Xu Ye didn’t go out again that weekend. In the morning he tricked Chen Qingqing and the others into coming over to the hotel for a few rounds of Fight the Landlord, and once they had worn themselves out the four girls sprawled across his bed and took it over completely. After they checked out at midday the whole group had rice bowls somewhere nearby, and Xu Ye drove back to school at half past one.
There was still nobody at all in the dorm. Li Tongwen was at the fruit shop, Yang Fei had gone to the office, and Zhang Xinzhou had gone to see Yan Qing. Once he was back, Xu Ye shut the door and started a video call with Pei Youwei.
Xu Ye had taken a stake in the factory too.
Like Pei Youwei, he wanted the store to sell better and better — ideally to build Youwei into the top brand in the lingerie trade.
Pei Youwei had not long been up, and was eating breakfast alone at home.
She looked rather worn out, her hair loose and untidy over her shoulders. Once the call connected she found a stand and propped the phone up beside her.
One long leg was up on the chair. Spooning up oatmeal as she talked, she said, “I was working too late yesterday. I’m still at home.”
Xu Ye laughed. “Boss, your health is the capital of the revolution.”
Pei Youwei laughed too. “I was too excited last night. I couldn’t get to sleep for ages after I got home, and in the end I had a drink before I could.”
Xu Ye: “That means you need a man.”
Pei Youwei shot him a look and swore at him irritably. “Get lost. Talk about business. Sales are up now — what’s the next step?”
Xu Ye: “Strike while the iron’s hot. New products.”
Pei Youwei stopped what she was doing and looked at Xu Ye on the screen. She nodded. “That’s what I was thinking too.”
Xu Ye: “Leave the lingerie side alone for now — I think the pieces we’ve got are about enough. Summer’s nearly here. How about we do a run of swimwear?”
Pei Youwei: “Swimwear?”
Xu Ye: “Right. I had a look last night. There are very few brands doing swimwear specifically, and most of what’s out there is budget. We could build a high-end swimwear brand, so that when people think swimwear they think of Youwei straight away.”
Xu Ye: “Unlike the lingerie, with swimwear we can use better fabric and build the quality up. There are only so many categories of women’s swimwear — bikinis, school-style, two-piece, one-piece… we won’t consider men’s or children’s, just women’s, since theirs is the strongest spending power. We’ll go by the usual arrangement: you design, I make the call. Let’s aim to have finished garments by the end of May.”
Xu Ye: “Boss, are you listening?”
Pei Youwei came back to herself in a hurry. “I’m listening. But… how do you know so much about this?”
Xu Ye: “Because we men understand women better than you women understand yourselves.”
Xu Ye: “Let me ask you something. Lingerie — do more men buy it, or more women?”
Pei Youwei: “Men.”
Pei Youwei: “Eighty percent of it is bought by men.”
Pei Youwei: “When I saw that figure I assumed the back end had miscounted.”
Xu Ye: “There you are. That tells you a great deal.”
Pei Youwei rolled her eyes. “All it tells me is that men are no good, the lot of them. Fine, I’m not getting into it with you. We’ll leave it there — find me some pictures for reference first, or I won’t have the first idea where to start.”
Xu Ye: “Fine.”
Xu Ye: “I’ll get my best friend to send me some links in a bit.”
…
April slipped past without anyone noticing.
When the ten days agreed for the fruit shop were up, Xu Ye took the sign down and turned the place over to Luo Wenbing, selling him all the shelving inside as well.
The day Luo Wenbing got the keys he brought painters in to redo the walls, and added two large display chillers. A week later the second Kangyuan Fruit Shop opened, and since Luo Wenbing had the fruit market to himself now, business really was quite good.
Several times when Xu Ye passed along the food street he saw Luo Wenbing with a smile all over his face.
As for Pei Youwei, the experience of the lingerie meant the swimwear project moved along quickly. She spent ten days producing three rounds of design proposals, and after Xu Ye came back with two sets of revisions they settled on drawings for eight swimsuits.
The eight fell into two styles: one sweet and cute, the other in the sultry older-woman line.
Each set came in several colors.
Xu Ye was satisfied enough, at any rate. He had already arranged with Chen Qingqing that she was going to teach him to swim this summer.
But learning to swim was only a pretext. What Xu Ye mainly wanted was to see Chen Qingqing in a swimsuit.
Time went quickly.
In mid-May, Xu Ye finally got the call from Jiang Wei’s father.
Realizing this might be the opportunity, he hurriedly had Yang Fei mute the computer, and answered with great seriousness.
Xu Ye: “Hello, Uncle Jiang.”
Jiang Chao was brief and to the point. “I’ll send you a location shortly. Six thirty tomorrow evening, come find me — I’m taking you to a private party.”
Xu Ye agreed readily. “Right. I’ll be there on time tomorrow evening.”
Jiang Chao laughed. “Aren’t you curious where I’m taking you?”
Xu Ye: “A little.”
Jiang Chao: “Have you heard of Lisheng Capital? Tomorrow is their boss Zhao Wenhua’s birthday. He and I are on personal terms. Normally I’d decline this sort of thing, but you mentioned last time that you wanted to meet some people in investment, so I decided to take you along tomorrow evening.”
Xu Ye: “Thank you, Uncle Jiang.”
The moment the call ended, Xu Ye said to Zhang Xinzhou, “Zhang Xinzhou, don’t you have a suit jacket?”
“I do. Why?”
“Lend it to me tomorrow. I’m going somewhere that pays attention to appearances.”
Zhang Xinzhou laughed. “That suit only cost me about a thousand. If you don’t want to lose face, you’d be better off buying your own.”
Xu Ye waved a hand. “No need for that. A thousand or so is plenty.”
That evening, after his shower, he had only just lain down on the bed.
Wang Yuxin, who hadn’t been in touch for a long time, suddenly sent him a video.
It had been recorded by her mother — Xu Ye’s aunt — and showed Wang Yuxin in a birthday hat, sitting in front of a cake making a wish.
It was only when he saw the video that Xu Ye realized it was his cousin Wang Yuxin’s birthday today.
Xu Ye’s birthday was in April and Wang Yuxin’s in May, one day apart by date. If Xu Ye had been at home, his aunt would certainly have brought Wang Yuxin over to celebrate together — more people made it livelier.
Xu Ye sent back quickly, “Happy birthday, little Yuxin~”
Wang Yuxin had already finished her cake by then. She listened to Xu Ye’s voice message twice, then asked him deliberately, “Xu Ye-gege, did you forget my birthday?”
Xu Ye admitted it. “I did forget. Your gege has been very busy.”
He added straight after, “I’ll send you a red packet. Buy yourself whatever you want.”
Wang Yuxin’s fingers flew over the screen. “I don’t want money.”
Wang Yuxin: “Xu Ye-gege, can I ask you something?”
Xu Ye: “Go on.”
Wang Yuxin: “Do you love me? I mean the family kind of love.”
Xu Ye replied without hesitating. “I do.”
Wang Yuxin followed it straight up. “If you had ten yuan, how much would you be willing to give me?”
Xu Ye: “Nine.”
Wang Yuxin went on. “And if you had ten million?”
Xu Ye: “Still nine. Because my love for you won’t change.”
Wang Yuxin: “/frantic/frantic/frantic (emoji)”
Xu Ye: “What is that little head of yours thinking about all day? I’m telling you, spend less time on that junk online.”
Wang Yuxin: “Cheapskate. I’m not talking to you. Hmph.”
And Wang Yuxin really did stop replying.
Xu Ye laughed and said to himself, “Your gege really does have ten million now. Did you honestly want me to hand you nine million, you little slip of a girl?”
(End of Chapter 237)