Chapter 326: Time Waits for No One

"I just want to know now, where did those few pieces of clothing come from?" Zhao Qiu Hua asked.

She should be the one who knows best what clothes are in the storeroom and how many there are.

During the inventory yesterday, she didn't see any new arrivals.

"I brought them this morning," An Yinan replied indifferently.

In truth, she had gained inspiration yesterday, climbed out of bed in the middle of the night to design them, and then spent the rest of the night making the patterns in her space.

She hadn't expected them to fit that girl's figure so perfectly.

"Don't take it too much to heart. Our shop's style is for eighteen to thirty-year-olds; the girl just now was relatively young, so our clothes aren't very suitable for her."

"It's normal that you couldn't pick out clothes suitable for her."

An Yinan encouraged everyone.

Although she had many ways to style them to make them suitable for the girl, she hadn't done so.

"I was too busy these past few days and forgot; when Nan was training us, she did mention the suitable age range," Wu Xia said, patting her own forehead.

"It's fine, you will adapt in the future."

An Yinan did not reprimand them, but instead comforted everyone.

Over these past three days, the accounts had not been wrong, and although everyone had made some mistakes, they were of no great consequence.

"Having survived the first three days, the customer flow will decrease a lot tomorrow, so don't be anxious; it will slowly stabilize in the future."

"Everyone is very tired; you don't need to tidy up today, go back and rest early," An Yinan said, clapping her hands and then reminding everyone.

After sending the shop assistants away, the four of them sat down in the lounge.

"You all know the accounts from these past few days; what are your thoughts?" An Yinan asked.

Xie Yuanyuan thought for a moment, "I've looked at some materials these past few days; in the future, we will need a powerful supply factory. Our current scale is too small."

This was a problem she had been considering for three days, but these three days had been too busy, and everyone hadn't had time to talk properly, so it had been delayed.

"This problem indeed needs to be considered," An Yinan noted down.

She hadn't expected that it would be Yuanyuan who brought it up.

"Any other problems?"

"Not enough manpower," Zhao Qiu Hua said.

These past few days, if it hadn't been for everyone taking leave, those four shop assistants alone would never have been able to keep up with the work.

Previously, Nan Nan had suggested hiring eight people, but everyone had talked her out of it; after all, the capital was insufficient, and they didn't want Nan Nan to invest any more.

"Let's recruit," An Yinan said, noting it down and making the final decision.

This time, no one objected.

"Anything else?"

"There is quite a large balance in the account; what are everyone's thoughts?" Li Xiue said.

Each of them was responsible for a different direction, so everyone's perspectives were also different.

"With a large balance, we should either expand the shop or open a branch," An Yinan proposed.

The three of them thought for a while, and Li Xiue asked, "Would that be a bit too fast?"

Taking such a big step—she didn't mind, but Nan Nan had invested too much; if this resulted in a loss, the damage would be too great.

An Yinan looked around, "Our model, as well as the money we've earned, has already made many people jealous."

"If we don't open one, others will soon open one too."

"It's better to seize the moment now while the timing is perfect and do something big."

On her calm little face, there was a pair of watery eyes, and at this moment, they were filled with sharpness and ambition.

"I'm in," Zhao Qiu Hua responded.

"Count me in," Xie Yuanyuan said.

And Li Xiue looked at the gazes of her friends; how could she refuse them?

"Alright, then let's discuss where to open it, what the model will be, and who will be in charge," Li Xiue said, rejecting their occasional bouts of adolescent drama.

"Li Xiu'e, that's no fun," Xie Yuanyuan pouted.

"I think we should open here and here," An Yinan said, pointing twice on the map of Beijing.

"I understand this one, but this one—isn't it a bit remote?" Li Xiue asked.

Zhao Qiu Hua tapped the tabletop, and for a moment, the surroundings went quiet.

"Is there something special about this place?" Zhao Qiu Hua asked.

"Beijing Dance University is right here," An Yinan said after scanning the room.

"So that's it," Xie Yuanyuan said.

Everyone discussed opening the shop for a long time; the new shop's decoration would be the same as the current one, with the same style and identical plaques, differing only in the number below.

An hour later, the four of them returned to the shop.

Zhou Ruoran had already cleaned the shop.

"You should rest; I didn't ask you to come here to clean," An Yinan said, feeling both amused and exasperated.

"I was just sitting there anyway, with nothing to do, so it was just a matter of convenience."

"Sit down," An Yinan said.

"I asked you to come today because I wanted to ask about your thoughts."

"These past few days, I've discovered that your designs are very interesting; they contain your own ideas and your own clever touches."

"Besides, you are a fashion design major."

"So, I would like to invite you to participate in the design; what do you think?"

An Yinan had observed quite a few people recently, but Zhou Ruoran was the only one suitable for design.

She will become increasingly busy in the future and needs to train designers for the shop.

"Design? Can I do it?" Ruo Ran asked uncertainly.

She had Tiedan with her and was already satisfied just having a job; she never expected to be able to participate in design now.

"This is your major! If you can't do it, who can?" An Yinan said encouragingly.

"Then I'll give it a try?" Ruo Ran might not believe in herself, but she trusted An Yinan completely.

"Good, later on I will give you some analysis drawings and professional training; you need to master them quickly."

"However, you will be given time to adapt, and for a short time, I will be here."

The brief conversation ended, and Ruo Ran's job was transferred.

Liu Jiumu was in charge of the workshop, and she needed to go over to communicate with her.

Moreover, the workshop was short-handed and needed to recruit new people.

"Busy bee, why did you come over?" Liu Jiumu teased as soon as she saw An Yinan.

An Yinan greeted Liu Jiumu first, then walked into the room and saw the busy people; everyone was so occupied that no one even noticed her arrival.

"It's time to recruit people," An Yinan said helplessly.

Liu Jiumu nodded, "If you hadn't come today, I would have had to go find you. It seems business is good, and we really are too short-handed to keep up."

"Liu Jiumu, I am planning to open a branch store."

An Yinan and Liu Jiumu sat in the courtyard, both drinking plain water.

The person speaking opposite her looked calm, as if it were a trivial matter.

Liu Jiumu lowered her head and said, "Have you discussed it with those three girls?"

An Yinan gave a soft "Mm."

"Then I understand; I will keep an eye out for manpower here."

"As for the people at the shop, I can't help you there. You could take smaller steps; you are all still young."

As an elder, Liu Jiumu gave careful advice, fearing that the children's hard work would go down the drain.

How could An Yinan not understand?

Age can wait, but time waits for no one.

The reason her business was doing so well was precisely because she had seized the opportunity first.

She had taken a step ahead of everyone else.

"Liu Jiumu, I know you care about me, but I have reasons I cannot explain."

An Yinan did not want to lie to Liu Jiumu, but who could clearly explain these future matters?