People in this era are still very innocent; even if they want to buy something they like, they don't have many tricks up their sleeves.

Unlike in later generations, people wouldn't have to nitpick about your product before buying it.

Many people didn't even eat and rushed home.

Zhao Youcai's words seemed to have wings, and they reached every household in less than an hour.

During their lunch break, Zhao Youcai's eldest and fourth daughters-in-law went home to tidy up the house and wash the dirty clothes.

When they saw Zhao Youcai pushing a cart full of cloth back, they were so shocked that they didn't know what to say.

Zhao Youcai tidied up the cloth, then smiled and beckoned them to his room, pointing to the cloth piled up on half of the kang (a heated brick bed).

“Eldest daughter-in-law, pick out a few bolts of cloth and find some time to make two sets of clothes for everyone in the family. I won’t let you do it for nothing; I’ll give you eight cents for each set of clothes.”

Hearing Zhao Youcai's words, the eldest daughter-in-law was shocked again.

What's wrong with my father-in-law?

Possessed?

They used to be very stingy, with one person in charge of the family finances, and they would never give them any benefits for free.

Today, not only did he suddenly bring back a truckload of fabric, but he also asked me to make two sets of clothes for my family and gave me a reward for my hard work.

Now she was starting to doubt if she had misheard.

"What's wrong? Don't you want the clothes and money?"

Zhao Youcai glared at him, pretending to be angry.

The moment he saw his eldest daughter-in-law's expression, he knew it was because of the original owner's terrible personality and stinginess towards her family that his behavior today had stunned her.

However, these are all minor issues. After all, living conditions were poor in the past, but now that life has improved, it's normal to make some changes, right?

If you really can't fool them, just say you were upset by the youngest child and that you've come to terms with it.

Anyway, if anything happens, just push it onto that ungrateful youngest brother, and you're sure to succeed.

"No, no, no, Father, that's not what I meant." The eldest daughter-in-law hurriedly shook her head like a rattle drum.

"I never expected Dad to be so good to our family. You used to..."

Before the eldest daughter-in-law could finish speaking, Zhao Youcai rolled his eyes and waved his hand to interrupt, "Go away, go away, quickly take away the cloth you need."

"Okay, Dad, I'll definitely make two beautiful new outfits for everyone in our family!"

The eldest daughter-in-law happily picked and chose for a while, then walked away with the cloth in her arms, her steps light and quick.

The fourth daughter-in-law looked at Zhao Youcai, waiting for him to speak.

She had assumed it would be her turn after her sister-in-law finished choosing, but when Zhao Youcai spoke again, it wasn't about her picking out fabric to make clothes, but rather—

"Tonight, most of the villagers will probably come to our house to buy cloth. Your grandfather was the accountant in the next village when he was alive, so you should be good at math. Tonight, you'll be in charge of selling the cloth and collecting the money. After we sell all the cloth tonight, I'll give you a cut."

The fourth daughter-in-law's eyes widened instantly, completely stunned.

What does this mean?

Give her a cut?

Is this a way to make money while sitting at home?

The fourth daughter-in-law quickly waved her hand in refusal, saying, "I can't, I really can't!"

Zhao Youcai's face hardened. "It has to be done, whether you like it or not. Can you really watch your father-in-law, an old man like me, argue with a bunch of old women?"

The fourth daughter-in-law seemed a little embarrassed and stammered:

"Then I'll help you sell the fabric, and you don't need to take a cut. I'm just helping out, how could I..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Youcai raised his hand to interrupt him.

Zhao Youcai deliberately pulled a long face, his displeasure written all over his face.

"If you don't want to help this old man, you can just say so directly. There's no need to beat around the bush and make excuses to refuse."

Upon hearing her father-in-law's words, the fourth daughter-in-law waved her hands even faster, the effect being as if she had installed a small electric motor, her hand shaking so fast it was almost blurry.

If their hands hadn't been separated, Zhao Youcai would have thought his fourth daughter-in-law was impromptu performing a flower-hand gesture for him.

"I'll sell! I'll definitely sell! Dad, don't be angry, I'll do whatever you say."

Zhao Youcai was finally satisfied.

If it weren't for the need to win over the hearts of this whole family of exceptional people one by one, he wouldn't be willing to give up the profits!

The reason for choosing the fourth daughter-in-law was that, among this large family, she was the most suitable to serve as a role model.

Only when the fourth brother and his wife are doing well, better off than their other brothers, will they make changes for their own families.

Being constantly lectured and urged to improve is certainly not as effective as them taking the initiative to repent and correct their mistakes.

Furthermore, these people are used to being unruly, so it's unrealistic to expect them to suddenly change their mindset.

Let them bow down to you for money first, and then gradually change them after they get used to bowing down.

By then, Zhao Youcai's business will be booming, and his children will be increasingly filial and capable. He can then finally live a carefree and leisurely life as an old man.

I still need to worry about things for a while in order to have a happy retirement.

Zhao Youcai asked both of his daughters-in-law to inform the village that they should both take half a day off today, and then told his eldest daughter-in-law to hurry up and make new clothes.

He left his fourth daughter-in-law to help sort the fabrics, classifying them by color and quantity, and prepared a table, ruler, and scissors for cutting when selling the fabrics later.

Finally, the prices of these fabrics were determined according to their quality, with each foot of fabric priced two cents lower than the normal supply and marketing cooperative price.

It's not fair to say Zhao Youcai is heartless; after all, giving away two cents is already quite a lot.

First of all, you don't need cloth coupons to buy cloth from Zhao Youcai; you can save the work points you earn at work to exchange for other coupons. Also, the supply and marketing cooperative doesn't have much cloth in stock these days, so even with cloth coupons, you might not be able to buy cloth.

It's something that money can't buy, and Zhao Youcai not raising the price is already a special favor. How can they be picky?

As for how much Zhao Youcai paid for the cloth at the textile factory, who would know unless Zhao Youcai said so?

Some people in the village knew someone who worked at a textile factory, and even with an insider price, they could buy three or five bolts of cloth for several times the price Zhao Youcai paid.

After all, Zhao Youcai negotiated this deal with Director Ma of the textile factory, and the price had already been pushed down as low as it could go.

Liang Dayang, the purchasing director of the textile factory, set the price for Zhao Youcai's defective cloth at 17 cents per foot, but Factory Manager Ma took the initiative to lower the price to 15 cents per foot.

It's fair to say that the textile factory couldn't even recoup 10% of its profit; it essentially gave it away to Zhao Youcai at cost price.

The two cents that Zhao Youcai lowered the selling price of the goods were essentially recouped from the purchase price.

With this back and forth, Zhao Youcai's net profit will be higher than everyone else's; even the sales elites in the textile factory won't earn a higher unit price.

Not to mention that Zhao Youcai also mixed in high-quality, zero-cost fabric from Happy Town, making the price only higher and never lower, so he made a profit no matter how much he sold.

After a busy afternoon, it was finally time for all the villagers of Zhaojiagou to finish work.