Being “Hurt” Because of My Black FaceAt first Obinna was not good at bargaining， but when he cameto China， he learned how to bargain， just as the saying goes “Do inRome as the Romans do”。 Once a girl only got a discount of ten yuanwith great effort. When they stroke the deal， she said， “You are reallylike the person from Wenzhou！” Obinna suddenly got the meaning ofher words when someone explained that the people from Wenzhou arevery shrewd in business and burst into laughter， “If you are not smart，you will lose your money when doing business. The older you are， thesmarter you are. All the big mountains are piled up by small hills.” Atlast Obinna’s partner was sure that he was able to keep the store alonewhen he had been working there for one year.
If the customer gives a very low price， Obinna would say sincerely， “Look at the designand the quality， I guaranteethat it will neithershrink nor fade. Sometimes he would
invite the customer towatch the photos onthe wall of him in folkclothes; sometimes hewould put on the clothes designed by him. It is really fantastic whenthe black face matches the bright clothes.
However， Obinna’s black face has also brought some trouble tohis business. “Attracted by the clothes displayed in the shop window，a young lady came into my store and selected clothes directly. Afterpicking out one， she raised her head to ask about the price. When shefound out a black guy was coming toward her all of a sudden， she wasscared to cry and run away.” While talking about this experience， heburst into laughter， yet he says he still feels being hurt.
Some customers would just have a glimpse of the store at thedoor， and if they notice there is a black guy in it， they will drag theircompanions away. Obinna says these timid customers may never comeback， but he has no way to change this situation. Sometimes he feelsbeing hurt and even humiliated， “How could they ignore my clothes322 just because of my skin color?” Whereas he laughs again when consideringthis problem from another perspective， “For most of the time，my black face also confirms that my clothes are genuine： the customerwould believe that my clothes are really from Africa rather than somefake ones. It might be due to his black face that more and more girls beganto be fond of this store. Some regular customers will come here toseek after their favorite every month， even every week. Nowadays thetailor team， composed of Obinna and his four Chinese associates， hasto be busy with cutting and sewing all day long in order to satisfy theneeds of customers. And there are some customers who visit the storespecially to order African folk costume， so Obinna decides to put forwardthe made-to-order service， which merely requires 30-50 yuan asthe extra charge and promises the clothes will be ready in 2-8 days.