A few days later, the village chief notified each household to send a representative to discuss what to sell on the day of the sports meet and the prices of those items.
On the day of the event held in Anping Village, the Chen family would invite business partners and their customers, and the village chief would also invite the village chiefs from nearby villages.
For the village chief, hosting a large event in their village is a prestigious thing, so he needs to make preparations in advance.
If a lot of people come on the day of the event, the villagers will definitely bring out everything they can sell to try their luck. So the prices must be agreed upon beforehand to avoid someone selling something cheaper than someone else, leaving everyone without any money.
Once everyone had arrived, the village chief called out, "Quiet down, everyone. The reason I've called you all here today is to discuss the event the Chen family will be holding at the end of the month. There will definitely be a lot of people coming. On that day, everyone can bring their own things to sell. Now, we'll agree on a price. Once the price is set, no one is allowed to sell more or less."
Several people said, "Village chief, we will all listen to you!"
The village chief nodded in satisfaction and said, "Then let's talk about the pricing of bamboo products first."
Chen Kai and Xiao Tian also joined in the fun, offering some suggestions. There were other children playing there as well.
When Chen Kai saw the village chief about to take out baskets and bamboo hampers to sell, he immediately spoke up to stop him, saying, "Uncle, I have a problem with that!"
The village chief frowned and asked, "What's your opinion?"
This event was organized by the Chen family, and it was Chen Kai who proposed it, so he had to listen to his opinion.
Chen Kai said, "I think there's no need to put these bamboo products out for sale. You can't even sell them normally, let alone when we hold an event at the end of the month. The people who come then, the rich ones definitely won't be interested in these things, not to mention the poor ones."
"So I suggest that everyone take these things out and rent them out for a fee, instead of selling them."
A woman said, "Who would pay to rent something that can't even be sold?"
Old Man Chen said disdainfully, "My good son means that if those people come to our village and need baskets or similar items, we definitely can't lend them to them for free. We have to charge them, otherwise we won't let them use them."
Chen Kai continued, "Yes, that's what I mean. For example, if a child from a wealthy family wants to borrow our basket to pick fruit on the mountain, we can lend it to them, but we'll charge them."
"As long as they pay, it doesn't matter what they use it for, we're sure we won't lose out."
The village chief's wife's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she said happily, "That's a great idea! No one will buy these things, but some people should be willing to borrow them. If someone comes to borrow them, we'll charge them."
The village chief nodded, agreeing with the idea. He said, "Alright, then we'll rent out all the bamboo products we make, like baskets, for one coin each. No one can lend them out for free."
Chen Kai said with a smile, "Uncle, when the time comes, everyone should bring out their bamboo baskets and other things, and we should assign a few people to guard them. Let them all go there to borrow things, and then we can split the rental fees together. If we spread them out, each family will have to send someone to guard their things, which is too much trouble."
"Furthermore, I suggest charging two coins: one coin for rent and one coin for a deposit. If they return the items after using them, we will refund them one coin."
The village chief said happily, "Good, this is a good idea! Do you have any other opinions on this matter?"
Unified management is good; it prevents conflicts from arising among everyone.
Everyone happily replied, "No objections!"
They also thought it was a good idea, as it saved them the trouble of sending someone to watch over the place. Since all the members of each of their families were participating in the competition, they didn't have time to manage it. Moreover, they all received a share of the profits.
The village chief said, "Then it's settled. Anyone with other ideas can bring them up."
Chen Kai said, "I have another idea. Some scholars like to fish, so our village can prepare more fishing rods and rent them out. We can also manage the whole thing together."
The village chief asked, "How much do you think is appropriate?"
Chen Kai shook his head and said, "I don't know either, you guys decide for yourselves."
The village chief looked at the older villagers, who were also deep in thought. They had never done anything like this before and didn't know how to price it.
The village chief's grandson said, "How about ten coins a day?"
Er Ya said disdainfully, "That's too little! Those people are stupid and have too much money. If you ask me, ten coins a hour would be better."
Upon hearing Er Ya's words, the crowd immediately erupted in discussion. "Such a high price! Will anyone even rent it?"
Daya agreed, "My sister is right. Anping Village is our territory. So what if the fees are high? What's there to be afraid of? It's our own territory, so we can make our own decisions."
A boy chimed in, "Yes, Uncle, just charge the price Chen Erya said. This amount of money is nothing to them."
The village chief's wife was also persuaded by their words. This was their village, what was there to be afraid of! Then she winked at the village chief, urging him to agree quickly.
Daya's words also stirred up the village chief's ambition. Yes, what's there to be afraid of? He's still the village chief.
The village chief said firmly, "Alright, the fishing activity will be charged at ten coins per hour. I'll assign people to manage it, and we'll split the profits." It's my territory, my rules!
As soon as this started, everyone racked their brains to find ways to make money.
After thinking for a while, the village grandson said, "Grandpa, why don't we take out the toys that children play with and rent them out, and make money from the children of rich families?"
Just as the village chief was about to object, Chen Nong said, "Those young masters have far more toys than we do. Only a fool would spend money to rent our toys."
Er Ya laughed and said, "If we can't rent them out, then we'll try another way. We'll bring out all our toys to attract them that day. If those young masters and ladies want to come and play with us, they'll have to pay."
"And there's that big immortal tree in our village. If they want to worship the immortal, they have to pay money. The immortal belongs to our village, and they won't be allowed to worship it if they don't pay."
Chen Kai looked at Er Ya in surprise. When did Er Ya suddenly become so perceptive?
Chen's eldest daughter-in-law said happily, "My daughter's methods are so good!"
The village chief said with satisfaction, "Indeed, it's excellent!"
After discussing for a while longer, the meeting ended, and everyone went home.
Although the Chen family ultimately benefited the most, no one objected because objections were futile; the Chen family didn't care about such things anyway.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com