Chapter 563 - 188: ’80s Drama Queen Forced into Business, Becomes a Top Student (23)

Chapter 563: Chapter 188: ’80s Drama Queen Forced into Business, Becomes a Top Student (23)

The plan for tomorrow was to have everyone pass the time at the factory, leveraging its large scale and brand to create a favorable impression on the group.

A buyer’s first impression is crucial. With a repeat customer like Manager Huang vouching for it, they believed the group wouldn’t want to waste time and energy considering other options.

After all, the factory was a good distance from the wholesale market and other factories.

As soon as Xiao Zhang left, the kids couldn’t resist gathering around Manager Huang to ask for more details.

Manager Huang was a rather vain man himself, and he puffed out his chest, repeatedly assuring them, "All the clothes in our mall come from here. They have a full range of styles, and the quality is pretty good..."

The group believed him without a doubt.

’There was no reason not to. After all, Gong Zicheng was the one who contacted Manager Huang, so he had to be reliable!’

Just then, however, Sheng Leyun blinked her big eyes. "Uncle Huang, are we just going to stay here after dinner until tomorrow?"

"We don’t have to sell only clothes. We could sell other little trinkets, too."

The little girl looked so sweet and delicate, her eyes gazing up at him, full of expectation.

Manager Huang couldn’t resist it. This was practically a conspiracy to tempt him and his wife into having a daughter.

He glanced down at his watch. "Time is a little tight. It’s over an hour to the wholesale market from here. A round trip, including time spent waiting for transportation, would take three hours. There’d be hardly any time left to browse the stalls."

"How about this? Tomorrow, after I finalize the order details with Pingyuan Clothing Factory and arrange for a shipment to be loaded and sent to the train station, we can go stroll through the wholesale market then. How does that sound?"

Afraid of disappointing the little girl, he added coaxingly, "It’s just, our Sun Clothing Mall is huge. We need a lot of styles in large quantities. Besides, summer vacation is right around the corner, so we have to ensure we have plenty of stock."

This was business. Only after he had taken care of it would he be in the mood to take the kids shopping.

But Sheng Leyun just pressed her lips together, a look of deep disappointment on her small face, not saying a single word.

But the emotional barometer on the little girl’s face seemed magnified, instantly affecting the mood of the entire group.

Their excitement cooled as well.

"You know, I think hearing someone else say it’s good isn’t as convincing as seeing it for ourselves. Before we came, I heard Brother Cheng say that all the factories in Jiang City have stalls at the wholesale market."

"They hang up samples of what the factories produce, and we’re really curious... is this Pingyuan Clothing Factory really as amazing as Xiao Zhang made it out to be?"

"The more he praised it, the more curious I became."

Third chimed in with a smile, his tone deceptively innocent.

The other kids exchanged glances. ’Third is such a sly fox,’ they thought. ’He’s incredibly cunning. The second his tone gets weird like this, you know he’s about to start something.’

’And as his good buddies, they naturally had to back him up unconditionally and cheer him on.’

’Otherwise, they could expect his "retaliation" later!’

’Besides, Sister Yun was the one who started this, and Brother Cheng was standing right next to her, not saying a word.’

Some of the kids who weren’t in the loop were trembling slightly, wondering if they’d just done something stupid.

But that didn’t stop them from chiming in to support Third. "Yeah, Uncle Huang! We’re super curious about where the Pingyuan Clothing Factory’s stall is in the Jiang City wholesale market."

"A good location, a large space, lots of people coming specifically for their brand... that means it’s a good factory, right?"

"Since Pingyuan Clothing Factory is so great, their stall must be packed with people, right?"

Manager Huang was stumped. The truth was, after cooperating for so long, he had never actually seen the Pingyuan Clothing Factory’s stall at the wholesale market.

Business at the mall had been slow, so they decided to try a new approach and follow the trend set by the shop across the street. But the clothes in that shop weren’t your common, everyday items. They were billed as being on the cutting edge of fashion—every piece was a style you could find on TV.

With that gimmick, and since the other shop followed a high-end boutique model, plenty of customers were naturally drawn in.

In his search for identical styles, Manager Huang had gone from stall to stall, photos in hand, asking everyone.

But he’d gotten lucky. After asking at only three places, someone had approached him.

That person was Xiao Zhang. He was dressed fashionably and looked like a successful businessman.

Xiao Zhang had looked at the stack of photos in Manager Huang’s hands, smiled, patted his chest confidently, and arranged for a car to take Manager Huang and his people to the factory for a tour and inspection.

The service, the attitude, plus the fact that the factory was real, quite large, and had all the styles he was looking for...

That business relationship had continued to this day. Although it hadn’t led to the explosive sales they’d hoped for—nothing like the shop across the street—they had at least managed to scrape by with a meager profit.

It was for this reason that the boss was still gritting his teeth and hanging on, rather than switching industries or closing up shop for good.

He glanced at his watch again. Remembering Sheng Leyun’s questions about his mall from the ride over, he couldn’t help but puff out his chest. "Alright, then," he said. "We can just eat in the car, or eat when we get there."

"If we end up browsing for too long, we can always rush back here first thing tomorrow morning!"

The group let out small, happy cheers.

Watching the children’s genuine smiles, Manager Huang could only shake his head with a resigned smile of his own. ’No matter how sensible and clever they are, they’re still just a bunch of kids who haven’t tasted the bitterness and sweetness of life.’

After briefly tidying up, they headed downstairs.

A waitress approached them with a smile. "Are you all heading out to eat?"

Manager Huang was about to reply when Sheng Leyun cut in with a smile, "Yes, Ma’am! We’re just going to look around for a place to eat and see how the south is different from back home up north."

The waitress nodded and enthusiastically recommended a few places.

Once they were outside, one of the more simple and straightforward kids asked in confusion, "Sister Yun, why didn’t you tell the waitress we were going to the wholesale market?"

"She might have been able to tell us how to get there."

Before Sheng Leyun could even speak, Third rolled his eyes. "Fifth Brother, it’s good to ask questions when you don’t know something, but can you please try to use your brain before you open your mouth?"

"What are you going to do if you’re out by yourself someday? Just ask a stranger every little thing?"

"We’re staying in the guesthouse affiliated with the Pingyuan Clothing Factory. Are we supposed to tell them, ’Oh, we’re just going to the wholesale market to do some comparison shopping’?"

Fifth Brother quickly clapped a hand over his mouth and glanced back nervously, afraid the waitress might have overheard.

Manager Huang smiled and waved a dismissive hand. "No need to be so cautious. Our Red Sun has been working with Pingyuan for a long time. It’s not like we’d change partners just because we took a casual stroll through the market."

"The clothes we sell at our mall are on the cutting edge of fashion. Other stalls don’t have the full range of styles, and the cut isn’t always exactly the same."

"With clothing, even a tiny difference can make a huge impact on how it looks when worn."

He explained this to the group with the air of an industry professional.

The other kids, however, just looked toward Third, Sheng Leyun, and Gong Zicheng.

Sheng Leyun chuckled. "It never hurts to be careful. You’ve been partners for a long time, so you definitely shouldn’t damage that goodwill and trust over something so trivial."

They walked for about a kilometer to reach the provincial road, where they waited half an hour for a ride.

By the time they reached the wholesale market, it was already three in the afternoon.

Everyone was starving, but time was tight, so they just bought some steamed buns and ate as they walked.

The wholesale market was enormous, enclosed by a three-meter-high wall. Inside, six massive sheds were laid out, each about five hundred meters long and dedicated to different types of goods.

One of those sheds sold clothing.

The left and right sides were lined with densely packed stalls. Down the middle, merchants who had come to stock up bustled about, each carrying large sacks. Outside, numerous people on three-wheeled carts waited to transport the goods.

"Whoa, this place is huge..."

One of the kids couldn’t help but exclaim, standing at the entrance to the shed.

Manager Huang laughed heartily. "This is nothing! The wholesale market here in Jiang City has everything imaginable for sale."

"For people like you who run street stalls, you could honestly buy just about anything here, take it back to the Capital City to sell, and make a killing. The profit margin from buying in the south and selling up north is a beautiful thing."