Meng Zhao looked at the contents of the letter and said, "My second uncle said that they have inquired about the rent for shops in the county and the local people's consumption level. It doesn't seem like a spur-of-the-moment decision to me. I think they have been thinking about it for a long time before bringing it up with me. However, I don't allow this business. I was just planning to go to Hongnong County to take a look."

"Oh? Zhao Zhao, you're going out again." A hint of worry appeared on Madam Gu's face.

“Yes, it’s been half a year already. The pigs in the pig farm should be ready for market soon. If it’s any later, I’m afraid the road will be difficult to travel in winter. On this trip, I’ll also help my second aunt look at the shop. If it’s suitable, I’ll help them settle on it.”

Before going, Meng Zhao also contacted someone else who had recently approached him about franchising, saying he wanted to open a shop in Huian County. If it was feasible, he could also go and take a look.

Just as she was packing her luggage, Meng Jianqiu came over and said, "Shopkeeper, something has happened. Recently, our shop has been seeing a lot of ordinary-looking people ordering double-layered gift sets. Those people are obviously people who can't afford our products."

Meng Zhao asked with a smile, "Don't you need to pay a deposit to make a reservation? What? Are you worried they'll back out of the deal?"

Meng Jianqiu quickly waved his hand, "No, it's because I paid more attention later and secretly followed them. I found out from them that they don't use our things at all. They are hired to come and place orders every ten days. For each successful order, they get 100 coins. They can easily earn 300 coins a month by making a few trips."

"I also found out that the person who hired them came from Jiangnan. He even rented a courtyard next to our shop specifically to do this kind of thing. I calculated that he alone has bought thirty or forty sets this time."

"And recently, some people have been paying for our gift boxes themselves. Once they get them, they just loiter around the shop and try to sell them to any customers who want to buy them. Although they are a bit more expensive than us, they don't have to wait ten days or prepare additional goods, so many customers are willing to buy them." This made Meng Jianxia extremely anxious. These people were really taking advantage of their loopholes to make money.

Meng Zhao was somewhat surprised. Although she had guessed that scalpers would appear, she did not expect them to appear so early. It seemed that the reputation of her set had really spread.

Every era has its opportunists, but it must be said that these people are quite business-minded and ruthless in their investments. A double-layered gift box costs ten taels of silver; if it can't be sold, they'll lose a lot of money.

“Now that the rules are set, they can’t be changed easily. Anyway, the things they sell are all from our shop, so as long as we don’t lose money, that’s fine,” Meng Zhao said after a moment’s thought.

Seeing Meng Zhao's response, Meng Jianqiu nodded. "Okay, I understand."

These merchants and scalpers sold Meng Zhao's products to various counties and prefectures, making Meng Ji Zhen Bao Ge's toiletries and skincare gift sets quickly popular. Meng Zhao also took the opportunity to launch many new products.

There are moisturizing face creams that make skin soft and supple, and whitening essences that make skin fair and radiant. Recently, they also launched a Snow Jade Skin Rejuvenating Cream that can repair scars. As soon as it was launched, it was highly sought after. It is said that it contains snow mountain white lotus. A small bottle costs three taels of silver. However, because of its good effect, it has always been in short supply.

With money in hand, Meng Zhao naturally wouldn't let himself suffer. He spent over a hundred taels of silver to buy a carriage for this trip, greatly shortening the travel time.

In less than half a month, they secured two franchise deals: one with Zhao Sanniang in Hongnong County and the other with Sun Kai in Huian County.

Because the two places are relatively close, the pork used is supplied by the pig farm in Dazhai Village, which also solves the problem of sales for her pig farm.

As the year drew to a close, Meng Zhao and Xu Yunrong sat down to tally the accounts. Xu Yunrong exclaimed in surprise, "I was shocked when I calculated it! The Treasure Pavilion's profits are truly astounding!"

According to their calculations, the Treasure Pavilion had only been open for half a year, yet its profits had already exceeded two thousand taels of silver, with nearly half of that coming from merchants who had visited in the last two months.

Those people buy things as if they don't care about money. Meng Zhao inquired privately and found out that a double-layered box that cost ten taels of silver could be sold for thirty taels in the capital. Even the single-layered boxes that were used as accompaniments could be sold for double the price without any trouble.

Meng Zhao himself felt a little guilty. Could these things really be worth so much money? Thinking of this, Meng Zhao sighed, "Business is too good. We don't have enough medicinal herbs on hand right now, so we can't produce that much stock. Otherwise, we wouldn't have closed down so early this year. After the New Year, I'll have to go out and explore the channels for these medicinal herbs."

In contrast to the braised pork shop which was open until the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, Zhenbaoge started giving its workers a holiday as soon as the 10th of the twelfth lunar month. Meng Zhao gave everyone, whether they were shop assistants or workshop workers, a generous New Year's gift. Knowing that everyone had worked hard during this period, he also gave them an extra month's wages as a year-end bonus.

Hearing her daughter say that she would go out again after the New Year, Xu Yunrong's face showed a trace of worry. "Daughter, there's no end to the money we can earn. Even if we do nothing now, the money we have is enough for us to live on for a lifetime. Why do we need to go out and run around?"

Meng Zhao put down the account book in her hand and looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Mother, what's wrong with you? Weren't you very supportive of me going out before?"

Xu Yunrong sighed, took her hand and said slowly, "Zhaozhao, I know you used to have feelings for Shen Qing'an, so I rarely mentioned it to you. But you'll be eighteen next year. In other families, you'd be considered an old maid. I'm worried about you. What kind of person do you want to find?"

Hearing Xu Yunrong bring it up again, Meng Zhao glanced at the account book in front of her, thought about the money in her hand, and finally said what she had always wanted to say, "Mother, I don't want to get married in the future!"

Hearing this, Xu Yunrong was shocked, as if the thing she had been worried about had finally come to an end. She asked in a trembling voice, "Are you still thinking about Shen Qing'an?"

Meng Zhao said helplessly, "Mother, to be honest, I don't even remember what Shen Qing'an looks like anymore."