Yes, people in this era were just that frugal. Since moving to the village, Tian Tian had seen villagers collect the water spun out from drying clothes to flush the toilet more than once.
It wasn’t that the villagers were poor, but they were just used to being thrifty.
So when this spin dryer was produced, it was quite popular in the village. Same old saying—cheap, easy to use, saves water and electricity.
While reading the newspaper, Tian Tian noticed Zhou Haoting was tallying materials. Curious, she looked over and found there was even an order placed by a trading company.
“Hey, which country has a demand for spin dryers?” Tian Tian was genuinely curious. To her, foreigners using washing machines seemed normal. Especially this trading company—they’d placed quite a few mini fan orders in the summer, mainly exported to Europe and America. Tian Tian figured their clients should be in that region.
People in developed countries shouldn’t need spin dryers. They just use dryers.
Zhou Haoting said, “They say they’re testing the Southeast Asian market.”
Tian Tian understood.
“How big is this trading company?”
Zhou Haoting raised an eyebrow. “Want to get orders through them?”
Tian Tian nodded. She’d just forgotten—trading companies had channels to receive foreign orders. Then they’d place orders with domestic factories. Although they’d take a cut, at this stage, it was a viable window to reach foreign markets.
“Let me check.” Zhou Haoting opened his schedule and looked at it. “Next Monday, someone from the trading company will come to the factory to inspect the spin dryer production progress. Bring your sample clothes then. Want to give it a try?”
Hearing this, Tian Tian couldn’t sit still. She jumped up. “Alright, I’ll go back and design a few sample clothes first.”
Seeing her so energetic, Zhou Haoting smiled and tapped her. “It’s not too late to go tomorrow.”
Today was only Tuesday. There was still most of a week until next Monday.
Tian Tian also felt she was a bit too excited. She smiled and sat back down. Picking up the trading company’s materials, she started reading carefully again.
In the middle of it, her thoughts branched out, and she felt she’d been thinking too narrowly before. There were plenty of other ways to do business abroad.
For example, through Hong Kong.
Not to mention that she and Zhou Haoting both had many relatives in Hong Kong. Just looking at Chen Jiahao, whom she’d recently started working with—wasn’t his financial backer a rich Hong Kong woman?
Thinking of this, Tian Tian picked up a pen and noted down all these details. She planned that after the sample clothes were done, while making contact with the trading company, she’d also reach out to Chen Jiahao.
As for the Hong Kong relatives, she could only wait until the New Year to go back and see them.
Zhou Haoting found it amusing how Tian Tian kept showing expressions of sudden realization. He thought she was too cute. Especially how, every time she completed a goal, her whole person seemed to glow.
As for the trading company, he decided to ask around about a few more. Back when the factory got the mini fan orders, it wasn’t just this one trading company. But this one was the largest. And they settled payment promptly too.
The two stayed busy until almost nine that night before heading back.
On winter nights, not many people were out and about in the village. The whole way back to the residence was quiet. Tian Tian entered the courtyard, said goodbye to Zhou Haoting, locked the courtyard gate, and headed upstairs.
But before she reached her room, she saw the door next to hers open.
“Tian Tian, you’re back!”
“Yeah, just got back. Sister Zhen, is something wrong?”
Qian Lizhen looked a bit embarrassed. “Sorry to bother you so late. I just wanted to ask if you’d heard about Zhou Qiaoqiao.”
Tian Tian raised an eyebrow. “What did you hear?”
What Zhou Qiaoqiao did was pretty big, but it probably hadn’t gotten out. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have left safely.
“Today I went to the factory, and a coworker said Zhou Qiaoqiao left Shenzhen.”
Tian Tian nodded. “That’s true. I heard it too. But weren’t you two on bad terms? Why suddenly ask about her?”
Qian Lizhen said, “A couple years ago, she and I went to work at the factory one after the other, and then moved here one after the other. Now seeing her leave Shenzhen, I feel a bit sentimental.”
Especially after learning she left with a big belly.
This explanation was a bit strange. Tian Tian looked at Qian Lizhen. Seeing the conflicted expression on her face, Tian Tian suddenly thought of something, shook her head, and didn’t ask further. She said goodnight and went back to her room.
After washing up and lying on the bed she’d grown familiar with over the past few months, Tian Tian felt a bit emotional. In just a few months, her life and the lives of those around her had turned upside down. Even Sister Zhen next door, who had talked about quitting several times, was still working at the factory in the end.
That was probably what she’d been struggling with just now. But that was something Tian Tian couldn’t help with. She still had a lot to do and wouldn’t interfere in other people’s lives.
For now, she’d keep living here until the rental building over there was built. She’d already reserved a floor for herself there. Once the building was finished, decorated, and she moved in, it would take at least a year or two.
That was a bit long, but buying an existing place was both troublesome and not cost-effective.
She just hoped nothing would happen to the mother and daughter next door.
Zhou Qiaoqiao and Xu Songmei had stirred up so much trouble. In the end, it was all for nothing.
After sighing to herself, Tian Tian fell asleep. In her dream, there was money everywhere. She took her money and ate and ate, bought and bought. Living free and carefree.
When she woke up, she felt a bit dazed. So she simply gave herself a day off, taking her money to eat, drink, and shop all the way. Only the next day did she start working seriously.
The work was simple: design a few summer outfits according to the demands of the European and American markets.
Summer clothes weren’t like winter clothes—they were easy to design. As long as the styles matched European and American aesthetics, the price would definitely crush their local products.
Soon, Tian Tian made several summer casual pants. For higher-end clothes, people wouldn’t place orders with her for now.
Besides that, looking at the new fabric samples from Chen Jiahao’s factory, Tian Tian simply made several sexy bikinis.
She made the samples herself. But after they were done, Ye Lifeng ran off.
That nearly made Tian Tian laugh out loud.
But an old master craftsman at the factory who helped out saw the finished products and gave Tian Tian a thumbs-up.
Tian Tian had only made the bikinis on a whim and didn’t know if they’d be popular. She hadn’t expected the old master to be so optimistic.
“Anyway, I think this ‘bikini’ thing or whatever—colorful and flowery—looks great. These other clothes of yours are too plain.”
Tian Tian looked at the simply designed and cut clothes and didn’t think there was anything wrong with them. The most wrong thing was probably that they were too plain. But for anything more special, people wouldn’t place orders with her concept-only factory.
Once the clothes were done, Tian Tian took them back to show Zhou Haoting.
Another man who turned red in the face and neck. But this man was braver—he tried hard to act calm and actually looked through all the clothes.
Seeing how serious he was, Tian Tian felt too embarrassed to laugh at him anymore.
Everything was ready, and soon the day came for the trading company to visit.
The weather that day was still clear, just occasionally windy and chilly from the north wind.
Tian Tian got up early and started getting ready. Since she was meeting clients, she dressed fairly formally. A suit-style jacket and pants with small leather shoes. Wearing it, she looked every bit the professional.
Coming downstairs, she naturally got another round of praise from Zhou Haoting.
After breakfast, the two set off for the factory. They didn’t wait long before the trading company people arrived.
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