Chapter 95

Chapter 95

As for wages, Jiang Yiwei had also asked Gu Xiaolei to include that in the newspaper ad to prevent applicants from turning it down upon hearing the low pay.

If Zhou Hongmin heard this, she would definitely say that 35 yuan a month was actually decent. After all, bonuses were given every three months—a perk most tailor shops didn’t provide.

Jiang Yiwei gave quarterly bonuses because, aside from wages, her shop couldn’t afford any other benefits.

Factories, for instance, would hand out rice, flour, oil, and other goods as holiday benefits during festivals like the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Spring Festival.

Her shop couldn’t afford such perks, and she thought it was too much hassle anyway—so she preferred giving bonuses every three months instead.

To Huang Yunxiang, 35 yuan was already a good wage.

Besides, when she was looking for work, few places were willing to hire her. Just having a job and a steady paycheck to support her family meant everything to Huang Yunxiang.

Jiang Yiwei was glad to have someone as skilled as Huang Yunxiang on board.

Still, she planned to hire three more people, since the workload at the shop was so heavy that the three of them were swamped.

Luckily, when she bought Old Li’s house, its spacious layout allowed her to design the shop with plenty of space for future expansion and better organization.

Jiang Yiwei took a rare break to crunch the numbers.

From buying the property, demolishing and rebuilding it, renovating the shop, purchasing sewing machines, and hiring staff—she’d sunk nearly all her savings into it.

But now that everything was set up, she’d make the money back eventually.

Feeling reassured, Jiang Yiwei got back to work.

Inside the shop, she packed the freshly finished clothes into custom-made paper bags, waiting for customers to come pick them up.

Two people walked in, but Jiang Yiwei, facing away, didn’t see them.

"Yi Wei."

"Yi Wei? Is that really you?"

A voice she hadn’t heard in years reached her ears.

She quickly turned around, her face brightening in shock. Zhou Hongmin, sewing away at the machine, caught Jiang Yiwei’s reaction and figured she knew them.

"Ms. He! Sister Zhang! You—you—"

Seeing Ms. He and Zhang Yi, Jiang Yiwei was so overwhelmed she nearly choked up.

"Looks like you still remember us," Zhang Yi said, reading her expression.

"How could I forget you?"

"I’d forget anyone before you two."

Jiang Yiwei would never forget Ms. He and Zhang Yi. Back at the First Garment and Textile Factory, where she’d worked for over a year, the two had looked after her so well.

Catching up with old friends, Jiang Yiwei led them to a cozy tearoom set aside for guests.

After so long apart, Ms. He and Zhang Yi were bursting with stories to tell her.

"Who’d have thought that in just three or four short years, you went to college and even opened your own shop."

"Back when you were in the workshop, I could already tell you were the one with the most drive. Seems you turned out to be the most successful from our team."

Nobody would’ve guessed that a girl who left the sewing workshop would go on to graduate from college and open her own boutique.

That was pretty unheard of at their factory.

"Exactly! Who would’ve guessed you’d end up so talented and accomplished?"

Zhang Yi looked at Jiang Yiwei.

Just a few years ago, she was still a young worker, and now she was her own boss—so successful.

Ms. He and Zhang Yi wouldn’t stop gushing, and Jiang Yiwei, listening to their endless praise, was getting flustered.

"Sister Zhang, Ms. He, you’re embarrassing me with all this talk."

Jiang Yiwei really was seriously uncomfortable.

"No need to be shy! Everything we said is true."

Neither she nor Zhang Yi was lying—wasn’t it true that Jiang Yiwei now ran her own place?

"Alright, we’ll stop. If we keep going, Yiwei might just kick us out."

Zhang Yi teased.

Jiang Yiwei’s face grew warm.

"Sister Zhang, how’s Old Man Zhang doing? Is he doing okay?"

Jiang Yiwei still remembered him well.

It had been years since she last saw him, and she wondered how he was.

"Pop’s holding up great. Despite his age, my brother, me, and the kids have all tried to get him to retire and stay home with the grandkids. But he won’t listen—he insists on staying on as a factory guard."

Old Man Zhang was pushing eighty, and Zhang Yi had long tried to get him to retire, but he believed he was still strong enough to chase down troublemakers and refused to quit.

"That sounds exactly like Old Man Zhang."

Jiang Yiwei thought it was just the kind of thing he’d do.

They kept chatting about all sorts of things until Zhang Yi got down to business.

"Yiwei, Ms. He and I came here to talk shop—we’re here on factory business."

Seeing that their conversation was drifting too far off track, Zhang Yi cut to the chase. She and Ms. He still had factory business to handle.

"What’s it about?"

Jiang Yiwei had already figured it out.

She didn’t think they had come just for a visit.

She suspected they had work reasons for being there.

Sure enough, Zhang Yi’s words confirmed Jiang Yiwei’s hunch.

Zhang Yi and Ms. He shared a look before filling her in on the factory’s request.

Last year, Jiang Yiwei had taken part in the city’s Fashion Design Competition. Their factory had sent people too, but they got knocked out before the finals.

Even though they didn’t make it to the finals, the factory kept making clothes. Earlier, He Xiaofeng had approached them, asking them to make garments based on her designs.

A top designer at their factory noticed that Jiang Yiwei had competed in the Fashion Design Competition—and even her winning designs.

They also found out she used to work as a seamstress in the sewing machine workshop.

Jiang Yiwei’s designs were trendy, even cutting-edge. The factory, by contrast, was falling behind the times, and their orders had been shrinking because of outdated tastes.

This time around, the factory sent Ms. He and Zhang Yi to pitch a deal to her.

“So, the factory wants me to draw up designs for them?” Jiang Yiwei caught on—they wanted her to design for them.

“Exactly, that’s it,” Ms. He jumped in eagerly.

The factory bosses handpicked Ms. He and Zhang Yi because they knew Jiang Yiwei had worked under Ms. He and was friendly with Zhang Yi.

They were given this task. Best-case, she’d agree—but no pressure either.

“Got it.”

Jiang Yiwei hadn’t expected the factory to ask her for designs.

“Yiwei, the factory said they won’t ask you to work for free—they’ll pay you.”

There was no way Jiang Yiwei would do it for free.

“Sister Zhang, what’s the factory paying per design?”

If they wanted full rights to her designs, then the First Garment and Textile Factory—a major plant—would be selling clothes all over the country. The factory’s cut wouldn’t be small, maybe even huge.

“Yiwei, how much do you want?”

“The factory is buying my designs outright. With nationwide sales, they’re going to make a lot—maybe even huge profits.”

Jiang Yiwei spelled out the potential gains.

“So I’m charging 200 bucks a design.”

That price left Zhang Yi and Ms. He speechless.

“What?!”

Two hundred yuan for one design?

Zhang Yi and Ms. He couldn’t believe it.

That was a crazy price.

They’d figured, at most, she’d ask for 100 yuan. Never in their wildest dreams did they expect her to ask for twice that much.

Jiang Yiwei was well aware that her proposed price of 200 yuan per design had really stunned them.

"Ms. He, Sister Zhang, don't worry that my asking price is too high."

"Just pass my offer along to the factory bosses—they'll get back to you soon enough."

Jiang Yiwei knew they weren't the decision-makers; she just needed them to pass along the offer.

Whether the bosses thought it was too pricey or not, they'd think it over quickly and give a prompt reply.

She'd wait for them to come back to her.

"Alright, we'll pass this along."

Zhang Yi and Ms. He would fill in the bosses about today's meeting.

After seeing Ms. He and Zhang Yi off, Zhou Hongmin sidled up to Jiang Yiwei.

"You know them?"

"They're from my old factory days."

Zhou Hongmin knew Jiang Yiwei used to work at Jing City No. 1 Textile Mill before going to university, after which she transferred her position to her cousin's wife.

"So, they were just here to shoot the breeze with you?"

Zhou Hongmin didn’t think Zhang Yi and the others came only for casual conversation—it looked more like business with some small talk mixed in.

Jiang Yiwei shook her head. "They came to discuss business with me."

She explained to Zhou Hongmin that Zhang Yi and Ms. He had approached her to create designs.

"Two hundred yuan per design."

Zhou Hongmin was blown away by the price.

"Yiwei, isn't that kind of steep?"

"You might want to lower it a bit."

Zhou Hongmin worried the high price might scare them off.

Getting money just for drawing up designs—if it were Zhou Hongmin, she'd take fifty bucks and call it good. But they were asking for Jiang Yiwei, not her.

"If I sell it to them for 200, I’m already taking a loss."

This kid didn’t stop to think how much the factory stood to make selling clothes nationwide, even after deducting all costs.

After Jiang Yiwei’s explanation, Zhou Hongmin finally realized that 200 yuan might actually be giving it away.

Jiang Yiwei threw an arm around Zhou Hongmin's shoulders. "So, you should hit the fashion magazines harder."

"Or learn design from me—you'll get your shot at this too someday."

Jiang Yiwei hoped Zhou Hongmin could become an outstanding fashion designer.

Whether for the sake of her shop or Zhou Hongmin's own future, Jiang Yiwei wanted her to walk this path and succeed.

"I'll do my best."

Zhou Hongmin was determined to work hard.

Money was money, and Zhou Hongmin wasn’t foolish enough to turn it down.

"Besides, if I ever have to go out for something, you’ll need to help me manage the shop."

If she wasn’t there, as long as Zhou Hongmin was around, she could feel assured leaving the shop in her hands.

Moreover, Zhou Hongmin was the only person she could rely on at the moment.

"You can count on me," Zhou Hongmin said, thumping her chest to emphasize her assurance.

With her around, the shop wouldn’t run into any problems.

After chatting for a while, Zhou Hongmin mentioned she had work to do, so Jiang Yiwei let her go and turned to arranging her own tasks.

Jiang Yiwei was glad that her shop was set up as a bespoke clothing atelier.

If it had been just a regular clothing store, she felt it would be much busier than now.

Two days later, Ms. He and Zhang Yi returned to the shop with two others.

One of them looked very familiar to Jiang Yiwei.

Later, she remembered—she had met him while working at the First Garment and Textile Factory. It was Deputy Director Lu Yi.

The other was Zhou Zefeng, the factory’s lead designer who joined after Jiang Yiwei left.

After some small talk, they cut to the chase.

"Comrade Jiang, regarding payment for your designs, our factory has held a meeting and agreed to pay you ¥200 per design."

After Ms. He and Zhang Yi relayed Jiang Yiwei’s request to Lu Yi, he immediately called a meeting, and they ultimately agreed to pay her ¥200 per design.

"However, we have one condition—your designs must meet our standards."

Paying ¥200 per design wasn't more than the factory could afford.

But it meant Jiang Yiwei’s designs had to be worth that price.

"Rest assured, Deputy Director Lu," Jiang Yiwei replied. "You will definitely be satisfied with my work."

Though she vowed confidently that her designs would satisfy them, they still had their doubts.

Even knowing she was fairly well-known, they couldn’t shake their reservations, worried she might be all talk.

Yet ten days later, when Zhou Zefeng and Lu Yi saw Jiang Yiwei’s designs, their excitement was palpable.

They paid her ¥2,000 upfront.

They took the ten designs back to the factory.

Jiang Yiwei beamed while counting her earnings and even gave the staff an early dismissal that day.

Zhou Hongmin knew Jiang Yiwei had landed a big order and was thrilled for her success.

After the initial chaos, staff shortages, and surging orders, Wei Yang Custom Apparel gradually settled into a routine.

Jiang Yiwei hardly ever got to relax, so she treated herself to a day off.

She slept until past 9 a.m., and if she didn’t have plans with Fu Xunian today, she’d have slept in longer. Since opening Wei Yang Clothing Design, she hadn’t taken a single day off.

Now that she finally could rest, all she wanted was to sleep the entire day at home.

But alas, Jiang Yiwei forced herself out of bed to get ready.

As she headed to the bathroom, Zhang Cuifen gave her a look.

Turning to Huang Manjun, she said, “Manjun, make sure Yiwei eats.”

“I know, Mom.”

Huang Manjun noticed how stubborn her mother-in-law was and barely held back a laugh.

“Mom, it’s been months now. You’re really going to keep giving Yiwei the cold shoulder?”

Ever since Jiang Yiwei quit her job at the Textile Ministry, Zhang Cuifen had hardly said a word to her.

But during this time, as Yiwei ran herself ragged for the shop and looked gaunt, Zhang Cuifen secretly made fortifying broths and asked Huang Manjun to pass them on to her.

“I’m done with her,” Zhang Cuifen insisted stubbornly.

Though she claimed not to care, she still went out of her way for her.

Seeing this, Huang Manjun decided to talk to Jiang Haolin about it—otherwise, if the tension continued, it wouldn’t be good for anyone.

After all, they were mother and daughter—no feud should last forever.

When Jiang Yiwei returned to her room and put away her things, Huang Manjun reminded her:

“Yiwei, since you weren’t up earlier, we kept breakfast warm for you.”

She slid over the soy milk, pancakes, and eggs left for Jiang Yiwei.

“Thank you, sis.”

Jiang Yiwei sat at the table.

“You shouldn’t thank me—you should thank Mom. She told me to save this for you.”

Jiang Yiwei had thanked the wrong person—it was Zhang Cuifen she should be grateful to.

“Mom, thank you.”

But Zhang Cuifen ignored her completely. Jiang Yiwei knew her mother was still upset and wondered when she’d finally let go of her anger.

“Eat first,” Huang Manjun patted her hand gently.

Jiang Yiwei nodded and began eating, but soon spotted two more dishes under lids on the table.

"Sis, what's this?"

Jiang Yiwei looked at Huang Manjun in confusion.

"That's Yuexin's breakfast."

The two plates held breakfast for Jiang Yuexin.

Jiang Yiwei paused mid-bite of her pancake. "She's not awake yet?"

She'd thought she was the last one in the family to wake up and have breakfast, but it turned out Jiang Yuexin was even later.

However, she remembered Jiang Yuexin rarely slept in this late.

Coincidentally, just as they were talking about Jiang Yuexin, she suddenly opened her door and bolted out, hand over her mouth.

Before Jiang Yiwei could process it, she heard the sound of Jiang Yuexin vomiting.

Zhang Cuifen followed her out upon hearing the noise.

"You finish eating. I remember you said you were going out today."

Huang Manjun told Jiang Yiwei to keep eating while she went to check on Jiang Yuexin.

Jiang Yiwei took a sip of soy milk, hearing Jiang Yuexin's faint voice outside.

"Mom, I'm fine. I just woke up feeling sick to my stomach."

"Stop staying up so late. It must be because you didn’t eat on time."

Zhang Cuifen assumed Jiang Yuexin’s symptoms were caused by irregular meals.

"Yuexin, brush your teeth and wash your face. You might feel better after eating."

Huang Manjun also thought it was due to skipping meals.

By the time Jiang Yuexin got ready and sat at the table, Jiang Yiwei had already eaten, changed, and left.

When Jiang Yiwei arrived at the park, she saw Fu Xunian sitting on a stone bench, his long legs casually crossed. God, his striking looks drew attention from most passersby—eyes drawn to him whether they meant to or not.

Jiang Yiwei crept up silently, carefully approaching Fu Xunian, planning to scare him.

But Fu Xunian might as well have had eyes in the back of his head. Just as she was about to scare him, he suddenly turned around, their eyes meeting instantly.

Jiang Yiwei froze in place. Fu Xunian, seeing her expression, knew exactly what she'd tried—and how it had backfired.

If anything, she looked more startled than he was.

He grabbed her hand and tugged her down beside him.

"How'd you know I was there?"

Jiang Yiwei was sure Fu Xunian had noticed her ages ago. She had been so careful—just a second later and she'd have gotten him.

"How could Fu Xunian miss that?"

With Jiang Yiwei standing behind him, how could he not?

Jiang Yiwei puffed her cheeks, clearly disappointed that she couldn’t scare Fu Xunian.

“Yiwei, you’ve gotten thinner.”

Fu Xunian’s gaze settled on Jiang Yiwei’s face, his eyes full of concern.

Fu Xunian knew that Jiang Yiwei had been swamped with the shop ever since it opened. Even the time they spent together was limited.

Jiang Yiwei touched her cheek. “The shop just opened, and there have been new and old customers coming in, hiring staff, managing operations—it’s been nonstop. If I hadn’t lost weight, I’d be a miracle worker.”

With so much going on as the owner, no wonder she slimmed down.

“But things at the shop are starting to run smoothly now. Plus, with Hong Min around, she handles things for me when I’m not there.”

Without Zhou Hongmin, Jiang Yiwei wouldn’t get a moment’s rest.

She really should feel lucky that Zhou Hongmin came on board.

Although she could train someone to help manage the shop, finding someone trustworthy in such a short time would be next to impossible.

“At least someone can lighten the load for you.”

Fu Xunian knew all about the situation with Jiang Yiwei’s shop.

Having someone to share the workload meant she could finally breathe easier instead of having no time to rest at all.

Jiang Yiwei gave Fu Xunian a searching look.

“My side of things is settling down. But what about you? What’s up with you?”

Her own affairs were under control, but she had noticed something bothering Fu Xunian.

During their past few meetings, she had sensed it. She had even brought it up before, but each time he dodged the question. Seeing that he didn’t want to talk about it, she didn’t push further.

Still, there was always a hint of worry in his expression. Jiang Yiwei wanted to know what had been troubling him for so long.