That evening, the Chen family ate the food that Miss Bai had given them while cursing her for being shameless.
Zhou said, "Fourth son! You need to be careful. Don't let some vixen outside bewitch you and tell her our family's methods for making dried flowers and dyes."
With his mouth full of grease, Chen Laosi said, "Mom, don't worry. I only deal with her because she treated us to a meal. Otherwise, I wouldn't even talk to her."
"Mother, Miss Bai's family is very wealthy and powerful. They earn more in one day than our family earns in many days. Why would they be interested in our dried flower business?"
Zhou said, "That's not necessarily true. Maybe she sees that our dried flowers are selling well and wants to steal our business! If she knew that our dyes and dried flowers are so easy to make, she definitely wouldn't even let us have a sip of soup."
Old Man Chen said, "Fourth son! How about I have a matchmaker find you a girl in a few days, let you date for a while, and then get married in a few years?"
Chen Laosi quickly said, "Dad, no need, I'm not in a hurry. Let's talk about it in a few years. I'm not in a rush to get married either."
Chen Kai thought helplessly that his fourth brother, being such a straight man, would never be able to get married. However, seeing that their family was doing better and better, he was sure that many young girls would come to them.
A few days later, Zhou took her eldest and second sons' wives to the county town to dye clothes for people. This time, Zhou also brought along the wives of her brothers' daughters and her eldest daughter to do the dyeing business.
This time, Zhou and her group had a large number of people, so they brought two whole carts of dye, as well as a lot of wood chips dyed in several colors and some wooden basins to catch the dye.
In the beginning, we can dye clothes for people on the spot, so that seeing is believing and people won't doubt us. If we don't have enough dye, we can give people wood chips and ask them to come back the next day to pick up their clothes.
After they found a good spot, the eldest daughter-in-law started calling out, "Everyone come and see! Don't miss out! Dyeing a piece of clothing only costs 15 coins! First come, first served!"
Seeing someone on the street shouting that they could dye clothes, a large crowd quickly gathered around, curiously watching to see if it was true.
Before long, the first person started dyeing clothes. People around saw that the dyed clothes looked good and didn't fade, so they couldn't sit still. Those who lived nearby all went home to get their own clothes.
As the Zhou family was hawking their cheap clothes dyeing services, an old woman approached. The eldest daughter-in-law said, "Grandma, do you want your clothes dyed? Our clothes dyeing service is very cheap. If you give us your clothes today, you can have them dyed tomorrow. However, you need to pay a five-copper-coin deposit first."
The old woman smiled and said, "I'm not here to dye clothes, I just wanted to ask if you sell dyes?"
The Zhou family had never encountered anyone who only sold dyes before! Suspicious, the Zhou family asked, "It's not like we're the only ones in this town who can dye clothes, so why did you come to us to buy dye?"
The old woman said, "Young lady, our master thinks that the clothes dyed with your dye have a pleasant fragrance, so he instructed me to buy your dye and dye all the servants' clothes with it when I get home."
Zhou said with a smile, "Your master really has good taste. I had someone get these dyes for me at a high price. If you want to buy them, they won't be cheap!"
The old woman asked, "Then name your price. If the price is right, I'll take them all."
Pointing to the wooden buckets of dye on the ground, Zhou said, "A bucket of dye like this costs three taels of silver. We have quite a few at home. Are you sure you want them all?"
The old woman frowned and said, "Three taels of silver a bucket is a bit expensive. I can't make that decision myself. Please wait for me a moment while I go back and ask for my instructions."
“Okay, we can wait for you a little longer, but not too late, we need to get home before dark.” Zhou readily agreed.
After the old woman left, the second son's wife pulled Zhou Shi aside and whispered, "Mother, we can't sell it to them. I felt that old woman had a shifty look on her face and didn't seem like a good person."
“Who would buy so much dye for no reason? It’s way too much to use for dyeing clothes. Someone must be jealous of our business and wants to buy the dyes and study how we make them.”
Zhou said angrily, "It must be that Bai family girl who treated Lao Si to dinner last time. She must be trying to steal our dyes, learn how to dye dried flowers, and steal Xiao Tian and the others' business."
The second son's wife said, "If she agrees to buy all the remaining dyes when she comes back, we'll let her take some people to our village to get them. We'll have people lie in ambush beforehand and rob them on their way back, so they'll lose both their money and their goods and get nothing."
The old woman was talking to a man, "Young master, the Chen family has agreed to sell us the dye, but they are asking for a higher price."
The man said, "It's alright, as long as they're willing to sell, go to the manor and get the money!"
After the old woman left, the man sent someone to investigate where the Chen family bought their dyes, intending to cut off their supply.
After a while, the old woman returned to Zhou's stall and said, "Our master has agreed. It's three taels of silver a barrel. I'll bring people to your house to pick it up tomorrow."
Zhou said, "Okay, then I'll be waiting for you at home tomorrow."
When Daya and her friends were selling dried flowers in town, they also encountered competitors trying to steal their business. However, their dried flowers were unevenly dyed and looked particularly ugly, so they didn't sell a single one in half a day.
Da Ya even got into an argument with them, and they almost came to blows, but the officials had to come and mediate.
When Da Ya and her friends were selling dried flowers, many people came to inquire about their methods for making dried flowers, but the prices they offered were too low. They wanted to buy their methods for just a few taels of silver, so Da Ya and her friends ignored them.
Chen Kai and Xiao Tian had told them that they couldn't sell the method for making dried flowers. If anyone wanted to cooperate, they could write it down and tell them when they got home. They could consider it if there was an opportunity in the future.
After Chen Kai found out, he said to Xiao Tian, "Why didn't anyone offer a higher price? We might have sold it! Who are you going to fob us off with such a small amount of money?"
Xiao Tian said, "You really want to sell it!"
Chen Kai said with a smile, "If the price is right, then let's sell it. Our market here is almost saturated, and our daily turnover has stabilized."
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