Li Ruizhi went to Shen's house to meet his future father-in-law and mother-in-law.
Li Rong didn't go, she was busy turning the design draft into a finished product.
I also have to be busy recruiting tailors and embroiderers.
In the past two years, I started making private arrangements for powerful ladies, and now I have saved a lot of money, but if I want to make more money, I still can't rely on myself alone.
All along, she has been doing the entire process from design drafting to garment making by herself, resulting in a very limited number of orders.
After recruiting new employees, Li Rong can just produce the design drawings and let the tailoring staff be responsible for the subsequent production of garments.
Because I wasn't ready to set up a company yet, and I was still in school at the time, the recruitment of new people has been postponed until now.
Before publishing the competition draft, Li Rong found advertising companies and newspapers to publish recruitment information.
So far, she has interviewed no less than twenty people looking for jobs.
Most of them are former employees of state-owned garment factories, and they are all women in their thirties and forties.
The skill of using a sewing machine is not bad, after all, there are many people who have stayed in the factory for more than ten or twenty years.
Not many people can catch Li Rong's eyes.
Some of them looked shrewd and looked down upon Li Rong's "workshop".
Yes, that's right.
It is a "small workshop".
They thought that they used to work in a garment factory, which was a state-owned enterprise. They had to work on time and were encouraged during holidays, which meant that they did not work until retirement, otherwise they would still have pensions.
But these people are not good at their craftsmanship, yet they actually show off that they have worked in a garment factory for more than ten or twenty years.
My skills on a sewing machine are terrible.
Li Rong finally understood why these people did not survive until retirement.
Nowadays, private garment factories are emerging, and those owners are willing to spend money to import high-end machines and use advanced printing and dyeing technology to produce large quantities of ready-made clothes at low prices.
The state-owned enterprises are gradually declining, but they are not going bankrupt. Most of the employees who have left state-owned garment factories have been laid off.
I think these people were laid off, and they still despised Li Rong's "small workshop" when they came out. They kept saying it was a state-owned garment factory, and they were very condescending.
If Li Rong were to say that these people have high ambitions and low abilities, they can't see clearly the current situation when they come out. Not to mention that her "small workshop" doesn't want them, even if they go to private garment factories, they won't be accepted.
Li Rong kept smiling and sent the person away.
Zhao's mother came in to heat water for Li Rong: "You don't like any of them?"
Li Rong took a sip of tea, sighed, and said helplessly: "No, it's not possible. You have too high standards to look down on me."
Mother Zhao felt worried for Li Rong: "What can we do?"
"There's no rush. I haven't started to receive a large number of orders now. I'm busy myself, but I need to be more urgent about finding an embroiderer."
The top priority is to find a suitable embroiderer to help Li Rong complete the entries.
"Xiu Niang?" Mother Zhao was stunned, "I seem to know one."
Li Rong was a little surprised: "Really? Where is it?"
"It's in the alley next door. You don't know. I often chat with the old ladies at the entrance of the alley. I know one. She said that she used to be an embroiderer at a famous embroidery shop in Beijing. She seemed to have worked as a lady from a wealthy family.
Where's the teacher?" Mother Zhao lowered her voice and gestured, "She also has her little feet bound, which are so big, and she embroidered all the flowers on her clothes herself."
Li Rong was overjoyed. If what that person said was true, that would be great.
She said: "Which family is it? Mom, can you help me ask her if she wants to find a job?"
"Okay, just wait," Zhao's mother, who was fine at the moment, said, "I'll go ask you."
Li Rong looked at the two tailors who had just come to find work, but they still didn't work. Not long after sending them away, Zhao's mother came back.
Behind Zhao's mother was a little old lady who was walking very neatly. Li Rong remembered what Zhao's mother said about bound feet and subconsciously glanced at the other woman's feet.
The little black cloth shoes I'm wearing are really small.
Li Rong poured her a glass of water, asked her to sit down, and smiled: "The old lady is in good health."
"Everything is fine," the old lady, who was blind and deaf, took the water and looked at Mother Zhao at a loss.
The old lady looked quite nervous. Li Rong smiled softly: "What should I call you? How old are you?"
"My surname is Mo. They all call me Granny Mo. I'm only two years old and sixty years old." Granny Mo fell silent again after speaking, as if she didn't know what to say after replying to Li Rong's words.
Fifty-eight, according to the current average age, is already considered an elderly group.
Li Rong was a little worried that the other party could not even pass the thread through the eye of the needle, let alone embroider.
"I heard from my mother that you used to be an embroiderer at a famous embroidery shop?"
Grandma Mo's face changed: "Yes, when New China was founded, our embroidery shop was very famous, and some people asked me to teach their daughters to embroider."
"Then can you still embroider?"
Grandma Mo didn't answer but asked: "If I embroider something for you, will you sue me?"
Li Rong was stunned for a moment: "Don't worry, it won't happen."
Seeing Granny Mo's relieved look, she guessed that the other party had been harmed by someone. Sure enough, before she could ask, the other party said:
"Oh, our embroidery shop will be gone later, and some policy will be implemented. We can't take on private work ourselves, but some people know that I am good at my craftsmanship, and many people come to me. I don't take their money, so I just charge some eggs, rice and noodles.
Later, someone reported me and said that I was not doing good things and was doing business with others."
Granny Mo rubbed her eyes: "Later, I was arrested and paraded through the streets. When I came back, I never dared to take on private work again."
This is an old man who has been harmed by the policies of the past.
When Zhao's mother heard what happened to Grandma Mo, her eyes turned red with distress: "Old sisters, we don't want to think about the past. Let's look forward to the future."
Li Rong pursed her lips and smiled reassuringly: "Don't worry, our policy is open now, let alone taking on private work. You just want to open another embroidery shop, and our country also strongly supports it."
"It's true." Granny Mo paused, "How can I open an embroidery shop if I'm an old man? I heard Fang Hong say that you want an embroiderer here. Ask me if I'm willing to do it. I'll see if you can do it.
If you want me, I will do it."
Grandma Mo is fifty-eight, and she is not even wanted as a street sweeper outside.
If Li Rong is willing to take her, she can earn some money to supplement the family income.
"The embroidery lady wants it, but can you still hold it and move the needle?" Li Rong smiled, "I didn't mean to offend you."
Grandma Mo: "If you can embroider, I will embroider it for you now. Do you have a needle?"
She was afraid that Li Rong would not want her because she was old and would speak a little hastily.
Li Rong went to get some needle and thread, as well as a scrap piece of cotton cloth.
Grandma Mo touched the edge of the cloth and felt a little distressed: "This cloth is really good. Is there any worse cloth? What a waste."
Li Rong used to do private customization, and most of the clothing materials were of good quality, with almost no defects.
She smiled and said, "Is this bad? They are all unnecessary scraps of fabric anyway. You can embroider them as you like."