Chapter 85: The Numbered Sales Method!

Zhao Lanzhi was still wondering when one of the ladies nearby leaned in.

“Oh? Little Zhao, since when did Jinxiu Tailor Shop start selling such beautiful bags? Do you know anything about it?”

Section Chief Liu’s wife poked her head over and asked curiously.

Her husband was a section chief in the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, which meant he held the lifeblood of the entire Donghai Garment Factory in his hands.

If the Donghai Garment Factory wanted to sell their clothes in department stores, they had to go through Mrs. Liu.

She was a woman, after all.

A little acting cute and some pillow talk was usually enough to soften his heart and get his agreement.

Therefore, as soon as Mrs. Liu spoke, Zhao Lanzhi immediately became fully alert.

“Sister Liu, I really didn’t notice!”

Zhao Lanzhi smiled, trying to guess Mrs. Liu’s intentions. “This is all my fault! I’ll go check it out tomorrow and buy two of them to make it up to you!”

“Oh my! How could I accept that!”

Mrs. Liu covered her mouth with her handkerchief and laughed happily.

Zhao Lanzhi also quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

By the end of the banquet, Mrs. Ye had become the biggest winner.

She left with her head held high, never having felt so thrilled!

Hmph!

She had money, and she had face!

Let’s see who would dare look down on her in the future!

*

Over the past two days, Jinxiu Tailor Shop had also experienced some turbulence.

This was a century-old tailor shop.

By the time it reached the couple Qi Genshou and Zhang Shuixian, it was already in its third generation.

The two of them were of weak constitution and only had a daughter, named Zhang Qiao’er, when they were thirty. In this day and age, not having a son was a cardinal sin. Now that they were nearly fifty, they had suffered a lot of bullying from the neighbors because of it.

On top of that, Jinxiu Tailor Shop’s business was going downhill day by day.

Although they had urban household registration, they were barely holding on.

They only had two West Lake Brand Sewing Machines at home, which were their entire net worth and the dowry they planned to leave for their daughter, Zhang Qiao’er.

They only hoped that when she married into her husband’s family, they wouldn’t bully her for not having any brothers.

Just the day before they were prepared to close down, a young man came to their door.

He smiled and held a few design drawings, saying he wanted to cooperate with them and that he could save Jinxiu Tailor Shop.

Cooperate?

Qi Genshou and Zhang Shuixian were suspicious, but when they saw the young man take out an exquisite shoulder bag trimmed with rabbit fur, their doubts vanished completely.

After all, it was a time-honored brand passed down through generations.

How could they bear to let it disappear in their hands?

But they were old, after all. They couldn’t handle too much trouble and were unwilling to take any more risks.

Thus, they reached a new form of cooperation with Xie Zhao.

Qi Genshou and Zhang Shuixian would provide the sewing machines and the space, allowing Xie Zhao’s bags to be sold under the name of Jinxiu Tailor Shop. They would help make the bags and unconditionally teach him tailoring skills.

In return, they would receive a commission of two yuan for every bag Xie Zhao sold.

The agreement was signed, and the contract officially went into effect.

Over the past two days, the task of transporting the river snails was handed over to his eldest brother Xie Cheng and Sanliuzi.

Meanwhile, Xie Youzhen was busy working on his own small plot of land.

As for Tian Xiufen, while taking care of Lin Muyu and the two kids, she also found time to starch scrap fabrics to make the inner linings.

Everyone in the family was as busy as a spinning top.

And the result of their hard work was ten shoulder bags sitting in the display counter of Jinxiu Tailor Shop.

Aside from the style sold to Mrs. Ye, the other three styles were brand new, arranged neatly on the innermost wooden shelf. Under the dim light, they looked beautiful and luxurious.

“So beautiful!”

Zhang Qiao’er held a needle and thread, sewing a special identification tag onto each bag.

She clicked her tongue and looked down at the number in her hand.

It was a small “8”.

Zhang Qiao’er looked up at Xie Zhao, a little puzzled. “What’s the point of this? If we didn’t sew these tags, we’d save a lot of trouble!”

Xie Zhao was checking the quality of each bag.

He smiled and said, “It has a major purpose. You’ll understand in the future.”

Xie Zhao planned to use these special edition bags to break into the high society market.

Therefore, each special edition bag had its own unique number.

Production was limited to around thirty bags, so they were numbered from one to thirty, each with its own exclusive identity tag.

In other words, the earlier someone bought one, the lower the number on the bag would be.

For people in high society, this number was no longer just about the bag itself.

It was a symbol of status.

It was a woman’s badge of honor!

Once the Jinxiu bag’s reputation was established, they could slowly expand into the mass market. That would be when the real money started rolling in.

A knock sounded at the door.

It was Xie Cheng.

“Second Brother? Mom asked me to bring the linings over.”

Xie Cheng said in a low voice.

Xie Zhao stood up and opened the door. At a glance, he saw the donkey cart outside piled high with lining fabrics.

“Things are going to get busy starting tomorrow. We need to hire some help when we go back today. Otherwise, it’ll be too exhausting for Mom to do it all by herself.”

Xie Zhao began unloading the lining fabrics from the cart.

Zhang Qiao’er quickly came over to help.

She glanced at Xie Cheng and called out, “Brother Xie, would you like some water?”

Xie Cheng shook his head. “I’m not thirsty. Don’t worry about it. The lining fabrics are a bit heavy, I’ll carry them.”

With that, before Zhang Qiao’er could speak, he stepped right past her and carried a large stack of lining fabrics straight into the shop.

He didn’t notice the faint disappointment in Zhang Qiao’er’s eyes at all.

Xie Zhao: “…”

His eldest brother seemed to be a bit dense.

Once the lining fabrics were all moved inside, Xie Cheng turned the donkey cart around, preparing to take Xie Zhao back.

It was getting late.

There were still a lot of accounts to settle at home, and Teacher Wei was waiting for them there too.

Xie Zhao quickly called out to stop him.

“Big Brother! Wait!”

Xie Cheng turned to look at him. “What’s wrong?”

Xie Zhao said helplessly, “I still have something to take care of. Wait for me here, I’ll be right back.”

Before Xie Cheng could reply, Xie Zhao took three bags from the shelf, wrapped them in oilpaper, and quickly walked toward the west side of the city.

*

The west side of the city.

A small two-story villa.

Mrs. Ye had just finished dressing up and was getting ready to go out for dinner. Hearing that Xie Zhao had arrived, she immediately told her orderly to bring him in.

“Xiao Xie! You’ve really done me a huge favor this time!”

Mrs. Ye was overjoyed. She beamed the moment she saw Xie Zhao, then had her orderly fetch two packs of cigarettes and stuffed them into his hands.

Xie Zhao accepted them with a smile.

“Mrs. Ye, these are our new bags. They don’t go on sale until tomorrow. I brought three over for you to look at first. See here, these are the serial numbers.”

Serial numbers?

Mrs. Ye was slightly puzzled.

She watched curiously as Xie Zhao unwrapped the bags, revealing a small tag inside.

Embroidered on it with fine thread was a tiny “1”.

“Is this the very first bag? The first one in all of Hudong County?”

Mrs. Ye’s eyes lit up.

She picked up the three bags and examined them thoroughly. The more she looked, the more she adored them.

They were simply gorgeous!

Besides, the tag on every single bag was marked “1.” Didn’t that mean she was the owner of the very first ones?