Chapter 181: Visiting Lolisa
As the owner of the brewing workshop, Jiang You, after confirming that the existing staff could maintain normal operations, focused most of her energy on brewing soy sauce and fermented black beans and preparing for the private cooking mission. With ten gold coins on the line, she had to ensure that the private cooking mission was foolproof while also ensuring that the store was well stocked.
After all, the journey is long, and it takes a lot of time to go to Melori City and back. In addition to the private chef mission itself, Jiangyou estimates that she will need to be away for at least three or four days.
Traveling in this era was difficult. Although there was magic, teleporting from one place to another in an instant was still as difficult as opening a wormhole with bare hands. Only great magicians, great alchemists, or certain fantasy races could accomplish this difficult and energy-intensive feat. If most people wanted to travel, they either had to walk on their own or purchase livestock.
Cows, horses, donkeys, and mules are often the most common choices for ordinary people - oh, don't get me wrong, the "common" here means that even if ordinary people sell all their money and scrape together enough silver, they generally only have these few purchasing options, and not everyone can own such a livestock for transportation.
In fact, buying livestock in ancient times was no less costly than buying a house today: it was like a down payment, while the subsequent daily rations and medical expenses in case of illness were the long-term mortgage payments. Most people could scrape together the money to buy livestock, but not necessarily the subsequent costs of raising them.
Even a nobleman like Andrei, who came from a noble family, had to worry about every nickel to raise a heavy draft horse like Diego, not to mention the common people who already had a difficult life.
Most businesses that could afford to buy livestock were those with a real need. For example, Uncle Wolf and the Dwarf Printer had carriages to transport goods. In this case, these livestock became a means of making money, and the profits were basically enough to cover the cost of raising them.
In this way, even if the king and nobles did not prohibit people from traveling, and no passes were needed between cities and territories, the vast majority of ordinary people in this era, unless they were extremely lucky or extremely unlucky, would hardly leave their homes from birth to death.
Without livestock, even if the king built thoroughfares between cities, people simply didn't want to explore every inch of land on foot. This was especially true for farmers who rented land from nobles, who would cling to it for generations. They would spend their days traveling back and forth between home and farmland. Even if they needed to buy something urgently, they would only go to a market or town that could be reached within a day.
Shoes and food cost money, and every day away from home was a day spent going out without coming in. As for traveling and studying, those were things only the upper class or immortal races could consider.
According to the pirate sister, she would send a carriage to the brewing workshop to pick up Jiangyou on the afternoon before the dinner, but Jiangyou already had a lot of luggage including ingredients, pots, etc. After thinking about it, she felt that she had to bring Diego along.
So, Jiangyou explained in a letter that he wanted to bring helpers with him in a reasonable and logical manner, and Yadra replied with a slightly hesitant acknowledgement of this.
Before Jiangyou set off, Lolisa also hired a carriage from the Witch Forest and made a special trip to the main store.
She came to deliver dividends and food to Jiangyou, and by the way, she also wanted to transport back a batch of newly brewed soy sauce and fermented black beans... Xiaoniangao needs soul fire energy supply every time he flies, and the amount of goods he can carry is also very limited. It is okay to transport some goods in an emergency, but large-scale transportation still has to rely on carriages.
Of course, the cost of transportation and damage - for example, the glass bottle accidentally broke during transportation - had long been included in the slightly higher selling price of the branch store, so Jiangyou and Lolisa would not lose money.
Customers usually go to the store closest to them to buy. Although the price of soy sauce at a branch store is higher, it is generally cheaper than hiring a car to go to the main store.
The takeaway food from both shops is also exclusively for the local area. However, if the customers are really willing to travel thousands of miles to come in person or send their own ravens or servants to pick up the takeaway food, Jiangyou doesn't mind. After all, the transportation expenses are still borne by the customers themselves. In her previous life, she had heard many times that rich people took flights to the place of origin to eat, drink and shop.
As for the scalpers who buy soy sauce at a low price in the main store and then sell it elsewhere, Jiangyou hasn't spotted them yet, but even if she did, she wouldn't interfere too much... After all, whether they are normal customers or scalpers, they all have to buy from her. As for whether the customers buy soy sauce to use themselves or resell it, that is not something she can control.
Furthermore, once the tinplate lid of a soy sauce bottle is opened, it cannot be restored, making it very easy to identify. If someone buys a used, opened soy sauce bottle from a scalper, they do so at their own risk.
The branch's main business was with residents near the Witch Forest, primarily serving meals and supplemented by sauces. Despite being newly opened, the dividends from Lolisa were quite generous.
——This is the remaining part after Jiangyou used part of the money to buy millet, wheat, witch beer and other special products of the Witch Forest. It can be seen that the branch’s business is booming.
"Everyone loves our dishes!" Lolita said with a smile. "We've reached an agreement with Cook Jasmine that a portion of each day will be made with excess, no-cost ingredients from the cafeteria. These dishes are sold to the villagers without charging the cost of the ingredients. We can keep the price very low, but we don't have to worry about the labor, and they sell very well, so we're definitely making a profit! The villagers are happy, and the cafeteria's ingredients won't be wasted. We've made money and gained fame, and everyone is very happy!"
"That's really great~" Jiangyou's eyes sparkled, she knew that the little witches would find the business path that suited them best.
Lorisa also took out a tank of fish and a tank of crayfish from the carriage. "The beavers brought these this morning, so I brought them along. The crayfish population has plummeted recently, so the beavers are having a much easier time. But Meili is worried about what we'll cook after the crayfish are gone... Maybe, Ayou, you could teach us some fish dishes? We have plenty of delicious fish in our lakes and rivers!"
"This is easy~!" Jiang You took out her newly brewed fermented black beans, "Stay for lunch at noon, I'll teach you how to make a casserole of fish belly with fermented black beans~"
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