Rebirth in 1986: Unforgettable Regrets

"Xiao Yue, what's happening?" Cai Wanwan was baffled, completely unaware of the reason behind Tang Yue's excitement.

Tang Yue happily said, "Sister Cai, I want to discuss a collaboration with you."

"Hmm?" Cai Wanwan curiously looked at Tang Yue, wondering how one could talk about a collaboration in terms of clothing.

"That's right." Tang Yue nodded affirmatively, urging Cai Wanwan to change back into her own clothes, and then waited outside. With this weather, wearing a short-sleeved dress was still quite cold.

Mingli Tang just came back from the outside and saw Tang Yue there. He said with a worried frown, "Xiao Yue, we do have female models, but finding one with a figure like Luo Juan's is difficult."

Luo Juan had a very full bust and an incredibly slim waist.

Therefore, finding someone with such a figure was extremely difficult.

"No worries, Uncle, I've found someone." Tang Yue excitedly said, "You'll never guess who it is."

Tang Yue spoke with a hint of secrecy.

Mingli Tang looked at Tang Yue with confusion and asked uncertainly, "Someone we know?"

It seemed that none of the people they knew had such a figure.

Mingli Tang thought about it but couldn't figure out who it could be. When Cai Wanwan came out in her changed clothes, Mingli Tang was also extremely shocked.

Indeed, Cai Wanwan often bought clothes from their store, and her figure was very similar to Luo Juan's.

"Sister Cai, it's like this. Our factory wants to shoot a commercial to show our clothes being worn on camera, and then it will be broadcast on TV." Tang Yue explained and emphasized, "In a short time, the whole country will be able to see Sister Cai."

"No, no," Cai Wanwan bashfully declined, "Everyone will see me, how embarrassing."

"Sister Cai, why would that be embarrassing? You look so good in our clothes. Once everyone sees how nice you look, they will naturally come to us to buy clothes." Tang Yue insisted, determined in her heart to persuade Cai Wanwan no matter what.

Mingli Tang had the same idea and joined in to persuade her, "Although I've not seen how you look in the outfits, I trust Xiao Yue's judgment. Besides, shooting the video won't take too much time; it will only be a few days."

"That's right, we plan for it to take three days. Sister Cai, rest assured, you won't be working for nothing. After these three days of shooting the commercial, you will receive a payment of US$500, and also, those sets of clothes you saw before, they are all yours." Tang Yue threw her sweet deal at Cai Wanwan.

Cai Wanwan thought for a moment and said, "I'll go back and discuss it with my family Jianguo."

"Okay," replied Tang Yue.

However, Mingli Tang said, "Why put off till tomorrow what you can do today? Tonight, let's have Brother Hu come over for dinner too. It's been a long time since we've all gathered together."

So that evening, Jianguo Hu and Cai Wanwan came to dinner as invited. Mingli Tang was determined to finalize the arrangement.

*

After the Tomb-Sweeping Festival, and coincidentally the weekend, on Friday, Mingli Tang along with Zhou Zhiming, Tang Yue, and six models began shooting the commercial.

The entire commercial lasted for one minute.

Each person had four sets of clothes to wear for the shoot, which was planned to take place in a fashionable, big city due to the number of people involved.

The three-day and two-night shoot involved not only video but also a multitude of photos. Since the shooting location was far away, Zhou Zhiming, along with Mingli Tang and Tang Yue, worked overtime to review the daytime shoot videos at night, looking for any imperfections or anything lacking.

Everyone invested a lot of confidence in this commercial, especially Mingli Tang who had staked everything on it. If no one bought their products, the surplus of clothes they had stockpiled would be disastrous.

Therefore, the content of the commercial was very important. In addition to the shoot, it was necessary to leave the name, phone number, and address of the clothing factory.

"Uncle, we must get a phone installed for our factory," Tang Yue insisted after reviewing the finished video footage, which seemed to have no major issues. She noticed that current advertisements for selling clothes were almost nonexistent.

Now leading the way, she believed it would surely capture people's attention.

"Mm," Mingli Tang replied, "I've already asked someone to work on it. Getting a telephone installed is particularly troublesome these days."

"Troublesome or not, we need to do it; otherwise, how will people find us?" Tang Yue argued, mulling over any details that might have been overlooked.

After returning to Wangjiang County, the video was fine—next was the voiceover.

She selected many songs, tried many times, and finally decided on one.

And then the tagline for the advertisement—Tang Yue took several days of deliberation to sift through the ones she had previously saved.

In the end, she chose a very simple and direct slogan.

Mingyue Clothing, meet a better you.

After everything for the advertisement was settled, the rest was left to Mingli Tang.

Tang Yue devoted herself wholeheartedly to studying. Although missing a day of school was not a big deal for her, she had lots of homework to catch up on. Furthermore, she wanted to test the waters with Xu Zhenzhen.

Thus, Tang Yue was busier than ever.

Half a month later, the factory's phone was installed, and the final cut of the commercial was paired with music and her last voiceover line. Compared to future standards, it may have seemed ordinary, but in the year 1988, it was something else.

She had great confidence in this commercial.

"Uncle, is there any problem? When does our advertisement contract start?" Tang Yue inquired.

Mingli Tang thought for a moment, it should start from May 1st and is currently set to end on August 1st.

"Hmm, Uncle, once the ad goes on air, we need to start preparing for the winter clothes," Tang Yue considered. Clothing is highly seasonal; once the advertisement is up, a few groups will work on summer clothes, and the rest must rush to produce winter clothes. With such a long prime period for the advertisement, they must take advantage of the remaining warmth from the ad, and while the factory is expanding, they must also think about winter clothes.

"But Xiao Yue, you're going to be a senior soon," Mingli Tang couldn't help saying. The summer would pass, and once school started again, Tang Yue would be a senior student.

How important it was to be a senior—he didn't have to ask anyone to know it very well. Thus, he worried if Tang Yue would truly be able to keep up with the busy schedule of producing winter clothes.

Tang Yue grinned and said, "That's why I'm only responsible for the design. I won't participate in the ad for the winter clothes."

Mingli Tang: ...

Can he take back what he just said?