Chapter 54 Opening a Shop and Making Money
Miss Zheng pointed to the perfume on the shelf and said, "It's this bottle; it looks very shabby."
Du Wanchun looked up and saw that they didn't have much money, so the bottle they bought this time was just an ordinary white porcelain one, which did look rather shabby.
Miss Zheng continued, "The perfumes my eldest brother bought from the capital are all in glass bottles."
Glass is indeed beautiful, with all sorts of colors, and many ladies and young women like it.
Du Wanchun hesitated for a moment, "We can only afford this porcelain vase right now, but if you like glass vases, Miss, you can bring your own glass vase over and we'll put the perfume in it for you."
Miss Zheng nodded. "That works too."
After saying that, he instructed the maid beside him, "Go and fetch my empty glass bottle."
"Yes, Miss." The maid turned to leave.
At this moment, Zhou Ruiyuan suddenly stood up and called out to them, "Wait a minute."
The maid stopped and turned to look at Miss Zheng.
Miss Zheng asked Zhou Ruiyuan, "May I ask what brings this young master here?"
Zhou Ruiyuan turned around and went to the shelf, picked up a pen from the table next to him, dipped it in the colored ink, and drew a lifelike butterfly on the bottle of perfume.
The butterfly flowers were painted so beautifully that they seemed to be alive, dancing gracefully on the white porcelain vase.
Miss Zheng was stunned. She quickly picked up the bottle of perfume and exclaimed with delight, "I'll take this bottle!"
Some young ladies from aristocratic families particularly love this kind of refined, scholarly stuff.
Zhou Ruiyuan then painted patterns on the other white porcelain bottles, including butterflies, lotus flowers, and crabapple blossoms.
Because the painting is so well done, it doesn't feel out of place at all; in fact, it's even more beautiful than the simple glass bottle.
Du Wanchun was stunned. She never expected that her husband was such a first-rate painter. If she had known this earlier, she would have sold his paintings instead.
Such an amazing painting could probably fetch a good price.
Aunt Zhou, Zhou Zhao, and Zhou Feng weren't too surprised; they just watched as Miss Zheng took out her money.
This bottle of perfume sold for a full ten taels of silver, meaning they made ten taels just by opening the store.
Before long, more people came to buy, but they were all from wealthy families like Miss Zheng's Second Family. Ordinary people probably wouldn't even dare to enter such a shop.
After looking at it for a long time, Aunt Zhou pulled Du Wanchun aside and said to her, "Wanchun, not everyone can afford such expensive perfume. I have a good idea."
“Mother, please speak,” Du Wanchun said slowly.
Aunt Zhou said slowly, "I found mint leaves and camphor trees on the mountain last time. Why don't we use these two things to make a fragrant dew that everyone can afford?"
"Mint leaves and camphor trees?" Du Wanchun asked, somewhat surprised.
Aunt Zhou nodded. "Both of these are medicinal herbs. If added to the perfume, it will not only have a pleasant aroma that refreshes the mind, but it will also have the effects of reducing swelling and relieving pain, as well as cooling and relieving itching. Who in an ordinary family doesn't get bitten by mosquitoes?"
There are many mosquitoes in the mountains, especially in summer, and you're bound to get bitten.
Du Wanchun thought it made a lot of sense.
Aunt Zhou continued, "Ordinary people wouldn't mind using a bottle, so we just use the most common small ceramic jars to store it and sell it for twenty or thirty coins."
“Mother, you’re right, let’s give it a try.” Du Wanchun nodded in agreement.
After agreeing on the plan, the two decided to pick mint leaves after returning to Changliu Village.
They stayed in the shop until the afternoon, and sold a total of five bottles of perfume, which, although not much, amounted to fifty taels.
Du Wanchun left Zhou Feng behind, and then went home with Aunt Zhou and Zhou Ruiyuan.
Unexpectedly, just as the group was about to leave, they bumped into Madam Li.
Madam Li brought her daughter-in-law Liu Lanzhi along to do some shopping.
Liu Lanzhi was carrying a bunch of things when she saw Du Wanchun and was completely stunned.
"Du Wanchun? What are you doing here?!"
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