A whirlwind marriage with a high-ranking official: Lights out, don't force me to take the initi

Amidst the three people's playful banter, Ye Wenxi barely noticed the passage of time or the sweltering air.

Before I knew it, I looked up—

"Hey, we're here."

The three of them went upstairs to Liu Jianguo's office.

Liu Jianguo warmly poured them a few glasses of water: "Come on, come on, cool off first." He then turned on the electric fan, which was humming.

Ye Wenxi got down to business first.

Liu Jianguo went through the loan documents and approval materials once and found no problems.

Ye Wenxi and Liu Jianguo confirmed a few details in the design authorization documents, and there were no problems.

After finishing their business, Ye Wenxi finally spoke up: "Director Liu, about that authorization for Hong Kong City that you mentioned before... may I take a look?"

"Okay, okay." Liu Jianguo rummaged through the cabinet, pulled out a folder, and handed over a few design drafts.

Ye Wenxi took it and looked through it, and Ding Jiahe and Wang Yingxue also came closer.

The drawing shows several pieces of clothing.

The top piece features a collared shirt style on the upper body, which transitions into a straight dress at the waist. The color-blocked design combines the effect of a shirt with the feel of a dress, making it a complete piece.

This design is indeed very innovative for this era.

The clothing company does indeed have a similar design.

Ding Jiahe frowned when she saw this design, realizing that they could no longer make exclusive custom versions of this design.

Ye Wenxi continued flipping through the pages.

The last two are fine; they're both women's blouses, one a cool V-neck style and the other a round neck with a print.

She closed the folder, smiled, and asked casually, "Director Liu, is this company now officially operating in Harbin?"

She knew, of course, that it wouldn't happen that quickly; she was just deliberately trying to steer the conversation in the direction of the topic.

Liu Jianguo waved his hand: "Not yet, not that fast. For foreign investment like this, it normally requires at least negotiations, approvals, site selection, signing agreements, and company registration. The whole process takes at least half a year. We're still in the preliminary evaluation stage, and the specific details are still being discussed."

Ye Wenxi nodded, then casually asked, "So, do they plan to focus primarily on exports, or will they also do some domestic sales?"

Liu Jianguo glanced at her, hesitated for a moment, as if considering whether or not to speak.

This kind of information shouldn't be disclosed according to regulations, but Ye Wenxi is a pivotal figure in Harbin's garment industry and has the backing of the military region, so after thinking about it, he decided to speak up anyway:

"Currently, we've decided on two paths. One is to be a pure export-oriented OEM manufacturer, and the other is a joint venture with domestic partners, with a portion of the latter focusing on domestic sales. The percentage of domestic sales is still under negotiation and hasn't been finalized."

Ye Wenxi's fingers curled slightly on her knee.

They obtained crucial information – "They know how to do domestic sales."

As long as there is domestic sales, it will inevitably impact the design and branding of garment companies.

Liu Jianguo noticed her concern and added, "Don't worry, the policy regarding foreign investment will definitely protect local businesses. It's impossible for foreign companies to come in and suppress domestic manufacturers."

Upon hearing this, Ye Wenxi's eyes lit up, and he immediately pressed his advantage:

"Director Liu, may I ask a question? If my company and a foreign company have disagreements or even design overlaps regarding copyright or design licensing, how should this be handled?"

"Before, we were all acquaintances behind closed doors, so things were easy to discuss. Now that foreign capital is coming in, shouldn't we establish clear rules regarding copyright boundaries beforehand?"

"Otherwise, if things go wrong and we start arguing, it won't be good for either side's development, and it will also affect the market atmosphere."

Liu Jianguo was taken aback, then nodded: "You're right, this does need to be discussed in detail. There's a consensus within Harbin on your copyright, but the foreign investment side... it's a bit difficult to define."

If similar designs appear in the future, it's impossible to determine whether they are Hong Kong's own designs or plagiarisms of Yip Man-hei's designs without evidence. We need procedures and proof.

What if it's plagiarism?

If it's not plagiarism, but just a similar design, what should be done?

These all need to be regulated by clear terms and standards before foreign investment officially enters the country.

First to register, first to use, burden of proof, and final decision...

These rules cannot be ignored until something goes wrong.

Ye Wenxi did not intend to wait for the government and the Light Industry Bureau to take the lead in this matter.

She needs to take the initiative to guide the direction of rule-making and include the protection of the interests of original designers in the supplementary clauses of foreign investment cooperation in advance.

Ye Wenxi leaned forward slightly: "Director Liu, how about this? I'll think about it for a while. Let's try to establish rules to protect original mainland products before foreign investment officially lands, so that everyone will have guidelines to follow later."

Liu Jianguo pondered for a moment.

He knew Ye Wenxi somewhat; the man was quick-witted and unconventional.

Although he could roughly tell that Ye Wenxi was trying to protect his copyright, weren't mainland companies doing the same thing? They were all trying to protect their own assets.

If Ye Wenxi is willing to take the lead in thinking about this matter, it wouldn't be a bad thing.

He nodded: "Okay, feel free to come to me anytime if you have any ideas, we can discuss them together."

"Okay, I'll go back and think about it." Ye Wenxi said with a smile.

As Ye Wenxi walked out of Liu Jianguo's office, the gears in her mind began to turn automatically.

Ding Jiahe followed behind and couldn't help but ask, "What are you planning to do? These laws and regulations... seem quite troublesome, and you're going to take the lead in drafting them?"

"We're not qualified," Ye Wenxi said as he walked back with Ding Jiahe and Wang Yingxue. "Let's reserve the spot first."

How do I reserve a spot?

"We filed our entire design process with the military region's official seal and registered it with the Light Industry Bureau," Ye Wenxi said.

"Whoever registers first gets to reserve their spot. In the future, whether it's foreign investment or other factories in mainland China copying our designs, we'll have evidence."

"Does having evidence alone guarantee copyright protection?" Wang Yingxue didn't quite understand this place, but she felt it was more than that.

Ye Wenxi shook his head: "The matter of copyright protection needs to be viewed from two sides."

"Externally, the government absolutely protects local businesses; internally, the government and factories have a consensus on our copyrights."

"So, this thing is mainly for external protection."

Ye Wenxi took out a fan from her bag and said while fanning herself, "However, for some time afterward, we probably can't be too tight-lipped about our design copyrights."

Ding Jiahe and Wang Yingxue exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with confusion.

"How can we protect copyright without being too rigid?" Ding Jiahe frowned, finding this somewhat contradictory. "What do you mean?"

Ye Wenxi nodded: "I have some speculations."

Her speculation is actually an inevitable fact of historical development.

Ye Wenxi slowly explained to the two that now that the country has opened its doors, the industrial development of all sectors in the mainland market is about to enter a period of explosive growth.

The next six months to a year will be a transition period, which will be the last pure land for Wenxi Garment Company.

Once the 1980s began, various industries developed rapidly.

If Ye Wenxi's company wants to continue to receive support from the military region and the government, it needs to expand into the domestic market as well.

Otherwise, with a large influx of foreign investment and the government and consumers having seen the "good things" from outside, if Yeh Wen-hsi still clings to the copyright and refuses to let go, it will leave people with the impression of being closed-minded and selfish.

Next, the ready-to-wear company needs to launch a large number of new products and iterate rapidly to seize the initiative through speed.

Moreover, during this period, the rapid iteration of the design will produce old models. Yeh Wen-hsi plans to accelerate the amount and frequency of authorization, and use design to continuously exchange interests with the government and manufacturers.

In this way, while maintaining its leading position through rapid development, it can also use older models to support state-owned enterprises.

After listening, Ding Jiahe nodded in understanding: "I understand, reserve the spot first, then run fast."