Chen Xuan and Wei Yin wanted to ask Qin Shu about lace weaving, but Qin Shu didn't know much about it. His understanding of the lace industry came from his previous experience of making clothes at a tailor's shop and his little knowledge of his classmates' business. The three of them strolled along the road for a while and decided to go home and ask Wei Nian about it.
Chen Xuan called a rickshaw on the roadside and sent Wei Yin back to the old house. Chen Xuan specifically told Wei Yin to tell him that he bought the meat biscuits himself and not to mention her. Sure enough, Wei Yin gave the meat biscuits to his sister-in-law Li and asked her to heat them up for the family’s midnight snack or bake them for breakfast the next day. Mrs. Wei said, “Why are you still spending this money?”
Wei Yin said, "Fresh green onions have just come down, and these sesame cakes are at their best. The sesame cakes at Dongxinglou are made with authentic Shandong green onions. I'll buy some back for my parents to try."
Hearing this, Old Lady Wei glanced at Chen Xuan coldly, touched Wei Yin's hair, and said with a hint of relief, "I knew it, my daughter must be thinking of me."
Chen Xuan smiled but said nothing.
It was getting late outside, and Qin Shu was nearby. Chen Xuan said a few words to Qin Shu and then took him back to his house in Wangfucang Hutong.
Qin Shu, this girl, is not a simple-minded girl, but she is quite cunning in some matters, such as using Xu Ning as a middleman to distribute work. She is also very straightforward. After leaving the Wei family's old house, Qin Shu said, "Although your old lady is a bit old-fashioned and seems to be reasonable, she is particularly mean to her daughter-in-law."
Chen Xuan smiled and said, "Old people are all like this."
Qin Shu was curious, "Second sister-in-law, why didn't you let Ah Yin say that it was you who bought the meat biscuits?"
"Who says it's different?"
"If I tell you that you bought it, will your old lady say something unpleasant?"
Qin Shu was holding Chen Xuan's arm and talking. The moon was rising. Suddenly, a voice interrupted him, "From now on, the conflicts between my mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are all caused by you."
Qin Shu and Chen Xuan were both startled. They looked in the direction of the voice and saw Wei Nian, wearing a dark woolen coat, leaning against the blue brick wall at the entrance of the alley, smiling at Chen Xuan. There was a rickshaw waiting beside him. Wei Nian stepped forward and waved to Qin Shu, who immediately let go of his arm around Chen Xuan and went to get in the rickshaw. When Wei Nian held Chen Xuan's hand and wanted to get in the rickshaw with his wife, he found that there was someone in the rickshaw - Qin Shu.
Wei Nian thought to himself, with this fool's eyesight, he could be voted the most popular teacher in the school. Are all the students in the school blind? Wei Nian had no choice but to call another rickshaw and take Chen Xuan home. As for Qin Shu, he was naturally an incidental person.
Chen Xuan also asked Wei Nian, "Aren't you going back to the old house to see the old lady and the old grandfather?"
Wei Nian said, "It's late tonight. If we go through this again, it will take us half the night to get home."
The road was windy, so the two of them didn't say anything more, or else they would get choked by the wind. When they arrived at Wangfucang Hutong, Wei Nian only paid for his own fare. Fortunately, Qin Shu had developed the habit of carrying money with him, so he paid for the fare and followed the two of them into the house. Qin Shu went back to his room quickly because Wei Nian heard him say bad things about the old lady of the Wei family today, and he didn't dare to bother Chen Xuan anymore.
The couple went back to the house to rest.
Chen Xuan first fetched water for Wei Nian to wash up. Wei Nian took off his woolen coat, rolled up his sleeves, and asked Chen Xuan, "How about our treat today?"
"Very good, Ah Shu also helped me think of a very good idea. We can also send out sweater work in the future." Chen Xuan handed Wei Nian a towel immediately after he washed his face. When the two sat on the kang to soak their feet, Chen Xuan told Wei Nian about the idea of assigning work to college students. Wei Nian smiled, "That's a good idea. Female college students are clean. As long as they are willing to work, these odd jobs are suitable for them. Although they can't subsidize the family, at least they can subsidize their meals on weekdays."
Chen Xuan nodded, "Brother Anian, you said Ah Shu is smart. Let's ask Ah Ning to be the middleman, and it will save us a lot of trouble."
Wei Nian said casually, "Even fools can be smart sometimes."
"It's not just this." Chen Xuan told Wei Nian about the lace weaving. Chen Xuan said, "If Ah Shu hadn't told me, Ah Yin and I wouldn't have known that lace is mostly hand-woven nowadays. We thought it was all woven by machines."
Wei Nian didn't know much about this matter, so Chen Xuan asked again, "Brother Anian, do you think we can do some lace business again? The lace we bought from Shanghai last time, the larger ones have been sold out, and Ah Yin and I are reluctant to sell some of them because we need them for making clothes. If we can weave lace, we don't have to go to Shanghai to buy them in the future. We can just pay for the labor and it will be cheaper. Ah Shu said that there are foreign companies in Shanghai that do import and export business of these laces. I wonder if there are any in Beijing?"
"I'll ask around for you tomorrow." Wei Nian added some hot water to the foot basin, and then added some to Chen Xuan's basin, saying, "I haven't paid attention to this matter. I'll ask around then and see if this business is profitable."
"Okay." Chen Xuan tilted her head and smiled at Wei Nian, feeling relieved and happy. "Ashu has seen a lot of things in the world, and she is smart. If this gossip business is good, Ah Yin and I want to get Ah Shu to work with us."
"Get her to join us?"
"Yes, this was originally Ah Shu's idea. I think Ah Shu was a little dumb before, but now she understands it. She is quite smart in dealing with people. She has been helping to design the styles of clothes and hats in our store. She is Ah Shu's partner, and she is quite good at this." Chen Xuan said, "The lace business may not be able to become a big business. However, I think that whatever can be done is what it is, but Ah Shu gave the idea, and I can't forget her when there are benefits in the future."
Wei Nian thought, this is too real. What kind of idea is this? It's just a casual suggestion, no work or effort. However, Wei Nian didn't care about handwork like lace at the moment, so he didn't say much. He is a grown man, but he always criticizes a yellow-haired girl, which shows that he has no manners. However, Qin Shu, this girl, also said behind her mother's back that she is mean. Wei Nian rolled his eyes when he thought about it. If you know how to behave, you will persuade others to be harmonious, not like Qin Shu who speaks the truth.
Fortunately, when you partner with such a straight person, you don't have to worry about her plotting against you.
Chen Xuan is a very down-to-earth person, and Wei Yin doesn't have any ulterior motives. Let's take a look at Qin Shu, the partner these two sisters-in-law are looking for. Oh, they really are the kind of people who look for the right people.
Wei Nian helped to inquire, and Chen Xuan and Wei Yin also went to some lace shops to ask where the goods were imported. After finding out one level at a time, they found out that some of the goods were imported from Qingdao and Shandong, but some were imported from Tianjin, and more were imported from Shanghai.
I was afraid of asking questions about everything. Tianjin was very close to Beijing, so Wei Nian simply told his family and went to Tianjin. In fact, Wei Nian originally wanted to take Chen Xuan with him, but the Dongzi strawberries at home were in the first red fruit period after the beginning of autumn, so Chen Xuan was indispensable. Tianjin was not far from Beijing, so Wei Nian went there by himself with his assistant.
In Tianjin, most of the people doing this business are dealers. After asking, they found out that the products came from Shanghai, and there were hardly any craftsmen who really knew how to make handmade lace. Wei Nian thought about it and decided not to go to Shandong. He sent a telegram home and went to Shanghai with his men to trace the origin of the lace.
Wei Nian came to Shanghai this time mainly to inquire about gossip, and did not want to alarm Rong Yang. The main reason was that the market of "Siqing" was still being developed, and the business was slowly getting better. But it was not easy for a new brand to carve out a path in the cosmetics market.
Moreover, Wei Nian came to Shanghai this time purely for his own personal matters.
It was a coincidence that the two met. Wei Nian had last been to Shanghai in late April or early May, when it was also a rainy season in Shanghai. However, it was already July and August, and Wei Nian didn't know that the autumn rain in the south would come as soon as it came. Wei Nian went out without an umbrella, and took shelter from the rain with his assistant on the street. An assistant in casual clothes came over with two umbrellas. Wei Nian knew Assistant Liu beside Rong Yang, and smiled and said hello, "What a coincidence, I actually met Assistant Liu."
Assistant Liu handed them the umbrella and gestured behind him, "Mr. Rong asked me to deliver this to Mr. Wei." After putting down the umbrella, Assistant Liu left.
The car windows were never rolled down. Wei Nian nodded towards the rear window, and Rong Yang's car drove away slowly in the drizzling autumn rain.
Now that I have met Rong Yang, I have no choice but to visit Rong Mansion.
Wei Nian called ahead and bought two boxes of black tea. Rong Yang was at home, so he couldn't help but talk about business. Rong Yang said, "The 'Siqing' brand is doing well." Wei Nian was humble and talked about his trip to Shanghai. Rong Yang had only heard of the lace business, so he asked Wei Nian, "Is it done?"
Wei Nian said, "It's hard to hire female lacemakers. Most of the lacemakers here are peasant women from Caohejing and Qibao who weave at home. We invited two female lacemakers to come back to Beijing and teach them the weaving techniques."
Rong Yang asked Wei Nian when he would return to Beijing. Hearing that Wei Nian had almost finished his work, he even bought the cotton and linen thread for crocheting. Rong Yang said, "It's just right. I also have to go to Beijing to do some work. Why don't you come with me? It will be faster."
Wei Nian felt pained when he thought of the price of the plane ticket. Wei Nian was not a stingy person, but at this moment he couldn't help but say, "The plane ticket is too expensive. One ticket costs thousands of dollars. Although Mr. Rong will reimburse me, I can't spend money like this. I'll take the train back."
"It takes three days and three nights to get to Beijing by train." Rong Yang said to Wei Nian with a hint of admiration in his eyes, "An Nian, your time is far more valuable than a plane ticket."
Wei Nian had no choice but to decline the offer, thinking that although Rong Yang was a bit pretentious, his attitude towards talented people was still very good.
Wei Nian was feeling proud inside, but he still responded very humbly on the surface.
Wei Nian's personality is that he likes to make friends with people like Rong Yang. It's not necessary to establish a relationship with him, but Rong Yang's many views will have a certain influence and guidance on Wei Nian now. As Rong Yang said to Wei Nian, "A business that has a great impact on people's lives, or can affect and serve many people, must be a big business."
Wei Nian shook his head. He was very self-aware and said, "I don't dare to think about big business yet."
Rong Yang was very understanding. "If you want to make money, just enter the hottest industry, because the hottest industries will make quick money. With your cleverness and talent, it will be no problem for you to make quick money. Of course, don't invest in stocks. Many people have lost their fortunes there." Rong Yang joked.
In addition to chatting about business, Rong Yang also gave Wei Nian a handmade suit from Peromon and said to Wei Nian, "You came to Shanghai in a hurry. In Shanghai, even street laborers would buy a cheap suit. Your suit should be a ready-made suit from a department store, but it can be even better. Although dressing is a trivial matter, don't take it lightly." He also gave him a set of bow ties, pocket squares, brooches, cufflinks, and leather shoes.
Although Wei Nian is also a conceited person, he is obviously not as meticulous as Rong Yang. Rong Yang explained, "Foreigners pay special attention to these details. If it is a gathering of Chinese people, they don't need to be so meticulous. Being too meticulous will only make you look unusual."
Wei Nian finally had to admit that Rong Yang's attention to detail had reached the level of philosophy of life.
The author has something to say: ps: The first update is here, the second update will be in the evening~~~~~~~Good morning everyone~~~~~~~~~~~~~During the Republic of China, Peromon was a very famous suit brand in Shanghai!