With two shops selling goods, and Lu Lin occasionally researching and creating new bag styles, Huaxia Trading Company's business was doing reasonably well, and its income was relatively stable.
Lu Lin is still running the brewing business.
"Lu Lin, do you have a refrigerator where you live? You can keep ice even in the summer?"
"Yes, refrigerators have so many advantages."
"Can you make refrigerators?" Chen Xiaomi looked at Lu Lin with admiration.
Lu Lin: "..." Chen Xiaomi overestimated him. Although he had studied some circuit problems, it was all theoretical; he had forgotten it all after graduating from university. "I don't know."
Chen Xiaomi sighed and said, "What a pity."
Lu Lin chuckled awkwardly. In summer, you don't necessarily need a refrigerator to get something cold. There's a kind of saltpeter that can absorb a lot of heat when put into water, causing the water to freeze. However, he didn't know if saltpeter even existed in this world.
Chen Xiaomi rolled her eyes and said, "I heard that there is ice in the palace even in summer."
In this era, there were ways to use ice in the summer. The most common method was to build an ice cellar, which was mostly built underground. In winter, ice was stored in the ice cellar to block out light and heat. The ice in the ice cellar melted relatively slowly, and it could be taken out and used in the summer.
This method is wasteful of resources and manpower; apart from the imperial family and high-ranking officials in Kyoto, ordinary people cannot afford it.
If the ice cellar is not built well, the ice inside will melt easily. In the sweltering heat, if the ice is taken out to sell, it will melt in no time if it cannot be sold in time. Not only will you not make a profit, but you may also lose money.
Lu Lin rested his chin on his hand and said, "We shouldn't even dream about things that only the emperor can enjoy."
Chen Xiaomi pulled over a piece of cloth and said with some doubt, "You recently found some embroiderers in the village and embroidered some very strange things."
Lu Lin shook his head and said, "It's not what you think. I just feel that selling only schoolbags in the store is a bit monotonous, so I want to sell fans too."
A while ago, many people from the village came to ask him if he still needed embroiderers. Business at the shop was so-so, and he already had enough embroiderers. Replacing them without a reason would definitely cause dissatisfaction among the original employees. Besides, Lu Lin didn't want to replace them.
“We’re all from the same village, so if we refuse too bluntly, we might offend people. Lu Lin said that he’s going to buy some exquisite embroidery recently. If anyone in the village has embroidered anything, they can bring it to the shop to sell, and he’ll give them a fair price.”
"A fan made of cloth?"
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Yes!" The fans here are mainly divided into two types: one is the banana leaf fan used by poor people, and the other is the paper fan.
Banana leaf fans are very cheap; you can buy one for just five coins. Paper fans, on the other hand, are much more expensive. Some cost a dozen coins, while others can cost tens or even hundreds of taels of silver, depending entirely on the craftsmanship of the fan and who wrote the inscription on it.
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Yes, I want to make round fans, and paper fans made of cloth. Plain-colored fans are always missing something. It would be better if they had some embroidered patterns as decoration."
The fans used by noble ladies were mostly paper fans; it seems that no one in this era had yet come up with the idea of a round fan.
The weather has been getting hotter lately, and if he can manage to make something out of it, he should be able to make a fortune.
Many of the embroiderers in the village learned embroidery from a young age, but many of them weren't very skilled. Lu Lin drew some patterns for them to embroider, and many of the embroiderers did a great job.
"Speaking of which, I encountered a strange woman a few days ago," Lu Lin said.
Chen Xiaomi glanced at Lu Lin and asked, "Who is it?"
Lu Lin shook his head and said, "She looks familiar. She's chubby and quite arrogant. As soon as she came over, she said that her skills were good and that I should fire Granny Shen, saying that Granny Shen's eyesight was failing and she wasn't suitable for this kind of work, and that she could do a better job."
"You turned it down."
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Of course. He originally hired Granny Shen not only because he valued her skills, but also because of her character. However, after I declined, the woman said that I was not giving her face, and that not giving her face meant not giving her any respect."
Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, "It's probably the village head's sister. The village head has a sister who likes to take advantage of him by using his name. However, the village head seems to take good care of her."
Knowing the other party's relationship with the village head, Lu Lin didn't care much. Since he no longer worked in the village, the village head naturally couldn't control him.
In fact, Lu Lin had never had a very good impression of the village head. In the original owner's memories, his father was reluctant to serve in the military. The village head had even tried to persuade his father to prioritize the overall situation and not to be disobedient and unfilial. He also said that Lu Chengyu would be very successful and that his fuss would affect Lu Chengyu's studies. If Lu Chengyu achieved academic success, their family could also benefit from it.
In Lu Lin's view, the village headman, though seemingly concerned for the villagers, was just a self-righteous fellow.
Lu Lin announced that he wanted embroidery, so the villagers came to collect the materials and went back to make it.
Since the people came from the village, Lu Lin felt embarrassed to collect a deposit. However, he registered them all. People who had received the items once were required to bring the embroidery with them when they came to collect them a second time. Otherwise, he would not provide the materials again.
Most of the villagers are quite honest and wouldn't do anything to take advantage of the situation, but Lu Lin still has to be wary of anyone trying to take advantage of the situation.
Soon, various embroidered items were delivered to Lu Lin one after another, and Lu Lin paid the money as promised.
Chen Xiaomi has been making fans lately.
The fan ribs and cloth were prepared by others, and Chen Xiaomi was mainly responsible for the final bonding step. Lu Lin noticed that Chen Xiaomi's hands seemed quite skillful.
The bonding between the fan surface and the fan ribs is exquisitely done.
Lu Lin recently ordered a lot of fan ribs, and the fan surfaces are almost finished. However, most people who make fan surfaces don't know what the fabric they make is for. Most people think that the fabric they make is for making bags, since Huaxia Trading Company launches a new type of bag from time to time.
After stockpiling a batch of round fans, Lu Lin released another batch one day, priced at two hundred coins each.
The shops of Huaxia Trading Company are often frequented by wealthy ladies who stroll around. The appearance of round fans immediately sparks a craze for them.
The schoolbags were mainly aimed at students in college, while the round fans were aimed at women. The exquisitely crafted round fans attracted many wealthy women, some of whom bought dozens at a time.
Round fans are a novelty, and giving one as a gift is quite prestigious.
"This is mine."
"I was here first."
"I said I wanted to buy it."
Chen Xiaocai and Shen Chi were astonished by the two young ladies fighting over the fan. Shen Chi really didn't understand. If there was only one fan left in the shop, it would be understandable for the two to fight. But there were clearly seven folding fans left in the shop, yet these two young ladies insisted on buying them all.
"Young shopkeeper, what do you suggest?" The two young ladies were at a loss, so they turned their attention to Chen Xiaocai. Chen Xiaocai said with some difficulty, "How about you each buy half?"
"I saw it first, why should I give her half?"
"Didn't you see I was picking? I picked first, you have to wait until I'm done before you pick."
Chen Xiaocai remembered what Lu Lin had said: the more people buy something, the more they want to buy it. The young lady in green who came earlier was picking out fans one by one, seemingly undecided on which one to buy. But when the young lady in purple came in and said she wanted to buy them all, the young lady in green couldn't hold back and also said she wanted to buy them all.
The two women seemed to know each other, and they appeared to be at odds as soon as they met.
Chen Xiaocai asked Chen Chi to fetch a batch of newly made round fans from the backyard before sending the two away, as there wouldn't be any left for anyone else to buy them.
Chen Xiaocai said somewhat strangely, "I didn't expect fans to be so popular."
Chen Chi nodded and said, "Yes!"
In Shen Chi's opinion, the banana leaf fan was more cost-effective. It cost five copper coins and had a strong wind. After dinner, the villagers liked to take a big palm leaf fan and sit in the courtyard chatting.
The round fans in the shop cost two hundred coins even for ordinary ones, which is really ripping people off. However, it seems that many rich ladies and young women like young masters and gentlemen, and quite a few come to the shop to buy them to please their sweethearts and elders at home.
After the store started selling round fans, the business of school bags also boomed, and many people came to buy them.
Chen Xiaocai is often too busy to handle everything on her own, but with Chen Xiaomi's help, she can keep things running smoothly.
Exquisitely crafted round fans quickly became synonymous with elegance in the eyes of the wealthy ladies of Lin Town.
Lu Lin also took a batch of round fans to Liuzhen to sell, and the business was booming.
The Lu family.
Lin Xiuer looked at the round fan in Li Fangyue's hand and said unhappily, "We're almost starving at home, and you still buy this pretty but useless thing, niece-in-law."
Li Fangyue, holding the folding fan, said, "Aunt, I didn't buy this fan. My sister gave it to me. The registrar gave my sister several fans, and she gave me this one."
A few days ago, Lin Xiuer visited the registrar's house and was immediately attracted by the large mansion of the registrar's family.
Lin Xiuer discovered that everything the clerk's family ate and wore was of the highest quality, and even the maids looked presentable.
Looking at herself, she had a lot of troubles at home, and her life was worse than a maid's. Lin Xiuer smiled and said, "Since your sister has extras, why don't you ask her to give you a few more? You two are sisters, and the old lady in the family doesn't even have any."
"Auntie, you're too kind. This fan is very valuable, and I wouldn't dare accept more than it!"
"Your sister isn't a stranger, what's wrong with her asking for more?"
Lin Xiuer stroked the fan in her hand. She could tell that the old lady liked her fan, but she only had one and couldn't bear to give it to that old hag.
Lin Xiuer looked at the fan in Li Fangyue's hand and felt a little envious.
As far as Li Fangyue knew, this fan was also produced by the Huaxia Trading Company, selling for two hundred coins apiece—it was practically robbery! However, quite a few people were buying it. The wealthy landowners in town, with money to burn, would buy several at a time.
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