Rebirth in 1986: Unforgettable Regrets

Brilliant fireworks bloomed over Qianjin Village, drawing people out at the sound to watch. The excited chatter of children and adults guessing whose family was setting them off faintly carried through the air.

On New Year's Eve, while others stayed up to welcome the new year, Tang Mingli and Tang Yue were in her former room, doing accounts.

Wei Jiajia brought in food and hot water, and Tang Mingli pulled her to sit down.

Tang Mingli hadn't rested these past days. Thankfully, Wei Jiajia's morning sickness had lessened, otherwise, he might not have had the mindset to do accounts even on New Year's Eve.

Tang Mingli's accounting was meticulous, showing monthly payroll, fabric inventory, stock levels, and sales figures—so clear that even those unfamiliar with accounting could understand, though the sea of numbers could make one's head hurt.

Tang Yue flipped through the ledger as Tang Mingli spoke, "Xiao Yue, check the accounts again. I've calculated that, after setting aside money for next year's operations, you can take one thousand and I can take about two thousand four hundred. I borrowed money from the store for my wedding last time, and I'm returning it to you now."

Tang Mingli handed a separate ledger to her, "This is Mingyue Clothing Store's ledger."

"The factory has been operating for half a year and has already repaid the initial loan of one hundred thousand. So, the remaining money is not a lot," Tang Mingli spoke with delight and pride. He had been very excited when he made the last payment to the bank.

He had worried about repaying that one hundred thousand, but once the clothing factory really got going, he found that such a loan was not hard to pay back at all.

"Little uncle, you're not going to be satisfied with just this, are you?" Tang Yue teased with a smile. The factory's profits were quite good, and the accounts were very clear, especially since Tang Mingli would show her the ledgers every month, so she only needed to briefly look at the last month to understand.

"Little uncle, next year, Mingyue Clothing Factory will certainly advance a big step," Tang Yue said confidently. "Little uncle, the factory is still making spring clothes now, right?"

"Yes," Tang Mingli looked to Tang Yue, his face alight with excitement.

Wei Jiajia knew all this, but she couldn't help feeling envious when she saw Tang Yue discussing these matters firsthand. The confident glint in Tang Yue's eyes made her already striking face even more beautiful and captivating.

Even as a woman, Wei Jiajia had to admit that Tang Yue was truly attractive—those bright, shining eyes.

"After we start, we won't make spring clothes anymore and switch entirely to summer clothes," Tang Yue announced, causing ripples of surprise.

"Xiao Yue, there are at least four months until summer," Tang Mingli analyzed seriously. "If we make summer clothes for four months, with our current production rate, we could stock up a lot."

"Hmm," Tang Yue nodded, signaling for him to continue.

"Furthermore, during these few months, if we can't sell inventory, we won't have working capital. Even if we sell all the stock in the warehouse, it would only last just over a month, almost two, but then we'll have no money for materials or wages for the remaining two months," Tang Mingli laid out all his concerns.

"Xiao Yue, storing summer clothes for four months, Boss Song in Shenzhen won't be able to take that much stock, right?" Wei Jiajia, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.

She didn't ask Tang Mingli like she did, but rather directed the question at Tang Yue first, on how to sell these clothes.

"Little aunt really grew up in the city," Tang Yue grinned and cleared her throat, no longer keeping them in suspense. "Little uncle, in fact, I was considering making spring clothes for two months and then switching to summer clothes. That way, our factory wouldn't face financial constraints."

Tang Yue paused, then continued, "But little uncle, have you thought about it? If we always do things step by step, it will take three to five years for our factory to buy the current land, build new workshops, and expand production."

"Little uncle, what about the sales staff you hired last time? Did they leave?" Tang Yue suddenly asked, seemingly unrelated.

"Yes, they all thought the pay was too low," Tang Mingli said with annoyance, remembering this issue besides their steady buyer, Boss Song in Shenzhen, there weren't many other orders.

"So, what we lack the most now are orders."

"Nowadays, not many people around here have TVs, but that doesn't mean there aren't any in the city. Little aunt, there must be a lot of families with TVs in the city, right?" If she remembered correctly, her little aunt's family owned a television set.

"Yes," Wei Jiajia nodded, "the families of my school friends all have TVs."

"That's right."

"Little uncle, little aunt, the situation we are facing now is that we only have one main distributor in Shenzhen. If we had a few more, our factory's output wouldn't be enough."

"We can advertise on TV stations. That way, we wouldn't have to find buyers for clothes; buyers would come to us instead."

"Think about it, if we don't stock up a bit now, we won't be able to make so many clothes later."

Tang Yue spoke a string of words. After half a year of exploring, she knew clearly which designs sold well and which were too novel to move. So, even if they stockpiled now, as long as they knew what would sell in summer, the success rate would be high.

Once their advertising campaign hit success, the factory's reputation would be established, leading to endless orders. They would only need to focus on expanding the factory and ensuring the quality of their clothes.

"Xiao Yue, calculate how much money we need to stockpile clothes for four months, and also how much it will cost to advertise on TV," Tang Mingli was already calculating. After hearing Xiao Yue's ideas, he felt the plan was very feasible.

This was a gamble. If they won, the factory would advance to the next level. If they lost, they could always start over.

"Cough, little uncle, you're not going to ask little aunt's opinion?" Tang Yue's gaze landed on Wei Jiajia.

Before Tang Mingli could say anything, Wei Jiajia spoke up, "Mingli, over the past few years, I've saved twenty thousand yuan. My parents gave me ten thousand. I have thirty thousand yuan. You can use it all."

Wei Jiajia backed her position with action.

Tang Yue's smile deepened, and for some reason, she thought of Mo Siyu. If Mo Siyu knew she needed money, he would probably be as decisive as Wei Jiajia.