Chapter 15

Ye Xiaoyu had visited this factory once before.

The paper factory produced a variety of products, including toilet paper, cardboard boxes, notebooks, and kraft paper.

The factory manager was a very enterprising individual. He had the idea of producing gift packaging and had already made some samples. He had also designed several tea packaging boxes.

Ye Xiaoyu had come to this factory because of its unique tea and alcohol packaging designs.

Upon arrival, she asked the gatekeeper if she could meet the factory manager or deputy manager because she had a large order.

The gatekeeper was initially skeptical, but after seeing Ye Xiaoyu’s confident attitude, he reluctantly informed the manager.

The factory manager was worried about the future of the factory. He didn’t want it to end up like other state-owned factories that were shutting down. The competition was fierce, and with low-tech products, the competition was overwhelming. Paper prices were generally low-profit, high-volume, and they had been under constant pressure.

When he met Ye Xiaoyu, the manager was surprised. She didn’t look like someone with a large order, yet she had an order for 80,000 paper boxes and 1 million festive small labels.

“How much did you say?” The manager’s heart started racing, and he asked for clarification.

“80,000 paper boxes, 1 million labels with the character ‘Fu’ (fortune), plus a large amount of red paper for packaging. The red paper is probably priced per square meter, right?” Ye Xiaoyu emphasized. “Also, I want to personally design everything.”

That afternoon, Ye Xiaoyu designed the first wine packaging box at the factory. It was bright red with the character “Fu” and several floral patterns, festive and lively but harmonious. The Yanjing specialty logo was also prominently displayed.

The factory manager was impressed and even speculated about how the boxes would be used. He slapped his forehead, realizing how he had missed such an obvious idea.

The workers at the factory were quite idle, but also very diligent. A few days later, the packaging materials were cut, shaped, and produced. The factory had quickly produced over a thousand packaging boxes.

Although Ye Xiaoyu hadn’t paid yet, the manager believed that even if she didn’t want them, someone else would snatch them up.

However, he didn’t sell the packaging materials immediately. He knew not to take advantage of her. Since Ye Xiaoyu was able to design such beautiful packaging, it meant that she likely had more ideas in mind.

It was then that the two sides began negotiating the price.

Ye Xiaoyu’s initial offer was 1 cent per festive label, with prices for the paper boxes ranging from 5 cents to 30 cents each. Additionally, she required a large quantity of pure red paper for packaging at 2 cents per sheet, each about the size of A2 paper.

The manager naturally disagreed. The wholesale price for plain paper boxes was typically 20 cents each, and Ye Xiaoyu’s boxes required color printing, glazing, and lamination. At those prices, they would make no profit.

Ye Xiaoyu responded, saying that her designs could be used by the paper factory for its own products after the Lunar New Year. She would also compile a detailed list of suitable products for the factory and provide it to them. The design costs were included in the offer.

The manager still didn’t agree.

The issue was that, at the time, technical protections weren’t strong. Once Ye Xiaoyu handed over the designs, they would belong to the factory. This guarantee seemed somewhat comical.

To put it bluntly, if he agreed to Ye Xiaoyu’s terms, nothing could be produced like her designs before the Lunar New Year. But if he didn’t agree, they might still make a lot of money, as they could easily make minor changes to the design and sell the products.

Ye Xiaoyu had already anticipated this kind of problem. She calmly said, “These designs are only suitable for festive occasions, but doesn’t the manager want to create designs that could be sold year-round?”

She cautioned not to underestimate packaging design. Even though in the future, online images would flood the market, it wasn’t easy to match packaging perfectly with product sizes. Ye Xiaoyu knew this because she had once worked in a job that involved packaging design.

The manager, having been a technician himself, understood this well. He had designed tea packaging by hand.

Ye Xiaoyu then designed a “Bamboo Gentleman” packaging, which was far superior to the manager’s own design.

If the manager followed through on the agreement, after the order was completed, Ye Xiaoyu would create more than ten additional designs. Of course, these new designs wouldn’t be completely free, and she would expect some compensation in return.

Although these designs could be easily copied, and the compensation might not be much, it would still save on label and red paper costs, which amounted to 100,000 yuan. Even a small return would be beneficial.

Ye Xiaoyu was comfortable with ordering a large quantity of packaging, even if some of it remained unused after the Lunar New Year. She had ways to sell it during the Spring Festival, and might even make a small profit.

But having too little would cause many problems.

After a moment of silence, the manager couldn’t help but laugh. “Miss Ye, you really know how to do everything.”

You can design, negotiate, and talk.

“You’re too kind, it’s just a little trick,” Ye Xiaoyu replied.

Finally, the manager invited Ye Xiaoyu to work for the factory, offering her a high-level technician’s salary.

Ye Xiaoyu politely declined. Why would she work for the factory for free and design for them? She wasn’t stupid.

The two of them signed the contract, detailing everything in the agreement.

Ye Xiaoyu’s goal for today was twofold: to check on the progress and products already produced, and to inform the manager of her shop’s address.

The factory manager said that they would work through the night and have part of the goods delivered by tomorrow afternoon. They were also looking forward to the days after New Year’s Eve and the Spring Festival, hoping to make a big profit. After all, during the Spring Festival, every household would need to pay New Year visits, and no visit was complete without a gift.

The cooperation was going smoothly.

After leaving the paper factory, Ye Xiaoyu visited several other factories. She had more items to order, including various sizes of tin boxes, small ceramic jars, glass jars, red cords, bamboo baskets, red envelopes, red cloth, and other packaging materials and gifts.

More importantly, she was also looking for various Yanjing specialties, along with some non-local specialties.

This included all kinds of tea, “Donkey Rolls,” Jing Eight Pieces, dried fruit, honeyed preserves, crisp candies, poria cakes, melon seeds, peanuts, raisins, dried meat, persimmon cakes, canned yellow peaches, and other snacks, as well as well-known but unbranded liquors such as osmanthus wine and Erguotou. Other items included toys, walnuts, red dates, and even several wool sweaters and thermal clothing.

Considering there would also be short-term travelers or locals returning to Yanjing, she also ordered various fruits—apples, Jing Bai pears, and oranges. Bananas were excluded because they were troublesome to ripen and could spoil too easily.

Of course, her buying channels were straightforward—she would purchase from factories where she could. Anything she couldn’t find from factories, she would select from the northern market. Ye Xiaoyu insisted on two things: not only were the prices important, but the quality had to be guaranteed as well. She aimed to find the best balance.

Some might think Ye Xiaoyu had been wandering around aimlessly, but in reality, she had been incredibly busy for the past 40 days. She had a lot to do.

In fact, it was safe to say she had been overwhelmed with work, but she managed to keep things mostly within one district. She focused on making a circle around the northern market area, which was convenient for cycling back and forth and for communicating with the various shop owners.

Today, Lele wasn’t with her. For lunch, she found a small restaurant near the factory and had a bowl of wontons. She had snacked on so many different things throughout the day that she couldn’t even finish the wontons.

Ye Xiaoyu had placed orders with seven or eight shops, scheduling deliveries for tomorrow and the day after. She paid a small deposit, with the remaining balance due upon delivery. After the deliveries, she planned to handle transactions at the nearby bank close to the station.

After completing her rounds, she still hadn’t finished everything. The sun was setting, and the remaining orders would have to wait until tomorrow morning. Ye Xiaoyu paused her plans and made her way back to the Huayuan residential complex, arriving just before dark.

Knock knock knock.

The door opened, and a little cutie appeared. Upon recognizing her, he spread his arms and rushed over. “Mommy!”

Ye Xiaoyu squatted down, spreading her arms wide. “My little one! Mwah!” She kissed his cheek, and Lele kissed her back. He rubbed his face against hers with great joy and asked, “Did you have fun today?”

“I had fun, but I missed Mommy so much. I missed you a lot, super a lot!” Lele opened his arms wide, trying to quantify his longing.

Ye Xiaoyu responded warmly, “Mommy missed you so, so much, just as much as you missed me.”

“Ugh, all this clingy stuff, can’t watch,” the energetic Haohai said with a face of disdain.

His mother, Yang Qian, slapped him lightly and scolded with a laugh, “Where did you learn that nonsense? If you were as obedient as Lele, I wouldn’t have to worry.”

Who wouldn’t want a clingy, sweet baby? Especially one as cute as this one. When she looked at her own child, it was truly a case of “comparison is the thief of joy.”

Only then did Lele realize there were other people in the room. His little face turned as red as an apple, and unable to find a hiding spot, he simply buried his face in Ye Xiaoyu’s arms.

Speaking of which, it might be genetic—Lele was especially prone to blushing, and with his fair skin, a slight bit of shyness would make his whole face look like it had been dusted with a thin layer of blush.

Ye Xiaoyu was the same, but she had a thick skin and rarely showed her embarrassment. Just like now, she stood up and greeted Yang’s mother and the others without a hint of redness, handing Haohai the small gift she had bought today.

“Thank you, Auntie!” Haohai shouted, rushing to hug her, his joyful expression making everyone laugh.

Lele, of course, had one too. He also said, “Thank you, Mommy.”

“Two little cuties, no need to be polite.”

After enjoying a meal at the Yang household, Ye Xiaoyu returned home and collapsed onto the sofa. Tonight, there was another important matter—her second family meeting.

The first family meeting was about “divorce,” and this one was about “work.”

When Lele heard it was a family meeting, he became serious and put on a serious expression.

Ye Xiaoyu resisted the urge to pinch his cheek, cleared her throat, and said, “Mommy is starting work in December and will be busy for over a month.”

“Is it to make money?” Lele looked up and asked.

“Yes,” Ye Xiaoyu nodded. “Mommy needs to make money to take care of both you and me. With money, we can live in a bigger house, eat good food, play fun things, wear nice clothes, and pay for school fees. Next year, Lele will go to school with his friends.”

“When I grow up, I’ll also make money to buy good food for Mommy, fun things, and nice clothes.”

“Ah, I’ll wait for my sweet Lele to grow up,” Ye Xiaoyu gave him a kiss, a hug, and lifted him up high. After explaining the first step, she moved on to the next part. She said slowly and clearly, “Because I’ll be busy, I might not be able to take care of Lele very well. Now, Lele has two choices: First, stay at Auntie’s house with your cousin Tianniu for a month, or second, come to work with Mommy, but you need to be obedient and it will be very tiring.”

In fact, she thought the first choice would be better, but the first choice might cause Lele to lose some of the security he had built up over the past month.

This was Ye Xiaoyu’s first taste of the struggles of a single mother, but that was life