Chapter 289: Small Meeting

Zhao Qiuhua read for nearly twenty minutes before finishing the proposal. At first, she was reading aloud, but later she gradually began to ponder its feasibility, and instead, she couldn't spare the effort to read it to everyone.

After finishing it, she handed the proposal to Li Xiue and fell into deep thought for a moment.

Li Xiue found the part that hadn't been read and began to look through it. After finishing, she handed it to Xie Yuanyuan, who was sitting to the side, though Xie Yuanyuan was different and did not read the proposal.

She had a blind trust in An Yinan, even more so than she had in her own parents and Xie Shuyang.

If she hadn't trusted Nan Nan, she wouldn't be standing in Beijing today, nor would she have been admitted to Beijing University; this was already the best proof.

"I won't participate. You all know my family's situation; I truly don't have any money on hand." Li Xiue smiled. She wasn't jealous of her friends, nor was she envious; she was simply happy for them.

Zhao Qiuhua and An Yinan exchanged a smile, then looked at Xie Yuanyuan.

"Why are you looking at me?" The little girl was eating the chocolate candy An Yinan had served, right in the middle of enjoying it, surrounded by sweetness—it couldn't have been better.

"Drink some water. What do you think?" An Yinan asked with amusement.

Xie Yuanyuan shook her little head. "Do I need to think? I haven't even used my brain. Whatever you tell me to do, I'll do; I promise to be obedient."

Zhao Qiuhua laughed, pointed at Xie Yuanyuan, and said, "You certainly know how to save yourself the trouble."

However, she thought for a moment and then said to An Yinan, "Nan Nan, I know you want to help us and want to bring us along in everything you do."

"But we cannot rely on you forever."

"Otherwise, what is the difference between us and mosquitoes? Always sucking the blood of a friend."

"Don't speak yet, let me say it." Seeing that An Yinan was about to speak, Zhao Qiuhua hurriedly interrupted her first.

This girl had a kind of magic; whatever she said, people couldn't bear to refuse.

She was afraid that once An Yinan spoke, she would be led along by the girl, so she simply didn't let her speak first.

"I've thought about it, we won't participate in the chain stores." Zhao Qiuhua made the decision for her friends directly.

They had been together for so long that they understood each other's personalities even better than their own families did.

She understood Li Xiue's concerns and also understood Xie Yuanyuan's blind trust.

She understood even better Nan Nan's determination to bring everyone along.

She had always been like this; from the very beginning with meals, to getting into university, and now to the clothing store, she had been pulling her sisters along.

"No, when I made the plan, I included all of us." An Yinan pouted, looking pitiful, as if she were an abandoned child.

"Listen to me first," Zhao Qiuhua soothed.

"This is what I think: we will only participate in the first shop, with a profit-sharing ratio of one share for each of us three and seven shares for you. We won't participate in the subsequent chain stores, but after we save up enough capital, we will continue to invest in the later shops," Zhao Qiuhua said.

"Qiu Hua." Li Xiue spoke up, the gentle person frowning slightly.

Zhao Qiuhua looked at Li Xiue. "Don't you understand what kind of temperament Nan Nan has? Would she not bring you along just because you don't have money?"

Li Xiue sighed, looking at her friend with some helplessness, though she felt even more touched.

Xie Yuanyuan blinked and looked directly at An Yinan; she was the one with the least pressure, an only daughter at home, lacking neither money nor coupons.

"Nan Nan, you fly too fast, and we can't keep up, but you must also allow us to grow slowly. Forcing growth is not necessarily a good thing," Zhao Qiuhua said carefully.

An Yinan pondered for a moment, then looked at her three friends. "I agree, but let's change the profit-sharing ratio for the first shop: two shares for each of you, and four shares for me."

Zhao Qiuhua looked at Li Xiue, then looked at An Yinan's firm gaze, and finally agreed.

"I have five hundred yuan; consider it my investment," Zhao Qiuhua said.

Nan Nan had the shop, but opening a shop also required stocking goods and hiring employees; it was unrealistic for the four of them to watch it every day.

"I'll also put in five hundred yuan," Xie Yuanyuan said, raising her hand.

Li Xiue thought for a moment. "I don't have that much money; I only have two hundred yuan on hand right now. However, all the future bookkeeping and accounting can be left to me."

Much of Li Xiue's money had been saved up penny by penny in Quanshui Village, selling vegetables and mountain goods at the Black Market. Later, after she joined forces with An Yinan and the others, everyone subsidized her with Work Points, so she had never lacked food.

Now that she was studying accounting, she would definitely keep the shop's books meticulously in the future to share the burden for her friends.

"Good, then that's settled. Let me assign the work," An Yinan said, clapping her hands.

"A portion of our clothes belongs to our own designs, possessing priority and uniqueness."

"I will be responsible for clothing design. Once the shop grows larger later, we will hire designers directly, but for now, it's just me," An Yinan said.

Then she looked at Zhao Qiuhua. "Personnel recruitment and training will need to be handled by Sister Qiuhua. Service must be done well; the customer is God. Attitude comes first, quality follows—only then will we attract a large number of new and old customers."

"Everything regarding the books will be left to Sister Xiue. Clothing costs, employee costs, shop costs, as well as sales revenue and profits, etc. —the books must be clear. Even someone who doesn't understand them will be able to read them. Later, I'll draw up a few forms, and we might have to follow my forms in the future," An Yinan said.

Li Xiue found some paper and recorded all the key points An Yinan mentioned.

"What about me? What about me?" Xie Yuanyuan had been listening for a long time and hadn't heard her own task.

An Yinan looked at Xie Yuanyuan. Actually, she didn't know if Xie Yuanyuan could complete this task, but she had no way to hand it to anyone else.

"Your task is relatively heavy," An Yinan said first.

"What is it?" Xie Yuanyuan blinked her curious, large eyes.

"I need you to find a factory. The clothes must be produced according to our blueprints, and the fabric must be the fabric we agreed upon. The confidentiality of the blueprints—all these need attention. Actually, I want to use your Lao Xie's connections." An Yinan sighed; she had also planned to go to Yangcheng during the break, but time was too tight, and it would delay stocking the shop.

Xie Yuanyuan nodded. "I will contact Lao Xie today and let him select a factory. Once there is definite news, we will meet up to discuss it."

An Yinan had no other choice. She didn't lack textile factories or fabric, but she lacked a garment factory. She had thought about hiring people to do it herself, but that would require a large number of sewing machines and employees, and there would be plenty of work later on.

"Can't we set up a small garment factory ourselves, where everyone is responsible for one part of the sewing?" Zhao Qiuhua asked.

An Yinan's admiration for Zhao Qiuhua grew even higher; she was truly a talent for business.

She had understood the significance of an assembly line so quickly.

An Yinan nodded. "It might be feasible in the early stages."