Chapter 363: The Real Deal Is Here!

By the time they left the garment production workshop at the cotton mill, it was almost 9:30.

Li Yi checked the time and figured it was about right; he guessed his brother-in-law and the others would be arriving soon.

He exchanged a few words with Jiang Longcheng, then led Li Yeqiao toward the main gate of the cotton mill.

As soon as they reached the entrance, they saw several people standing there chatting. Leading the group was none other than Fat Jin, with Long Zhanjun standing right beside him.

Seeing Li Yi actually emerge from inside the cotton mill, Fat Jin was slightly taken aback.

Although the cotton mill hadn’t been doing well financially in recent years and had a somewhat tarnished reputation, it was still a major state-owned enterprise with over a thousand employees.

The fact that Li Yi was striding out so confidently clearly indicated he had deep connections with the factory.

And anyone connected to such a large state-owned enterprise was rarely an ordinary person.

“Brother Li Yi, where’s the goods?” Jin Fat asked with a smile.

Seeing that Li Yi spoke with refinement and carried himself with distinction, he immediately felt a desire to befriend him and adopted a very humble tone.

“The goods are on their way and will be delivered very soon!” Li Yi replied.

“That’s incredibly fast—we just closed the deal yesterday, and the goods are already on their way today?”

“Getting the goods out early lets me focus on other things with peace of mind. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything!” Li Yi said with a smile.

“You’re right. If I had 100,000 pounds of dried goods, I’d be just like you…”

Just then, Li Yeqiao, standing nearby, suddenly pointed toward the main road and exclaimed, “Here they come!”

Everyone immediately stopped talking and looked in the direction Li Yeqiao was pointing.

A convoy of Jiefang trucks came into view, with the lead vehicle less than a hundred meters away.

Jin Fat instinctively glanced at the license plate—it was indeed from North Sai Province.

“Wow, for an out-of-town vehicle to enter Beijing, they managed to get the entry permit processed this quickly. This young man’s connections and influence are probably even more formidable than he imagined.”

In an instant, the look in Fat Jin’s eyes toward Li Yi changed once again.

Li Yi didn’t notice Jin Fat’s expression. He strode to the side of the road and waved to the driver of the lead truck.

Yang Wenguang in the truck also spotted Li Yi and immediately stepped on the gas, driving toward them.

Soon, the convoy arrived at the main gate of the cotton mill!

As soon as the truck came to a stop, Yang Wenguang jumped out.

“Bro-in-law, thanks for your hard work!” Li Yi said with a smile.

“It’s fine. We took turns driving, so it wasn’t really that tiring!” Yang Wenguang replied.

Li Yi nodded and said, “Our store is right nearby. Once we’ve delivered the goods in a bit, I’ll treat the guys from the convoy to some barbecue!”

“Sounds great!” Yang Wenguang said with a smile.

Li Yi then turned to Jin Fatso standing nearby and said, “This truck is loaded with dried goods—all top-quality wild mushrooms that have been sun-dried. Check them over!”

“Alright!”

Jin Fat immediately had someone climb into the truck and unload one package from the side and one from the middle.

Then, right in front of Li Yi and the others, he used a small knife to slit open the burlap sacks.

He then poured out a portion of the mushrooms and began inspecting them one by one.

Since the quantity involved in this transaction was quite large, Jin Fatso inspected them with particular care.

After all, he had practically invested his entire fortune in this deal; if he were swindled, he’d be truly ruined.

After the inspection, he found that the quality of this batch was exceptionally high.

Whether it was the variety, size, or moisture content—even the storage conditions were excellent—it fully met export standards.

“The goods are fine!”

“If there are no issues, let’s weigh it and complete the handover. While the truck is still here, my brother-in-law can help deliver it to your warehouse!” Li Yi said.

“Alright! Our warehouse isn’t far from here. Brother Li, let’s go together!”

“Alright!”

…….

By the time they returned from Fat Jin’s place, it was already past 2:00 p.m.

After all, with tens of thousands of pounds of cargo, unloading, weighing, and settling the accounts took a full four hours.

Still, the results were quite good. The six trucks brought in a total of over 68,000 jin, amounting to more than 143,000 yuan.

Considering that he had previously stated he wouldn’t handle delivery, Fat Jin specifically gave an extra 1,200 yuan as a shipping fee.

Li Yi didn’t hesitate to accept it!

After setting a time for the next delivery, Li Yi led his brother-in-law and the others back to the shop.

To treat the guys in the fleet, Li Yi immediately had Dongzi and the others serve up meat and hot pot for everyone, telling them to eat their fill.

The drivers in the fleet were all ordinary workers; they rarely treated themselves to meat like this. At first, they were a bit reserved and couldn’t quite let loose.

But they were quickly won over by the unique flavor of the hot pot, and soon let loose.

Twelve drivers managed to polish off 10 pounds of lamb and another 10 pounds of beef, plus a mountain of vegetables, in a single meal—their appetite was off the charts.

After the meal, Li Yi had originally planned to book a few rooms at a nearby guesthouse for the drivers to rest before heading back.

But my brother-in-law said they had a regular place to rest in the northern suburbs and told him not to worry about it.

So after the meal, my brother-in-law took a few packages from the truck and handed them to Li Yi, then led the convoy away.

To thank the drivers, Li Yi handed over the 12,000 yuan in freight fees that Golden Fatso had given him to his sister’s husband.

He told him to give half to the sugar factory’s finance department and distribute the other half among the drivers.

After seeing his brother-in-law off, Li Yi, with the help of Dongzi and the others, carried the packages back to their rented apartment.

Upon opening them back at the apartment, he found that aside from some of Tang Xue’s clothes and books, the rest were all children’s clothes.

Some had been mailed by Old Huang, while others were little quilts and cotton jackets his mother had made for her future grandchildren!

Clearly, his parents knew that Tang Xue would most likely be spending her postpartum confinement here, so they had sent all these things along with them.

Thinking about Tang Xue’s postpartum recovery, Li Yi immediately remembered the matter of the apartment. He wondered if Jiang Longcheng had looked into it for him.

But considering that guy was usually unreliable, Li Yi decided he’d have to find time tomorrow to remind him.

He didn’t want to end up with a baby on the way and still no place to call home!

Of course, the most urgent priority right now was to sign the contract with the cotton mill and get construction started as soon as possible.

This couldn’t be put off!

After all, people in China have always liked to wear new clothes for the New Year, and once the New Year passes, most people won’t be willing to buy new clothes.

Therefore, production must be arranged as soon as possible!

Besides, given the current market conditions, the clothes he “borrowed” might not be what people are looking for, so he’ll need to set aside some time for marketing.

That’s right—marketing!

These days, it’s no longer enough for a product to be good—you also need a solid sales strategy.

As for the products, Li Yi was confident.

The designs he’s… “borrowed” are all 1980s fashion hits. For women, Li Yi has chosen bell-bottom pants and batwing tops—styles that swept the entire decade.

Anyone who lived through that era knows just how popular these two items were.

It’s safe to say that there’s hardly a woman in the city who lived through that era who hasn’t worn bell-bottoms or a batwing top.

If there were any, it was because they couldn’t afford them, not because they didn’t like them.

For gay men, Li Yi chose the Zhongshan suit and Western-style suits, which were in line with mainstream trends; after all, gay men didn’t have many specific preferences regarding clothing styles.

Moving from a Zhongshan suit to a Western-style suit was already a major step forward in the tide of fashion trends.

The products themselves were certainly fine, but after all, it was just after the reform and opening-up, and the public’s mindset was still relatively closed-minded.

Suddenly appearing “outlandish attire” would not necessarily become the mainstream of public taste right away.

So, whether this attempt to snap up fabric from the cotton mill will be successful depends not only on whether the fabric can be turned into clothing, but more importantly on how well the marketing is executed.

In short, what lies ahead for Li Yi is definitely a tough battle where every second counts!

What Li Yi didn’t know, however, was that just as he was thinking about signing a contract with the cotton mill as soon as possible, Tan Chunqiu’s factory uniform production workshop was in an uproar because of his “design.”

PS: Working while sick, and having to take care of two sick people on top of that—it’s really no way to live!