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

Led by Ye Wenxi, Zhou Qiwen entered the clothing store. As soon as he turned the screen, he saw Zhou Xuchen and Director Chen standing by the conference table.

"Oh? Little Zhou is here too?" He paused, a surprised smile appearing on his face.

"Deputy Commander Zhou." Zhou Xuchen nodded and took half a step forward to greet him.

Ye Wenxi chimed in from the side, "I invited Director Zhou here to consult him on some issues concerning the ownership and protection of intellectual property."

"Yes, that's right, you've come to the right person." Zhou Qiwen nodded, looking at Zhou Xuchen with a hint of approval in his tone, "If we're talking about who in our military region is knowledgeable and the most learned, it's definitely Little Zhou."

Zhou Xuchen smiled and waved his hand: "You flatter me. Comrade Ye chatted with me briefly when he ordered clothes, and mentioned this matter in passing, so I came over."

As they walked forward, they saw a screen standing in front of the door and a row of mannequin display racks.

The latest spring collection was on display one by one: a white fitted coat, a printed women's shirt, and a black spring men's suit jacket. Each piece of clothing was novel and unique, and each had its own distinct style under the overhead fluorescent lights.

"These are all your designs, right?" Zhou Qiwen stopped, pointed to a white coat, reached out and touched the fabric, gently rubbing it between his fingers. "Oh, this fabric is so soft."

"It was all done by the ladies at the garment company. The fabric is a new product from Guangming Textile Factory, which just came out this spring," Ye Wenxi explained with a smile.

"Not bad, not bad, it looks good and is comfortable. Comrade Xiao Ye, you've combined the craftsmanship of our military families with the best materials from outside." Zhou Qiwen nodded, but he only stayed at the door for two minutes before he stopped looking at the details and walked inside.

"This is our technicians' work area," Ye Wenxi pointed to the area where the sewing machines were clicking. "We also have some technicians who work from home. These people don't have sewing machines at home, so we provide them with the space and equipment."

She paused, then added, "For those who use their own sewing machines, we will provide a subsidy of ten yuan per month for two years."

Zhou Qiwen paused, turning back to look at her: "So, in two years working here, I could buy a sewing machine just from the equipment subsidy?"

"Yes. It's actually a transitional measure for technicians who can't afford one yet. Last month, one of our technicians, who earned sixty yuan a month and added a little more of her own money, bought one. Starting these days, she can take it home and use it." Ye Wenxi explained unhurriedly.

Zhou Qiwen nodded, his gaze lingering on the busy figures for a moment, his tone becoming more serious:

As they were talking, the technicians saw the people coming in and quickly stood up. Most of them had never seen Deputy Commander Zhou before, but when they saw the stars on his epaulets, they recognized him and stood there helplessly. Some instinctively tugged at their clothes, while others put down their scissors and then picked them up again.

"Please sit down, everyone. Don't let our arrival disturb your work." Zhou Qiwen gestured for them to sit down by pressing his hands together.

"Let's get back to work," Ye Wenxi said. The technicians then returned to their seats, and the sound of the sewing machines slowly resumed.

Ye Wenxi led Zhou Qiwen inside, and from the direction of the conference room came Li Yanyu's voice, who was answering questions with several technicians.

"Why do we specify eight to ten stitches per inch?" Li Yanyu's voice was not loud, but it was very clear.

"Too dense is labor-intensive, too sparse is not sturdy," someone replied.

"Yes. What about the seams of the sleeves?"

"We need to take an extra route; the stress is greater there."

Zhou Qiwen slowed his pace and turned slightly towards the conference room. Ye Wenxi didn't urge him, but followed behind, waiting.

He listened for a while, then turned to look at Ye Wenxi: "Is this also an employee of your garment company?"

"She's the most skilled master craftsman here, and also our training instructor." Ye Wenxi took half a step forward. "That quality standard and process document was written under her leadership."

"This is Battalion Commander Li's mother," Director Huang whispered in Zhou Qiwen's ear.

Zhou Qiwen then remembered that this must be the woman who wrote the thank-you letter before.

Zhou Qiwen followed her hand and looked at the bulletin board on the wall. A dozen or so white sheets of paper with black text were neatly pasted there, with eye-catching titles and clear entries.

He walked over, stood in front, and looked down line by line. From fabric warehousing to cutting, from sewing to ironing, from quality inspection to rework, every line was written clearly, even details like "eight to ten stitches per inch" were marked on it.

He looked at it carefully, and Ye Wenxi stood beside him, not saying a word or urging him, waiting for him to finish reading.

Several minutes passed before Zhou Qiwen finally looked away and turned to look at her: "Did you write all these standards and procedures yourselves?"

"We all wrote it together. Aunt Li and Sister Yunxia know more about sewing than I do, and we discuss management matters together." Ye Wenxi paused, then added, "Every rule and procedure is discussed and agreed upon before it is implemented."

Zhou Qiwen nodded, his gaze returning to the papers, especially the section on "Quality Standards and Inspection Procedures," which he looked at again and again.

"Hmm, not bad." He turned around and looked at Ye Wenxi. "Comrade Ye, how did you implement these standards in this document?"

Ye Wenxi stepped forward half a step and answered calmly:

"New employees undergo training before starting work, followed by an assessment. Only those who pass the assessment are allowed to work on the machines. Every step of the process is inspected regularly, and the finished products are checked again before leaving the warehouse. From the moment the materials come in to the moment the garments leave, every single piece is monitored."

She paused, then added:

"According to our most recent statistics, our finished product return rate is about 0.7%. This includes items that have been resized. So far, we haven't had any rework or returns due to quality issues."

"Oh?" Zhou Qiwen raised an eyebrow slightly and exchanged a glance with Director Huang.

Ye Wenxi seized the opportunity and steered the conversation in a deeper direction:

"Well, we have indeed received quite a few returns recently, all saying there are quality issues and requesting refunds."

"Oh? What happened?" Zhou Qiwen's voice deepened.

Ye Wenxi looked troubled and lowered her voice: "Actually, what was returned was not done by us."

Zhou Qiwen and Director Huang both frowned.

"The things are all in the back, how about... we go take a look together?"

"Okay, let's go." Zhou Qiwen pointed ahead.

Ye Wenxi stepped aside and led the group to a table at the back of the venue, where piles of recently returned packages were stacked.

Apart from a few items that had already been opened, most of them were still wrapped in kraft paper and tied tightly with hemp rope. Postage slips were attached to them, with "Wenxi Garment Company" listed as the recipient. Some of the sender addresses were blurry, while others were not written at all.

Zhou Qiwen walked to the table, picked up a bulging package, tore it open in a few quick movements, and pulled out a cotton-padded jacket. As soon as he touched it, his eyebrows furrowed.

The cotton-padded jacket felt light in my hand, the stitches were crooked and uneven, some places were dense and some were sparse. If I squeezed it, in some places the cotton inside was so thin that my fingers could see through it.

He put down his cotton-padded coat and picked up a white dress next to him. This time he looked it over, unsure of what to do, and turned to look at Ye Wenxi.

Ye Wenxi turned to Zhang Yunxia and said, "Sister Yunxia, ​​go and get our clothes for me."

Zhang Yunxia understood, quickly walked back to the shelf, and took out several genuine items, all of which were the same styles as the counterfeit goods on the table.

"Deputy Commander Zhou, take a look, this is our product." Zhang Yunxia handed over the genuine product.