Lao Zhang's business had gotten busier and busier and his factory alone wasn't enough to keep up with the orders. He had subsequently outsourced them to three other factories and was still barely able to keep up.

He had invited Shu Yan over today to talk about increasing the production of the factory.

"When I started my business, I was very ambitious. Take Lao He for example, he only rented a small factory when he started but I rented two right away. Business was good back then so when the other place next to me was up for rent, I rented it too, but it had been left vacant this entire time. I planned to clean up the area and fill it with machines. 

Outsourcing is not a sustainable solution. Boss Shu, take a look at this place, it can hold 30 machines with no problem. The other place can hold up to 40. With 70 more machines, we won't have to outsource our work anymore." Lao Zhang showed Shu Yan two empty factory lots that had already been cleaned out. Apparently, he had been thinking about this for a while now.

Shu Yan was speechless. She wasn't an ambitious one herself. All she wanted to do was to make some money and buy a few sets of houses. Somehow all of her partners were ambitious ones.

"What happen last month was phenomenal as we were the only company churning them out. Now that we are seeing more and more fall sets on the market, our orders will begin to decrease." What Shu Yan meant was their investment would be too huge.

That was Ye Shuqin's thought as well. "I feel that Shu Yan is right. Let's just do one for now. We can add 30 machines first. If businesses are still strong next year, we will then open up the other one."

"One machine costs 600 yuan, 70 of them comes out to be 42,000 yuan. I feel that it's not that big of an investment." Lao Zhang was reluctant to give up on his idea.

Shu Yan thought it'd cost hundreds of thousands. In that case, Lao Zhang was correct in that the investment was not that huge. She was just about to go along with it when Ye Shuqin sneered and revealed what Lao Zhang did not share initially.

"You are right that sewing machines aren't expensive. But we will also need industrial size ironing machine, cutting beds, electric cutters, and steaming machines. All said and done they will cost upward of 200,000 yuan."

Shu Yan was not an expert in this area. The list of all sorts of machines baffled her. She looked up at Lao Zhang who had his head lowered.

"I think we should play it safe." Shu Yan suggested. "Or maybe you can look for second-hand machines? Those that are most new. They should be cheaper than brand-new ones, right?"

"I agree with Lao Zhang's idea of expanding this time before there is a factory that is going out of business and we plan to buy all of their equipment from them. We have went and taken a look at them, they were like new condition and they are willing to part with them with a 60% discount," said Ye Shuqin happily.

"That sounds great. I don't know much about this area so I will leave that up to the two of you," said Shu Yan with a smile.

"Well, we've asked you here because there is something else that we want to talk to you about. We are thinking that, since we will be expanding, would you like to become part owner?"

Shu Yan was surprised. She thought they wanted her out, not to invite her to join.

"No, that won't be necessary. As I have mentioned previously, my friend and I had started our own brand and we will be setting up our own factory as well. Over here is the hard work between you and your right. I barely contributed anything. I already feel bad enough just sitting around and collecting my share of the money." Shu Yan gave it a little thought and said, "Why don't we do this? Let's keep our partnership till the end of the year, then you can have the business all to yourself."

Since they have started working together, they had already produced close to 30,000 sets of clothes. Shu Yan's initial investment had been recovered a long time ago and everything else was pure profit right now.

Subtracting rent, utilities, wages, and other miscellaneous items, one set of clothes could bring in 4 yuan of profit. They have made close to 1.2 million yuan to date. It was still two more months till year end. As there had been more companies making the fall sets, their income had shrunk relatively speaking but they should still be looking at 700,000 ~ 800,000 yuan. By year end, Shu Yan could receive another 1 million yuan or so. That was not a small amount and Shu Yan was already quite happy with that.

"We can't do that. We have agreed on partnership and have signed a contract. We can't just split up the partnership right when the business is taking off," said Lao Zhang as he shook his head.

"There is nothing else that I can help with. We called it a partnership but other than the money for the materials at the beginning, I never put in anything else, nevermind about labors. It was all you and your wife's hard work. I think it's already more than fair to let me split the profit until the end of the year," said Shu Yan with the most sincerity.

Lao Zhang disagreed with her strongly and, finally, Ye Shuqin had to step up.

"Why don't we do this? No more splitting up talk, okay? Come next year, we will just give you shares of the factory."

"That..."

"Yes!" Lao Zhang clapped his hand before Shu Yan said anything. "We will just give you stock directly. You can stop trying to fight us now."

Shu Yan lost that battle and, after some further discussion, decided on 20% share of the factory.

When she was about to take off, Shu Yan gave it some thought and said, "Right now, we only have a thin style and one with padded velvet. I think we can put some more thought on other type of materials. We can three different levels of products based on the types of material. Then there's the style. There's no reason to be limited to just adult male and female. The kids' market is a big market as well. You can also consider the elderly market. It's all fall sets. Just make some samples. You have built-in customers already. You can just go and see if they are interested. That might be another way to go."

They showed her their gratitude and Shu Yan wanted to reciprocate by providing them with as much help as possible.

After things were settled over here, Shu Yan headed over to her company. She had a lot to take care of over there as well. She hasn't had a lot of time to go over there previously but she couldn't not show up ever.

"Oh, and I was just about to give you a call and here you are. We've signed the star couple." Hu Ruixue walked over and sat down on the couch next to Shu Yan. The secretary came inside with a cup of tea, placed it down gently in front of Shu Yan, and closed the door behind her on her way out.

"They agreed?" Shu Yan thought it'd take a bit more time for the negotiation.

"Yeah, $180,000 for the two of them, but it's 500,000 as far as the public is concerned." Hu Ruixue looked at Shu Yan's face. "How come you are getting darker and darker?"

"Announce it's 500,000 publicly?" Shu Yan stroked her face and said, "This is normal according to the doctor. It's scabbing right now. Once the scabs fall off, it will be fine."

Shu Yan worried about scars so she had stopped wearing the face make altogether. She worried that the mask would rub off the scabs and leaves a white mark. Then she'd be even worse off than before.

"Right. To make them seem more valuable. And that's beneficial to us as well. An unheard-of brand hired a star couple for $500,000 will be a lot of publicity for us as well." All they needed to do was to make a point of saying that and that would also bring up the value of their own products. What was not to like about that?

Shu Yan nodded. Just like the stars decades from now. They always announced a high amount to the public.

"When does the filming of the commercial begin?"

"We are working on it already. Probably a week from now. It'll be at least another month between filming to the commercial is actually played." Hu Ruixue was not happy with the progress. "Then there is the problem with the sales people. Chen Fei said the remodeling will take two more weeks. I have hired two sales people and want them to be trained up at your place first. Does that work for you?"

Shu Yan had recommended Chen Fei to be the designer when they were going to remodel their direct-sale storefront.

"Of course that will be fine. I am not going to turn down volunteer work. Have you found a store manager yet?" As a direct-sale retail shop, they'd for sure need a store manager. Shu Yan, as the president of the company, couldn't possibly be there to hold down the fort herself.

"I have a few candidates but haven't decided on one yet. They will be over in two day. You want to come and put in your two cents' worth?" said Hu Ruixue as she looked at Shu Yan.

"We'll see."

During the preparation stage of the company, there was a lot to get done but not overly business. As least Shu Yan didn't feel that there was a lot for her to do, so she went over to her own shop.

Ever since her talking to Zhang Huaxiu last time, Zhang Huaxiu had changed a lot. She would take care of minor stuff entirely on her own but would consult Shu Yan on other ones. She has a very good gauge on that now.

A customer came over to return some merchandises yesterday and Zhang Huaxiu handled it beautifully. Shu Yan felt that even though Zhang Huaxiu was not quite there yet but she could be a good store manager for her shop.

"How you doing? Tired?"

"No." Zhang Huaxiu shook her head and asked, "Boss Lady, is the shop across the street yours too?"

"Not all mine. I partnered up with a friend. What's up?" ask Shu Yan curiously.

Zhang Huaxiu hesitated for a little bit and said, "Well, the factory that my parents are working at is not doing too well and they might be let go soon. My old brother is the only one working right now and the pressure is high. My mom's idea is to have my sister-in-law open up a boutique on Fujian Street."

"That's not a bad idea. Fujian Street is right next to the university town. The few boutiques that they have over there only sell some very basic styles. I think a mid- to high-end shop that sell prettier and more fashionable clothes should be able to draw a lot of business." Shu Yan felt that opening up a shop there would at least be better than being a stay-at-home housewife.

"That's what I thought too but my sister-in-law worries that she won't make a profit and is still mulling over it. She had wanted to ask for some tips from you but she was shy because she's opening up the same kind of store as you," said Zhang Huaxiu half-jokingly.

"That is perfectly fine. One's on Fujian Street and one's on West City Nan Road. There's quite a bit of distance between the two. I think it's great that your sister-in-law will open her new shop. You are quite experienced now and you can help her out as well."

"Oh, I am not looking to leave here. I am quite happy where I am," Xiuxiu expressed herself quickly.

Shu Yan paused. "And I didn't say I'll let you go either. I just mean that if your sister-in-law has her own shop, you can help her out during your time off. I have spent so much time training you, I will cry if you leave now." Shu Yan, too, joked.

Zhang Huaxiu had truly learned a lot there, such as promotion planning, clothes matching. Once those two were done well, as long as the clothes were pretty and the pricing reasonable, business should not be an issue.

"Yeah, I'll help her out as much as I can during my time off." Zhang Huaxiu's little heart almost skipped a beat. She worried that Shu Yan would spot something.

She had such a guilty conscience because her mother had a talk with her last night. Something about she has the experiences and it was better to be her own boss than working for someone else. She had turned her mother down at the time.

Shu Yan was the one who trained her up and had always been nice to her. She couldn't just take off right after she had learned the ropes. Never mind about anything else, she'd feel very guilty about it.

This was, after all, her sister-in-law that they were talking about, not even her own siblings. Zhang Huaxiu felt that it was best that they didn't partner up. It would be fine to help her out from time to time. If they really worked together and had some sort of conflicts, it'd put her parents in a very bad spot.

Besides, she was making very good money right now. There was no guarantee that she'd make more working in a shop on Fujian Street.

"Okay. You can figure that out. There's something else that I want to talk to you about."