Gu Xingguo, seeing him like this, stepped forward with a frown, blocking him and Lin Qi. "Dashan, what are you doing?"
Gu Xingye's gaze fell on Gu Xingmin. "Second brother, you wouldn't not know third sister-in-law's temper, would you? If she finds out about this today, what do you think she'll do?"
Gu Xingmin's thoughts stirred upon hearing his words.
Although Chen Lishu was usually good-natured and took special care of her family, that was only when her bottom line was not crossed.
In Liu Dashan's situation, let alone him being Gu Xingmin's elder brother-in-law, even Gu Xingmin himself would be dealt with by Chen Lishu if she knew.
Lin Qi had only deducted bonuses and imposed fines. With Chen Lishu, such an opportunity would not be given.
"What do I want to do? You have to ask what this Lin wants to do! Why should he deduct money just because he says so?"
Liu Dashan certainly didn't want to leave, given how much he earned in a month. His actions were merely to leverage his relative's favor and the other party's eagerness to finish the project, hoping to extort more money. However, his intentions were destined to be in vain.
Despite his glare and threats, Lin Qi was not intimidated. He looked at Liu Dashan and said with a half-smile, "You're right, I'm just a lowly worker. But since Sister Chen has entrusted this to me, I have the right to manage it. As I said before, there are no relatives here. If you're willing to work according to my instructions, fine. If not, you can settle your accounts and leave!"
...
The summer afternoon sun blazed fiercely, with few pedestrians on the street and even fewer customers entering the shops.
Jiang Weiguo stood at the entrance of Yimin Store, hands behind his back. He could see the "Shuse" clothing store diagonally across the street. In the mere ten minutes he stood there, three or four young people had entered and exited, indicating the popularity of their store's clothing.
To the right of the "Shuse" clothing store, about a hundred meters away, another ready-to-wear shop called "Meili" was deserted.
In order to conduct business privately, he had chosen this name and opened a ready-to-wear shop under a relative's name.
After being rejected by Li Weimin, he had found other channels to procure a batch of fabrics. As for the clothing styles, the foreign trade clothing in Yimin Store was readily available.
Jiang Weiguo had originally thought that business would be good, as this street was only occupied by Yimin Store and his "Meili" ready-to-wear shop selling finished garments. He hadn't expected another clothing store, "Shuse," to open across the street.
Jiang Weiguo stood there for a moment, then walked towards the opposite side.
Recently, business had been getting better and better. They sold fifty to sixty pieces every day. When there was a rush of customers, they had to handle payments and change, attend to customers trying on clothes, and also watch out for any sticky fingers. One person simply couldn't manage. Therefore, Chen Lishu and Wang Aixiang had been looking after the store lately.
After just seeing off two customers, the two of them could finally catch their breath. Chen Lishu picked up her water cup, about to take a drink, when another figure appeared at the door.
"Hello, welcome," Wang Aixiang greeted with a smile. "The bell-bottom pants and floral shirts in our store are popular styles from Hong Kong. Each is only eighteen yuan."
Jiang Weiguo subtly appraised Wang Aixiang, thinking that it was no wonder Chen Lishu's business was doing well. The wooden-stiff sales assistants in their store simply couldn't compare to this place.
Jiang Weiguo waved his hand at Wang Aixiang and pointed to Chen Lishu by the counter. "I'm looking for her."
Chen Lishu also saw Jiang Weiguo at this moment and greeted him with a smile, "Manager Jiang, what brings you here?"
Jiang Weiguo smiled. "I see your business is doing well, so I came to learn some experience."
Her store had been open for some time. Jiang Weiguo couldn't have been unaware of this. His sudden visit today must have a purpose beyond learning experience. However, even though she didn't know his intentions, Chen Lishu was not anxious. Since Jiang Weiguo had come to her, she would find out eventually.
As expected, after exchanging pleasantries and catching up, Jiang Weiguo felt he had laid sufficient groundwork and finally probed, "You indeed have foresight. Where did you source your goods? Did they really come from the south? The shipping costs must not be cheap, right?"
Chen Lishu smiled. "A friend helped me introduce them. I was just earning some hard-earned money."
Jiang Weiguo's expression briefly turned unpleasant upon hearing her words. Chen Lishu's reply was watertight. While it seemed like an answer, it provided no useful information at all.
Knowing that asking her to introduce the source of goods was probably impossible, Jiang Weiguo decided to get straight to the point. "I won't beat around the bush. I find your bell-bottom pants and floral shirts good and want to buy them in bulk. What's the lowest price you can offer?"
So he was here to discuss cooperation. Chen Lishu smiled. "To be honest, I intend to sell this batch of clothing myself. However, since we've cooperated before, the lowest price is seventeen."
Chen Lishu sold to two agents for sixteen, but for Jiang Weiguo, she remembered his unpleasant actions before, so she directly stated seventeen.
Upon hearing seventeen, Jiang Weiguo instinctively frowned, and dissatisfaction rose in his heart.
He had been in this business for nearly twenty years. The cost of producing such clothing in a garment factory was at most ten yuan. Even with an additional yuan for costs and shipping, Chen Lishu wouldn't need to profit at all; she just needed to pass them on, making a profit of two to three yuan. He hadn't expected this woman to be so greedy.
"My order is large, three hundred pieces. See if you can lower the price."
Wang Aixiang heard the pride in Jiang Weiguo's voice as he mentioned three hundred pieces, especially his condescending and arrogant demeanor, as if to say that this opportunity would not come again. She couldn't help but scoff inwardly.
A mere three hundred pieces was not even as many as the two agents had purchased.
Chen Lishu shook her head apologetically. "It's a small business, I really can't go any lower."
Seeing her unreasonableness, Jiang Weiguo was quite angered. It was truly a case of fortunes reversing. Li Zhengxing was like this, and even Chen Lishu, a mere individual operator, didn't seem to respect him. They all seemed to have forgotten how they had begged him for favors in the past.
Although Jiang Weiguo was upset, he hadn't lost his reason. After all, no one would refuse money.
He managed to control his emotions and endured the slight. "The cost of this batch of clothing for you is at most ten yuan. I won't go into the details of the rest. I'll give you fourteen. With this cooperation, if Yimin Store gets any foreign trade clothing in the future, I can also supply you."
He thought it was a good plan to appease her for now. Regardless of whether clothing would arrive in the future, how much supply he would have, or what the unit price would be, there were too many variables.
Chen Lishu, who had cooperated with Jiang Weiguo before, knew him too well. Her thoughts were the same as his. Empty promises were not to be trusted.
"Mutual benefit is a good thing. However, I don't know how often your store receives foreign trade clothing, how much you can supply me each time, and what the minimum pricing range can be controlled at."