Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 367 - 366: Delivered to the Door

Chapter 367: Chapter 366: Delivered to the Door

At the Educated Youth Corps, Wen Lan looked at Lin Nianhe’s sketch and frowned deeply as he pondered for a long time, asking, "Hezi, what’s this fancy thing you’ve created?"

Lin Nianhe was cracking hazelnuts, and replied vaguely, "Head Flower, isn’t it obvious?"

Wen Lan flipped the paper around several times, completely unable to figure out which side was up. She looked at Lin Nianhe, completely puzzled, and pulled on her braids, "You’re not short on money, why don’t you just buy a ready-made Head Flower from the Cooperative Society instead of going through all this trouble?"

Lin Nianhe straightened the paper and pointed at the design, "Don’t you think this looks better than the ones sold at the Cooperative Society?"

Sister Lan pursed her lips and studied it for a long time, then reluctantly nodded, "It is a bit better than those at the Cooperative Society."

"Can you make it?" Lin Nianhe didn’t bother explaining further and just asked directly.

Wen Lan squinted and looked at it for a while longer, "I can try, but you don’t even have a prototype, I’m not sure I can make it exactly like this."

"Alright, alright," Lin Nianhe nodded repeatedly, "I believe in Sister Lan’s craftsmanship!"

"Forget it, I don’t even believe in myself."

Head Flowers are quite different from clothing; they require delicate work. Wen Lan had never seen a finished product before nor had she previously made such trinkets—in fact, she had never even seen a finished Head Flower up close. Her family couldn’t afford it; the glass silk she used previously was only bought by her mother because she had to leave home to go to the countryside.

Besides these external reasons, the pattern drawn by Lin Nianhe was just a finished product design. What could be made of it entirely depended on Sister Lan’s execution.

Sister Lan... didn’t do well.

Wen Lan held the bunch of red yarn, sizing it up against Lin Nianhe’s braid repeatedly, her voice wavering, "Cough cough... Hezi, maybe you can just make do with it?"

Lin Nianhe replied, "If I were to make it myself... I wouldn’t be able to make do either!"

How should one describe this finished product?

It’s like—if both of them didn’t already know it was supposed to be a Head Flower, even under severe torture for forty-nine days, they wouldn’t admit it was a Head Flower.

Wen Lan was somewhat displeased herself; frowning, she picked up a pair of small scissors, planning to dismantle it and reassemble.

"Just wait, I just don’t believe it..."

Wang Shumei walked in with an enamel basin, which contained freshly washed pears.

She casually put down the basin, greeted, "You’ve been busy all day, have some pears... Eh? Xiao Lan, why did you turn a perfectly good red yarn into a cleaning rag?"

Wen Lan: "..."

Lin Nianhe snickered.

When Wen Lan was about ten, she started learning tailoring from her older sister, and she never imagined she would stumble over a small Head Flower.

She held the scissors, her teeth chattering with frustration.

Wang Shumei sensibly stepped back, swallowed, and whispered, "Uh... I just remembered I need to mail a letter, you two carry on, I’ll leave first!"

Lin Nianhe cursed inwardly, "No loyalty," and also quietly moved toward the door, "Sister Lan, you keep working on it, I... I also have a letter to mail..."

"Sit down!"

Wen Lan glared.

Lin Nianhe obediently sat back down on the stool.

Wen Lan rolled her eyes at her and bitterly picked at the stitching. Her demeanor was less that of someone working and more like she was dismembering an enemy.

Lin Nianhe felt a chill run down his back and chuckled nervously as he suggested: "Sister Lan, why don’t you take a break? This task isn’t urgent, and it’s actually a job we’re finding for the textile factory. I could just give them the design and let them do it themselves."

Tailor Wen felt this was a challenge in her career, yet she believed she could handle it.

Lin Nianhe continued to babble for a while, but seeing Wen Lan still gritting her teeth and struggling with the Head Flower, he eventually stopped persuading and casually flipped open his notebook, continuing to sketch with his pencil.

These Head Flowers were the "benefits" he had promised Wong Xiao.

That day, the words he hadn’t finished were—

"Uncle Wong, actually, there is something else I need to report to you... Before our village school started, our Principal took some scrap fabric from them. I’ve looked at those fabrics, and not to mention the textile factories in Beijing or Shanghai, their quality is even far from the products of the provincial city textile factory."

Wong Xiaokou also found this troubling and, clutching his forehead, explained: "Our factory’s equipment was phased out by the provincial city textile factory. I do want to produce high-quality cloth, but it’s about not having the money to bring in new equipment!"

"I have a way that doesn’t require changing the equipment but could still allow Lan County Textile Factory’s products to be sold in the provincial city and even Beijing," Lin Nianhe said with a beaming smile.

Hearing that it wouldn’t cost money to change equipment, Wong Xiaokou immediately perked up and listened earnestly: "Tell me, I’m all ears." Saying that, he took out his work notebook, paying attention more intently than a student in a lecture.

But Lin Nianhe just slowly said two words: "Head Flower."

Wong Xiao earnestly wrote down the two words and waited a long time without hearing more, then asked her with eyes full of stars: "And then?"

"There’s no more," Lin Nianhe said. "Head Flowers don’t require high-quality fabric, so there’s no need to change the equipment. I can draw the design for the textile factory. As long as the products are well made, they will sell well in big cities. Although these little items seem low-priced, the profit is still considerable."

Wong Xiao pondered for a moment before hesitantly saying, "But no matter how attractive a Head Flower is, it’s still just a Head Flower. How many people would buy it?"

Lin Nianhe: "You don’t understand women."

"This, this..."

"Uncle Wong, do you trust me?"

"I must trust you!"

"Then let me try. It won’t require much investment anyway."

Wong Xiao bit his lip and pondered for a long time, finally nodding, "Okay!"

Producing Head Flowers was something Lin Nianhe had considered for a long time, inspired by a few girls in his class who envied Zheng Shan’s small head flowers tied into her braids.

Initially, he wanted to collaborate with the provincial city’s textile factory because their fabric patterns were indeed better. But from what he understood from Zheng Lirong, it seemed their factory wasn’t interested in these small items.

Imposing without making a sale wasn’t really business, and without resources to tap into, he had no choice but to help a "hometown enterprise" come into being.

Originally, Lin Nianhe planned to wait till the match factory situation stabilized and then find an opportunity to discuss this with Principal Wu, hoping his younger sister could bridge connections. But here Wong Xiao came offering an opportunity right to his doorstep...

Drawing the design for Head Flowers wasn’t difficult. His collection included information on nearly every profession and, with a touch of innovation added to the current mainstream aesthetics, it would be enough to outcompete existing Head Flowers.

"Hezi! What are you drawing now!"

Tailor Wen’s startled gasp brought Lin Nianhe back to reality.

He glanced at the drawing paper in his hands and then at Sister Lan, whose expression was on the verge of tears, feeling both guilty and awkward: "Another, another Head Flower..."

Wen Lan stared at him as if looking at a devil.