Reborn Troops

The corners of Zhou Wanwan's shoe box were worn out, and the lid was hanging crookedly, like garbage that had been thrown away by someone.

"Will this thing work?" she said to herself, gently stroking the edge of the shoe box with her fingers, as if she was touching a rare treasure.

"Of course!" A crisp voice came from the door, interrupting her thoughts. Zhou Wanwan looked up and saw that it was her best friend Qianqian.

Qianqian was wearing a loose white T-shirt, with the legs of her jeans casually rolled up, and a pair of canvas shoes on her feet. She looked casual and free and easy.

"Why are you here?" Zhou Wanwan was a little surprised, but more happy.

Qianqian always appears when she needs her most, like a worm in her stomach, always able to guess what she is thinking.

"I heard that you've been researching how to turn a shoe box into a jewelry box, so I came here to give you some pointers."

Qianqian walked into the store with a smile, picked up a shoe box, and looked at it over and over again. "Well, the material is good, but the design is too rustic."

"Rusty?" Zhou Wanwan curled her lips in dissatisfaction. "I found this at a flea market with great difficulty. It's cheap and practical."

"It's cheap, but is it practical?" Qianqian raised her eyebrows with a hint of ridicule in her tone.

"Look at the jewelry in your store, which one is not so exquisite that people can't take their eyes away?

But you put them in such a shabby box, and when customers see it, they think you are selling cheap goods.”

Zhou Wanwan was speechless, but she felt a little unwilling. She knew Qianqian was right, but she really didn't have that much money to buy those high-end jewelry boxes.

Her store had just opened and business had been lukewarm. Her monthly income was barely enough to pay the rent and utility bills. How could she have the spare money to spend on all these things?

"Then what do you say we should do?" She sighed, with a hint of helplessness in her tone.

"It's easy, just modify it." Qianqian patted the shoe box in her hand, a cunning light flashed in her eyes.

"With a little thought, this broken box can be turned into a work of art."

"Artwork?" Zhou Wanwan widened her eyes, obviously not quite believing it.

"Yes, artwork." Qianqian nodded, her tone firm, "Think about it, customers nowadays like unique things.

If you can transform these shoe boxes into unique jewelry boxes, customers will definitely be attracted to them.”

Zhou Wanwan was somewhat moved by what she heard, but she was still a little hesitant. She had never had any artistic talent since she was a child.

She was not good at painting or handicrafts. Asking her to transform a shoebox was harder than climbing a mountain.

"But... I don't know how." She muttered softly.

"If you don't know how to do it, just learn it." Qian Qian shrugged disapprovingly, "Who is born knowing how to do it? Besides, don't you have me?"

Zhou Wanwan's eyes suddenly lit up, "Are you willing to teach me?"

"Of course." Qianqian nodded with a smile, "But tuition fees still need to be collected."

"Tuition?" Zhou Wanwan was stunned, then reacted and punched her with a smile, "You only know me."

"This is called mutual benefit." Qianqian raised her chin proudly, "Now that you've learned it, if your business is good, I can also benefit from it, right?"

Zhou Wanwan shook her head helplessly, but she felt warm in her heart. She knew Qianqian was helping her.

Although he said he would collect tuition fees, he actually wouldn't really ask for her money.

"Then tell me, how do we change it?" She picked up a shoe box and asked seriously.

Zhou Wanwan and Qianqian sat at a small table in the store, which was filled with various tools:

Scissors, glue, colored paper, ribbons, sequins... Qianqian was flipping through the shoe box while drawing sketches on paper.

"First, you have to change the 'skin' of these shoe boxes." Qianqian picked up a piece of light pink colored paper and gestured to the size of the shoe boxes.

"Wrap the box in colored paper, in a softer color, so it looks more textured."

Zhou Wanwan nodded, picked up the scissors and carefully cut the colored paper. Her hands were shaking a little, afraid that she would cut it crookedly.

Seeing this, Qianqian smiled and patted her shoulder: "Don't be nervous, it doesn't matter if it's cut crooked, you can always do it again."

"It's easy for you to say that." Zhou Wanwan muttered, but still relaxed a little.

She stuck the colored paper on the shoe box and fixed the edges with glue. Although some places were not smooth, the overall effect was good.

"The next step is decoration." Qianqian picked out a few star-shaped sequins from a pile of sequins.

Handing it to Zhou Wanwan, "Stick these sequins on the edge of the box to add a little sparkle."

Zhou Wanwan took the sequins and carefully stuck them on the box, but she moved very slowly, fearing that they would be stuck crookedly.

Qianqian watched from the side and couldn't help laughing: "Aren't you too careful? It doesn't matter if it's crooked, the customer won't stare at the box anyway."

"That won't do." Zhou Wanwan shook her head. "If you want to do it, you have to do it to the best of your ability."

Qianqian shrugged without saying anything else. She picked up a ribbon and began to tie a bow on the lid of the box.

She moved quickly and tied a beautiful bow in just a few strokes.

"Look, doesn't it look much better this way?" Qianqian handed the box to Zhou Wanwan.

Zhou Wanwan took the box and examined it carefully. Although it was still a little rough, it was indeed a big improvement compared to the old shoe box before.

"Yeah, it does look much better." She nodded with a smile on her face.

"This is just the first step." Qianqian clapped her hands, "Next we will also make some small compartments in the box to make it easier for customers to put different jewelry in."

"Small compartment?" Zhou Wanwan was a little confused. "How to do it?"