You Must Be Good 56p2

Chapter 56 p2

That night, Chu Xinrou also joined in. Looking at the full basket of finished products, Qiao Xiaoxiao let out a sigh of relief. At the very least, she could deliver the October goods. Next, she could focus on preparing for Double 11.

The Double 11 at that time was not like now, where you had to collect coupons everywhere, group buy, and play word games. It was a real discount with real effort.

Qiao Xiaoxiao was determined to go all out. The new high-end model with gold accessories she had been thinking about had already been tested in early September, and the response was very good. This was something she had not expected. It turned out that there were so many “rich people” in the student body.

On the way home, Chu Xinrou and Qiao Xiaoxiao held hands, chatting as they walked.

“Xiaoxiao, your sales are getting higher and higher. You need to change your thinking and approach.”

Money, although good, should not be a trap.

Qiao Xiaoxiao nodded. “I know, Jiejie. I’m already looking.”

She needed to find someone reliable.

Before, she had called Auntie Wang Ying. After Wang Ying received her call, she was particularly happy. “Xiaoxiao, I was just thinking of you, and you called. Auntie wants to thank you. Before, you told me to let my daughter and your senior sister do online education. They really did it, and business is so good. I’ve already come over to help.”

Qiao Xiaoxiao chatted with Wang Ying for a while, genuinely happy for her. Wang Ying still knew her well. “Why do you sound so tired? If you need any help, you can tell Auntie.”

Qiao Xiaoxiao smiled. “It’s nothing, Auntie. I just called to chat with you.”

In the end, Xiaoxiao finally found a suitable person.

The next day, Xiaoxiao was riding a shared bike to the train station to pick up Wang Ning. She saw her from a distance, and Wang Ning waved her hand like a banana fan. She was extremely happy. “Amazing, Xiaoxiao. You’ve become a big boss. I’m here to work for you!”

She and Sister Ning had been friends since childhood.

Qiao Xiaoxiao felt at ease using her. Most importantly, Sister Ning was a few years older than them and was full-time. She had worked in Yiwu for two years and had no lack of experience. After half a week of learning, she could basically start with the simple things. She was extremely diligent. Every day, when everyone arrived, she had already made breakfast and cleaned the room. When everyone went home at night, she would turn off the lights one by one, sort out the goods, and even help with customer service when the customer service was not there, which made Qiao Xiaoxiao’s life much easier.

Wang Ning was now happy every day. The shop’s business was good, and Xiaoxiao trusted her. Some important gold accessories that needed to be discussed with the factory were all handled by her. Not only did she have a salary, but she also had a commission. Qiao Xiaoxiao had even thought about it yesterday. “Sister Ning, you haven’t had social security all these years? How can that be?”

She had already started to research social security.

The only troublesome thing was that her family had started to call her one after another, urging her to go back and get married. For this, she and Xiaoxiao had cried several times. “I… the boyfriend I have over there, we’ve been through thick and thin… how can I leave him and go back to the village to marry someone I don’t love? But they always use my grandmother’s health to talk about it. I…”

Qiao Xiaoxiao knew Wang Ning’s situation best. Her parents had been working away from home all year round, taking their precious son with them and spoiling him, but leaving Wang Ning to be raised by her grandmother. Now they were in a hurry to get her married, for no other reason than to use their daughter’s dowry to help their son buy a house.

“Jie, let’s work hard. We’ll eventually have the confidence to face all this.”

Qiao Xiaoxiao would comfort her from time to time. She was concerned about Wang Ning, but she didn’t have the energy. The National High School Track and Field Competition was next week, and her focus was now on training.

Moving forward in a straight line like this, Qiao Xiaoxiao still had spare energy. When she was walking with Chu Xinrou every day, she would tell her about her training progress for the day. Seeing the smile on her face, her sister was also much more at ease.

Chu Xinrou had also been busy recently. She said that Fengyi had some problems under high pressure and she had to go back to see her. Before she left, she reminded Xiaoxiao worriedly, “I’ll be back in half a month at most. If there’s anything urgent, you can talk to Feitang first and call me.”

Qiao Xiaoxiao smiled and nodded. “Jiejie, don’t worry.”

Chu Xinrou was always worried about her, as if in her heart, she would always be that little child.

The more it was like this, the more Qiao Xiaoxiao longed for success, and the more she wanted to let Chu Xinrou see “herself” as soon as possible.

On the eve of the competition, all the employees of “Qingxin” held a “sprint” for Double 11 morale-boosting meeting.

No one had expected that the shop’s current bestseller was the newly launched high-end bracelet—”Mei You Bu Xing” (Can’t do without you).

The lower end of the bracelet was adorned with a few exquisite golden plum blossoms, each petal hand-carved, with a delicate luster in the light. What was even more wonderful was that the stamens of the plum blossoms were also inlaid with fine rubies. From a distance, it looked like red plums in the snow, both elegant and lively. Orders came in like snowflakes.

The factory that had helped to customize the jewelry before, although they had signed a contract, had broken it. They would rather pay the penalty than raise the price on the spot. They insisted on adding money.

In the end, everyone decided that even if it was more troublesome, they would not let her get away with this bad habit. They asked Wang Ning to go to Yiwu and talk to her old boss.

After all, Wang Ning had accumulated considerable work experience in the local area. In addition, her boyfriend’s connections in the industry made everything go smoothly. She would report the negotiation progress to Xiaoxiao on time every day, communicating clearly about everything from raw material procurement to processing technology. The new cooperative factory did have a clear advantage in terms of contract terms. Both the unit cost and the profit-sharing ratio were about 8% more favorable than the previous supplier.

But the problem was the minimum order quantity. Xiaoxiao looked at the draft contract Wang Ning had sent back, her brows unconsciously furrowing. The minimum order quantity required by this factory was three times the previous one, and they also needed a 30% advance payment as a deposit. What was more troublesome was that their production cycle was as long as 25 days, which meant that a large amount of funds had to be tied up in inventory in advance. This was undoubtedly a considerable challenge for a small studio with already tight cash flow.

“The quality is indeed impeccable,” Xiaoxiao said to Wang Ning in the video. “But this capital occupation ratio, we need to recalculate the ROI. Especially now that the Mei You Bu Xing series is selling so well, if we stock up too much, what if the market trend changes…”

She paused and quickly calculated a few key numbers in her notebook. “How about this, you ask them if they can accept a tiered pricing? We’ll go with their minimum order quantity for the first batch, but if we reorder within three months, can we get an additional 5% discount on subsequent orders?”

…

After several rounds of difficult negotiations, the contract was finally settled, and both sides made concessions. Xiaoxiao gritted her teeth and invested all her savings, transferring seventy thousand in payment to Wang Ning at once, leaving only thirty thousand for emergencies—this money had to be used for Nuonuo’s tuition and to maintain the basic operation of the shop.

Yuan Lu was full of ambition and was rubbing her hands, ready to go all out, when an accident happened unexpectedly.

The change occurred on the day of Qiao Xiaoxiao’s competition.

This National High School Track and Field Championship was highly anticipated. Not only were all the teachers and students of No. 3 High School looking forward to it, but even Coach Xue of the national team was present. The usually reserved Lu Chen had even made an exception and asked a familiar coach to help her say a few good words for Xiaoxiao in front of Coach Xue.

The atmosphere at the competition was hotter than imagined. Many young athletes, although still in school, already had their own fan clubs. Every time a star athlete appeared, the stands would erupt in deafening cheers. Colorful flags, banners, and glow sticks decorated the stands, and the enthusiastic atmosphere made every participant’s blood boil.

Qiao Xiaoxiao changed her clothes in the locker room. Just as she was about to lock her phone, she saw the screen light up. It was a message from Yuan Lu.

After all, she was still a child and would panic when she encountered problems.

She shouldn’t have sent a message to Qiao Xiaoxiao at this time, but she didn’t understand the importance of this competition, and Xiaoxiao had never told her.

—Big sister, I can’t contact Sister Wang Ning!!! The manufacturer called me and said that our money hasn’t been transferred to their account. Are we going to break the contract!!! Sister Ning’s phone has been off. We’ve called countless times. What should we do?!

In an instant, a bone-chilling cold shot from her heart to her limbs. Qiao Xiaoxiao could clearly feel the cold sweat trickling down her back, soaking her competition uniform. But the competition was imminent, and there was no room for hesitation. In a daze, she saw Lu Chen walk through the crowd and clap for her forcefully.

But at this moment, all the sounds seemed to be separated by a thick layer of fog. All she could hear was her own deafening heartbeat—thump, thump.

Xiaoxiao didn’t even remember how she had gotten to the starting line. Everything before her became blurry and distant, and only the cheers from the stands were particularly clear. Those waving arms, those excited faces, all turned into a colorful block of color, swaying at the edge of her vision. The lights on both sides of the track were so bright they hurt her eyes, and a rusty, bloody taste rose in her throat.

After the competition started, her rhythm was completely messed up. One after another, figures passed by her, and the wind they brought up scraped her cheeks. She bit her lower lip hard until she tasted blood, and sprinted forward with all her might.

The moment she crossed the finish line, Qiao Xiaoxiao let out a heart-wrenching shout. At the same time, a crisp crack came from her ankle. She fell heavily to her knees on the track, her knees hitting the plastic track with a dull thud. The intense pain instantly blurred her vision, and the cheers of the audience in her ears suddenly became incredibly distant.

At that moment, all the sweat and tears froze.

Qiao Xiaoxiao knelt on the track, her knees deeply embedded in the plastic particles.

This track and field, which had carried her countless mornings and evenings, this opportunity she had waited for with her entire youth, now turned into sharp ice prisms, piercing her heart inch by inch.

She knew.

She was finished.