Xu Ye drove out to Red Leaf Estate again that evening, but this time he waited outside a good ten minutes before Chen Qingqing came out.
She had on a thick coat, and on her feet a pair of knee-high boots.
The moment she got in he noticed the boots, and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Seriously? You’re guarding against your own boyfriend?”
“You’re exactly who I’m guarding against.”
Chen Qingqing hadn’t expected her little scheme to be seen through that fast. She gave a small huff, turned her head and smiled out of the window.
The days at home went quickly enough — practicing driving with Qin Zhiwei by day, taking Chen Qingqing out for a drive and a walk in the evening — and before he knew it, it was the eleventh of the first month.
Xu Ye planned to go back to Shanghai the next day. He would set off in the morning and, if it went smoothly, arrive by mid-afternoon; find a hotel and rest that night; then go in to school the day after to sort out the new term.
The evening before he left, while he was packing, Old Zhang started up again.
“Take a few more clothes. The cold snap in spring is bitter.” [TL: 倒春寒 — a sharp return of cold after the weather has already turned mild, treated in China as a real hazard to health.]
“Have you got change in your wallet? If not, there’s some in my bag.”
“Drive slowly tomorrow, and remember to stop at a service area every two hours.”
“Shall we go to the supermarket and get some snacks for the road?”
“There are several cases of milk left over from New Year. Do you want to take them all to school?”
“…”
All Xu Ye could do was answer them one by one.
“I’ve got warm clothes at school.”
“Everyone pays by phone now. I won’t need change.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t drive fast.”
“Zhiwei’s family runs a supermarket. His mom’s bound to stuff his suitcase full of food. I’ll eat his.”
“I’ll take one case of yogurt. I don’t like plain milk.”
“…”
Xu Ye packed a few clothes and zipped the suitcase shut. He was about to start on his backpack when the phone on the desk began to ring.
He assumed it was Chen Qingqing, went over, and found it was a voice call from the bar’s boss.
“Hello, Boss.”
“Xu Ye, are you still in Jiangzhou?”
“I am. Why?”
“I’ve made up my mind to change trades — clothing, the way you said. I’m outside a factory in the industrial park now. Do you want to come and have a look?”
That took Xu Ye by surprise. When they had talked about it before New Year she had plainly been hesitating. How had she settled on it over the holiday?
“Send me the address,” he replied. “I’ll come now.”
“All right.”
Pei Youwei sent the address straight away. Xu Ye glanced at it, took his car keys and set off for the industrial park.
There were two reasons Pei Youwei had suddenly made up her mind. The first was that the landlord of the bar’s premises was about to put the rent up again. The second was that she had mentioned the idea over the New Year, and her brother, Pei Jianhua, happened to have contacts in that line.
The story was that the owner of a garment factory in the industrial park had lost a great deal of money gambling and now wanted to sell the factory cheap to clear his debts. The equipment was all in place, the price was very attractive, and if you took it over and ran it yourself, money would be easy enough to make.
Pei Youwei waited outside the factory gate in her trench coat for twenty minutes before a white Mazda came up the road.
Xu Ye put the window down and smiled. “Boss, what made you change your mind all of a sudden?”
“It’s a long story.”
She opened the door and got into the passenger seat, pointing into the factory yard. “Drive in. I’ll show you the place first, then I’ll tell you why I changed my mind.”
“All right.”
Xu Ye parked, and the two of them walked to the door together. He pushed open the two big iron doors, and inside were neat rows of electric sewing machines.
Pei Youwei had been several times already, and went straight into it. “The factory isn’t big — two floors. Sewing workshop on the first floor, cutting tables and offices on the second. It used to do online orders, meaning clothes sold on Taobao, and the business was actually doing all right. But the owner lost over two million gambling last year, and he wants to transfer the factory to pay the debts off. My brother’s had someone ask around. The price is fair.”
“Not bad. The equipment’s all here, and you could call the original workers back to carry on. That would save a great deal of trouble.”
“Do we do Taobao as well?” Pei Youwei asked.
“Mm. Online shopping is where things are going, and the next couple of years are the peak of it. We get the brand known first, then think about anything else.”
“But I don’t understand the first thing about Taobao.”
“That’s fine. You hire someone who does. It isn’t really difficult — it comes down to marketing. And if we’re doing lingerie, that brings its own traffic with it, so there’s something in this.”
“You said last time that if I changed trades you’d invest. Was that a joke, or did you mean it?”
“I meant it. Say you put in a million; I’ll put in five hundred thousand.”
Pei Youwei had been quite unsure of herself, but seeing how confident Xu Ye was steadied her a little.
She smiled. “If that’s how you’re putting it, I’ll have my brother go and talk price with the owner tomorrow. If it comes off, I’ll probably be coming to you a lot after that.”
“No problem. I’m always around.”
“When do you go back to school?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“That soon?”
“I have to get back early to see to company business.”
“All right, then.” Pei Youwei had made up her mind. “We’ll leave it there for now. I’ll let you know on WeChat as things move.”
“Boss, have you thought about what our company — or the brand — is going to be called?”
Pei Youwei locked the doors and walked back toward the car alongside him. “Not yet. Have you got any suggestions?”
Xu Ye thought about it and smiled. “How about Youwei?”
“No. Using my own name as the brand name is far too embarrassing.”
“I meant the you of ‘entice.’ It sits nicely next to lingerie.” [TL: her given name 幼薇 is Yòuwēi; Xu Ye’s proposed brand is 诱薇 — identical in sound, with 诱, “to entice,” in place of 幼, “young.”]
“Ah. That’s still a bit embarrassing. We’ll see when we get there… Is this car new?”
“Mm.”
“It looks as though I really will have to start calling you Boss.”
“Now you’re taking advantage of me.”
“I’m taking advantage of you?”
“I call you laobanniang, you call me laoban. What is that if not taking advantage?” [TL: 老板娘 is both “female proprietor” and, literally, “the boss’s wife.” If she is the laobanniang and he is the laoban, the pairing makes her the boss’s wife.]
Pei Youwei took a second to catch it, then pushed him aside, unable to keep from laughing. “Get lost, get lost, get lost. Going by age I could be your auntie.”
“Ha. I’ll be off, then.”
“Mm.” She waved and smiled. “Drive slowly. Be careful.”
Once Xu Ye had driven off, Pei Youwei got into her own BMW 5 Series and rang her brother.
“Brother~”
“What is it?”
“That garment factory — will you go and talk to the owner for me?”
“You’ve decided?”
“Mm.”
“Youwei, whatever you decide, your brother will always back you. But I still want to ask you one thing. Have you really still not let go of him? I’ve got a friend about your age, graduated from a good university—”
“Brother!”
“All right. Pretend I didn’t ask. Leave the factory to me — the owner is desperate to be rid of it. I’ll have it agreed before the Lantern Festival.”
“That’s that, then.”
(End of Chapter 197)