Besides lying down, I also know a little about power struggles

Chapter 130: Throwing bricks to attract others
"It's not a brilliant idea," Fang Tong said, "I just think that if you just give away pieces of cloth, people will look down on you. If you cut them a little and make some patterns, maybe it can add some topics for discussion in the cloth shop."

"What pattern?" Ming He was curious. "I thought about making it into a handkerchief, but the color of the material is dull and I'm afraid no one will like it. If I ask someone to embroider it, even if I manage to sell some, it won't be worth the work."

Fang Tong agreed: "Shopkeeper Ming said that the people around here either run small businesses or work in the government. Even if they are not rich, they are used to seeing good things. It is said that the people living under the emperor's feet are naturally arrogant. For them, the things they buy back home are either affordable or novel, or at least they can show it off to others."

"That's exactly the truth," Ming He nodded. "People in Beijing, even lazy people on the street can comment on a bowl of porridge. I wonder if Miss Fang has any new ideas. Please feel free to give me some advice."

Fang Tong smiled slightly: "I was thinking, although these pieces of cloth are old in color, they are not suitable for people, but what if they are given to the little pets at home?"

"Little pet?" Ming He looked puzzled.

Fang Tong said, "I've been walking around the streets of Beijing these days, and I've seen that seven or eight out of ten households have cats and dogs. Some families even like to take their cats and dogs out to play, just like taking their children with them."

Ming He heard the latter part, his eyes moved slightly: "What you mean is——"

"It wouldn't cost much to make clothes, shoes and hats for the little pets. There's no need to embroider them. As long as the style is slightly different from what the people make at home, it won't cost much."

Ming He pondered, "I have also seen people dress their cats and dogs in clothes. It's just a piece of cloth and a few ties. Since Miss Fang said there is no need for embroidery, how is this style different?"

Fang Tong asked: "Do you have any writing materials?"

"Yes, Miss Fang, come with me."

Ming He led her to the accounting office and ordered the people in the room to wait outside.

Fang Tong took a piece of white paper, spread it on the table, and started drawing.

Soon, a fat cat outlined with lines appeared on the paper. It was wearing a coat with wings. At first glance, it looked like a flying dumpling.

Ming He took a closer look and said, "These wings...are they from a bat?"

"That's right." Fang Tong smiled and said, "Bats have been a symbol of good fortune since ancient times. I saw that many clothes in Shopkeeper Ming's clothing store have bat patterns, which shows that the 'bat' is particularly pleasing. If I put such a 'lucky' garment on my pet, the cat will be a lucky cat and the dog will be a lucky dog. Wouldn't it bring happiness and good luck to the family?"

Ming He's eyes lit up: "It's not difficult to sew two wings together. The wonderful thing is that no one has thought of this method."

"It's possible that no one has thought about it," Fang Tong said, "but making it for fun and selling it are two different things. Shopkeeper Ming's new store is about to open. If we make these scraps of fabric into 'Fu' clothes, customers can use them for themselves or give them to relatives and friends. No one will think it is too simple."

"This is a good idea," Ming He pondered, "Miss Fang, do you have any other ideas?"

Fang Tong smiled at her, picked up the pen and drew another cat on the paper.

This time it was still the big fat guy. It was wearing four-legged clothes with a rabbit-ear hat on the collar. The hat was buckled on its round head, making it look like a fat rabbit.

Ming He was amused by the cute fat cat: "This hat is quite playful."

"In addition to rabbit ears, you can also make bear ears, deer ears, or some other animal ears." Fang Tong kept writing and drew the third cat.

This time, the fat cat wore a striped suit, and two curved antennae extended from the hat on his head. Fang Tong said as he drew: "For example, if you use black and yellow as a bee costume and decorate it with antennae, you can dress up your pet at home like a bee."

She stopped painting and looked at Ming He: "Manager Ming is a businessman, I believe you can draw inferences from my example without me saying much."

As a modern cat owner, she knows how powerful pet marketing is. Just as she knows that many things are just a waste of money, she still can't help buying them for Fang Xiaohua.

Not to mention anything else, Fang Xiaohua alone has dozens of clothes at home all year round, some of which are only worn once. Fang Xiaohua may not like them, but Fang Tong thinks they are cute, so she placed an order for them on a whim.

These days she was not only busy looking at houses, but also paying special attention to the lives of ordinary people. She found that people in all eras were the same. When having enough food and clothing was no longer a problem, they would especially pursue daily entertainment.

She remembered that in the history of her world, Kaifeng Prefecture in the Song Dynasty not only had a pet market, but also pet beauty salons and cat and dog food stores, so her idea of ​​making pet clothes to Minghe was not shocking.

This idea was not sudden. She had already thought about how to make a living and what kind of business to do in the future.

She has raised cats and even worked as a cat owner. She knows more about pets' bodies than the average person. If she can do something with this, it would be a great way to make money.

She happened to meet Minghe who was dealing with old fabrics, so she tried to propose this idea to see if Minghe would accept it.

Ming He stopped talking at this time. She looked out the window and saw the warehouse.

She pondered for a moment and called the waiter outside the door: "Xiao Liu, how many patterns and colors are there in that batch of old materials?"

"My lord, there are a total of twenty-four pieces of old materials, three pieces each of dark blue, dark spiral blue, crab shell green, and oyster white, four pieces each of sorghum red and dark ochre, and two pieces each of gardenia yellow and gray mouse color." Xiaoliu was obviously a capable person and he gave the exact number as soon as he opened his mouth.

Ming He picked up the painting on the table, looked at it carefully for a while, and suddenly said to Fang Tong: "Miss Fang, are you willing to sell this painting to me?"

Fang Tong pursed her lips and smiled: "If Shopkeeper Ming wants to try the style in the painting, just take it."

Ming He raised his eyebrows and said, "No merit, no reward. If Miss Fang gives it to me for free, I dare not accept it."

Fang Tong smiled and said, "Since Shopkeeper Ming is willing to try my idea, I will just throw out a brick to attract jade. If the guests really like it, how about we discuss cooperation?"

Ming He looked at her carefully and asked, "How do we cooperate?"

"I haven't found any stores in Beijing that specialize in making clothes for little pets. I see that Shopkeeper Ming's store has both fabrics and tailors who can cut and sew. I want to provide Shopkeeper Ming with drawings regularly, and you can make ready-made clothes for little pets and sell them to the public. We can split the revenue, what do you think?"

The mode of cooperation proposed by Fang Tong is the common modern package of labor and materials. She has limited money on hand. If she opens a store rashly, the cost of investment will be extremely high, which is far less flexible than finding someone to cooperate with. The cloth shop opened by Minghe takes the civilian route, which shows that he does not seek huge profits. If the pet clothes can be sold, it will not only attract traffic to the cloth shop, but also bring in extra income.

Ming He understood her intention after a brief thought: "I understand what Miss Fang means. If we can sell all the old materials this time, I will agree to cooperate with you."

Seeing that she agreed readily, Fang Tong smiled and said, "Before that, there is one more thing I want to remind Shopkeeper Ming."