Chapter 117 Takeaways, Flyers, and Contact Books (Part 2)
That label press looks really nice.
The machine was made of brass, and although it was secondhand, it looked new and shiny. The printing area had a flat surface that could hold various types of paper. Above the surface was a rotating slot with gears that adjusted the size, allowing for various sizes of engraved blocks to be inserted.
After filling in the engraving, determining the position, and applying ink, press the wrench next to it hard, and the slot will be snapped down, printing text and patterns on the paper.
Next to it is a row of number rollers mounted on removable metal rods. There are fifteen of them, each engraved with numbers from 0 to 9, plus a blank side. When you need to print numbers, just adjust the rollers and you can print progressive page numbers as you like. It's really convenient.
"Don't think this thing is expensive. This machine comes with a set of cork movable type engravings." Jinx took out a box and opened it for Jiangyou to see. Inside was filled with rows of small wooden blocks. "It contains a total of thirty characters and all punctuation marks, numbers and blank placeholders. The number of each character is based on the frequency of use. The number of characters that are easily used is large, and the number of less commonly used characters is small.
Normally, this is more than enough to create a full page of labels... If that's not enough, I have extra blank cork here. You can carve it yourself, or you can buy additional parts from me. If you need a separate engraving, you can always contact me. I can carve any text or pictures.
Jiangyou took the cork movable type carving block, took out one and looked at it. This kind of cork was moderately hard and soft, with a little elasticity, and felt very easy to carve. It was really similar to the rubber stamps she played with in her previous life.
There was a large box of blank cork blocks. Blocks without inscriptions weren't worth much, so Jinx generously provided a good number. "Feel free to play with these. Although cork blocks are relatively soft, a single character can normally be printed on 50,000 to 60,000 pages before wearing out. With gentle use and careful care, it can last up to 100,000 pages. Be careful to prevent moth damage, clean out the ink after use, and avoid storing in excessively humid, dry, or hot environments. These will effectively extend its lifespan."
Jiangyou silently calculated that even if improper maintenance only allowed her to print 50,000 labels, those 50,000 bottles of soy sauce would still earn her 500 gold coins. The cost of replacing a few character engravings would definitely be more cost-effective than having Jinx print labels every time. Aunt Wolf's magic was certainly useful, but if soy sauce production continued to increase, mechanized printing would be more convenient!
Oh, and there’s also an exorcism magic circle on the back of the label.
She thought for a moment and said, "I also want to order a carving of a magic circle."
Jinx nodded. "Okay. Do you want cork or brass?"
"Let's make this out of brass." A magic circle to exorcise spirits must be printed on the back of each label, so it must naturally be more durable.
Jinx had given him some ink and paper, but Takumi still felt it wasn't enough, so he bought some extra paper suitable for printing soy sauce bottle labels and some for printing books. These papers were unused and had no serial numbers, so Takumi could use them as he pleased. There were two types of ink: one was a magical ink for printing numbers and establishing connections, and the other was a printing ink.
For printing ink, Jiangyou chose the common colors of black, red, orange, green and brown, which just correspond to her several types of soy sauce.
She kept shopping and cleared out most of the inventory on Jinx's stall in one go. Jinx was all smiles and gave the saved shipping fees to Jiangyou as a discount as agreed, which saved him a full silver coin, just enough for Jiangyou to buy an extra simple binding machine.
This binding machine is very simple. On one side is a shear that can neatly trim the edges of paper pages, and on the other side is a device for punching holes in books and notebooks and automatically nailing in string. The operation is also very simple, just press or rotate the handle.
The printing press cost two gold coins, the menu cost three silver coins, the ink and paper cost two silver coins after discount, and the bindery cost one silver coin after discount... all these things cost Jiang You two gold coins and six silver coins. Jiang You couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "Money is really hard to spend!"
But this was a necessary investment to continue expanding production. Since they had to buy the equipment anyway, they might as well take advantage of the discount sale. While Takuyu still had to put in some effort to transport it back to the brewery, with the powerful Andrei and Diego on board, it wouldn't cost a penny.
I think the investor who is also short of money will be very happy to help her transport the filling machine, printing machine and binding machine back to the workshop in order to get dividends.
——The value of investors is still increasing today.
Jinx agreed to help Jiangyou transport the items to her rented warehouse, a distance that wouldn't require additional shipping fees. The dwarf called out to his companions for assistance. Meili left with the warehouse key, while Lolisa and Jiangyou continued shopping for other supplies needed for the shop.
They quickly bought all the seasonings except the maltose, and also found casseroles, buying a total of twenty. These things were not expensive, costing only three copper coins in total. As for the maltose, Lorisa knew how to make it herself, and her family had extra sugar, so there was no need to buy extra.
The next step is decoration.
Uncle Eric, the bricklayer, was easy to find; his shop was just north of the commune, next to the small earthen kiln where old Essac, who made pottery, worked. His yard was filled with red bricks, probably also from that small kiln.
Uncle Eric was a middle-aged man with brown hair and a muscular body. When Jiangyou and the others came, they saw him chopping wood in the yard. His muscles bulged and sweat danced, and he was obviously very hardworking.
"Uncle! Come on!" Lolita called out sweetly, "Can you help us decorate the store?"
Uncle Eric put down his axe, wiped the sweat from his brow, and smiled brightly: "Of course! Where is the store?"
A moment later, several people came to the cafeteria and began to study the small storage room.
"Our plan is to knock down half of this wall and make a window that can be opened. When we open the shop, we only need to open the window." Jiang You gestured, "We'll put our stove here, build a few cabinets over here, and we'll also need a row of cabinets and workbenches in the back. In the innermost space, we'll make some shelves, which we can use to store soy sauce..."
The small storage room wasn't large, but since the cafeteria tables and chairs were used as the dining area, customers didn't need to enter the shop. This small shop was completely owned by Lolisa and Meili. Therefore, all they needed to do was arrange the shelves for storing goods, cabinets for preparing and storing ingredients, and workstations for the little witches. The renovation wasn't difficult.
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