Chapter 110 Stall

Chapter 110: The Market Stall

The table was laden with dishes as Jiang Luo and Mo Wanzhen ate and chatted, discussing Shengfei's expansion, the later-established Hongming, and Mo Wanzhen's interesting experiences in Guangzhou.

Mid-meal, Mo Wanzhen remarked, "You came to Guangzhou right after my call—you must have some business here, right?"

Jiang Luo replied, "When you mentioned Shengfei's clothes were selling in Guangzhou, I was suddenly inspired. I wanted to see if I could get my designs sold here too."

Mo Wanzhen was both surprised and delighted. "Really? That's wonderful!"

She then asked, "Are you planning to open a factory in Guangzhou as well?"

Jiang Luo shook his head. "Opening a factory would involve funding issues and take a lot of time."

"For now, I'm not considering it."

"I haven't thought that far ahead. I want to scout things out first, then decide."

Mo Wanzhen nodded. She knew little about garment factories and wasn't sure what to say or advise. But since she had a stall, she offered, "Boss Jiang, come to my stall tomorrow."

"I'll show you around the wholesale market."

Jiang Luo agreed, "Great, that's exactly what I was thinking."

They then discussed the stall. "How did you manage to rent that stall? Is the rent expensive?"

The meal lasted over two hours, ending around eleven, yet the restaurant was still bustling.

Jiang Luo stood up and said to Mo Wanzhen, who had just returned from paying the bill, "Guangzhou is truly lively. Even at this hour, the restaurant is packed."

"This place is very popular—the food is good, and the prices are reasonable, which is why it's still so busy," Mo Wanzhen added.

Suddenly, she noticed three tall, unfamiliar men rising from a nearby table and positioning themselves beside Jiang Luo. Puzzled, she whispered, "They…"

Jiang Luo explained, "My driver and bodyguards. They're with me."

He then turned to Wang Junqing and the others, gesturing towards Mo Wanzhen. "This is Miss Mo."

Wang Junqing nodded.

Third Brother said, "Hello, Miss Mo."

Fourth Brother chimed in, "Hey."

Mo Wanzhen replied, "Hello."

She didn't quite understand why Jiang Luo suddenly had three men with him—they looked rather intimidating—but she accepted it.

The group headed out of the restaurant, with Wang Junqing and the other two trailing a few steps behind. Mo Wanzhen walked alongside Jiang Luo, chatting as they went.

As they neared the exit, several men and women entered. The doorway was narrow and crowded, and Mo Wanzhen accidentally bumped shoulders with one of the women.

"Excuse me," Mo Wanzhen said, turning her head.

The girl snapped, "Watch where you're going!"

Both groups stopped. Mo Wanzhen apologized again, "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." A man beside the girl aggressively confronted Mo Wanzhen, "Is 'sorry' all you've got after bumping into someone?"

Jiang Luo looked over, her tone cold. "She already apologized. What more do you want?"

The man and others in their group, seeing Jiang Luo's elegant appearance, expensive clothes, and arm in a sling, were unintimidated. He stepped forward, raising a finger at Jiang Luo. "You f***ing can't even talk—"

Wang Junqing had already moved forward, towering over the man, looking down at him expressionlessly. "Can't even what?"

"If you don't want that finger, we can chop it off."

Third Brother and Fourth Brother also approached, both looking menacing. Fourth Brother spat out his toothpick and asked menacingly, "What do you want? A death wish?"

Seeing that Wang Junqing and his companions were not to be trifled with, the group immediately fell silent, composed themselves, and prepared to leave.

Jiang Luo said coolly, "Who said you could leave?"

The group remained silent, walking away while glancing back at Jiang Luo.

Jiang Luo called out, "Come back. Apologize. Especially that girl from earlier."

Still, they didn't respond or stop, continuing to walk inside, hoping to let the matter drop.

Fourth Brother yelled, "Stop! Did you hear me!?"

Mo Wanzhen tugged at Jiang Luo's sleeve. "Boss Jiang, let it go. No need to bother with them. Let's leave."

"There are plenty of unreasonable people like this. There's no point getting entangled with them; it just wastes our time."

Jiang Luo finally said nothing more, simply "Let's go," and turned away.

Fourth Brother began rolling up his sleeves, ready to pursue them, but Wang Junqing said, "Boss Jiang said to let them go." Fourth Brother stopped, made a threatening gesture at the departing group, and followed everyone out of the restaurant.

Outside, Mo Wanzhen reflected on the incident, smiling. "It can't be helped. Guangzhou is so crowded, full of young people in groups. Things like this happen often."

Jiang Luo said, "As a young woman, especially when you're out alone, you can easily be taken advantage of."

"Let it go."

Mo Wanzhen replied, "You just encounter a lot of people like that when you're out."

"Alone, I can't handle a whole group. I just have to take the loss."

"If I were with friends or had men around, they wouldn't dare do anything."

Jiang Luo understood. "Guangzhou is developing fast, with many people. It must be a bit chaotic, right?"

Mo Wanzhen nodded. "Definitely. When I first arrived, my bag was almost stolen."

Jiang Luo advised, "Be extra careful when you're alone."

Mo Wanzhen smiled. "Don't worry, I know."

"Usually, I'm not alone; I have colleagues or friends with me."

"I also avoid small alleys."

"My rented place is in a proper residential area with bright streetlights and plenty of surveillance. I also don't go out alone too late at night."

Jiang Luo checked his watch. "It's late. I'll give you a ride back."

Mo Wanzhen said, "No need, I'll just take a taxi. If you drive me, you'll have to go back to the hotel, which is too much trouble."

"No trouble at all."

In the open space in front of the hotel, two cars simultaneously flashed their headlights.

Jiang Luo gestured. "I have a car."

Mo Wanzhen was surprised. "Can cars also come by plane?"

Jiang Luo led Mo Wanzhen towards the car, explaining, "You've met Mr. Huo at the company before, remember?"

"When I came, Mr. Huo arranged for a friend to provide the car."

"It's convenient to have a car."

As he spoke, he opened the car door and gestured for Mo Wanzhen to get in. "Let's go, I'll drop you off."

That night, after dropping off Mo Wanzhen, Jiang Luo returned to the hotel with a local map of Guangzhou in hand.

As soon as he entered his room, he unfolded the map and studied it carefully.

The next day, at a district wholesale market, Jiang Luo arrived early and met Mo Wanzhen as arranged. There, he witnessed firsthand the sheer hustle and bustle of the wholesale market:

Several buildings, and at several intersections, there were either cars or people.

Cars were busy unloading goods—huge bundles packed with nothing but clothes.

People were busy moving and transporting goods. There were even freelance porters specifically hired to carry goods upstairs, and these workers could be seen everywhere carrying loads.

As Jiang Luo observed, Mo Wanzhen patiently explained beside him, "The wholesale market here has already become well-established."

"All the buildings are filled with stalls, and every stall deals in clothing—nothing else."

"The vehicles coming here are all cargo trucks, either delivering, unloading, or loading goods."

"These large bags need to be unloaded and carried into the buildings. That's what these porters do—they get paid per bundle, and you just pay them."

"This place hums from around 8 or 9 in the morning until 8 or 9 at night. Sometimes, even by 10 p.m., the place is still full of cars and porters."

Jiang Luo walked around, observing everything. Even though he was already in the clothing business and had experienced more in his previous life, he had to marvel to himself at the sight: with such a wholesale market, so many people, so many vehicles, and so many stalls, Guangzhou's clothing industry must be incredibly developed.

All this in 1991.

Jiang Luo gestured towards the building. "Let's go inside and take a look."

So Mo Wanzhen led the way, with Wang Junqing, Third Brother, and Fourth Brother following. The group entered the building together.

As soon as they stepped inside, they saw the first floor crammed with small storefronts, each filled with clothes hanging on display.

Some of the shops had names, some didn't, but without exception, people in these shops were either pulling garments out of shipping bundles or packing clothes into bags.

Many shops also had customers—some browsing clothes, others bargaining with the shop owners, who tapped on calculators as they discussed prices.

As Jiang Luo walked through, he felt how crowded the building was and how densely packed the shops were. Even though it was only early June, the building was already stiflingly warm.

Jiang Luo took off his jacket, tossed it to Fourth Brother to hold, and started checking out the shops and merchandise with Mo Wanzhen.

They came across a shop with clothes hanging at the entrance. Mo Wanzhen and Jiang Luo stood in front of the clothes, examining them together. Mo Wanzhen pointed to the buttons and said, "Look, these aren't plastic. You can tell from the shine—that's mother-of-pearl for sure."

"Buttons like these, and clothes that use them, cost more to make."

"And check out this stitching here."

"How these stitches are finished shows that the machine must be imported."

Jiang Luo added, "The style is nice, really nice."

They moved to another shop and went in. Mo Wanzhen pointed to a shirt hanging high up and said, "This spring, this type of shirt has been the hottest seller. All the stalls are packed with them."

Jiang Luo looked up at it.

The shop owner called out to them, "Take a look, feel free to browse. We can discuss the price. If you buy in bulk, it can be even cheaper."

"If you place an order today, we'll ship everything via postal service tonight."

As they exited the shop, Jiang Luo asked Mo Wanzhen, "Do many people come here to buy inventory?"

Mo Wanzhen replied, "Yes, many. From nearby cities like Huizhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, to farther places like Shantou, Chaozhou, Zhanjiang, and even neighboring provinces—they all come here to get their inventory."

"Everyone knows there are tons of options here."

Jiang Luo asked, "How does the pricing work?"

Mo Wanzhen explained, "Each garment has its wholesale price. The more you buy, the lower the average cost."

"If someone only wants to buy three or five pieces, some stalls won't even bother with those orders—they think it's not worth the effort."

"Here, trucks drop off new merchandise daily, and bundles of clothing are shipped out via postal service daily."

Jiang Luo nodded as he observed the nearby stalls.

After looking around, they went up to the second and third floors, which were the same—just packed with stalls selling clothes.

Once they finished checking out the building, Mo Wanzhen said to Jiang Luo and the others, "Come take a look at my stall. We can rest for a bit and have some water."

"Sure."

Mo Wanzhen's stall was located on the third floor of one of the buildings, near the center. It was about the same size as the others—not too big, not too small, just a small space.

Clothes hung on the walls, and rows of racks on the floor displayed various garments. The place was neat and organized.

Fourth Brother and Third Brother either stood or sat while drinking water. Jiang Luo sat on a chair, taking a sip, and asked, "How's business?"

Mo Wanzhen's stall had a glass door. She closed it to prevent anyone from entering since she wasn't doing business that day.

When Jiang Luo asked, she nodded and said, "Pretty good."

"And there's one thing I do differently from others: I handle both wholesale and retail."

Jiang Luo pondered and asked, "Retail doesn't bring in much money, and the prices aren't negotiable. It doesn't earn much and takes up your time. Others don't do it—why do you?"

Mo Wanzhen explained, "Because I've noticed that many of the people browsing the stalls are young girls looking for a bargain."

"Since many shops don't offer retail, they can't buy just a few items. But I do retail, so they come to me."

"Gradually, word gets around. Their friends bring more friends. Everyone knows they can buy one or two pieces here, and it's cheaper than retail shops outside, so they all come."

"A little profit is still profit. The more I sell, the more customers come, and I actually make a decent amount."

She put a finger to her lips, "Shh," and winked. "Just between you and me—nobody else knows."

Jiang Luo praised, "You've got the smarts for business."

Just then, Mo Wanzhen thought of something and stepped out for a moment.

When she returned, she was holding a bag.

She took something out of the bag and showed it to Jiang Luo. "These pieces are from the factory, right?"

Jiang Luo took a look—they were all Shengfei Clothing items.

"Right."

Mo Wanzhen held them in her hands, examining them. "So beautiful, these styles. None of the other stalls here have these."

"The woman who runs the stall next door got these but couldn't restock, so she held onto them. Couldn't bear to sell them."

Jiang Luo looked at the clothes in Mo Wanzhen's hands and said softly, "They'll be available here in Guangzhou."