allonlinenovel Chapter 110 Just right
Chapter 110 Just right
Shen Lingzhu couldn't imagine at this moment that her uncle was sweeping across an area of more than a hundred miles near the capital.
There is no other reason. The population of this best place in the world is too large. There are hundreds of wooden shops in the capital alone.
Of course, not all stores here sell bellows, so you have to select them carefully.
On the day Huang Zongqi and Shen He arrived in Beijing, they successfully sold the bellows they brought to the inn where they were staying before they even looked for Shen Huai's friends.
Later, when the two of them visited Shen Huai's friend with Shen Huai's personal letter, this friend was not familiar with the shops selling wooden furniture in the capital, but the servant assigned to them was familiar with the streets of the capital and led them around to look for them.
Due to the charm of the bellows and rocking chair, many merchants were willing to buy the production methods, but the price did not reach the thirty to fifty taels that Shen Miaozhu expected.
These shops did not even seek exclusive ownership of certain rocking chair blueprints, as long as the next store they sold them to was not in the two adjacent blocks, but they would lower the price to the lowest, ten taels.
The merchants' reason was simple: rocking chairs would certainly not sell as well in autumn as in summer, and the method for making bellows was worth at most five taels.
They tried their best to get fifteen taels, feeling that two grown men were not as good at selling things as the two children, Big Bamboo and Little Bamboo, and they would be embarrassed when they got home.
Huang Zongqi gritted his teeth and decided: "Since the price is low, we will try to sell as much as possible and win by volume.
Do you dare to take one person each and act separately?"
Shen He was also a man who refused to admit defeat: "Why should I be afraid? I think after I sell out the goods in the capital, I can go to places within a hundred miles of Tongzhou Prefecture."
“Well, I’ll add everything along the way on the way back.
"You said, when we go to the cities and counties outside Beijing to negotiate prices, can we find a company willing to pay more and then sell the production method to others?" Huang Zongqi agreed wholeheartedly and proposed another idea.
"If we go to each county one by one, it will be time-consuming and laborious. We won't be able to take advantage of the villagers' services, and we will even have to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival away from home."
"It's just the Mid-Autumn Festival. You can try the method you mentioned." If he were not restricted by the travel permit, Shen He would like to travel to more places to see if there is any business suitable for him.
After the two reached a consensus, they quickly took action.
So Shen Lingzhu was destined to wait until the day before Mid-Autumn Festival without seeing her uncle come back.
Under such circumstances, she and her senior sister planned to buy more things for grandma in the county town as compensation.
At the same time, they brought their own stock of bellows to sell.
As expected, after two or three rounds of vigorous sales, the sales speed has dropped significantly. The consolation is that the sales of solid wood rocking chairs at Lu Ji Wooden Furniture Store continue to rise.
Shen Lingzhu looked at the two carts of bellows, only half of which were sold, and looked worried: "How about we go to the nearby village to sell them?"
"Third Miss, it's better not to. It's the autumn harvest season now and everyone is in the fields.
Besides, ordinary families in the village generally won't spend extra money before the autumn tax is paid." Xia Xing, who was guarding the stall, didn't think this was a good idea.
His younger brother Xia Wang was unconvinced: "Brother, how do you know it won't work if you don't try it?
The busier the farming season, the more we want to cook quickly. We go directly to the village and only collect grain, which saves people from having to sell grain and then run to the city to buy more."
"That also requires a method and a good route. Not to mention the villages far from the city, even within a radius of 20 miles from the county seat, do you dare to say that you are familiar with the road conditions?" Xia Xing did learn a lot from Mr. Xia during his trip to Zhending.
The most important thing is, "If a group of us flock to a village and sell only a few that day, we won't even be able to earn back our food and lodging expenses."
As he spoke, he pulled his brother aside and whispered, "Are you dissatisfied that the Fifth Master rewarded me with five taels of silver just for running errands for Uncle Yunzhong?"
Xia Wang lowered his head and remained silent, listening to his elder brother nagging, "Silly boy, that's because I refused..."
Shen Lingzhu didn't know what Xia Xing said, which made Xia Wang laugh. She said to her senior sister, "Uncle said that Shun County has a population of over ten thousand households. Excluding those in mountainous areas and those in poverty, there should be three to four thousand households that are our target customers, right?
Now we have sold more than a thousand bellows, and there is no stamina left?"
"One hundred coins is not cheap, some people are reluctant to buy it." Shen Miaozhu thought for a moment and said, "This business will be a long-term business in the future, and it can be handed over to Xia Xing.
It happened to be August and September, and the contract deadline for the carpenters who had signed contracts with us had expired.
We will develop other businesses, such as pickles, but not limited to pickles."
"Are you a friend of the Master? The county town cannot compare to the prosperity of the provincial capital.
The Master said that Zhending was bigger than Baozhou and had more people.
The county town specializes in selling pickles…” Shen Lingzhu was not optimistic.
Shen Miaozhu looked at one point and said, "No, after we collect the vegetables and cook them, we mainly sell them to the various 100 households, as well as restaurants and food shops in the city that are willing to buy them."
"It's just small change." Shen Lingzhu followed her gaze and unexpectedly saw Captain Chen and his group walking over, "Why is he going to the East Market?
Hey, the village chief is not here, didn't he come back?"
The latter naturally noticed the two sisters guarding the bellows stall, but he had no intention of greeting them on the street.
But unexpectedly, Shen Lingzhu would come after him: "Please stay, Captain Chen."
The two of them caught up, and Chen Ru couldn't ignore them. Shen Miaozhu said she had something important to discuss with him, so he raised his hand and pointed to the tea stall across the street: "Let's talk over there."
As soon as they sat down at the tea stall, Shen Lingzhu began to ask Captain Zhuang when he would come back. When she learned that he had returned to the camp three days ago, she couldn't help but look at her senior sister.
Shen Miaozhu naturally followed suit and asked if she could make an appointment with the village captain so that her family could learn about her uncle's situation in the capital.
Chen Ru asked: "Is this the important thing you mentioned?"
“Of course not, I also want to buy some grapes from your horse farm in the valley.
Not only for this year's fruit, but also for future ones. It would be best if Grape Valley could be rented to us." Shen Miaozhu proposed.
Chen Ru couldn't help but look at her. "You know, that place is almost barren now, with more grass than vines."
"I don't know. If you agree to let us go and see it in person, I would be very grateful." Shen Miaozhu gave her junior sister a wink.
Shen Lingzhu went on to say that they could find a way to restore the growth of grapes there.
Chen Ru didn't quite believe that the two little girls who used to be raised in the inner house could grow fruit.
The scene of him examining the two of them was seen by a woman in a carriage passing by.
"Sister-in-law, look at the little girl sitting opposite the military officer over there. Is she your niece?
It is said that she often sells bellows here. As the niece of a Jinshi, it is okay for her to always show up in public." The wife of the Cai family's eldest wife pulled the curtains open further to show Shen Bagu.
It was a long time after she last met Shen Lingzhu in the store that she learned of her identity, and later she heard people mention her several times.
Upon hearing this, Aunt Shen stretched her head to take a closer look. They were indeed two bamboos, one big and one small. When she frowned, the wife of the Cai family's eldest wife smiled and said, "Is the big one the one the master wants to marry?"
"Sister-in-law..."
"Please don't mention this matter to the master again. After all, she is not the Jinshi's biological daughter."