Rising With The Wind Episode 13 Recap
> Rising With The Wind Recap
Yue Shan recounted to Jiang Hu the events that led the police to Gao Zheng after the arrest of an individual business owner. She explained that Jiang Qisheng never suspected his trusted friend, Gao Zheng, was embezzling company funds. Though uninvolved, Jiang Qisheng was fired from the factory due to the association. He did not complain; instead, he sold his assets and raised money to help Gao Zheng cover the deficit, hoping his friend would receive a reduced sentence.
In a contrasting account, Gao Zheng had told his son, Gao Yi, that it was Jiang Qisheng who had led him astray and had knelt, tearfully begging Gao Zheng to take all the blame. Jiang Hu thanked Yue Shan for sharing this history, acknowledging that she now understood why her father had trusted Yue Shan so deeply. Jiang Hu then asked Yue Shan to return to Teng Yue to help her rebuild.
Moved that Jiang Qisheng had considered her family and wanted his daughter to do the same, Yue Shan agreed. Later, at her parents' tomb, Jiang Hu reflected that she had always relied on her father's influence and felt she was nothing without him, admitting that even Yue Shan would likely not have agreed to help her otherwise.
Yang Jian invited Jiang Hu for wontons, where she was surprised to see an award-winning design from the St. Laurent competition by Xiang Zhaoyang. Jiang Hu then learned that Xiang Zhaoyang is Yang Jian's non-blood-related sister. This revealed that when Yang Jian had previously approached Jiang Hu about her debts, he had already known she and his sister were classmates with a strained relationship.
A flashback showed Xiang Zhaoyang confronting Jiang Hu for obtaining and then forfeiting a guaranteed admission spot to Nanjing University, for which Xiang Zhaoyang had also competed. Xiang Zhaoyang felt it was unfair, as Jiang Hu's father was a sponsor for the university's scholarship.
In another flashback, Jiang Hu told her father she was giving up the spot because she didn't want people to think she got it through his influence, to which he replied that there is no absolute fairness in the world. Back in the present, Jiang Hu told Yang Jian their issues were complicated. Yang Jian showed Jiang Hu his sister's shoe designs, highlighting her passion.
He admitted his previous hesitation to partner with Jiang Hu stemmed from his need to be responsible to everyone involved, including his sister. Jiang Hu then pitched a "two-plus-three" year partnership, making his team Teng Yue's exclusive online agency. She shared her vision to make Teng Yue a top-10 brand again, starting with a goal of 20,000 pairs a month. Yang Jian agreed, convinced not by her pitch but by her character and loyalty.
He added that Xiang Zhaoyang was willing to move past their history and supported the collaboration. With a CFO and an e-commerce lead, Jiang Hu needed a designer. She visited a top design firm but found their fees—120,000 yuan per design with a ten-design annual minimum—prohibitive. Her request for a smaller, two-design contract was rejected. Zhang Wenshan, also present, cynically remarked on her ambition and offered to put in a good word.
Back at the factory, Jiang Hu found worker Huang Xiaolin doing food delivery to supplement her halved wages, a consequence of the factory's minimal workload. Yue Shan confirmed their dire finances, noting a bank loan was unlikely. Jiang Hu decided to pursue an OEM deal with Free Unicorn, a strategy her parents had once envisioned to support Teng Yue.
At Free Unicorn, Zhang Wenshan acknowledged Teng Yue's reliable production history but stated his board found the 28-yuan-per-pair processing fee too high. He demanded a reduction to 22 yuan per pair in exchange for a guaranteed monthly order of at least 100,000 pairs. Jiang Hu argued the current price barely covered rising material costs, but Zhang Wenshan threatened to find a cheaper OEM in Southeast Asia, and the negotiation collapsed.
Meanwhile, Xu Si instructed Wu Guanglei to bring Jiang Hu to a presentation by FW, a creative design company. Wu Guanglei worried this would provoke Jiang Hu, but Xu Si was adamant. At the meeting, FW's founder, Alan, and designer, Alex, presented a strategy to build "international popularity to boost local popularity" by leveraging global fashion weeks. After, Xu Si asked for her thoughts. Jiang Hu acknowledged that FW had the design, marketing, and funding she lacked.
She then angrily accused Xu Si of trying to replace her before the first quarter was even over and stormed out. Immediately, she called Zhang Wenshan and accepted his offer of 22 yuan per pair for 100,000 pairs monthly, on the condition that Free Unicorn pay 50% upfront and the rest within five days of delivery.
When Zhang Wenshan pushed for the old annual settlement, she countered by noting the high cost for him to find a new OEM quickly, and he agreed. As Jiang Hu left, Xu Si intercepted her. She tried to run, but he calmly followed in his car, telling her he was hungry, until she cooled down and got in.
At dinner, Jiang Hu apologized, acknowledging that Xu Si had arranged the FW meeting to broaden her perspective, but also that they remained her potential replacement if she failed. She critiqued FW's proposal as too Westernized and lacking Teng Yue's "gene" and history, arguing that she understood the brand and its products better. She clarified that her deal with Zhang Wenshan was a pragmatic, temporary measure to secure 2.
2 million yuan in monthly revenue, not the key to Teng Yue's revival. She promised to deliver her own operations plan soon, intending to prove its superior return on investment through practical results. At the factory, workers complained about their fixed wages, demanding piece-rate pay now that the large Free Unicorn order provided more work. Jiang Hu called a meeting and announced that they were officially starting production of Teng Yue's own products.
When Master Zhang noted their only remaining style was an outdated white shoe, Jiang Hu unveiled her first, simple initiative: adding colorful, rainbow shoelaces to the white shoes. Acknowledging it was a small step, she framed it as the beginning of Teng Yue's evolution. To boost morale, she also announced she had hired a new chef to improve their meals.
In a financial meeting, the team identified high raw material costs as their biggest problem, as they no longer benefited from the low-cost materials they had access to when they were part of the same group as Free Unicorn. Raising prices was deemed impossible with their limited sales channels and lack of new designs. The conclusion was that to survive, they had to find a way to control costs, likely by changing materials.
