Casting Nets to Catch a Husband

Chapter 122: Prosperous

Lu Chengzong admired him, and Lu Xun was delighted. Having a good daughter-in-law would bring prosperity to the family. He thought for a moment and asked Liu Yu, “How are you planning the grand opening? Do you have any ideas?”

Liu Yu shook his head. “I don’t really know much about it, so I’ll need to ask for advice from Uncle.”

Lu Xun was familiar with such matters, he replied, “The most important thing on the first day of opening is attracting people. A good turnout is a positive sign. So, it’s best to choose an auspicious time to set off firecrackers, have drums and music, or even invite a lion dance team to make it lively and attract people to watch. On that day, you should also offer some promotions to keep the curious onlookers as customers. This is usually how it’s done. Friends will come to support too.”

Before Lu Xun finished speaking, Lu Chengxiao interjected, “A lion dance team would be more exciting than just drums and music. You don’t need to hire one; I’ll arrange it as a gift for your opening.”

Lu Chengzong quickly added, “I’ll provide the firecrackers.”

Right after speaking, he felt that just offering firecrackers seemed a bit stingy. Turning to Lu Chengxiao, he suggested, “Let’s borrow your family’s Eight Treasures team to deliver the opening time to our mother and your eldest sister-in-law. They will surely come to support us.”

Lu Xun laughed. “Indeed, your mother had already instructed us to inform her once the opening date is set.”

Seeing that the family valued Liu Yu’s business, Lu Chengxiao was naturally happy. He would be more than willing to help, even personally. He agreed cheerfully. The three men, exchanging words, had already planned the arrangements for Liu’s family opening.

An opening is a joyous event, and the Liu siblings naturally wouldn’t refuse the Lu family’s kindness. Liu Yu was quick-witted, she said, “It’s proper for me to formally send an invitation. Let’s prepare it tonight, and tomorrow my second brother can deliver it personally to Changfeng Town to ensure we are not impolite.”

Although Lu Xun felt their family didn’t need such formalities, he appreciated Liu Yu’s desire to do things neatly. He smiled and agreed, “Alright.”

Liu Yu then inquired about the promotional strategies and discounts used by various merchants in the county for openings or major celebrations, such as credit sales, freebies, vouchers, rebates, and discounts.

The freebie strategy is often used by food sellers, which didn’t apply to an embroidery shop or fabric store. The most popular methods were rebates and discounts. Vouchers were equivalent to gift certificates that could be used like cash.

Liu Yu now had a good idea but still needed to discuss it with his brother before finalizing.

Just then, a nearby embroiderer arrived, carrying her bedding and accompanied by three women. Knowing Liu Yu would be busy and more women would be arriving, Lu Xun, Lu Chengzong, and Lu Chengxiao took their leave to avoid causing more disturbance.

The embroiderer brought two women from her husband’s family, one skilled in simple embroidery and two adept at detailed needlework. Liu Yu led them to the embroidery room, assessed their skills, and found them suitable. They agreed on wages and a start time for the next morning before the women went home.

The embroiderer continued her work on pouches and handkerchiefs she had been making.

Seizing the free moment, Liu Yu discussed plans with Liu Yanqing and Liu Yanping. “Since Aunt Lu and Eldest Sister-in-law Lu will be coming to support us, it wouldn’t be right to exclude Second Sister-in-law Lu. Inviting people to spend money is awkward, but we can attach some vouchers to the invitations. On the opening day, anyone buying clothes can use the voucher for a tael of silver. This way, whether they come or not, sending the invitation won’t seem inappropriate. What do you think?”

When the second shop of Lu Erlang in Xifeng Town opened, they hadn’t sent invitations to their family, but Liu Yanqing had sent a gift afterward. Now he wasn’t sure if he should send invitations. If Lu Xun and Lu Chengzong didn’t send gifts, they probably wouldn’t invite them either. But they wanted a lively event and couldn’t leave Lu Erlang out.

“This idea is good; it maintains decorum on both sides. But will giving out a one-tael voucher result in a loss, Liu Yu?” Liu Yanqing asked.

Liu Yu smiled. “It depends on what clothes they buy. If they buy the cheapest cotton fabric, we’ll lose a bit. For medium-quality fabric, we’ll break even. If they buy expensive fabric, we’ll still make a profit. The most important thing on the first day is the crowd and getting our name out there. I think it’s worth it. Brother, if you have any colleagues with wives, you can also give them a few vouchers, without the invitation. It’s up to them if they want to come.”

Liu Yanping’s eyes lit up. “That’s right. There are five main officials in the county office, two advisors, three heads of patrols, and six administrative clerks, all with families here.”

Liu Yanqing paused and then understood Liu Yanping’s intention. These positions were hereditary, meaning their families were local and potential customers for the embroidery shop. While some might hesitate to send vouchers to the main officials, he realized the significance of this move. The presence of these officials’ families could provide invaluable social proof for their shop.

He said, “It’s fine to send vouchers to the heads of patrols and the clerks as it’s a personal gesture. For the main officials, a one-tael voucher might not be appropriate. If we give more, it might strain us financially.”

Liu Yu shook her head. “Brother, there’s no strain. We’ll send one-tael vouchers to the patrol heads and clerks; they won’t buy simple cloth dresses from us. We won’t lose money. For the main officials, we’ll send vouchers for a full outfit. No matter the price, consider it a gift. If they like our products, we won’t lack business in the future.”

Liu Yanping nodded. “Exactly. If the officials’ families come to support us, brother, it’s a benefit money can’t buy.”

Liu Yanqing quickly calculated the costs in his mind and nodded. “Alright, Liu Yu, prepare the vouchers. Do we need to order them from the stationery shop?”

Liu Yu shook her head. “Since we’re an embroidery shop, we’ll embroider them. We need some sturdy paper to back them up. Brother, could you buy some suitable paper from the stationery shop? Also, we need three invitations for the Lu family. We can write them ourselves once you bring them back.”

Liu Yanqing agreed and hurried off to prepare.

Liu Yu and Liu Yanping designed the vouchers, keeping them simple due to time constraints. They made the shop’s logo prominent and indicated the amount—one tael for the general vouchers and a full outfit for the main officials. They also marked a three-day validity period.

Once satisfied with the design, Liu Yanping wrote a few drafts until they had two perfect templates. Liu Yu gave these to the returning embroiderer to begin stitching.

With over twenty vouchers to create, the embroiderer used a piece of red silk to make them all on one fabric. They discussed the color scheme before she set to work.

Throughout the night, more people arrived. Lady Zhang didn’t want to appear unreliable and brought capable people. Liu Yu inspected their work and found no issues.

They now had fourteen helpers: seven for sewing clothes, six embroiderers, and one surprise addition—Lady Zhang’s sister, a skilled tailor.

The others were sent home, but Lady Zhang’s sister was asked to stay and start immediately due to the tight schedule.

The three of them went to the shop to select fabric. Liu Yu had the young Lady Zhang start by making a simple dress, observing her choice of colors and materials, then her cutting technique. Liu Yu noticed her skill, comparable to the elder Zhang lady, although their styles differed. The elder Zhang lady’s work, having catered to wealthy families in Yuanzhou, had a grand and dignified air, while the young Zhang lady, in her twenties, brought a more lively and playful touch to her designs.

Liu Yu was delighted and even considered hiring the young Zhang lady for a long-term position at the embroidery shop.

It was the first time the Zhang sisters watched Liu Yu cut fabric. They recognized her expertise immediately. They didn’t need to see the finished garment; just by watching her cut and design the embroidery patterns, they knew she was highly skilled. They admired her cleverness and talent.

Each time Liu Yu and her team finished cutting a set of clothes, they would communicate with the assigned embroiderer and seamstress before handing over the pieces. This method of division of labor was rare in embroidery shops. Typically, those working in such shops were expected to handle cutting and embroidery themselves, like the Zhang sisters.

Liu Yu had initially devised this method due to a shortage of workers when making clothes to be sold at Mrs. Cui’s embroidery shop. This unintentional innovation saved labor costs. The wages for cutting, embroidery, and sewing varied, and while high-skilled workers like the elder Zhang lady would command higher wages, Liu Yu’s division of tasks was more efficient.

The most significant benefit, as the elder Zhang lady noticed, was that this method significantly increased the speed of garment production, maximizing each worker’s strengths.

That night, the lamps in the three rooms at the back of the Liu family home burned until midnight. By the time they stopped, they had completed three full outfits. The cutting room had six sets of cut and embroidered fabric pieces ready for sewing, and the embroidery room had one nearly completed embroidered piece awaiting sewing. This was partly because one embroiderer was focused on making the red vouchers.

Wei Shi was considerate and hospitable. She couldn’t let everyone go to bed hungry after working late into the night. She prepared a late-night snack in advance. As soon as they finished, hot egg noodles were ready on the table. Exhausted and hungry, everyone enjoyed the meal, then washed up and went to bed, feeling as if they were in heaven.

They finished making over twenty red vouchers. Three of these, to be taken to Changfeng Town, were placed in two invitations: one for Chen Shi, inviting her and Lu Shuang with two vouchers inside, and one for Qin Shi, with a single voucher.

Before going to bed, Liu Yu prepared everything and handed it to Liu Yanping. Liu Yanping then asked, “Do we need to hire more helpers?”

Liu Yu nodded. “Yes, we need three or four more embroiderers and the same number of seamstresses.”

Liu Yanping agreed and set out at dawn with the two invitations. Liu Yan’an was to deliver an invitation to Zhou Qiongying at Lu Erlang’s fabric shop in Xifeng Town. Liu Yanqing took sixteen red vouchers to distribute to his colleagues, with a few extras for friends, including his two deputy constables, as a personal favor. Liu Yanqing thanked them.

Everything was well-prepared. Early the next morning, about a dozen people arrived, as agreed the previous night, each bringing a thin quilt, signaling they were ready for work.

Wei Shi organized breakfast. Those who had stayed overnight at the embroidery shop had already eaten and began their tasks.

The front door of the embroidery shop remained closed, but the backyard was bustling with activity.

To outsiders, the sight of over twenty people working might not look like a custom dress shop but rather a mid-sized workshop. Unlike the common weaving or dyeing workshops, large-scale ready-to-wear garment production was rare. Because everyone’s body shape differs, off-the-rack clothes were rarely sold. Even in embroidery shops, most displayed sample garments that could be tailored to fit. Hence, few realized that ready-to-wear garments could be produced on such a large scale, forming a workshop-like operation.

Sansukini: I’m thinking that this novel is so slow. Should I dole out 5 chapters each week instead of 3? We still have a very long way to go.

Thanks for visiting. If you like this story, then I’m shamelessly asking you to visit NovelUpdates and give a 5 review.