As Jiang Longyin’s motorcade pulled up, Li Yi was outside directing the beautiful sales assistants as they handed out flyers to the crowd.
In his view, while handing out flyers wasn’t exactly a high-tech endeavor, it was crucial for their newly opened store.
After all, whether they could sell the clothes depended on how many customers walked through the door, and whether they could attract customers into the store hinged entirely on how effectively they distributed the flyers.
Plus, he had complete confidence in An Hong’s abilities; he believed that with her there, the store shouldn’t run into any major problems.
So, from before the mall opened until now, he had been busy outside.
However, just as Li Yi was busy, he suddenly looked up and saw his second older brother, Jiang Longyin!
Surrounded by a group of people in official uniforms, he was walking toward the mall.
Li Yi assumed he was here on official business and was debating whether to go over and say hello.
But just then, he saw Jiang Longyin and his entourage heading straight toward him.
Seeing this, Li Yi knew that Second Brother Jiang had likely come today—just like Ye Jianhua—to show his support.
What he hadn’t expected, however, was that Ye Jianhua had brought a group of friends with him, while Jiang Longyin had brought along the entire district leadership.
All he could say was, “Wow, just wow!”
Stepping up to Li Yi, Jiang Longyin said with a smile, “You’re the manager of this place, after all. Why aren’t you manning the shop instead of handing out flyers outside?”
“Heh, someone else is running the shop, so I’ll just keep watch out here!”
Then Li Yi added, “Sir, how did you find the time to come over?”
“Don’t call me ‘Sir’—call me ‘Second Brother’!”
Jiang Longyin continued, “With the New Year approaching, I’m taking the district officials to check out the nearby shopping malls and supply cooperatives to see if prices are stable. By the way, where’s your store? Take us there!”
“Just taking a look around” and “inspecting price stability”—these were nothing but excuses.
Jiang Longyin had come today specifically to back Li Yi up, to prevent those with a grudge from causing trouble for them.
These days, with the private sector just getting started, many laws and regulations weren’t fully established yet, and plenty of people were taking advantage of these small business owners.
Any shop of even moderate size was bound to be treated as a sitting duck!
He figured that with him, the district head, backing him up, it should be enough to deter most of them.
Li Yi clearly understood this as well and immediately said, “Alright, please follow me!”
Led by Li Yi, Jiang Longyin and his group then made their way into the mall.
However, when they arrived at the flagship store of Feixue Apparel, they were instantly stunned by the scene before them.
The 200-square-meter store was packed with shoppers. While not all of them were there to buy clothes, their herd mentality and desire to see the commotion had them surrounding the entire store, leaving no room to move.
Because there were so many people—with quite a few even lining up outside—Jiang Longyin and his group couldn’t get in at all and could only stand outside the store.
Jiang Longyin looked at the slightly frenzied crowd with some surprise and asked Li Yi, “Are these the shills you hired?”
To be honest, Li Yi was a bit surprised himself.
He’d been handing out flyers outside the whole time and hadn’t paid attention to what was happening inside—he hadn’t expected the scene inside to be this chaotic.
“No. We’re selling high-end fashion. Those who like it and can afford it will buy it naturally. For those who don’t like it or can’t afford it, no amount of shills would make a difference!” Li Yi said.
“Then what about these people?”
“Just ordinary citizens—mostly here to check out the commotion!” Li Yi replied.
“Looks like your store is quite a draw!” Jiang Longyin said sincerely.
Li Yi smiled and said, “It’s not bad. I’ll go get the store manager and ask what’s going on!”
“Alright!”
Soon, Li Yi called An Hong out.
When An Hong learned that the top official of Jingcheng District had arrived, she was immediately startled.
She wasn’t just any ordinary housewife; she naturally knew the rank of the top official in Jingcheng District. Even her own brother-in-law, who had just been promoted, was one rank lower than this man.
“Sis-in-law, please brief the leaders on the current situation at the store!”
An Hong quickly gathered her thoughts and said, “Leaders, I am An Hong, manager of the Feixue Apparel flagship store. Today is our grand opening, and we’ve attracted a large crowd of citizens. The clothing we produce and sell has been well-received by the public. In less than an hour, we’ve sold over a hundred items…”
The commotion also caught the attention of the customers inside the store, and someone called out, “The district leaders are here.”
Subsequently, customers began streaming out from the back of the store and gathered around.
These days, ordinary people still hold leaders in particularly high regard.
As more and more people gathered, Li Yi stepped to the front of the crowd and said, “Hello, everyone! On the occasion of the grand opening of Feixue Apparel, we are honored to welcome Secretary Jiang, District Chief Zhou, and other district leaders for an inspection. Please give Secretary Jiang a warm round of applause!”
“Clap, clap, clap!!!”
After a burst of enthusiastic applause, Jiang Longyin strode forward and said, “We’ve come here today primarily to inspect whether prices at major shopping centers remain stable, and also to congratulate Feixue Apparel on its grand opening. As the first fashion apparel enterprise in the city—and indeed the nation—your presence fills a gap in the market. We hope you will uphold the principle of serving the people and produce more high-quality, fashionable clothing…”
With a string of fluent official rhetoric, he instantly bestowed an official title upon Feixue Apparel: the nation’s first fashion apparel enterprise!
Wow, this was a claim even Li Yi himself hadn’t dared to make—and yet his second older brother had gone and blurted it out in front of so many citizens.
It wouldn’t be long before this claim spread far and wide alongside Feixue Apparel!
With this bold claim as a selling point, it would be hard for Feixue Apparel not to become a sensation!
Just as Jiang Longyin was speaking, Li Yi saw Jiang Longcheng walk in with two people, one of whom was none other than Yang Ling, an editor from the Workers’ Daily.
Jiang Longcheng had previously arranged with Yang Ling to bring him here for a tour once the store opened, so he could help them publish some press releases.
So while Li Yi and the others were busy earlier, he had gone to the newspaper office to pick them up.
They arrived just in time; had they been a moment later, they would have missed Jiang Longyin’s speech.
Yang Ling had a keen eye for news. As soon as he walked in, he spotted Jiang Longyin speaking to the crowd.
Naturally aware of Jiang Longcheng’s status, he immediately instructed the young reporter accompanying him to whip out his camera and take photos, while he began taking shorthand notes of Jiang Longyin’s speech.
Jiang Longyin had clearly prepared in advance; his speech lasted a full ten minutes. Both its theme and wording were unique and refreshing.
As soon as he finished, a burst of enthusiastic applause erupted from the crowd.
Jiang Longyin and his party did not linger long. After finishing his speech, he took the district leaders on a brief tour of the store before leaving Feixue Apparel.
However, although they had left, the impact of their visit was just beginning to be felt.
Jiang Longyin’s speech had subtly elevated Feixue Apparel’s prestige, instantly sparking customers’ desire to make purchases.
Soon, the store experienced its first sales surge!