Reborn in 08, Public Enemy of Competitors

"Please, you're only 20 years old, how come you sound so world-weary?"

"If you didn't know better, you'd think you'd lived several lifetimes."

Du Manqing turned her head to the side, her short hair sliding down to her ears, her almond-shaped eyes reflecting the delicate light of early summer.

"It's just a little bit of hardship."

Shen Mo smiled and said, "I heard you run an online store?"

Du Manqing nodded. "I opened a clothing store that specializes in women's wear."

"How are the sales?"

Shen Mo took a sip of lemonade.

"Not good. We only sell four or five items a month, and those are mostly from classmates."

Du Manqing awkwardly held the straw and stirred the contents of the cup.

Shen Mo asked, "The clothes you sell, are they wholesaled from Sijiqing Market?"

Du Manqing blinked. "How did you know? Have you ever been to my store?"

Shen Mo said, "Nine out of ten people who open online clothing stores in Hangzhou get their goods from Sijiqing Market."

"you're right."

"I only found out later that there are tons of clothes from Sijiqing on Taobao, and they don't sell at all."

Du Manqing poked the straw into the bottom of the cup, her cheeks puffing out slightly.

Shen Mo chuckled. "Since you bought me lemonade, how about I give you some advice?"

"Okay, go ahead and tell me!"

Du Manqing's eyes flickered slightly, her eyes crinkling with a smile.

Shen Mo glanced at the bright sun overhead. "Standing under the sun on such a hot day is a bit inconsiderate."

"Come to my studio, you can give me some ideas."

Du Manqing's eyes darted around, and she opened the umbrella.

"studio?!"

"Yes, it's on the 3rd floor of the student activity center, room 306."

"How much is the rent?"

"No rent required, it's provided free of charge by the school."

Du Manqing explained, "As long as you are a current student, you can submit a project application to the Admissions and Employment Guidance Office. If it passes the review, you can move into the entrepreneurship park, but you will have to bear the costs of water, electricity, and renovations yourself..."

"Hey, not bad."

Shen Mo raised an eyebrow. Free office space—why not make the most of this readily available resource!

He was mentally calculating things, but he remained outwardly calm and followed Du Manqing's steps forward.

………………

The two walked side by side under the shade of the plane trees, one male and one female, one on the left and one on the right, until they arrived at the third floor of the student activity center.

Above the door of room 306, there was a sign that read "Manman Wardrobe".

Du Manqing took out her key from her handbag and opened the door. The moment she did, a lavender scent wafted out.

Shen Mo looked around. The room was small, about thirty square meters, with two rows of clothes racks against the wall, displaying all kinds of women's clothing.

Dresses, shirts, and skirts, mostly in light colors such as off-white, light blue, and pale yellow, are neatly arranged.

A cutting table was placed by the window, with a sewing machine, overlock machine and other equipment nearby.

Several brightly colored hand-painted fashion illustrations are pasted in the center of the wall, surrounded by various fabric samples and newspaper clippings.

Although the entire wall is messy, it exudes a vibrant creative desire.

Shen Mo's gaze was quickly drawn to the floral dress on the mannequin, and he couldn't help but ask a question.

"Is this also from Sijiqing?"

"Yes, but I made a slight change."

Du Manqing stood to the side, twisting the hem of her clothes with her fingers.

"Change it?"

Shen Mo turned around.

"Yes, I think the original neckline was too high, so I lowered it a little bit."

Du Manqing took an identical one down from the shelf and pointed to the neckline, "So that's where it is. I changed it to this position."

"You have such skillful hands!"

Shen Mo examined the stitches; they were neatly laid out, with no skipped stitches or loose threads.

Du Manqing smiled sweetly, "Haha, thank you! But I'd rather hear your suggestions for the online store."

"You should know in your heart that getting goods from Sijiqing is not a viable option."

Shen Mo said seriously, "Clothing, especially women's clothing, is all about differentiation and personalization."

Du Manqing nodded: "So I plan to sell this batch of clothes cheaply and find a new source of goods."

"There are many OEM factories around Hangzhou, some of which even manufacture for big brands. They definitely have leftover stock, follow-up orders, and modified styles. If you're willing, you can go to each one and each factory one by one, and you're sure to find a source of high-quality goods at low prices..."

Shen Mo held up two fingers. "Of course, besides this path, there is another path."

"Is there a second way?"

Du Manqing listened intently, her eyelashes fluttering twice.

Shen Mo said, "With your skillful hands, why haven't you ever thought about creating your own brand?"

"My own brand?"

Du Manqing pointed to herself, her face full of confusion.

Do you know Vancl?

"Is it that shirt seller?"

"Yes, Lei Jun also made investments."

Shen Mo stood in front of the wall full of design drawings. "Vancl is a typical PPG model. It has no factories, no stores, operates with light assets, and relies on e-commerce to sell clothes. It can generate one or two hundred million yuan in sales every year."

"Wait a minute, I'll write it down."

Du Manqing picked up a pen and paper. "Say it again, what is PPG?"

"It's all about outsourcing production and logistics. All you need to do is invest your resources in design, operations, quality control, and marketing."

Shen Mo gave a concise explanation.

Du Manqing hesitated and asked, "But can I really create my own brand?"

"Why not!"

Shen Mo asked, "Chanel and Hermès are high-end and classy enough, right? Do they monopolize the global clothing market?"

"No." Du Manqing shook her head.

"Your Semir, Metersbonwe, and Qiaodun from Wenzhou are big enough, right? Do they have a market share of more than 5% nationwide?"

"No, not at all..."

Do you know why?

Shen Mo pointed to the design drawings on the wall, "Because the clothing brand is a highly personalized industry."

"Aside from school uniforms, school uniforms, and sportswear, basically no one wants to wear the exact same clothes as someone else."

"If there are 50 people in your class, and 2 of them wear Vancl, then no matter how good or cheap Vancl is, the third person is unlikely to wear it because they are afraid of wearing the same clothes as someone else. This is true for men's clothing, let alone women's clothing."

"Therefore, even the top clothing brands cannot occupy more than 5% of the global market share."

"There were tens of thousands of brands in the past hundred years, there are tens of thousands of brands now, and tens of thousands of brands will still be needed a hundred years from now. In the apparel industry, it is impossible for there to be only three or four brands left in the world; that would be against human nature."

"How do you know so much?"

Du Manqing rested the pen on her chin, seemingly lost in thought.

Shen Mo chuckled, "Of course I saw it online."

"Which website? I'll check it out too."

"The Internet".

"Isn't that obvious?"

Du Manqing rolled her eyes at his retort, but couldn't help laughing.

Shen Mo picked up a hand-drawn fashion illustration from the table. It depicted a light blue, fitted dress with a rather unique design.

"Your drawing is quite good. You can definitely start with the styles you're good at and work on small, quick-response drawings."

What is "small single-unit fast response"?

"Produce in small batches, sell on Taobao, and if it sells well, we'll reorder; if it doesn't sell well, we'll change the style."

"But……"

Du Manqing was tempted, but also somewhat hesitant.

"No buts, your online store is already in a slump, how much worse can it get?"

"Since you have design talent and ability, don't just focus on the products from OEM factories; that's a path that everyone can take."

"You are perfectly capable of forging your own path."

"Of course, the prerequisite is that you dare to take that step."

Shen Mo handed over the hand-drawn fashion illustration.

Du Manqing took it hesitantly, looking at his face half-illuminated by the sunlight, and felt as if something had gently bumped into her heart.

...............

The wind chimes hanging by the window tinkled and jingled.

"Alright, it's getting late, I need to get some food for those three bastards in my dorm."

Shen Mo casually took out his phone. "I'm leaving now. I won't disturb your work."

Du Manqing was startled. "Wait a minute, let me see you off."

"Look at my memory."

Shen Mo slapped his forehead, as if he had just remembered something, "I prepared a tutorial on opening a Taobao store before, which might be helpful to you."

Du Manqing pursed her lips: "Th...thank you."

"Don't mention it, consider it a thank you for buying me lemonade."

Shen Mo waved the Nokia in his hand. "If you don't understand anything, feel free to contact me via QQ."

Du Manqing hummed in agreement, waved, and watched Shen Mo's figure gradually disappear from sight before turning back to her dormitory.

As soon as she entered, she saw Huang Jiajia and Ye Xiao trying to persuade Liu Xin, "You can't skip meals just because of Shen Mo, can you?"

Liu Xin said, "It's not because he doesn't eat, I'm just on a diet."

Huang Jiajia sighed, "Manqing, you're back just in time. Help me persuade her."

Liu Xin clenched her fists. "Don't you think Shen Mo went too far?!"

Du Manqing was taken aback. "Oh, what's wrong with him now?"

"I kindly unblocked him and gave Shen Mo another chance, but I didn't expect him to be so ungrateful and dare to block me again!"

With tears in her eyes, Liu Xin said, "Even though I rejected him, it's really too much for him to just say he won't pursue me anymore. I gave him hope!"

Du Manqing frowned slightly. Normally, after being rejected multiple times, it's only natural to choose not to pursue the matter further.

But Liu Xin had just mentioned hope, so I followed up with another question.

"Have you already fallen for Shen Mo? Are you just waiting to see how he behaves, thinking you'll say yes if he persists?"

"How could that be? I admit I have some feelings for him, but it's not to that extent yet. He'd have to pursue me for a long time!"

Liu Xin immediately interrupted Du Manqing.

"How long exactly is 'a little longer'?"

Du Manqing's heart sank. Could it be that Shen Mo was right?

Liu Xin said, "I don't know, but he will definitely show me his utmost sincerity, and I will only consider it when I am absolutely smitten."

Du Manqing asked, "It's fine for you to let him keep going, but have you thought about what will happen if you meet someone you like even more in the future?"

"Of course I would choose to be with someone I like more."

"What about Shen Mo?"

"That just means we were destined to be apart, so you can't blame me."

Without thinking, Liu Xin blurted it out.

"Don't you think Shen Mo would be very pitiful if that day ever came?"

"He persisted for so long, only to see you with someone else!"

After hearing this, Du Manqing felt a chill run down her spine.

"What can I do? I can't just give up on the person I like and choose him just because he's persisted the longest, can I?"

Liu Xin shook her head. "This is unfair to me, and unfair to him in the future."

"But is this fair to Shen Mo? Isn't this just wasting his time?"

Du Manqing thought about her conversation with Shen Mo and suddenly felt a deep sense of empathy.

"Why would you waste his time? How can a man's time compare to a woman's youth?"

"Manqing, you're acting strange today. Why are you siding with Shen Mo?"

Liu Xin was very dissatisfied. "Are you my best friend or his best friend?"

"I--"

Just as Du Manqing was about to say, "I'm on the side of reason," Huang Jiajia quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

"Alright, alright, stop arguing. It's not worth it for a man."

"Liu Xin, go downstairs and eat first. It's not worth getting yourself hungry."

"Manqing, you should say less. You know she's in a bad mood."

Seeing her roommate wink at her, Du Manqing didn't want to argue and swallowed the words she was about to say.

There's no need to argue.

So what if you win the argument?

Liu Xin didn't think she had done anything wrong; she only felt that her best friend had betrayed her and was an enemy friend.

Back in my seat, I couldn't help but feel regret. I was so stupid. I really shouldn't have advised Shen Mo to reconcile with Liu Xin.