Chapter 5: Product Selection

During the dog days of summer, the morning sun had already blanketed the earth, and the air was permeated with heat and a humid scent.

The sky was as blue as a gemstone, without a trace of clouds; the sunlight pierced through the atmosphere and shone straight down like golden arrows, making the earth scorching hot, as if all life were enveloped by this heatwave.

By this time, the streets and alleys were already bustling with activity; people wore light clothing, sunglasses, and hats, hurrying off to work or summer classes. The sound of car horns and bicycle bells intertwined, forming a beautiful urban symphony.

After finishing breakfast, Shen Yan borrowed a small e-bike from a neighbor. Just as he was about to set off, a "Click!" sounded, and he saw Yu Youwei open the unit's iron gate and walk out.

That pure yet alluring face was devoid of makeup, and her three thousand strands of dark hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall. She wore a white T-shirt paired with black pants; despite the simple attire, she was brimming with the youthful aura of a young girl.

Scanning Shen Yan up and down, Yu Youwei couldn't help but ask curiously, "Shen Yan, when did you learn to ride a small electric scooter?"

Shen Yan pursed his lips and said indifferently, "Does riding a small e-bike require learning? Isn't it the same as a bicycle?"

Uh...

Yu Youwei's face was a picture of embarrassment; she still remembered that her mother had bought a new small e-bike last time and insisted she try riding it.

Try it she did, but who would have thought that the moment she twisted the throttle...

Good grief! She couldn't control the handlebars at all, and the small e-bike zigzagged like a snake for a distance. Terrified, her face turned deathly pale, and in her panic, not only did she fail to hit the brakes, but she actually applied a bit more force to the throttle.

And then... the new bike had an intimate encounter with a wall, and in the blink of an eye, a happy event turned into a tragedy.

Yu Youwei still vividly remembered the look in her mother's eyes at that time, which seemed like she wanted to kill someone.

Seeming to recall something, Yu Youwei said again, "By the way, did you see the class group message? The class monitor suggested holding a class reunion last night. Shall we go to the street to buy some clothes together? Let's dress up nicely and leave a good impression on our classmates."

"Not going!" Shen Yan refused without a second thought.

During his three years of high school, he had been a wallflower in class, and other than Yu Youwei, he had no friends.

Moreover, everyone's circumstances were different; as time passed, the gaps would gradually widen, and the pure friendship between classmates would eventually turn sour.

Meeting again years later, facing those once-familiar strangers, the feeling was like a one-man show on a stage; even though the spotlight was on you, it made one feel incomparably lonely.

As someone who had been through it, Shen Yan naturally did not want to waste time on a class reunion destined to turn sour.

She never expected Shen Yan to give this answer.

Hearing this, Yu Youwei stared at him blankly, as if she were meeting him for the first time.

Having spent so many years together, this seemed to be the first time Shen Yan had said no to her; she felt like something wasn't quite right.

Shaking her head, Yu Youwei pressed, "Are you not going to buy clothes? Or are you not attending the class reunion?"

"Neither!"

"Why? Who knows when we'll see each other again after this time? We were classmates, after all. Could it be that you..."

Seeing Yu Youwei start her nagging mode, Shen Yan quickly raised his hand: "Stop, stop. I'm very busy today; let's talk about it later."

As his voice fell, he twisted the throttle of the e-bike, and it shot forward with a "Zoom."

"Hey!"

"Stinky Shen Yan, I haven't finished talking yet."

Watching the receding figure, Yu Youwei was so angry her nose was crooked, and her chest heaved violently with her breathing.

Could this guy have taken the wrong medicine? He actually dared to ditch her and run off.

Hmm... he did ride the small e-bike quite smoothly, though.

The sky was blue and cloudless, the road was unobstructed, and the kicked-up dust drifted in the light.

Riding west along the river beside the residential buildings, Shen Yan watched the surrounding environment with great interest. Many buildings would no longer exist in over a decade, so seeing them again gave him a very surreal feeling.

Arriving at the entrance of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China on Fanhua Street, he arrived just in time for the bank to open.

Parking the e-bike, Shen Yan carried a black bag into the bank entrance. Taking a number, waiting to be called, opening an account, and depositing money—the series of procedures went very smoothly.

Six thousand two hundred yuan; he kept two thousand for emergencies and deposited the rest into the bank card.

Then, following his memory, he wandered around the nearby garment factories.

Shanliang Garment Factory, Hongda Garment Factory, Feihuang Garment Factory...

After visiting three small factories, either the production capacity couldn't keep up, the workmanship was too crude, or the fabric was too poor; they completely failed to meet his expectations.

Shen Yan did not choose those large garment factories; the larger the operation, the greater the possibility of competition.

A price war was a war without smoke, and in the end, both sides would only suffer.

With only two short months left in the vacation, he had no intention of getting bogged down in these thankless trifles.

At 10:30 in the morning, at the office of Wanshun Clothing Factory, Shen Yan met the factory manager, Li Wanshun. Li Wanshun was about thirty years old; just from his appearance, one could tell that the knife-like muscle lines hidden under his white shirt made him look very robust.

Without further ado, Shen Yan followed the same pattern, stating that he had discovered a sales channel and that he had come out hoping to find a factory with sufficient strength to continuously provide large quantities of men's clothing.

Cangnan County is located at the southernmost tip of the coast of Zhe Province, bordering the East China Sea to the east and southeast, and adjacent to Fuding City, Fujian Province, to the southwest. It is a densely populated small county with a total population of nearly 700,000. There are as many as six local dialects, such as Wencheng Dialect, Southern Min Dialect, Man Dialect, Jinxiang Dialect, Pucheng Dialect, and She Dialect, among which Southern Min Dialect accounts for half.

Shen Yan started off with fluent, authentic Southern Min Dialect, which made him appear more cordial.

Li Wanshun's eyes lit up. He looked the green youth in front of him up and down, and despite his misgivings, he still spoke eloquently, detailing the scale of his factory.

There were over sixty workers in the workshop, with a maximum daily output of 1,500 pieces; if that wasn't enough, they could work overtime to expand production scale, and they guaranteed both quality and quantity, with production specifications all meeting standards...

No matter how flowery the other party's words were, Shen Yan remained unmoved and expressed that he wanted to go see the production workshop.

This had potential!

Li Wanshun was overjoyed and agreed without hesitation.

Just as they stepped into the workshop, a heatwave rushed toward them. In this spacious area, dozens of workers were focused and busy. They wore work uniforms and gloves, their clothes soaked through with sweat; even so, their hands never slowed down by even half a beat.

Another group of people struggling to make a living.

After seeing the finished garments, Shen Yan couldn't help but praise them silently; the workmanship was indeed good, the styles were novel, and the fabric wasn't the kind of defective product that would make one lose the desire to wear it.

Most importantly, this product had not yet appeared on Taobao.

Looking around at the production process, Shen Yan silently made up his mind and said, "Boss Li, give me an honest price. I plan to take a few samples back to compare so I can determine the final selection."

"If things go smoothly, it's not impossible to have daily sales of hundreds or even thousands of pieces."

Li Wanshun's eyes nearly popped out. He didn't know if the other party was bluffing or if he was the real deal, but regardless, trying out such a large order wouldn't be a mistake.

After a moment of contemplation, he gave a price of thirty-five per piece.

"Boss Shen, this is already the greatest discount I can offer; we can discuss the price further if the volume is large."

After some haggling, seeing that the other party was truly unwilling to budge, Shen Yan did not say anything more; he ordered three pieces of each size for all three colors, totaling 630 yuan, and then took the product manuals.

Then, he found a professional photographer on the street.

At one meter eighty-five tall, with a well-proportioned yet slightly lean build, Shen Yan was the perfect choice to serve as a model.

With a mask and hat on, he didn't care about anyone.