fruit and called her youngest son, who was looking at picture books, to come over and eat some fruit.

She picked up a piece of apple and handed it to her husband, who was intently watching the news broadcast.

“Try this apple. It tastes very good.”

Xu’s father took the toothpick and didn’t even move his eyes. He took a bite and then showed a look of surprise.

“Delicious, right?” Xu’s mother smiled.

The 13-year-old boy next to her nodded eagerly, “Mom, this apple is much better than the ones we had before.”

Xu’s father also nodded, “It does taste good. We can buy more.”

Xu’s mother smiled, “There’s a new stall at the agricultural trade market. They say they got special supply fruits and vegetables from somewhere. The price is not low, but they taste good. The vegetables we ate tonight were bought there. Cai Xia told me about it.”

Xu’s father was surprised when he heard about the special supply vegetables, “What special supply vegetables? Where did they get them?”

Xu’s father was not as easily fooled as ordinary residents.

How could something labeled “special supply” be easily sold?

If that was the case, it would be a big deal.

His expression immediately became serious.

But Xu’s mother said, “The stall owner himself doesn’t know. I guess he’s just making it up. How could you easily get real special supply goods? And it’s impossible to set up a stall so openly.”

Xu’s father frowned in thought and then asked about the place where the vegetables were sold. He thought about whether he should tell Lao Chen and ask him to send someone to inquire.

He wasn’t in charge of the agricultural sales, so he couldn’t interfere rashly.

But this matter could be big or small.

Every year, when vegetables were scarce, there were cases of special supply vegetables being swallowed and resold.

Just then, the phone next to him rang.

Xu’s father was sitting next to it and picked it up casually.

Then he heard a soft, gentle female voice on the phone.

“Hello, is this the home of Comrade Xu Xingtao?”

“Hello, is this the home of Comrade Xu Xingtao?”

The father who answered the phone was slightly taken aback, then asked in a deep voice, “Yes, who is this?”

“My name is Xu Sangluo. Could you please ask Comrade Xu to answer the phone?”

Xu’s father replied, “Okay, please wait a moment. I’ll ask him to come over.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Xu’s father put down the phone and asked his youngest son to go upstairs and call his older brother down to answer the phone. He added, “Tell him it’s a female comrade named Xu Sangluo.”

When Xu’s mother heard “female comrade,” she immediately perked up and looked at the phone with raised eyebrows, her eyes filled with inquiry.

Xu’s father ignored her and continued to think about the special supply vegetables.

Soon, there was a clattering sound of footsteps on the wooden stairs, as if someone was running in a hurry.

Xu’s mother turned her head and was stunned.

She saw her son quickly walking down the stairs, three steps at a time, then walking towards them. He seemed a little anxious, and his pajamas were a little damp.

He must have been taking a shower or had just finished showering.

Although his expression didn’t change much, as a mother, she could still sense something unusual.

Xu’s mother narrowed her eyes.

Xu Xingtao had already walked around the sofa and bent down to pick up the phone.

“Hello, this is Xu Xingtao.”

“Xu Ge, I’m sorry to bother you so late at night.”

Xu Xingtao sat down next to her, and his phoenix eyes, which were not wearing glasses, had a hint of a smile.

“No, I’m not doing anything right now. What’s up?”

His voice unconsciously softened, making Xu’s mother even more suspicious.

Xu Sangluo didn’t want to take up the old man’s time for too long, so she quickly explained the matter.

Xu Xingtao listened, frowned in thought.

He glanced at Xu’s mother, who kept looking over, and said, “Okay, I’ll keep an eye out and tell you later. Okay, nothing else. Goodbye.”

After he hung up the phone, Xu’s mother asked casually, “Who was that? A friend or a colleague?”

Xu Xingtao stood up and said, “A friend. I’m going upstairs.”

He turned to leave.

Xu’s mother was unwilling and wanted to ask more.

But he had already strode to the stairs.

Xu’s mother was speechless, “This child.”

Then she asked Xu’s father in a low voice, “Do you think something’s wrong with your son?”

Xu’s father came back to his senses, “What? What’s wrong?”

“Just that phone call. Your son’s attitude was wrong. I think something’s going on.”

Xu’s father frowned, “What’s wrong? Don’t think too much. By the way, about that vegetable stall, ask more questions next time you go. Find out more.”

He temporarily decided not to ask Lao Chen. Maybe it was just a lie made up by the vendor to sell vegetables. He should find out more first.

Xu’s mother pouted.

Xu Sangluo hung up the phone and rushed back to continue working overtime.