By the time the oldest children of the Jiang family reached the age to take the college entrance examination, it was only the 1980s. The quality of college students was still very high. If they could be admitted to a university, their future prospects would definitely be bright.
Several sisters-in-law immediately became concerned, "Is this true? Can I get into college?"
Jiang Manyue nodded. "They are all university teachers in Beijing, so they must be well-informed. They all said that the college entrance examination will definitely be resumed. By the time our children reach college entrance examination age, it will have been resumed long ago."
Sister-in-law Lin Qiufang and others immediately became interested. If their children could really be successful and get admitted to university, it would be a great thing that would bring honor to the family.
"After listening to what Teacher Zhang and the others said, I thought, 'We have to start a business to make money, otherwise how can we support so many children in school?'"
Miao Xianghua nodded immediately. "That's right. We're lucky to have enough food to eat with the few work points we earn from the land. With so many children going to school, we have to have a way to make money."
Jiang Manyue simply said, "How about this, Mom? Since it's the off-season now, you can ask my brother and sister-in-law to go with me to the county town to see if there's a suitable shop. If we can rent it, we'll rent it and try to start business after the New Year."
Isn't this a simple matter? Since they were all idle at home anyway, Miao Xianghua immediately sent his sons and daughters-in-law out to go shopping with Jiang Manyue. Except for the fourth and fifth daughters-in-law who had to breastfeed, everyone was willing to go.
Jiang Manyue didn't let so many people go, so the whole family went out like a tour group.
Anyway, it's not just once. Today the eldest and second brothers will follow, and tomorrow the third and fourth brothers will follow. Everyone will take a turn.
For this purpose, Miao Xianghua specially asked the team leader to borrow his bicycle and let Jiang Manyue sit on the back so that they don’t have to walk and shopping is not tiring.
In the days before the New Year, Jiang Manyue and her brother and sister-in-law wandered around the county town for several times. Finally, she turned her attention to the area with the most factories.
After returning home, Jiang Manyue drew a map and prepared to analyze it for the whole family.
"Look, Mom, this is where our county has the most factories. I think it would be a great place to open a store."
Jiang Manyue pointed at the map and talked attentively, "There are many workers in the factory, and many of them don't have time to make breakfast in the morning. Even if there is a cafeteria, they have been eating there for many years. If we open a breakfast shop nearby with good quality and low prices, it will definitely be popular."
At this time, my second sister-in-law, Zhao Yanling, raised her hand and said, "If we open a breakfast shop, what should we sell?"
Jiang Manyue said confidently, "We're mainly doing business with workers, so it's best to make things that can be taken away. We have to have traditional things like steamed buns, steamed bread, and flatbreads. I've tried something called egg-filled pancakes in Beijing, and I think they're delicious. We can sell them in our store, too."
Miao Xianghua had another question to ask, "What is an egg-filled pancake?"
Jiang Manyue patiently explained, "First, put the dough on a flat pan and fry it. When it's almost cooked, pour the egg into the dough, brush it with sauce, roll it with vegetable leaves and other vegetables, and you can eat it."
This thing sounds quite novel. Anyway, they don’t eat it this way here, so Miao Xianghua can’t help but want to try it.
"This egg-filled pancake tastes good and isn't difficult to make. Most importantly, it's a novelty here. It's nutritious and filling for breakfast. Workers have high wages, so they can afford to spend the money on it."
The whole family nodded in agreement with what Jiang Manyue said. This dish had eggs, pancakes, and rolled vegetables, so it must be nutritious. Workers had high wages, so only they would be willing to spend money on this.
"We have a lot of people at home, so we can also sell lunch. For lunch, we sell boxed lunches. For example, for 30 cents, you can buy a meat dish, two vegetable dishes, and a serving of rice. I'm just giving an example. The price will depend on the cost. Anyway, we sell breakfast in the morning and boxed lunches at noon."
This idea was unanimously agreed by the whole family. Since there were many people at home, selling more lunches would help them earn more money.
"We don't have to worry about the vegetables for our boxed lunches. We have a large private plot at home, and your mother-in-law's family has her own plot too. If we grow more vegetables, we can save money on food!"
Miao Xianghua was a quick thinker. He quickly realized that if he sold boxed lunches, the vegetables could be grown from his own vegetable garden, which would reduce costs a lot.
"Mom is right. The cost of selling our lunch boxes won't be very high. We don't need to sell vegetables, so we just need to buy meat. However, since we use a lot, we can negotiate the price directly with the supply and marketing cooperative. The wholesale price will definitely be lower than the retail price."
The whole family nodded as they listened, thinking that it would definitely be a good idea to follow the younger sister in doing business.
"As for the tailor shop, I've also done some observations. I think it's most reliable to open it here."
Jiang Manyue pointed to the most prosperous area in the county, where there are cinemas and department stores. Young girls come here for shopping.
"We'll open a tailor shop here, specializing in making clothes for young girls, according to the picture in that magazine. I can also send you new patterns from the capital. Make them according to that pattern, it will be the most fashionable."
Second sister-in-law Zhao Yanling and third sister-in-law Zhang Chunhong are experts in this area. They became excited when they heard this.
"That's great! Beijing is a big city. What's popular there is definitely the most fashionable here."
"Then our tailor shop is the first of its kind. Who else can be as fashionable as ours?"
Jiang Manyue also wanted to encourage her second and third sisters-in-law to go to Shanghai to take a look. After all, when it comes to fashion trends in this era, they have to look at Shanghai.
"Second sister-in-law and third sister-in-law, I think if you really want to do this business, you should go to Shanghai to learn. It's the most fashionable city there, even Beijing can't compare."
Zhao Yanling and Zhang Chunhong looked at each other. Going to Shanghai to study? Could they do it?
"We've never been to Shanghai. It's a big city, and we're both strangers there. What can we learn?"
Jiang Manyue smiled and said, "Just go to other people's shops and tailor shops and see how they make clothes. Take note of them, and then come back and make samples and hang them in front of the shop. Wouldn't that attract people?"
Zhao Yanling and Zhang Chunhong were both tempted. They were both good at making clothes. If they could go to Shanghai to study, their tailor shop would definitely be the best in the county after they came back.
Just as their husbands, Jiang Jiande and Jiang Jianqing, were about to say something, Miao Xianghua immediately applauded and agreed, "If you want to be a tailor, you have to learn and come up with new designs. Otherwise, how can you make money?"
When Zhao Yanling and Zhang Chunhong heard that their mother-in-law agreed, they were so happy that they didn't know what to say.
Since their mother had spoken, Jiang Jiande and Jiang Jianqing had nothing to say and could only follow them.
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