But the situation was different this time. As time went by, starch became known to more people and was no longer a rare commodity. So the two of them simply set up a stall in the county to sell starch for forty coins a pound, which was cheaper than the price at the grain store.
Some individual investors who need it will see it and buy some. Originally, if they were just doing it on a small scale, they could make some starch, try to sell it, and make some money to barely make a living.
The problem was that Liu Laisheng had confidently boasted that he would buy the village's potatoes for three copper coins a pound, and he had even fooled the villagers into not selling their potatoes to Meng Zhao, but instead saving them for him.
This meant that Liu Laisheng had no way to produce and sell small quantities of starch, but there weren't enough individual farmers in the county to buy starch.
So he simply gave up on sitting at his stall and waiting for customers to come to him, and went directly to the entrance of the grain store to specifically target those who came out of the grain store with starch and try to sell it to them.
In fact, Meng Zhao never felt that Liu Laisheng and Zhu Lihua posed any threat to him from the beginning.
After all, she had signed a long-term contract with Xiao Youzhi, and she had been running the starch workshop for so long that she was very skilled in the entire production process. She had her own methods for controlling costs, stabilizing quality, and reducing processes, which were not easily matched by others.
The reason she had Gu Changwu keep an eye on Liu Laisheng and his group was purely out of curiosity. She wanted to see how Xiao's Grain Store would react if such a competitor appeared.
As a result, the letter arrived today. Liu Laisheng did make some money using this method, but recently, for some reason, he was led astray by someone and developed a gambling habit. Not only did he lose all his money, but he also had his arm broken.
Meng Zhao couldn't help but wonder if the timing was a bit too coincidental.
Liu Laisheng was a man of mediocre character, with weak moral values and not very shrewd. Although he accidentally seized the opportunity in the starch business, he ultimately failed to hold onto his wealth.
Ultimately, it was because he acted too rashly and lacked comprehensive planning and long-term vision.
Meng Zhao learned a lot from this incident and will try to avoid making the same mistakes in the future.
In the letter, Gu Changwu asked him how to deal with the other villagers in Shagang Village.
At the time, Liu Laisheng didn't have enough money, and he bought many potatoes from the village on credit. The money he finally earned was thrown away in the gambling den. He lost all the money in his house and still didn't have enough, so the villagers went to his partner Zhu Lihua to ask for money.
When Zhu Lihua learned of this, she was furious and rushed to Liu Laisheng to make a scene.
Although she didn't invest any money, making starch every day was very hard work. The people who entered the workshop with her were now earning one or two taels of silver a month, but she had worked so hard and hadn't seen any money. Now, she was even being chased for debt.
So Zhu Lihua started going to the Liu family every day to cause trouble, wanting to get an explanation.
In response to Gu Changwu's question, Meng Zhao replied, "Since we said we wouldn't buy potatoes from Shagang Village anymore, we should stick to it. People have to be responsible for their decisions."
After hearing about Liu Laisheng's fate, Meng Zhao became even more concerned about Xiao Youzhi's ten gift boxes.
Given the high price, the products inside naturally cannot be too simple. Meng Zhao decided to take a two-pronged approach: upgrading the packaging on the one hand, and enriching the product range on the other.
Meng Zhao has only one goal when it comes to packaging: to over-package as much as possible.
She spared no expense in hiring the best carving master in the county to carve the boxes. Each gift box had a different design, such as Five Blessings Surrounding Longevity, Abundant Wealth and Prosperity, and Flowers in Full Bloom.
The processing cost for each gift box exceeded 500 coins, which is enough for an average farming family's living expenses for a month!
The gift box has two layers. The bottom layer contains a toothbrush with a cow bone handle, a bottle of toothpaste, a shampoo and conditioner set, and a set of four-color soaps.
The top layer contains several skincare products. Recently, it's summer, and Meng Zhao seized the opportunity to purchase a large quantity of lotus flowers, repeatedly distilling and purifying them into Summer Lotus Hydrosol. It's low-cost and has a good moisturizing effect, so one bottle can be placed in each gift box.
In addition, Meng Zhao searched through pharmacies and bought several medicinal herbs, including Atractylodes macrocephala, Angelica dahurica, Bletilla striata, Poria cocos, Paeonia lactiflora, Ampelopsis japonica, and pearl powder. He ground them all into powder and then sifted them again, keeping only the finest part.
After dinner, everyone went back to their rooms. Meng Zhao sat at the table, took two spoonfuls of Qizi Baifen (a traditional Chinese medicine powder), added a little water and honey, stirred it into a paste, and then applied it to her face.
While applying a face mask and reading a book, about fifteen minutes later, Meng Zhao prepared to go out to fetch water to wash her face. However, as soon as she stepped out the door, she encountered Shen Qingze coming out of the house.
By this time, it was already dark, and Meng Zhao was dressed in white. Shen Qingze suddenly saw a faceless person and was so frightened that he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Ahhh! There's a ghost!"
Meng Zhao was startled by his sudden shout and quickly covered his mouth, saying, "Qingze, stop shouting, it's me."
Upon hearing that familiar voice, Shen Qingze cautiously opened his mouth and asked, "Sister-in-law? Sister-in-law?"
Seeing Meng Zhao nod in confirmation, Shen Qingze finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But the shouting had woken everyone else up, and they all came out to check what was going on. They were shocked to see a woman in white squatting on the ground covering Shen Qingze's mouth.
Shen Qingze was the one who reacted first, reaching out to pull Meng Zhao's hand away and saying to everyone, "No, it's alright, it's your sister-in-law."
Now that everyone could see Meng Zhao's situation clearly, Madam Gu breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Zhao Zhao, what are you doing?"
Meng Zhao explained with a smile, "This is a face mask I just made. I thought I'd try it out myself first, but I didn't expect it to scare you all."
Then, Meng Zhao had a sudden inspiration and said, "But since you're all out now, let's make sure none of you escape. Let's try it on each of you and see how it goes."
Everyone had gotten used to it. Meng Zhao would occasionally bring out some new things, and they were all very cooperative in acting as guinea pigs. They each brought out chairs and sat in the courtyard, waiting for Meng Zhao to teach them how to use them.
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