From Wage Slave to Tycoon

"DING DONG~ Welcome to Haitang Creek~"

Su Chen never expected the shop to have a door chime. The four girls, who were in the middle of a discussion, immediately looked over.

"Hey, handsome~ Who are you looking for?" a woman with short hair asked.

Su Qingya also saw Su Chen standing at the door and called out with a beaming smile, "Brother~ You’re here!"

"Brother?" The other three all turned their gazes to Su Chen.

Su Qingya nodded and walked over quickly. She paused for a moment when she saw Chen Fei behind Su Chen, then asked, "Brother, and this is?"

"Ah Fei, my... friend!" Su Chen quickly swallowed the word "bodyguard" that was on the tip of his tongue.

Su Qingya nodded and didn’t press the matter. She pulled Su Chen over to her best friends. "Brother~ Let me introduce you. These are my best friends and roommates!"

"This is Qin Nan, Zhao Ya, and Wang Yue!" She introduced the three of them one by one.

"Hi, everyone. I’m Su Chen!"

"Su Chen? Oh, you’re the one Qingya forgot at the dorm entrance at the start of the semester!" Qin Nan, the short-haired woman who had spoken earlier, said teasingly.

"Er..." Su Chen nodded helplessly. ’I can’t believe she still remembers that after all this time.’

The other two also greeted Su Chen.

After the simple introductions, the three friends prepared to take their tablet and continue their discussion off to the side, leaving space for the brother and sister.

Out of the corner of his eye, Su Chen glanced at the tablet and saw a drawing of an exquisite piece of clothing that looked like it was from some ancient dynasty. He asked curiously, "Qingya, what’s this?"

"It’s a traditional Hanfu—a mamian skirt!" Su Qingya said, a little excited.

"It’s quite pretty. What are you guys studying it for? Planning to start your own business designing clothes?" Su Chen joked.

’Su Chen knew his sister well. She was certainly a strong student, but when it came to designing clothes, he was afraid she didn’t have the talent.’

"Of course not! We plan to promote traditional culture—Hanfu—so that more people can see our country’s traditional culture!" Su Qingya said with a pout.

"Hmm?" Su Chen sensed there was definitely a story he didn’t know. Otherwise, why would Su Qingya, who had never been interested in traditional clothing before, be putting so much effort into it?

And she was even here at this entrepreneurship center with her friends, researching it...

"Tell me what’s going on." Su Chen pulled over a stool and sat down, ready to listen to Su Qingya’s story.

"It’s all because of those shameless Koreans..." Just talking about it made Su Qingya’s blood boil.

After starting their freshman year, students would all choose clubs they liked. Su Qingya and her friends, influenced by their roommate Zhao Ya, gradually grew to love Hanfu. Through deeper research, they learned that Hanfu wasn’t just a single type of clothing, but an umbrella term.

Over several thousand years of cultural heritage, many dynasties had naturally risen and fallen. Each dynasty had its own unique clothing culture, and all of these are collectively known as Hanfu.

But Shanghai University didn’t have a Hanfu club. So, the girls talked about their ideas with their student counselor, received support from the faculty, and established the very first Hanfu club at Shanghai University.

However, over the past century, Hanfu had gradually faded from the public eye. Many people thought that what they saw on TV was the entirety of Hanfu, which led to a lot of people not being very accepting of it.

On top of that, several neighboring countries were constantly stealing this aspect of the culture and claiming it as their own, which further squeezed the space for Hanfu to exist within the country.

The reason Su Qingya and her friends wanted to start a business was because of a previous event at Shanghai University. The girls had wanted to use the opportunity to promote Hanfu culture, but they were unexpectedly ridiculed by several Korean exchange students.

They claimed it was plagiarism of their country’s traditional dress and even called them a "naked nation." The incident caused quite a stir at the time, but it was quickly suppressed by the university. Even discussion of the matter was forbidden on the campus forums.

Su Qingya and her friends’ plan to promote Hanfu died before it could even begin. In the end, during a casual chat, someone mentioned, "Let’s create our own Hanfu brand, so more people can see the beauty and charm of Hanfu!"

And just like that, three novice Hanfu enthusiasts and one veteran enthusiast began their entrepreneurial journey.

They even gave their Hanfu brand a special name—Haitang Creek!

Their first goal was to perfectly replicate the craftsmanship of the mamian skirt and see if they could add some traditional cultural elements to it.

After hearing the story, Su Chen had a complex expression on his face. He didn’t know whether to feel sad or gratified. As the tides of the modern era surged forward, many traditional cultures were abandoned in the long river of time. For a group of young people to now be picking them back up was undoubtedly a fortunate thing.

"I don’t know if your Hanfu brand is still looking for investment, but I’m very optimistic about your idea. I believe that one day, Hanfu will once again shine with its former dazzling brilliance in your hands!"

"Investment?" Su Qingya’s jaw dropped. She never imagined her brother would support her like this. After coming back to her senses, she quickly ran over to the other three.

’She knew her brother had plenty of money now. If he could invest, it would be a great thing for them and save them a lot of time.’

They talked in low voices for a while, occasionally peeking over at Su Chen. Soon, the four of them came to an agreement. A girl with a seemingly cold demeanor walked to the front, looking like she was the leader of Su Qingya’s group.