Chapter 322: Losing for Life

Hu Xiner couldn't stand Mu Qing's sweet words with his handsome face, and her ears turned red all of a sudden.

Mu Qing coaxed his wife and finally smiled happily. He gently advised: "You are pregnant now, so you should be careful in everything you do in the Liu family."

Hu Xin'er originally wanted to say that she came to the Liu family to look for evidence, but she was afraid that he would worry about her, so she didn't mention it. She just nodded and said, "Don't worry, I know."

At this time, Yun Qiu and Madam Dou came back, chatting and laughing. Madam Dou smiled and said, "Why, are you finally reconciled?"

Hu Xin'er was slightly embarrassed: "Stop teasing me and talk about business!"

Madam Dou smiled and said, "The first thing I came here today was to give you the manuscript."

Hu Xin'er took the manuscript from her hand and said, "Then I'll take it back and have a look. If you're in a hurry, you can come in with me to take a look."

Madam Dou shook her head and smiled, "I'm not in a hurry."

After she finished speaking, she carefully took out a cloth bag from her arms.

"What is this?" Hu Xiner was a little curious.

Madam Dou said angrily, "Today is the beginning of the month, how could you forget?"

Hu Xin'er hadn't been able to take care of the comic book shop these days, so she just realized, "So it's dividend day?"

Madam Dou couldn't help but smile as she spoke of this: "Business in the shop has been booming lately. Originally, the eldest princess should have brought this dividend, but she couldn't come due to something, so she asked me to deliver it."

Hu Xiner took the cloth bag, opened it with great anticipation, and couldn't help but exclaim.

More than she imagined!

In fact, she was already prepared to lose money in the first month.

Because, there are too many suburban shops rented by Mu Xin Comics Shop - or you could say, processing factories!

In fact, the most difficult part of doing business is rent.

The rent in the capital was extremely high. She had come to the capital with 30,000 taels of silver and 2,000 taels of gold given by the eldest princess, hoping to rent a shop there.

But this amount of money is not enough to even rent a shop for a year!

So she had to move to the suburbs of Beijing, and finally negotiated a monthly rent of four thousand taels through Erdong. Later, because the eldest princess rented 20 shops at once, the shop owner was so frightened that he reduced the rent to one thousand taels per month.

Hu Xiner was actually extremely helpless at the time, because the monthly rent of 20 shops was a full 20,000 taels, plus labor costs, material costs and the like, it was difficult to recoup the investment.

So her plan was to not renew the leases for so many shops after that month's lease.

Within this month, she and Madam Dou each published a new picture book, and divided the book into three versions: hardcover edition, collector's edition and ordinary edition. They wanted to open up the high-end market while making it a hot seller throughout the capital.

But this still left a lot of shop space wasted, so Hu Xiner decided to ask them to stock up more and try to distribute them nationwide.

But even so, the hope of making a profit is still slim.

But now, she counted the banknotes in her hand, her face full of surprise: "There are actually 3,000 taels here? Are they all mine?"

Although it wasn't Madam Dou who collected the money, she looked a little excited. "Yes, many ladies from prominent families buy our hardcover illustrated books. The eldest princess said that the share you got was only a small portion, and she still has the bulk!"

"Have the workers been paid?" Hu Xiner felt dizzy. Although hardcover prints have high profits, they are also more expensive.

If she remembered correctly, the cost for this month was a full twenty-five thousand taels, and she also rented a Mu Xin comics shop in the capital. She hadn't asked the princess about the rent for that shop yet!

No way, no way! Is the comic book business really that profitable? Or is it just that people in Beijing are just stupid and have a lot of money?

"You're joking. How could we not pay the workers their monthly wages?" Madam Dou looked at Hu Xiner and couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh.

Hu Xiner thought about it and understood. She was selling the hardcover edition as a work of art, with a profit of one thousand taels per set. If the eldest princess got her friends to buy it, it was possible to make a profit.

"By the way, the princess has renewed the shop lease for another year." Madam Dou added

"What?!" Hu Xin'er was so shocked that her face lost control. "She's crazy?"

Even if you can get more friends, each person will only buy one set. The current profit is only short-term. If the princess really thinks that comics can be so profitable, she will definitely lose everything!

Madam Dou looked at her reaction, a little puzzled. "Why are you so surprised? The rent for a shop in the suburbs of Beijing is 150 taels a month, so renting it for a year isn't much."

Hu Xin'er gasped, her expression as if she had seen a ghost: "Isn't it one thousand taels a month?"

Madam Dou, however, showed some anger: "A while ago, the princess punished the shop owner because he colluded with merchants in the capital and deliberately raised such a high price to cheat outsiders like you!"

In other words, the high land prices in Beijing are all due to speculation?

After listening to Madam Dou's story, Hu Xin'er finally understood the whole story.

The forces in the capital are complex and complicated, and many properties are controlled by a mysterious political force.

Those who have no backing cannot buy land at all unless they pay a very high price.

When Hu Xiner first went to rent a shop, she did not get any discount because the Lu family had fallen on hard times.

However, after she rented the shop, the eldest princess suddenly showed up. The owner of the shop was worried every day, and finally couldn't help but confess everything to the eldest princess.

Finally, Madam Dou concluded, "The Princess is kindhearted. Seeing the shop owner's initiative in petitioning, she pardoned his crime. The owner is naturally grateful."

Therefore, the original normal rent of 300 taels was directly reduced to 150 taels. Anyway, no one rents this shop normally. With this calculation, the shop owner still makes a profit!

In this way, it is not surprising that Hu Xiner can get a dividend of 3,000 taels.

She happily put the banknotes away and danced with joy.

Mu Qing and Dou Niangzi hurriedly advised her to be careful.

Hu Xin'er said nonchalantly, "It's okay, my stomach hasn't even bloated yet!"

"It will take until March or April for pregnancy to show." Madam Dou said with a smile.

Hu Xiner thought about it and took out two silver bills and gave them to her.

Madam Dou was shocked and quickly refused.

Hu Xin'er held her hand and said, "You don't have to refuse. I know you've been busy in the store lately, and the princess and I don't have time to take care of anything."

Madam Dou never thought that her efforts would be remembered by Hu Xin'er despite her busy schedule!

She couldn't persuade Hu Xin'er, so she had to accept it and said with emotion: "You are really my benefactor!"

Hu Xin'er smiled and said, "I can't say I'm a noble person, but I can be a lucky star. Let's make a lot of money together!"