After the meeting, Li Yi and Jiang Longcheng walked out of the office building together, heading for the factory guesthouse in the back!
On the way, Jiang Longcheng said excitedly, “Brother-in-law, do you think this deal is sealed?”
Li Yi smiled and said, “We’re not even close yet.”
“Twenty thousand yuan in sales a day—is that not a success?” Jiang Longcheng asked in surprise.
“Twenty thousand yuan is no small sum, but have you considered how much of that is just people showing their support? They can only come to support us once when we open—they’re not going to come every day!”
“You’re right about that,” Jiang Longcheng admitted.
Li Yi continued, “Also, those distributors just took the clothes back today. They won’t come back for more until the current stock is sold out. So this 20,000 yuan is just a good start—it won’t last!”
“So if we can maintain 20,000 yuan in sales every day, does that mean the business is a success?”
Li Yi shook his head. “For me, a daily turnover of 20,000 yuan would indeed mean the business is a success. But for your cotton mill, that’s nowhere near enough!”
“Not enough?”
Li Yi replied immediately, “It’s not enough! Think about it: your cotton mill currently employs nearly two thousand people. Even without counting the salaries of the management, the annual wage bill for all employees alone comes to nearly a million yuan.”
“Add to that the costs of raw materials, wear and tear on machinery, utility bills, and taxes paid to the state—how much profit does your factory actually retain?”
“At least a million… that’s not bad!” Jiang Longcheng said.
“Listen up. For a large factory with two thousand employees, if annual profits are less than twenty million, that can only mean the management is incompetent!” Li Yi declared.
“Um… Brother-in-law, I suspect you’re taking a dig at me?”
“You don’t need to wonder about that—that’s exactly what I mean!”
Li Yi didn’t spare Jiang Longcheng a shred of tact, cutting straight to the point.
He knew this guy well—a die-hard believer in the “Ah Q” mentality. If he didn’t give him a harsh reality check, no matter how dire the factory’s situation, he’d still find a reason to console himself.
Jiang Longcheng: …%￥#@#￥
After pondering for a long time, Jiang Longcheng asked immediately, “Bro-in-law, tell me then—how on earth can this rundown factory of ours make a profit of twenty million a year?”
Li Yi replied immediately, “A cotton mill isn’t some run-down shack. We’ve got complete and highly advanced production equipment, plus a large number of experienced workers. As long as we find the right approach, turning a profit will be a piece of cake!”
“That’s easy for you to say, but putting it into practice is another story. Otherwise, the factory wouldn’t have been on a downward spiral for so long!”
Perhaps worried Li Yi would snap at him, Jiang Longcheng added, “It’s not just my fault. The previous factory directors were all the same—not a single one managed to turn the factory’s performance around!”
Li Yi looked at Jiang Longcheng, then smiled and said, “Do you want to turn the factory’s performance around?”
“Of course I do! The old man once said, ‘Do your best with what you’ve got.’ After all, I’m the factory director now, so I should be able to…”
“Enough with the nonsense. If you really want to turn the factory’s performance around, then do exactly as I say!” Li Yi said.
“How?”
“Didn’t I pay you 200,000 yuan for the goods a few days ago? Take half of that to pay the workers’ wages, use the rest to buy raw materials, and then go all out on production!”
Li Yi continued, “At the same time, find a way to buy another batch of sewing machines, sergers, and other equipment to expand the garment workshop!”
“So you’re saying that from now on, our cotton mill’s main product won’t be fabric, but clothing?” Jiang Longcheng asked.
“Exactly!”
“But if our factory starts selling clothes, what will happen to your store?”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Don’t worry about me. Once I’ve sold this batch of fabric, I’ll hand over these two specialty stores and the Feixue brand to your factory.”
“At that point, you can leverage the Feixue brand to rapidly open specialty stores nationwide and establish a corresponding sales network. If managed well, forget about 20 million in profit—you could even make 200 million a year!”
“Two hundred million? Are you serious?” Jiang Longcheng asked, looking utterly stunned.
“When have I ever lied to you?”
“But wouldn’t that be a huge loss for you? How could I possibly take advantage of my own brother-in-law for the sake of the factory? If Third Uncle found out, he’d break my legs!” Jiang Longcheng said.
That was typical of Jiang Longcheng—the factory belonged to the public, but his brother-in-law was family. He’d rather let the factory take a loss than take advantage of his own brother-in-law!
“I’ll explain this to Dad later. You just start preparing according to my plan. I reckon Feixue Apparel will hit its sales peak in about a week—we’ll be swamped then!” Li Yi said.
“Alright!”
With that, the two headed to the staff dormitory.
………
Back in the room, Li Yi immediately picked up the guesthouse’s internal phone and dialed the Jiang family’s ancestral home!
He’d been so busy here these past few days with the grand opening that he hadn’t had time to check in on Jiang Xue.
Now that things had finally come to a conclusion, he wanted to share the good news with his wife and make her happy too.
After a few rings, the phone was picked up.
“Hello, who’s calling?”
Li Yi recognized his mother-in-law’s voice and immediately said, “Mom, it’s Li Yi. I’d like to speak with Xue’er!”
Ye Lingyun smiled and said, “Xue’er is in the next room reading. Hold on, I’ll go get her for you!”
“Alright, thanks for that, Mom!”
A moment later, Jiang Xue’s voice came through the phone: “It’s so late—aren’t you asleep yet?”
“No, I just got back to the guesthouse after a meeting!”
“I heard from Cousin Jianhua and his wife that the store is packed with people and really bustling. Is that true?”
“It’s true. I called just to let you know how things are at the store!” Li Yi said with a laugh.
“How’s it going?”
“The combined sales for both stores today were over eight thousand yuan. Add in the sales from the other counties and districts, and we’ve sold over twenty thousand yuan in total!” Li Yi said.
“How… much?” Jiang Xue asked, stuttering slightly.
“Twenty thousand!”
“Twenty thousand in a single day? How is that possible?” Jiang Xue asked in surprise.
“Heh, there are many reasons. For one, our clothes have fresh, trendy designs—we offer European, American, and Hong Kong/Taiwan styles. Plus, we don’t require fabric coupons; as long as you have the money, you can buy them!” Li Yi explained.
“But… but that’s still unbelievable. Even robbing someone wouldn’t be that fast!” Jiang Xue said.
“Heh, this is just the beginning—our revenue might be even higher than this in the future!”
“Wow, doesn’t that mean we’re going to strike it rich?”
“Hmm…”
After hearing Li Yi’s affirmative reply, Jiang Xue paused for a moment on the other end of the line, then suddenly called out to someone nearby, “Mom, come quick! We’re rich…”
Hearing his wife’s adorable reaction on the other end of the line, Li Yi couldn’t help but laugh.
While her daughter and son-in-law were on the phone, Ye Lingyun was sitting on the sofa nearby.
Although she couldn’t hear the conversation clearly, her daughter’s excited repetition of the key points gave her a general idea of what was going on.
Upon learning that Li Yi’s business had made over 20,000 yuan in a single day, Ye Lingyun was utterly stunned.
She immediately walked over to the phone and said, “Xue’er, let me speak with Xiao Yi for a moment!”
“Okay!”
With that, Jiang Xue handed the receiver to her mother.
“Xiao Yi, Mom wants to ask you something!”
“What is it? Go ahead.”
“Can this business of yours last? Making 20,000 yuan a day—could that run afoul of government regulations?”
Compared to Jiang Xue’s reaction, Ye Lingyun clearly had a longer-term perspective.
After all, the “Reform and Opening-up” had only just begun, and the government’s stance on private industry and commerce was still unclear.
Setting up a small stall or running a small shop was fine, but raking in a fortune like Li Yi was clearly at odds with the spirit of the times.
One misstep could make him a target for criticism—he was treading on a nerve. By then, even the Jiang family’s intervention might not be enough to save him.
Li Yi understood his mother-in-law’s concerns and immediately replied, “Mother, I don’t plan to keep this business going long-term. Once I sell this batch of fabric, I’ll hand over all the storefronts, design blueprints, and brand materials to the cotton mill. The whole process won’t take more than two months. It’s such a short timeframe, and it’s during the New Year holidays—the authorities shouldn’t make a decision that quickly!”
That was precisely why Li Yi had spoken to Jiang Longcheng the way he did before returning to the guesthouse—he had all of this in mind.
Li Yi was well aware of the current situation. Never mind his own scale of operations—even the founder of Shaguaguazi, whose business was far smaller than his, had ultimately been shut down.
In fact, before 1985, it was simply impossible to run an individual business without restrictions on the mainland.
Therefore, although Li Yi knew full well that Feixue Apparel was a cash cow, he had never considered running it alone for the long term.
Hearing Li Yi speak so sensibly, Ye Lingyun breathed a sigh of relief and said, “That’s good. You must be very careful—we can’t let money get us into trouble!”
“Got it, Mom!”
“Hmm, go back to talking with Xue’er!”
“Okay…”
………