Chapter 26: A New Business Opportunity

“Can you help them with styling too?”

Xia Keqing pondered for a moment, her eyes instantly lit up.

This era was a period of rapid economic development in China, it was no exaggeration to say that it was filled with gold everywhere.

Originally, Xia Keqing didn’t plan to go into business.

Mainly because she wasn’t cut out for business.

Most importantly, with Shen Jichuan, her golden thigh, she could completely avoid living such a hard life.

But now, the golden thigh wasn’t around!

Besides, who would dislike having more money?

Soon, the planned economy era would become history, and money was a good thing.

“Okay, I’m planning to open a clothing studio, I can help them with styling then.”

He Xiaolan’s attention was immediately diverted, “Clothing studio?”

Xia Keqing nodded, the concept of a studio might be new to people now, but it shouldn’t be difficult to understand.

“Yes, to put it simply, it’s about styling clothes according to individual characteristics and selling the clothes to them.”

He Xiaolan’s eyes also lit up, “Wow! Does that mean everyone can buy clothes that suit them?”

Xia Keqing smiled, “You could say that.”

She glanced at the other two roommates, Li Fen and Zhao Juan, who were silent, “Do you guys want to join me and do this together?”

Li Fen was stunned, she looked at Zhao Juan, “But I don’t know anything about this.”

Zhao Juan remained silent.

Although Xia Keqing mentioned a studio, she immediately thought of the tailors in the past who catered to wealthy people.

It was basically the same thing.

When they developed to a certain extent, they would definitely have to design their own clothes and create their own brand.

Thinking about this, Zhao Juan felt a little excited.

But she was always calm and didn’t show it.

“How do you want us to participate?”

Xia Keqing was surprised that Zhao Juan, who always kept to herself, was interested in her plan.

She told her what she had in mind.

“Xiaolan has good interpersonal skills, she can bring customers to the studio.”

“Juan has a good figure, she can be a model.”

“As for Sister Fen…”

Xia Keqing paused for a moment.

Actually, Li Fen was the hardest to arrange. She came from a humble background, she had a husband and a daughter, she studied very hard, and she was determined to learn as much as possible.

Their relationship was good, but they still kept a distance.

Especially the original owner, she was a love-struck fool, she didn’t care about anything for Chen the Scum, which made the other roommates look down on her, thinking she was stupid.

Unless you were particularly slow, you would be able to sense other people’s politeness and distance.

So Xia Keqing couldn’t learn from the original owner’s memories what skills the other roommates had.

Li Fen was a little embarrassed, “I can sew clothes, I made all my daughter’s clothes myself.”

Xia Keqing’s eyes instantly lit up, “Really?”

Li Fen’s face turned red.

She wasn’t used to Xia Keqing’s gaze, she felt embarrassed.

Actually, in the countryside, it was common for women to have some needlework skills. After all, in an era of scarcity, any resource was precious, let alone ready-made clothes.

Children’s clothes were mostly made by altering adults’ clothes.

Some women didn’t have good skills, they could only alter clothes to make them smaller, maybe they would alter them several times, and the sleeves would be one long and one short. But Li Fen wouldn’t do that, she would patiently measure the clothes with a ruler before altering them, and she would try her best to make the altered clothes look better.

She would use brightly colored fabric to sew a flower or a small animal on the altered clothes.

So her daughter loved to wear the clothes she altered.

But Li Fen thought it was just a little trick, nothing special, so she was a little embarrassed to say it.

“Yes, it’s just a simple alteration, it’s not difficult once you do it a lot.”

Xia Keqing nodded, she had a better understanding of Li Fen.

A mom, a DIY craft master.

Of course, she hadn’t seen Li Fen’s daughter, and she didn’t know how good her skills were, but at least she was better than her, she couldn’t do it.

Like Zhao Juan, Xia Keqing was only thinking about helping people style clothes right now.

In other words, “wholesale and retail”.

But if they wanted to grow bigger and stronger, they would definitely need their own R&D team in the future.

That is, design and tailoring.

Although it wasn’t necessary to think that far ahead now, if the wholesale clothes didn’t fit the customers, having Li Fen, who understood tailoring, would be helpful.

The more Xia Keqing thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

Most clothes in this era were loose-fitting.

But how could loose-fitting clothes highlight a woman’s graceful beauty? So someone would definitely have to alter clothes.

Xia Keqing grabbed Li Fen’s hand, “Sister, our studio needs talents like you.”

Li Fen was even more embarrassed by her words.

But she wasn’t a shy person, “Okay, if you think I can do it, then I’ll definitely join.”

Everyone in the dormitory had seen the clothes Xia Keqing styled for He Xiaolan last time.

It really elongated He Xiaolan’s leg lines to a great extent, visually making her “taller” by at least two inches. It was because the effect was so good that those girls who loved beauty kept asking her where she bought her clothes.

He Xiaolan suddenly thought of something, “Oops!”

She exclaimed, “Oops! I told them I bought them at the market!”

“Look at my brain!”

Her face turned a little pale, she looked at Xia Keqing with a face full of apology.

Xia Keqing smiled and said, “It’s okay, the market has been selling clothes for years, everyone knows that the clothes there are beautiful and cheap, but they still don’t know how to style them, right?”

Thinking about it, that was true.

He Xiaolan’s family was well-off, her parents loved her very much, so she often bought clothes, but she usually went to higher-end department stores, rarely to the market.

The clothes in department stores were indeed of better quality and more expensive.

But no matter how good the clothes were, if they weren’t styled well, they wouldn’t look good.

She immediately changed her mood, “Yes, you’re right.”

“Keqing, what are your plans?”

Xia Keqing smiled and said, “What do you guys think, how about I accompany them to buy clothes for free first?”

He Xiaolan was instantly stunned.

“Then won’t you make any money?”

They had agreed to open a studio, it was definitely to make money, was it to help those sisters who didn’t know how to style themselves?

Xia Keqing smiled mysteriously, “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely earn our first startup capital.”

He Xiaolan was confused, while Zhao Juan and Li Fen exchanged glances.

Li Fen politely said, “Just ask if you need anything.”

Zhao Juan nodded.

Xia Keqing immediately pulled Zhao Juan, “I need you guys right now.”

Xia Keqing directly took the whole dormitory to the market, to the same stall where she had styled He Xiaolan’s clothes last time.

The woman selling the clothes was a middle-aged woman, she was cracking sunflower seeds, her attitude wasn’t very enthusiastic.

She probably saw their age and their clothes and knew they were students nearby.

The regular customers here were indeed mostly students. After all, the clothes here were cheap and affordable.

Women who earned wages preferred to go to department stores.

Students had limited spending power. There were four of them, one piece per person would be the most they could buy.