Chapter 22: That Sweet Tongue of Yours

Who would’ve thought—the elderly couple were enjoying their comfortable life without shame, and even had the ability to support their youngest son and daughter-in-law, as well as raise two children.

No wonder in her previous life, the money she gave them disappeared so quickly. It must’ve all gone to that lazy loafer Lu Zhoushan!

The more Gu Qiangwei thought about it, the angrier she got.

As for Su Qingshuang’s mother, she was an elegant and intellectual woman, a successful businesswoman who was also well-read and beautiful.

In her past life, Su Qingshuang had died trying to protect her. Though her family was grief-stricken when it happened, they never blamed Gu Qiangwei.

They simply said it was all fate.

“What are you thinking about?” Su Qingshuang asked, lightly patting Gu Qiangwei when she noticed she’d been quiet for a while. “You must come over for dinner sometime!”

After their conversation, Gu Qiangwei checked their inventory. There were still some summer clothes left unsold.

She said, “We can’t just keep these sitting in stock. Why don’t we run another promotion?”

“A top-up gift promo.”

When Gu Qiangwei brought up the idea, Su Qingshuang looked a bit confused. “Can you explain that a bit more? I don’t really get it.”

“I mean, customers top up some money with us, we record it, and once they reach a certain amount, we give them free accessories.”

“After topping up, future purchases will be deducted from their balance. Each transaction is clearly logged.”

“Anyone who tops up becomes a member and gets discounts on future purchases.”

These were strategies she had seen used in the modern world.

“For example, if they top up 50 yuan, they become members and can get a 5% discount on clothes.”

“And they get a little accessory—like a belt or silk scarf. The wholesale cost for these items is low, so we can afford to give them away.”

“If they top up 100 yuan, they get a free summer outfit.”

“Once we give those away, we don’t have to worry about clearing out the inventory anymore.”

“There are also some pieces that don’t pair well with fall clothing—we can just mark those down and sell them off.”

“We shouldn’t let stock pile up. We need to generate cash flow quickly so we can invest in making even better-looking clothes. Winter clothing has a higher cost, so we’ll need to raise prices a bit.”

“There should be down jackets available in the south—made with duck or goose down, super light and very warm.”

“We could design a few styles—or just skip making winter clothing ourselves and directly source them from the south.”

Winter garments were expensive to produce, and if their local clothing factory didn’t have experience making down jackets, the designs might turn out quite ugly.

“Source them?” Su Qingshuang asked.

Gu Qiangwei explained that since winter items were costly, they could still design and make a batch of base layers or coats themselves.

Then, they could bring in a small batch of down jackets from the south.

This would help control costs while offering customers a variety of styles and choices.

Gu Qiangwei’s plan hit right at the heart of Su Qingshuang’s concerns.

She gave her a thumbs-up. “Your ideas are really good. Let’s go with your plan. I just finished drafting some winter designs—let’s go over them together.”

The two of them spent a while discussing things, and the very next day, they launched the promotion.

As soon as the promo went live, their regular customers started topping up their balances. Even the young girl who had come by earlier to pick out clothes returned—with her mother and sister-in-law in tow.

Each person topped up a sizable amount, and they brought their friends along too.

In just one day, more than thirty or forty people had topped up—and all of them chose the 100 yuan option.

Gu Qiangwei brought out the summer clothes and let them pick first.

Once they found out they could get discounts and free summer outfits after topping up, even more people came back with friends.

Gu Qiangwei and Su Qingshuang were busy for several days straight.

Some customers topped up and then bought summer clothes with their discount.

The summer stock was flying off the shelves, and Gu Qiangwei was delighted to see how quickly inventory was shrinking.

Their shop’s revenue soared during those days, and they quickly earned back their investment. Su Qingshuang had her mother contact a friend in the south to bring in a batch of down jackets.

By the time the promotion ended, they had cleared out almost all the summer stock and were ready to officially launch their fall collection.

They had sold some early-fall items before, but now the late-fall pieces were thicker, and there were still plenty of buyers.

Most purchases were being made with the topped-up balances.

Gu Qiangwei explained to Su Qingshuang, “We can run this kind of promotion every now and then—it works really well.”

“People love getting gifts when they top up, especially our regulars. They’re going to shop with us anyway, so if topping up gets them a discount and a freebie, why wouldn’t they go for it?”

“And since their money is with us, they worry the shop might close or something, so they’ll want to use it quickly.”

“Once they spend it, and we come out with new, prettier items, they’ll top up again. It’s basic customer psychology.”

After hearing her explanation, Su Qingshuang was full of admiration.

“She’s got a brilliant business mind!”

By now, the late-fall clothes could basically be considered winterwear.

After some time, they had nearly sold out of fall clothing, and the city officially entered winter.

Thanks to their early preparation with design drafts, they were able to put out their winter line as soon as the cold set in.

The store mannequins were all dressed in winter fashion.

After just a few days of selling winterwear, the weather turned freezing, and their top-up promotion continued.

The winter version of the promo included giving out fall clothes.

Winter clothes were more expensive—a single coat was around 50 yuan. Their designs were all sleek and well-fitted. Almost every woman who tried one on bought it!

They also released a line of lightweight down jackets.

One model wore a coat, the other a down jacket. Customers who preferred lighter garments chose the down. At that time, down jackets were rare—priced around 120 yuan.

The more stylish and refined the color or cut, the more expensive they were.

Many regular customers loved both the coats and the down jackets. Those with money bought both, so the new top-up threshold was set at 500 yuan.

Topping up 500 yuan gave a 10% discount on all future purchases.

Sometimes, Gu Qiangwei would also give small gifts to loyal customers, making them feel truly appreciated.

She kept coming up with new and creative ways to run promotions, managing the shop brilliantly. Su Qingshuang, on the other hand, was in charge of pattern-making. While they were selling winterwear, she was already designing next spring’s collection and New Year’s outfits.

The two of them were constantly busy.

Gu Qiangwei had to serve a dozen customers a day. As the winter chill deepened, it also signaled that the New Year was approaching.

More and more people were shopping for clothes, and their shop was doing better than ever.

Old customers would come in to choose down jackets, and Gu Qiangwei would help them pick the most suitable colors.

“Sister Yan is here!”

Just as Gu Qiangwei had finished helping one customer, a sleek black sedan pulled up outside. A stunning woman stepped out of the car.

Gu Qiangwei greeted her warmly. “That red coat I promised to set aside for you is still here!”

Xu Yan stepped out and closed the car door. When she turned around, Gu Qiangwei noticed her newly permed curls.

She exclaimed, “Sister Yan, when did you get your hair done? It looks amazing! Come in and sit first—we’ll talk about the coat in a bit. Tell me where you got your hair done!”

Xu Yan was one of their biggest customers—last time, she had topped up over 1,000 yuan.

Hearing Gu Qiangwei’s compliments, Xu Yan turned and smiled. “That sweet tongue of yours! Let me try on the red coat you saved for me.”