Chapter 491 Lying Down and Counting Money

The reputation of Dahe Village has spread far and wide.

On the second day of the chrysanthemum appreciation event, many wealthy families sent their servants to reserve seats.

After paying the deposit, the servants did not leave the village, but instead asked someone to lead them to the village head's house, and groups of people walked towards the village head's house.

By noon, Cheng Wanwan knew the reason.

Because Grandpa Qian also came to Dahe Village, he first went to the village head's house, and then came to see Cheng Wanwan.

With a broad smile, the old man said, "I just bought a piece of land from the village head and am planning to find someone to build a small courtyard as soon as possible. That way, when Hui'er comes to Dahe Village to study, he'll have a place to stay, right?"

Cheng Wanwan was both amused and exasperated: "We don't even know if Master Yu will accept these students from the city who are about to take the academy exam. If he refuses, then the land will have been bought for nothing."

“Everyone else is buying, so our Qian family can’t fall behind.” Old Master Qian stroked his beard. “And you know what, there’s a lot of land in Dahe Village, and the price isn’t high either. One tael of silver per mu of wasteland. I bought fifty mu, built a yard, and we can grow some grain there.”

Cheng Wanwan then learned that many of the ladies who attended the banquet yesterday had arranged for people to come to Dahe Village early in the morning to buy land, so that their children would have a place to live while studying in Dahe Village.

Because there are so many people coming to buy land, the village head is still very busy.

It seems that whether in ancient or modern times, parents always care most about their children's education. In modern times, parents empty their pockets to buy a house in a good school district, while in ancient times, they would buy land and build a house without hesitation. It all shows the parents' painstaking efforts.

“Sui’an people, these are the accounts from last quarter.” Old Master Qian was mainly here for this matter. “It’s been three months since the skincare products were launched. In these three months, Dahe skincare products have become widely known. Not to mention Huzhou, I went to the provincial capital a couple of days ago. The Qian family business there had 500 sets, and they sold out in three days. There are many wealthy people there, and they send people to the store every day to inquire. We don’t have to worry about the market right now. The main problem is that our stock can’t keep up…”

Cheng Wanwan opened the ledger; the accounts were very clear.

The glycerin workshop ships around 200 sets per day, which is 6,000 sets per month. Often, they are pre-ordered and sold out before they even leave the warehouse.

Because of limited sales volume, the monthly sales revenue remained around three thousand taels of silver. When Cheng Wanwan received the money, it amounted to two thousand one hundred taels of silver, totaling more than six thousand taels over three months.

Old Master Qian picked up a large box, opened it, and inside was a stack of silver notes and two neat rows of gleaming silver coins.

"The dividends from last quarter are all here. People from Sui'an, please take stock."

Granny Qi took the box from the side and counted the contents.

Cheng Wanwan closed the ledger and asked, "Have you encountered any problems in the market over the past three months?"

"A few shopkeepers in Huzhou who sell snow skin cream have caused trouble, but it's all minor and not worth mentioning." Old Master Qian paused and said, "The quantity of this product is still too small, and we can't supply it. People in Sui'an need to think of a solution."

Cheng Wanwan nodded: "I am also planning to expand the workforce and strive to increase production in November."

"Great! Great!" Old Master Qian exclaimed with delight. "I hope our Dahe skincare products can be sold in every corner of Dayu Dynasty!"

After seeing off Old Master Qian, the Zhou couple also came over to hand in their accounts for the previous quarter. The way they kept the accounts was something the eldest son of the Zhou family had learned from Er Gou, and it made everything much clearer.

Cheng Wanwan carefully read through the accounts and found that the Zhou couple had done nothing wrong; there were no problems with the accounts.

While she was looking at the account books, Manager Zhou and his wife didn't dare to breathe loudly, afraid that something would be pointed out and they wouldn't be able to explain themselves.

"Business has been very good these past two months," Cheng Wanwan said with a smile, closing the ledger and handing it over. "The new dishes for October will be launched soon. If you have time, Madam Zhou, go to Ping'an County to learn how to make them, and then we can launch the new dishes together."

Madam Zhou nodded quickly: "Yes, yes, yes."

Manager Zhou took the ledger and asked cautiously, "People from Sui'an, are there any problems with the accounts?"

“No, your son did a great job,” Cheng Wanwan said approvingly. “You can have your son handle the accounts with me from now on.”

This couple is so timid. Does she really look that fierce?

Manager Zhou immediately agreed.

The Zhou couple paid 1,260 taels of silver as their share of the profits, which was 20% of their earnings.

Hekou County has a larger population and is a transportation hub for nearby counties and towns, so business is better on a daily basis. The average daily profit is about 150 taels of silver. After deducting costs and dividends, the Zhou family has earned about 4,000 to 5,000 taels of silver in the past two months.

Besides the Qian and Zhou families, Old Mrs. Zhu, Aunt Wang, and Cheng Yuanyuan also came to hand in their account books.

Cheng Wanwan lay on the rattan chair, watching the money in the warehouse gradually increase. The feeling of making money while lying down was extremely comfortable.

Granny Qi, who was in charge of counting the silver, and Yan Hong, who was in charge of keeping accounts, were both stunned.

After they came to serve the people of Sui'an, they felt that the people of Sui'an lived a very simple life. In the capital, even a lady with a title would have at least twenty servants by her side, and each meal would have at least thirty or forty dishes. As for clothes and jewelry, they would change them every season and would never keep old clothes for the next season...

In contrast, people in Sui'an don't need anyone to wait on them hand and foot. They eat simple home-cooked meals every day and don't have many changes of clothes...

They always thought the people of Sui'an were poor, but now they realize they were overthinking it...

The speed at which the people of Sui'an amass wealth is in no way inferior to that of the ladies of wealthy families in the city.

It's said that people in Sui'an have designed new clothing using cotton, which will probably make them a fortune...

Just then, someone hurriedly walked in through the gate of the courtyard.

Kong Xiuniang's expression changed drastically: "Sui'an people, something bad has happened!"

Cheng Wanwan sat up straight in the rattan chair and poured Kong Xiuniang a glass of water: "What happened? Tell me slowly, don't rush."

Kong Xiuniang had no interest in drinking tea. She took a breath and said, "Today I asked Xia Hua to go to Hekou County to get flower patterns. She saw that a new clothing store had opened in the city. There's a clothing store in our village, so Xia Hua took a few extra glances out of curiosity. Luckily, she did, because she saw that the store sells cotton undergarments. Here, I brought them over!"

A light blue cotton garment was placed on the table.

Cheng Wanwan frowned immediately. How come the style of this dress is so similar to the styles she designed?

“I’ve had someone inquire about it. This clothing shop is a branch of Manager Hu from Wanquan County. They’re using cotton from Dahe Village as a gimmick, heavily promoting their cotton undergarments. The shop just opened yesterday, and today it’s practically worn out from being patronized. One undergarment costs one tael and two mace, and a set costs two taels of silver. With cotton costing fifty wen, how much profit is he making?” Kong Xiuniang’s face was very unpleasant. “When he first bought the cotton, I thought he’d probably make it into cotton cloth or quilts to sell. I never expected he’d think the same way the people from Sui’an were.”

Cheng Wanwan shook her head and chuckled, "This is not the same idea I had; this is stealing our design drafts."