I Returned to the Day He Brought His First Love Home-Chapter 63: The Garment Workshop Opens, Busy as a Dog
"Heavens, five hundred yuan?"
"Isn’t that way too much?"
"What do you know? The backlogged fabric is worth over ten thousand. If Grace Winslow really sells it all, the financial recovery will be much more significant. You could even say five hundred is on the low side."
"I’m so jealous. Five hundred... I don’t even make that much in a whole year."
"No use being jealous. She’s got the brains for it. She’s the one who came up with a way to solve this problem. Could you have done that?"
The crowd below was abuzz, looking in Grace Winslow’s direction with a mixture of admiration and jealousy.
After all, five hundred was a huge sum.
There was plenty of envy to go around.
"Grace, congratulations!" May Callahan said, nudging Grace with a happy grin.
Grace thanked her.
Everyone in the finance department congratulated her one by one.
The looks Grace got from people in other departments were much more complicated.
The assembly dismissed soon after.
Many people were thinking of going back to see if they could sketch a few designs.
After all, if a design was chosen, it meant a ten-yuan prize.
Ten yuan was almost ten days’ worth of wages.
Meanwhile, those who knew how to use a sewing machine and make clothes all rushed to sign up for the garment workshop.
A rush order meant overtime, and overtime meant overtime pay.
They could earn a few extra yuan a month that way.
Most of the female workers knew some basic sewing; it was just a matter of how skilled they were.
Since this was a rush job, they were naturally only hiring experienced hands, so the assessment was very strict.
Oscar Osborne pulled Grace Winslow over to help supervise the recruitment process.
To ensure this major operation went off without a hitch, Oscar Osborne even brought in a veteran craftsman on loan from the garment factory to oversee quality control.
In less than three days, all fifty positions were filled.
Many who weren’t selected were resentful.
They had, after all, lost an opportunity to make more money.
The workshop space was already there; they just had to move the old machinery out to clear the area.
The commercial department had also pulled some strings to get sewing machines from the garment factory. They were secondhand, but still in working condition.
With the designs, measurements, and the master craftsman helping create the patterns, the garment workshop was a hive of activity every day.
To prevent the designs from being leaked to the garment factory and copied, the entire process was kept strictly confidential.
Grace Winslow was incredibly busy during this time.
The defective fabric in the warehouse needed a complete inventory recount.
What kind of fabric, what colors—everything had to be recorded one by one.
She was so busy she felt like her head was spinning, and she didn’t even have time to study.
Her scheduled holidays were canceled, and she hadn’t been home in a month.
And the weather was getting hotter and hotter. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
By July, the high temperature was already over eighty-six degrees Fahrenheit.
The workshop was especially hot and stuffy.
The factory cafeteria started serving sweet soups and herbal teas every day.
"Grace, how do you normally take care of your skin? I’ve been so exhausted lately that my skin has gotten terrible. I’m even breaking out. I can’t even stand to look at myself in the mirror," May Callahan said, looking completely worn out.
Her normally delicate face was now covered in red spots, which did look a bit alarming.
Grace, who also had a weary look, waved a dismissive hand. "What skincare routine? I’ve been so busy I haven’t even washed my hair in three days. It probably smells all sour from sweat by now."
"The weather’s getting so hot, I’m thinking of cutting my hair short."
May Callahan glanced at Grace’s long, shiny black hair. "It’d be a shame to cut it. Your hair is so beautiful and long."
"Not a shame at all. I’ve already asked around. With hair quality this good, I can sell it to a salon. I bet I could get twenty yuan for it."
"Long hair is such a hassle to take care of. I have the day off tomorrow, so I’m going to get it cut."
