Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely Chapter 1284 - 422: Ji Jiang’s Predicament, True Sibling Affection, the Head-Slasher Strikes Again

The ninth year of Great Xia, March's first day, right as dawn broke

Hongmen South City, Zeng’s Summer Clothing Workshop

In the midst of the morning market pause, Ji Jiang finished organizing, locked the entrance, grabbed a jar stuffed with silver taels, and headed straight to the rear quiet room.

"Ding ding ding..."

No sooner had she settled into the quiet room's chair than Ji Jiang emptied the jar's loose silver taels across the table, fetched a tiny scale, and started meticulously weighing each piece.

With the weighing nearly complete, Ji Jiang's frown deepened intensely, and upon finishing, she released a faint sigh, her expression clouded with deep concern.

"After subtracting material costs and reserving thirty percent for business taxes, February's total earnings come to 8,920 taels—merely 580 more than January's haul."

The exchange rate between Great Xia Camp Supply Department contribution points and silver stays steady at 1:10, meaning each tael fetches 10 points.

A monthly take of 8,920 taels equals 89,200 contribution points.

Back when this Xia Clothing Workshop went up for auction, Zeng Rou covered most of the investment, with Ji Jiang contributing just a quarter. Yet, as the daily operator, she split the shop's revenues evenly with Zeng Rou.

By that math, her February share hit 44,600 points—a solid sum in Great Xia, surpassing what at least 70% of Cold Resistance Level hunters in the team could make.

Remember, those hunters face nightly chills in the Snow Forest battling Cold Beasts, suffering wounds and courting death, whereas she simply minds the shop, greeting arrivals and bidding farewells—this makes her earnings all the more precious.

Yet human greed knows no bounds; fresh gains spark not gratitude, but hunger for greater riches.

That's precisely where Ji Jiang stands today.

"The shop launched August 20 last year, netting 12,820, 13,720, 14,220, and 15,270 taels over those four months—a steady climb. Post-New Year, momentum stalled; January's profits plunged to half at 8,340 taels. This month, without snagging Beishuo Silk Cloth and Blood Jade Fox Fur for fresh summer attire that drew crowds, gains would've flatlined below 7,000 taels."

After some mental arithmetic, Ji Jiang's brows knit tighter, her worry etching deeper lines.

"South City's summer clothing outlets now number nearly fifty, fiercer rivalry brewing. Post-holiday unrest has thinned newcomer ranks, so profit drops make sense. These hurdles elude my fix. To stem the slide, I must innovate like last month—tackling supply shortages head-on..."

Over 95% of South City's shops run under Great Xia folk, sourcing exclusively from Xia City Craftsmen Department's four arms: forging, alchemy, summer clothing, woodworking.

This breeds uniformity: rival shops peddle near-identical wares.

With matching stock, buyers from Camp Supply Department snap up the hottest fabrics universally.

For instance, all fifty-plus summer clothiers pull from Xia Clothing Workshop. Months of trial honed knowledge of top-sellers and profit kings versus duds, so restocks target winners alone.

Such uniformity irks the Xia Clothing Workshop.

Summer garb stitches from graded fabrics, yielding low-end, mid-range, high-end, top-tier tiers by rarity.

Great Xia's stores aren't boundless; Xia City's demands claim priority, leaving scant monthly allotments. Sales balance demands sampling each tier.

Universal cherry-picking won't fly, and with Hongmen's bustle, Xia Clothing Workshop mandates mixed four-tier hauls per pickup. Production caps and excess Hongmen thirst mean quotas slice equally across fifty-plus shops by volume.

The Camp Supply Department's aim shines clear: equalize similar shops' offerings and quantities, curbing cutthroat edges. Summer wear shortages ensure monthly sellouts—sans price wars gutting margins, all thrive alike, profits leveling out.

Yet where edicts rule above, counters sprout below. Supply lags can't match Hongmen's newbie thirst, spurring shops to hunt extra weaves and craft custom garb for sale.

Hongmen Supply Department eyes this quietly, unbothered if thirty percent monthly cuts flow steadily.

Success hinges on costs and craft—each shop's forte.

Ji Jiang boasts rare clothing flair. An early Xia Clothing Workshop Clothing Maker, her trend acuity and style tweaks crown her street's top summer clothier; none challenge her supremacy.