Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 279 I am loyal to you

Chen Xiao looked at the two pieces of clothing back and forth and said, "Then I'll buy them. I want these two, and this bib, and this one, and this one too." She put down the clothes in her hands, went to the shelf and took down five or six items in one go, piling them together with the clothes.

Xiao Wei tilted his head and stared at Chen Xiao without saying a word, while Xiao Hong squatted down and looked through the things Chen Xiao had picked out.

Chen Xiao turned to look at Xiao Wei and asked, "Why are you staring at me like that?"

Xiao Wei said, "I'm wondering where you're going to get the money from. Did you bring any cash with you?"

Chen Xiao paused for a moment, then patted his pocket and asked the shopkeeper, "Sister, how much are these?"

The proprietress did the math, then smiled and said, "You picked out all the good ones, which add up to two hundred and fifteen. Give me two hundred, okay?"

Chen Xiaochong waved his hand at Xiao Wei: "Give me the money."

Xiao Wei asked, "Why should I?"

Chen Xiao said, "My son isn't your son, so hurry up and pay up."

Xiaowei said to Xiaohong, "Xiaohong, you have to believe me. There's nothing between me and Chen Xiaozhen. I'm absolutely loyal to you."

The proprietress stood to the side, watching the three young people's antics with a smile. Xiao Hong said, "Hurry up and pay us and go home. I'm tired and want to lie down for a while."

Xiao Wei pointed to an imported baby stroller on the side and asked the shopkeeper, "How much is this?"

The proprietress said, "This one is expensive, it's imported. I only brought this one back to try. If you want to buy it, just give me the cost price, it's 620. Nobody here is buying it, I'm so regretful. I'm not lying to you, I'll show you my purchase order." She turned around and rummaged through her bag.

Xiao Wei said, "No need to flip it anymore, let's just call it 800, okay?"

The proprietress thought for a moment, nodded, and said, "Okay, I'll still make a profit. Come back next time you want to buy something."

Xiao Wei nodded, took out his money, counted out eight hundred, and handed it to the proprietress.

The proprietress took the money, counted it again, checked it with a money detector, and said, "It's perfect. I should thank you. I liked all these cars, so I bought one, but it was too expensive and no one bought it. It's been sitting there for two or three months, and my husband and I have argued about it several times."

These days, very few families are willing to spend that much money on a stroller. The key is that this thing is useless after two years at most. It's a pity to keep it and throw it away, but you can't even give it away.

The proprietress found a bag and helped Chen Xiao pack his clothes and other belongings. Xiao Hong asked, "How do we get this car? Will it fit inside?"

Xiao Wei looked at the stroller and pondered it. The shopkeeper came over and said, "This stroller is foldable. Here, here, just unfold these few latches." She bent down and unfolded it a few times, then folded the stroller up, picked it up and handed it to Xiao Wei, saying, "This is a simple fold. If you take off the canopy, you can fold it even smaller."

Xiao Wei took it and said, "No need, this will put it down. Foreigners are really good at making these things."

The proprietress looked at the stroller and said, "It's really good, and it's safe. No matter how much the child moves around in it, they won't get hurt. Unlike the ones we make ourselves, which are all made of sheet metal. They can easily get torn, and they can't be folded up. They take up space everywhere."

Actually, the proprietress and Xiaowei were both mistaken; this stroller is not an imported product.

At that time, there were many things in China that were no worse than those abroad, and some were even slightly better. The first was bags, and the second was strollers. Many of the patented inventions of modern strollers were made by Chinese people, and Goodbaby Group was one of the most outstanding.

However, at that time, the domestic market consumption level was too low, and good products could only be sold abroad. As a result, many foreign language labels appeared on the products, and with the deliberate guidance of some merchants, they became imported goods.

In the 1990s, many products that were originally intended for export were sold domestically and were very popular. This was because, in China, the products exported were considered the best. It was our glorious tradition to share the best with others, even when we ourselves were struggling, and it was a noble quality that European and Japanese countries should learn from.

China started producing modern strollers in 88, but most of them were imitations and thefts. Back then, companies in Jiangsu and Zhejiang basically started their businesses on this. I remember a stroller factory that is now quite well-known bought a Goodbaby four-function stroller in 89 and copied it. They even boasted that they would defeat Goodbaby, and they actually almost drove Goodbaby into bankruptcy because they sold it cheaply, didn't care about research and development or quality, and had low costs.

As for the tin stroller the proprietress mentioned, it was the most common stroller on the domestic market at that time; it was cheap, nothing special.

From 90 to 93, in just three years, the wage level of urban residents soared, and the domestic consumption level also soared, with the growth rate exceeding the total of the 80s. People's living standards improved by leaps and bounds, and many good things began to appear in their lives, leading to a highly prosperous market.

……

When they got home, Chen Xiao didn't go back. Instead, she and Xiao Hong lay on the bed talking while holding the baby clothes they had just bought, and Xiao Wei started the fire to cook.

After dinner, Xiao Hong and Chen Xiao went to bed. Xiao Wei, having finished cleaning the kitchen, had nothing to do and played games alone in the dining room.

At 3:30, Chen Xiao and Xiao Hong were still asleep. Xiao Wei walked around the room and was about to lie down for a while when Chen Hui came back.

Opening the door, Chen Hui entered the house, bringing with him a chill, and asked, "Is there anything to eat?"

Xiao Wei held up a finger to his lips, pointed to the room, and whispered, "Yes, I'll get it for you."

Chen Hui nodded, took off his coat and tossed it onto the chair, walked to the kitchen doorway and whispered, "The cigarettes are ordered. I ordered a hundred cartons. The factory will design the cigarette packs. The tobacco will be the old special-supply kind, smoked with a special finish. The cigarette holders will be made of cloud-patterned paper, and the mouthpieces will be a dark blue, gold-stamped, elongated type. What do you think?"

Xiao Wei lit the fire to heat up the food for Chen Hui and said, "Okay, as long as it looks good and tastes good, how much?"

Chen Hui took out a cigarette, lit it, and handed it to Xiao Wei, saying, "One hundred boxes, no design fee. My dad has a friend over there who'll give us three yuan a month. We'll pick it up ourselves. They said this price is even cheaper than Tashan. It's 150,000 yuan in total, to be picked up in three batches. The first batch will be ready by the end of this month."

Xiao Wei asked, "Why is it so slow?"

Chen Hui brought the heated dishes to the table and said, "We need to design cigarette boxes, make samples, and so on. It'll be done soon. I'm thinking that if it really works out in the future, we might as well partner with a cigarette factory and get the cigarettes to market. This stuff is really profitable; no wonder there are so many counterfeiters."

Xiao Wei asked, "Going to the market? How much will it cost?"

Chen Hui said, "It should be at least twenty, right? Wouldn't it be embarrassing to go for less?"

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "That's fine. At least we can travel around the Northeast, but don't even think about going south."

Chen Hui said, "Even just Liaodong is fine. Our restaurant can't go anywhere else. As long as the people here recognize it, that's fine too. It's a profitable business, too."

Xiao Wei handed the dishes to Chen Hui, laughing and saying, "You're dreaming. How many people can afford to smoke like that? It's definitely over, making money is uncertain."

Chen Hui sat down at the table, picked up his chopsticks, and started eating. He said, "Don't you believe me? Twenty-one packs. That's the most awesome cigarette on the market right now. I bet a lot of people will buy a pack just to show off. We're not trying to get rich off this, but we should be able to make enough to cover the order cost."

(End of this chapter)