Chapter 117: Floating Cups on Winding Waters, A Time for Gathering Vetch

"It’s actually this cheap!" Huang He was secretly shocked. He had originally prepared to acquire the clothing at a minimum price of around three yuan per piece, as his flagship store’s first batch of wholesale clothing had cost roughly five yuan each. He had assumed that three yuan was already an incredibly low price.

He never expected that upon actually arriving at the factory, he would discover the prices were even lower; the cheapest items cost only one yuan.

Well, Boss Huang seemed to have forgotten that the cost of one of his own leather wallets was barely over a yuan.

"If that’s the case, then the profit margin on the clothing blind boxes will be even higher than I imagined!" Boss Huang licked his lips and asked, "May I see the clothes?"

"Of course!" Qu Wei nodded. She personally opened a packing crate located in Area A and took out a few pieces of clothing.

The packaging was extremely crude—just a thin, transparent white plastic bag containing a lightweight garment.

A large crate, roughly one meter square, held eight smaller boxes, each containing at least a hundred pieces of clothing. This alone illustrated just how thin these garments were.

Boss Huang opened the package and touched the fabric; he knew immediately that it was of poor quality and very thin. When he spread it out, he saw it was a sleeveless top with a wide neckline, designed to be easily slipped on. It was no wonder the cost was only one yuan; with the Wenzhou merchants' ability to drive down costs, this was certainly achievable.

Some might find it surprising that a piece of clothing could cost only one yuan when buying anything in a store nowadays costs fifty or sixty yuan.

First of all, this was 2001. The wholesale price of an ordinary sleeveless top in the garment market was only about five yuan. More importantly, clothing is a product that easily accumulates as dead stock. For every item sold, two or three might go unsold, and the cost of that unsold inventory is ultimately passed on to the consumer. Add to that the fact that the most profitable part of the industry is the retailer, and the low factory price is not so strange.

Afterward, Huang He checked the two-yuan zone. He found the quality of the clothing there was much better. The styles had expanded from simple short shirts to over a dozen different types, divided into men’s and women’s wear, though the fabric remained the same.

In Area C, the variety of styles increased significantly. Among the backlogged inventory, there were at least a hundred different types of clothing, ranging from simple shirts to dresses, spring and autumn jackets, and so on. In short, any clothing item sold on the market for under 100 yuan could be found here.

Areas A, B, and C were piled high with the largest volume of clothing. In Areas D and E, the quantity was much smaller. The clothes in Area D even included men’s suits, which used the most substantial amount of material; these were true, hard costs. As for the other items, just by looking at them, one could tell they were worth at least a few hundred yuan.

"This is strange!" Seeing this, Boss Huang was somewhat surprised. "President Qu, to be honest, your products are excellent, the styles are comprehensive, and the prices are cheap. Your goods should be easy to move; how could you end up in such a predicament?"

Huang He was genuinely puzzled, as he truly felt the cost-performance ratio of these products was high and they shouldn't have ended up in this state.

"Well... the reasons are complicated... actually, you’ll understand if you look at the clothes in Area E," Qu Wei said, her face flushing slightly. Curiosity piqued, Huang He walked over to Area E, the section where the cost was 200 yuan per piece.

Unlike the crude packaging in the other areas, these clothes were all wrapped in boxes that resembled gift sets, complete with gold-stamping on the surface, making them look like works of art.

Huang He had dealt with many box manufacturers, so he knew that the production cost for such a box was not low; a single box likely cost around two yuan—enough to buy two pieces of clothing from the other zones.

When Qu Wei opened one of the boxes and pulled out three drawer-style internal compartments, Huang He raised his estimate for the packaging cost to around three yuan.

However, when the clothing inside was revealed, Boss Huang was truly dazzled. It was a set of Hanfu: a pale yellow gauze robe paired with a rouge-red skirt, featuring traditional Chinese patterns and intricate embroidery.

Additionally, at least twenty-three accessories were sewn onto the skirt.

In a smaller box inside, there was even a scented sachet and a round fan to complete the ensemble.

"Is this... Ming-style?" Huang He blurted out. In his previous life, he liked watching young women on Bilibili, especially those who wore Hanfu, so he was quite familiar with the styles and spoke without thinking.

"Ming-style? Meiji Restoration? This is not Japanese clothing!" Qu Wei said, slightly angry. What she hated most was people misidentifying her clothes as belonging to another country.

"No... you’ve misunderstood..." Huang He shook his head. The term "Ming-style" probably hadn't even been coined in 2001, as it emerged along with the popularity of Hanfu.

"By Ming-style, I mean the standard attire of the Ming Dynasty. This must be a recreation of traditional Chinese women's clothing from the Ming Dynasty, right?" Huang He explained.

"That's right, Mr. Huang! You actually recognized the origin of my Hanfu. My goodness, this is the first time in history! Aside from clothing experts and professors, you are the first person to recognize it!" Qu Wei’s expression was one of extreme surprise. It was clearly the feeling of meeting a kindred spirit.

"It really is beautiful. A Hanfu like this should sell for at least two or three thousand!" Boss Huang sighed. This set was no less impressive than the ones he had seen in the future of 2021; in some aspects, it was even superior, filled with the aesthetic fusion of design and tradition. On Taobao, such an item would start at at least two thousand.

"Two or three thousand? Even with a cost price of 200, no one buys it..." Qu Wei’s expression dimmed instantly, and she said with a wry smile, "To be honest, didn't you ask why our factory couldn't stay in business? It’s because of these Hanfu. I invested all the company’s capital into this batch. I never expected that not a single piece would sell. Even when I lowered the price to 200, it was the same. The one time someone finally bought one, they returned it, saying they were too embarrassed to wear it out and could only admire it at home."

"As you can see, that is why 'Liu Shang Qu Shui Cai Wei Shi' is finished."