I'm back in 1990

Chapter 148: The Blue Ocean of the Clothing Market

The contract signed with HSBC was a short-selling contract for the Nikkei index. The contract stipulated that when the Nikkei index fell to 17000 points, the bank would have to buy Nikkei index futures contracts on Huang Xiaochuan's behalf to fulfill the contract between him and HSBC. Conversely, HSBC had the right to forcibly liquidate the position when the loss approached 5%, at which point Huang Xiaochuan's two million margin would be wiped out.

After leaving HSBC, Huang Xiaochuan has become a nominal multi-millionaire, but for now, this wealth is replaced by a debt, as he owes the bank forty million!

However, once the Nikkei index falls to 17000 points, the drop will reach 27%. At that time, Huang Xiaochuan will be able to earn approximately HK$10.8 million. After deducting bank fees and adding the money in his original account, his account balance will then be over HK$13 million.

Furthermore, there is an additional clause that once the funds are deposited, HSBC must convert the money into US dollars at the exchange rate of that day, because the US dollar is expected to appreciate significantly starting next year, while the Hong Kong dollar and the Japanese yen are depreciating, so it is necessary to convert the money into US dollars as soon as possible.

在1991年100港币可以兑换66元rb，而100美元可以兑换520元rb。

Next year, 100 Hong Kong dollars will be exchanged for 72 Japanese yen, while 100 US dollars will be exchanged for 533 Japanese yen.

In other words, the US dollar will become increasingly stronger over the next decade or so.

Huang Xiaochuan's speculative move at HSBC was quite significant. At that time, no one in mainland China would do or dare to do such a thing, but Huang Xiaochuan did it anyway. This made Min Huifen very curious about this young man, because he was a mainlander, or what Hong Kong people commonly call a "Northerner"!

Min Huifen had seen many wealthy young people like him, but she had never seen a northerner like Huang Xiaochuan. Wasn't the mainland supposed to be quite closed off? How dare this young man short the Nikkei index? Their mainland stock market seems to have only recently opened for business? In terms of finance, they're still at a kindergarten level, aren't they?

Saturday, July 27, Hong Kong, with occasional showers.

Huang Xiaochuan has been in Hong Kong for more than ten days now, and he hasn't had a single day of rest during this time.

You need to discuss the final design with the fashion designer and select the first batch of clothing. Generally speaking, if you want to sell clothing for next spring, you need to finalize the clothing design version now, because it takes time to produce these clothes, and it also involves the decoration of the store, the arrangement of props, the training of store staff, and a whole host of other miscellaneous matters.

And the same goes for Cao Charlie. He's currently juggling multiple jobs and is as busy as a spinning top every day. Huang Xiaochuan always goes to him for anything.

The renovation company has revised the renderings again and again, and they are still not finalized.

Huang Xiaochuan repeatedly emphasized that the style should be simplified, and not as luxurious as the current specialty stores. The clothing brand that Huang Xiaochuan plans to create in the future will be aimed at young women. The decoration of the specialty stores should reflect clean lines, youthful and fashionable colors, and most importantly, lighting design. The store must be bright and stand out among other stores.

It's too difficult to communicate with these people who can't speak clearly. Speaking English is also difficult. He can understand Huang Xiaochuan's English, but Huang Xiaochuan just can't understand what language Huang Xiaochuan is speaking.

Huang Xiaochuan was so angry that he lost his patience and directly called Cao Charlie over, saying that professional matters should be handled by professionals.

"Charlie, is there any progress on the job I asked you to do for the director of the apparel division?"

"Mr. Huang, I just placed the job ad in the newspaper yesterday. I expect we'll get some applications in the next couple of days, right?"

Huang Xiaochuan waved his hand weakly, telling Cao Charlie to go about his business. Sigh! It's exhausting, and it seems like what I'm doing now goes against my original intentions!

Didn't I say I was going to lie down and relax? Why am I getting more and more things to do?

Charlie Cho returned very quickly.

"Mr. Huang, Mr. Huang, the boss of Shengli, has come to visit you!"

Huang Xiaochuan had been thinking with his eyes closed, but when he heard that Huang Boyi had arrived, he immediately opened his eyes and wondered what he was doing here.

Huang Boyi came specifically for this purpose. He had his secretary call the front desk of Dadao Company beforehand to inquire and learned that Huang Xiaochuan had been in Hong Kong for more than ten days. He wondered what Huang Xiaochuan was up to and was very curious about it, so he went to see what was going on in person.

Upon entering Huang Xiaochuan's company, one would find mannequins and various clothes everywhere, along with a group of people discussing how to alter sizes.

Huang Boyi wondered if Huang Xiaochuan wanted to start a clothing business.

He couldn't help but examine the clothes closely. Having been in the garment processing business for many years, he had a good eye for fashion. He noticed that the styles of these clothes were very novel and fashionable, and he had never seen them on the market before. Could they be newly designed?

Why would a designer capable of creating these clothes condescend to work in such a small company?

Upon learning of Huang Boyi's arrival, Huang Xiaochuan proactively came out of his office to greet him, intending to invite Huang Boyi into his office for a chat.

Upon exiting, Huang Xiaochuan saw Huang Boyi staring intently at the clothes on the mannequin. Huang Xiaochuan realized that the office they were currently renting was still too small. He quietly instructed Cao Charlie, who was beside him, "Go ask the building management if they're willing to rent the empty office next door. Rent it and move the entire apparel division there."

"Yes, Mr. Huang, I'll take care of it right away!"

After arranging things, Huang Xiaochuan smiled and greeted Huang Boyi.

"Boss Huang, what brings you to my company today? Come in, come in and have a seat in my office. I just brewed some Tieguanyin tea."

Before even sitting down in Huang Xiaochuan's office, Huang Boyi pointed to the mannequins and fashion designers outside and asked, "Mr. Huang, are you planning to enter the clothing industry?"

Huang Xiaochuan didn't rush to reply to Huang Boyi. He gestured for Huang Boyi to sit down first, then skillfully brewed the Kung Fu tea and gestured for Huang Boyi to drink it.

"Boss Huang, please have some tea. How well do I brew it?"

After drinking the fragrant and sweet tea, Huang Boyi didn't care about the taste at all. What he cared about was what Huang Xiaochuan wanted to do.

Huang Xiaochuan only answered Huang Boyi's question after he put down the small teacup.

"Boss Huang has been in the mainland for quite some time now, so he should be able to feel the speed of development there and how people's lives are getting better every day."

Huang Boyi did indeed feel what Huang Xiaochuan said. He didn't know about other places, but Shanghai and Shenzhen, where he was located, were changing every day. But did this have anything to do with Huang Xiaochuan's clothing business?

Huang Xiaochuan continued, "There's a saying in mainland China: 'We must grasp both spiritual and material civilization.' This can be simply understood as enriching people's material and entertainment lives. Both of these are built on an economic foundation; only with money can one consume and enjoy entertainment."

"When people have money, don't they want to eat and dress better? Of the three basic necessities of life—food, clothing, shelter, and transportation—clothing comes first. Clothing is not just for keeping warm and dry; it has other attributes as well. Wearing nice clothes makes people feel proud. The old saying, 'Respect the fine clothes first, then respect the person,' illustrates this point."

"Moreover, the mainland clothing market is a blue ocean with not much competition. Big brands disdain entering the mainland market because they think mainlanders can't afford their clothes, which is a big mistake."

"The ingrained mindset of garment factories in mainland China has not changed over the years. The clothes they produce are old-fashioned and unpopular, but where is the consumer demand of ordinary people? In the 1980s, groups of northerners came to Guangzhou to wholesale fashionable clothes. Why were people willing to do such hard work? It was because ordinary people had aspirations for a better life, which allowed these clothing wholesalers to make money."

"But those clothes were all poorly made in my opinion. What can I do? There aren't any legitimate clothing brands in mainland China, I mean trendy clothing brands. Since that's the case, I thought I'd give it a try."

Huang Xiaochuan's words greatly shocked Huang Boyi. His vision was truly amazing. He was absolutely right, it was a blue ocean! It really was a blue ocean!

Huang Boyi slapped his forehead in frustration, realizing he had wasted his decades of life, working in the clothing industry and failing to see the business opportunities within it.

However, something suddenly occurred to Huang Boyi. Why would Huang Xiaochuan tell him these things? These were supposed to be trade secrets, right? Could it be that he wanted to...?