I Returned to the Day He Brought His First Love Home-Chapter 88: The Bet

"You want to partner with us? Have us do your manufacturing?" The director of the clothing factory was in his early fifties. His hair was thinning, and his face was deeply wrinkled, making him look much older than his age.

He looked at Oscar Osborne and Grace Winslow with a bewildered expression.

He knew that the textile mill had branched out into a new line of business: making and selling their own clothes.

He had even gone to the higher-ups to file a complaint about it.

He felt the textile mill was stealing their business.

But the higher-ups had completely ignored him.

’I can’t believe Oscar Osborne still has the nerve to come see me.’

"We have our own production quotas. We’re not taking on any contract manufacturing, so go find someone else." Elvis Wyatt had no intention of cooperating.

He regarded Oscar Osborne with utter disdain. The fact that he wasn’t cursing him to his face was already a show of great restraint.

Oscar Osborne didn’t get angry, still smiling affably. "Director Wyatt, everything is negotiable. As for your factory’s situation... let’s be frank. We both know what’s really going on."

"If you don’t partner with us, your factory will go bankrupt within two years. When it collapses, do you think that will do your reputation any good?"

"Without a factory, and at your age, you might not even make it to retirement before you’re laid off."

"But if you agree to work with us, there are plenty of benefits. For starters, your factory’s profitability will improve."

"At the very least, you’ll be able to pay your employees on time."

For the past two years, the clothing factory had been delinquent on wages every single year, never once paying on time.

This was hardly a secret in Prospera Town.

It was just that many workers couldn’t afford to lose their "iron rice bowl." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

To live in the city, to have a job, to be on the state grain ration—for many people, this was a mark of respectability. Losing that job, for any reason, would invite ridicule and contempt.

Oscar Osborne had just struck a raw nerve.

Elvis Wyatt’s face turned ugly, and he nearly erupted in anger.

It was then that Grace Winslow spoke up. "Director Wyatt, I just took a look around your factory, and I also saw the mountain of clothes piled up in your warehouse."

"What? You here to lecture me too? To mock me?" Elvis Wyatt’s expression was thunderous.

He didn’t dare lash out at Oscar Osborne, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t lash out at the young woman he’d brought along.

Grace Winslow sensed his hostility but kept the smile on her face. "Of course I have no intention of mocking you, Director Wyatt. I just have an idea that could help you clear out your excess inventory. It will, however, require your cooperation."

"You have a way to help me sell all the clothes piled up in the warehouse? That’s over a hundred thousand garments. Don’t tell me you’re planning to sell them overseas?" Elvis Wyatt narrowed his eyes, staring at Grace Winslow with suspicion.

He knew that Grace Winslow and Oscar Osborne were working with the Bureau of Commerce to sell clothes internationally.

But he knew the kind of clothes his factory made. ’Sell them overseas?’

’What a joke.’

’No one even wanted to buy them here.’

"The fabric used for those clothes is stain-resistant and durable. They can be worn for years without falling apart. In the city, there isn’t much of a market for them outside of some factory workers."

"But if you take them to the rural areas, many people would love clothes made from this material."

"As long as you drop the price, clearing out a hundred-thousand-plus units of inventory won’t be a problem."

In her past life, Grace Winslow had spent plenty of time at home scrolling through short-form videos and watching countless shopping livestreams.

While she had never run one herself, she had learned plenty of the strategies.

As long as the clothing factory had people follow her playbook, selling those clothes wouldn’t be an issue at all.

"Fine. If you can help me sell off the clothes in the warehouse—you don’t even have to sell all of them, just sell ten thousand pieces—I’ll agree to partner with you. And I won’t overcharge you," Elvis Wyatt said with a cold laugh, clearly not believing a word she said.

’Hadn’t he tried the very idea Grace Winslow was suggesting?’

’He had taken the clothes to sell at the big rural markets, but they still barely sold.’

’If it were really that easy, why would he be saddled with so much inventory in the first place?’