enjoyebooks Chapter 343: Hair Accessory Workshop
Chapter 343: Hair Accessory Workshop
"I’m not feeling unwell anywhere."After Lin Xiang said this, she ran off as if escaping, diving into Chunya’s room.
Chunya followed right behind her into the room. As soon as she closed the door, she leaned toward Lin Xiang, "What were you and Brother Ah Yun talking about just now? Why did you run back with a face all flushed?"
"Nothing." Lin Xiang shook her head in denial, "I just felt a bit hot."
Chunya glanced at the raging cold wind outside the window, noncommittal to Lin Xiang’s words, "Fine, if you don’t want to say, I’ll ask Brother Ah Yun."
"Don’t..."
Lin Xiang couldn’t stop Chunya, so she simply flopped onto the bed and lay there like a defeatist.
Since traveling through books to this place, Lin Xiang had managed everything with ease, never encountering a particularly tricky situation.
Except when it came to Cheng Jinyun, for the first time, she felt at a loss, having no idea what to do.
If she had known that having a crush on someone could lead to such an awkward situation, Lin Xiang wished she had nipped it in the bud when she first noticed it.
Outside, Fifth Uncle had already brought Aunt Ge’s family of three over.
Cheng Jinyun naturally walked over to chat with Ge Yuanxin.
Although they hadn’t fought side by side, as fellow soldiers, they had endless topics to discuss.
Ge Yuanxin had left the army many years ago, and talking with Cheng Jinyun about some interesting stories from the force inevitably moved him.
Aunt Ge went to help in the kitchen, while Fifth Aunt and Mrs. Lin stopped talking about Cheng Jinyun and Lin Xiang, and instead discussed business.
"My older brother came over yesterday, looking to start some business, and the girl suggested he sell fast food. Mrs. Ge, I thought maybe you could do this too."
Mrs. Lin, having experience in selling fast food, analyzed the pros and cons for Aunt Ge.
Aunt Ge thought for a while and then declined Mrs. Lin’s suggestion.
"It does sound like a good business initially, and it would earn more than selling sweet drinks. But the problem is, Yuanxin has trouble with his legs now, and even if Yuanyi takes him for treatment, he might not walk like a normal person. It’s very inconvenient."
Her family’s situation was different from Uncle Lin’s family, which had more labor available, making such a business feasible.
Meanwhile, selling sweet drinks could be done at home, without needing to go out, allowing her to take care of Ge Yuanxin and earn money at the same time.
If they sold fast food, the current location wouldn’t be suitable, as there were several factories nearby already providing meals for employees, so who would spend money to eat outside?
"True enough. After the New Year, let’s first focus on getting Yuanxin’s leg treated, and we can discuss other things later."
"Yes, let’s take it one step at a time."
Mrs. Lin added, "We’ve planned that right after visiting her father’s grave on the morning of the fifth, we’ll head to Beijing to get things set up a few days early. Your family can come with us, and with Ah Yun around, it’ll be easier to help Yuanxin on and off the train."
Aunt Ge was somewhat hesitant, "Yuanyi said school won’t start until the sixteenth, so I thought going a few days later would save us the cost of staying at an inn. Who knows how much Yuanxin’s treatment will cost."
Unhappy, Mrs. Lin said, "Why stay at an inn? I already told you, just stay at our place! We even have a room for Yuanyi at our house. Plus, it’s not far from the medical college, a straight bus ride, how convenient!"
"I just don’t want to bother you."
Annoyed, Mrs. Lin said, "Back when Nugget and I first came to the city and couldn’t find a suitable place, didn’t you take us in without even charging rent? With our relationship, why worry about such things!"
After Mrs. Lin’s speech, Aunt Ge finally said, "Alright, alright, then we’ll trouble your family this time."
"Stop saying that!" Mrs. Lin said, "Tomorrow, you go to your neighborhood committee for an introduction letter, and then bring it over. I’ll have Ah Yun get the tickets, and we’ll go to Beijing together."
In the bedroom, Ge Yuanyi, unaware of Lin Xiang’s situation, was discussing the new hair decorations she’d made with Chunya.
"These hair accessories are really pretty. Xiangxiang, what do you think about me making hair accessories to sell at school?"
Lin Xiang asked Ge Yuanyi, "If you sell hair accessories, what about your studies?"
"Studying medicine isn’t like other subjects; you can’t afford to be careless for a moment; otherwise, you’ll fail those who entrust you with their lives."
Ge Yuanyi shrank back, "I was just thinking about it."
Lin Xiang continued, "Besides, the department store in Beijing and various shops sell all sorts of hair accessories and clips, both cheap and expensive, so doing a small business like this doesn’t really have any competitive edge."
Ge Yuanyi, wanting to help alleviate some family burdens, had this idea, but hearing Lin Xiang’s reasoning, naturally dismissed it.
But when it came to hair accessories, it really opened up Chunya’s conversation.
"Nugget, I have an idea, but I’m not sure if it’s feasible or not, could you help me analyze it?"
Seeing Lin Xiang nod, Chunya said, "Although hair accessories have no technical content, they’re inexpensive, and the same design with different fabrics yields different effects. Fashion-loving women can’t resist buying a bunch at a time."
"I can only make a limited number each day, so I’m planning to hire a few people to make hair accessories with me, like in a buns workshop, forming a small factory. Although I’ll have to pay some salaries each month, if I sell more, my profit will increase too. Nugget, do you think this approach will work?"
Lin Xiang thought it was a great idea, "Just like you said, hair accessories don’t have much technical content, and there are likely already many people in Mianyang Town making them. Your advantage lies in being able to get high-quality and inexpensive fabrics and elastic strings from the cotton spinning factory, so you can keep costs a bit lower."
"But to sustain a hair accessory business, you’ll have to keep creating new designs. Just changing fabric and patterns won’t fundamentally solve the issue. If you can ensure a new design each week, then the hair accessory workshop can thrive."
Creating a new design every week was daunting for Chunya.
She managed to come up with new styles by relying on those hair accessory designs Lin Xiang brought back from Beijing; imagining them herself was tough.
"Give me pen and paper."
Chunya quickly fetched pen and paper from Dong Sheng’s room, and Lin Xiang started drawing after taking them.
"Why does this design look a bit strange?"
Lin Xiang explained, "This is a bandana, it’s considered a type of hair accessory. But because it has angles, the effect on hair is different; bandanas are more suited for low ponytails."
"What’s a low ponytail?"