The story of me and my Sri Lankan non-woven fabric wholesaler client

Anna from Sri Lanka

Anna is a small wholesaler from Sri Lanka. She purchases non-woven fabrics from me, always just one container each time. But she has a habit: whenever she thinks of something, no matter how long the time difference is, she will send me a message

"Lily, can the pink be a little lighter? Like the sunset pink in Sri Lanka."

"Lily, my client said the color is a bit different."

Originally, I thought she was very noisy. Until one night at three o'clock in the morning, my phone started vibrating wildly - she sent me over a dozen voice messages one after another.

Her voice was frantic: "The port is on strike, my containers have been delayed. If my customer can't pick up the goods tomorrow, they'll cancel the order. I'll go bankrupt. Lily, please help me."

I dragged myself out of bed and contacted the shipping company, doing my best to handle the matter.

After two full days of back-and-forth, the container was finally released.

Later, she told me that day had been the hardest since she got divorced. If that shipment hadn't made it through, her little shop wouldn't have survived.

Since then, Anna still sent messages all the time, but I no longer feel it's too noisy. Last year, she changed her profile picture—in the photo, she's hugging her new boyfriend, She said, "Lily, I want to order a new color. This time, I want it like the sand on Ipanema Beach."

I replied, "Describe the color to me, and I'll have the factory match it."

She sent me a photo—a barefoot selfie, her feet buried in the sand.

I stared at those feet covered in fine sand for a long time.

For the first time, I felt as if the person on the other side of the screen was really very close to me.