Chapter 568: Chapter 190: ’80s Drama Queen Forced to Become a Top Student (25)

The problem was, the prices really were cheap—so cheap that customers felt like they were getting a steal.

A crowd swarmed the stall, piquing the curiosity of passersby.

Sheng Leyun had trained all her partners, so while their stalls couldn’t quite match the frenzy of her own, they were still doing far better than any of the others.

Sheng Leyun ran her stall at night. During the day, when she wasn’t studying, she was picked up and taken to the commercial street by the city’s central department store to consult on the reopening of the Sun Clothing Mall.

The first time Sheng Leyun arrived, the mall’s owner came to meet her in person.

Before their meeting, however, Gong Zicheng had already done a thorough background check on the owner.

The owner’s surname was Bai. He was Bai Zhiyang, the illegitimate son of one of the first real estate tycoons.

Bai Zhiyang was handsome, tall, and smart. Because of this, he had been allowed to formally join the family and be acknowledged by his ancestors back in middle school.

But with the family matriarch and his half-siblings constantly suppressing him, his life was still incredibly difficult, despite being a favorite of his grandparents. Every step was a struggle.

At the age of eighteen, the matriarch drove him out of the house, even having his name removed from the Bai family’s official household registry.

It couldn’t be helped. After all, Mr. Bai had married into his wife’s family.

When it came to the family fortune, the matriarch naturally wouldn’t yield an inch.

The Sun Clothing Mall was something Bai Zhiyang had started out of sheer spite. He’d partnered with others and built it up from a simple street stall.

But being a man, his eye for fashion was clearly lacking. As a result, even in the incredibly lucrative apparel industry, his business remained lukewarm at best.

To make matters worse, another clothing store opened up right across the street. Its customer traffic was enough to make one burn with a jealousy as sharp and sour as drinking straight lemon juice.

Someone—he didn’t know who—suggested his mall could just imitate the one across the street.

After all, the clothes were all Mingxing-style, the kind seen on TV. It didn’t matter who sold them, right?

Who could turn down such predictably handsome profits?

Bai Zhiyang had nodded in agreement. And from that moment on, the Sun Clothing Mall began its years-long partnership with the Pingyuan Clothing Factory.

Due to the drop in clothing quality, flawed designs, and mediocre attitude of the sales staff, the mall didn’t have a very good reputation among its customers.

It was worth noting, however, that the clothing store across the street was run by the Du Family—the family Mr. Bai had married into—and was named the Dujia Clothing Store.

Sheng Leyun thought, ’Since Mrs. Du opened a store here, it must mean she’s set on competing directly with Bai Zhiyang.’

’Would a woman who swept her husband’s illegitimate son out of the house really just let him climb his way up from a pitiful nobody to a successful businessman?’

Sheng Leyun suspected Mrs. Du was biding her time, charging up a devastating move for years, only to be intercepted by Sheng Leyun herself before she could unleash it.

"I really didn’t expect Little Sheng to be such a beautiful and charming young woman," Bai Zhiyang said, looking at Sheng Leyun with a surprised sigh.

Sheng Leyun chuckled. "Of course. Clothes make the man, as they say. Even someone who isn’t conventionally attractive can look much more vibrant in the right outfit."

"I pay close attention to my appearance and have studied clothing and accessories extensively. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have dared to take on this whole project."

Without much more conversation, they went straight into the mall.

The mall was situated right next to the department store, a prime location that Bai Zhiyang had pulled a lot of strings with an acquaintance to secure.

If he hadn’t been so reluctant to give up such a large and well-located property, he probably would have abandoned the Sun Clothing Mall long ago.

The mall was two stories tall, and each floor was quite spacious.

Sheng Leyun did a full walkthrough of the entire space.

Bai Zhiyang and Manager Huang followed patiently behind her.

By the time they returned to the first-floor office, Sheng Leyun had already picked up a pen and paper and began rattling off her thoughts.

"First things first," she began. "Before we officially start revamping the mall, we need to address the plagiarism issue head-on, with both a clear stance and concrete actions."

"Just burning the clothes and pulling them from the shelves isn’t enough to make this go away. That’s like burying a time bomb for ourselves, and we have no idea when it might go off."

"Instead of living in constant fear of being hit so hard we can never recover, we should be proactive. Let’s be transparent about what happened, pay whatever fines are necessary, and compensate our customers."

"If we don’t have enough money, that’s fine. We can apply for an extension..."

Bai Zhiyang and Manager Huang exchanged a look. This was a massive undertaking. It would be tantamount to betting the entire farm.

"Normally, you can’t buy back your reputation with money. We have a rare opportunity here, so we can’t be stingy. You have to understand, once our reputation improves, our profit margins will be much, much larger. We can’t be penny wise and pound foolish!"

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