Chapter Sixty-Three: On the Right Track

After taking Zhang Luo for a short boat ride and just setting foot ashore, Li Erniu hurried over.

“Benefactor, we’re catching more and more fish—so much that there’s barely space left in the trench! When is Lin San coming back? We’re all waiting for him to take the catch.”

As the fishing crew grew more adept with the nets, and with the arrival of boats, the safety of fishing operations had soared. Lately, Li Erniu and his men had been hauling up massive nets full of sea fish, tons at a time, working with relentless enthusiasm.

The village ponds were overflowing, so they had to find a spot in Deepwater Bay, set up a net enclosure, and keep the fish alive in the sea. Li Erniu had come to Qin Zhen more than once about this.

“If all else fails, why don’t we organize our own crew and cart the fish to the city for sale?”

Qin Zhen had considered this too. Although Liu Quan had opened a store in the nearby county town, the ten thousand or so residents of that place couldn’t possibly consume all the fish from Deepwater Bay. By his calculations, sales in the county accounted for only a tenth of the village’s output.

That left over ninety percent of the fish at risk of going unsold.

This was also why, after dealing with Scar Bro, Qin Zhen had not rushed to claim the land at Golden Sands Beach. The fish surplus was simply too great to sell. Besides, he wanted the neighboring villagers to have a safe and free place to fish.

He had also sent someone to scout the road to Neihai City. After all, Lin San couldn’t handle everything—the village needed to forge its own trade route.

“I’ll think of a solution. Don’t worry,” Qin Zhen reassured them. “For now, stop fishing for a few days and focus on ways to preserve the fish longer and make them more marketable.”

Given the limited transport options of the era, with not even a donkey cart in the village and only handcarts for moving goods, things weren’t easy. The county town was just over a hundred li away, yet fish often arrived dead, let alone farther destinations. Fish bound for Wujiang or Neihai would be dead long before arrival.

Besides transportation, preservation was one of the most urgent problems to solve.

After leaving Zhang Luo at Deepwater Bay, Qin Zhen returned to the village.

Zhang Luo had become an excellent promotional point.

Following his example, many craftsmen had joined the village, becoming proud members of the community. The village guard was also welcoming fresh faces.

“Zhen, your new clothes are ready! Come and see them!” As soon as he entered the village, Li Han dashed over, grabbing Qin Zhen and dragging him toward the textile factory.

With Uncle Li’s skills steadily improving, the number of looms in the village had risen to two hundred. That meant, among the village’s six hundred women, one in three was a textile worker.

As their numbers swelled, the original facility could no longer accommodate everyone’s work and daily needs. So, under Qin Zhen’s leadership, with the old village chief overseeing and the reclamation team executing, the textile factory’s expansion was in full swing.

Qin Zhen planned to reclaim the wasteland west of the village, near the cliffs, erect earthen walls, and build a large textile factory capable of housing a thousand people.

The factory would be divided into work and living areas, equipped with a canteen, dormitories, a commercial street, a clinic, teahouses, and more—it was under construction.

In this era, land disputes didn’t exist; any wasteland you reclaimed was yours.

Once completed, it would expand the village by five acres and become a landmark in the region for hundreds of li around Neihai County!

Qin Zhen also dreamed of modernizing the village like a city, but lacked manpower and funds; the ideas would have to wait.

At that moment, the textile factory was bustling. Everyone was marveling at the newly made clothes.

“My word, these are sharp-looking outfits!”

“They’re a bit revealing though—showing off the thighs like that! Step out in those and people will call you a flirt!”

“Indecent, indecent!”

Clothes, after all, ought to stand out.

To capture the market, they needed to offer what no ordinary tailor shop could.

So Qin Zhen proposed two designs for Liu Juan and the textile workers to follow.

One was casual, loose everyday wear suitable for both men and women, aimed at common folk at an affordable price.

The other was the cheongsam, targeting the women of wealthy households.

When Qin Zhen arrived, the female workers were all blushing, chattering about the elegant cheongsams, too shy to try them on. Instead, everyone donned the plain, unremarkable everyday clothes.

“Zhen, isn’t this cheongsam a bit too revealing? Will anyone really buy it?” Liu Juan asked, embarrassed.

The fine brocade, perfectly tailored and hand-embroidered with colorful silk threads, looked to Qin Zhen like a work of art.

He was certain the wealthy ladies would be vying for them.

“Of course!”

The women’s conservatism was understandable.

Qin Zhen had considered this, deliberately shortening the slit to the calf and adding more fabric to the upper body, giving the cheongsam an overall dignified and luxurious appearance.

He was convinced that in high society circles, these would be in high demand.

“Juan, you’re so talented—this dress is exquisite!” The more Qin Zhen looked, the more he liked it. “Go on, try it on for me.”

“Ah?” Liu Juan blushed, head down, voice barely above a whisper, “There are so many people here… I’ll wear it for you tonight, all right?”

Qin Zhen was momentarily taken aback. Wasn’t it just a change of clothes? But seeing her shy demeanor, he nodded.

“By the way, can you design a trademark?”

“What’s a trademark?” Liu Juan asked curiously.

“It’s a mark, so that people immediately know these clothes come from our village.”

That night.

Qin Zhen had just finished soaking his feet and was thinking about whether to replace the furniture at home when he saw Liu Juan approaching, her face flushed.

The deep black cheongsam set off her delicate, graceful figure beautifully; her shy, gentle features radiated both tenderness and bashfulness, leaving Qin Zhen utterly captivated.

In the past, when times were hard, Liu Juan had been thin and sallow, her appearance plain. Now, with good food and plenty of fish, she had blossomed into a charming, graceful woman. Every movement carried an air of cultured elegance, her gently fluttering brows and hair making Qin Zhen’s heart race.

He finally understood why the cheongsam was considered a weapon of feminine allure!

Who wouldn’t be entranced?

“Sister-in-law, you’re beautiful.”

A woman adorns herself for the one she loves. Seeing Qin Zhen’s entranced gaze, Liu Juan’s heart melted with shy delight.

“I’m getting old…” she murmured, head bowed.

“Awooo!”