Chapter 117
117
Lin Yu had also heard of Prince Jing. His servants would often come to the store and ask if there were any new magazines. If there were any new soaps, they would be the first to buy them. They sold in large quantities, especially lipsticks. Although the lipsticks had no packaging, the prince said he wanted to spend money on that enchantress.
Before, the servants of the prince's family asked him whether Liu Ya in the magazine was a real person and whether he had seen her.
Lin Yu always said that he had never seen it and it was fictional.
The third issue of the magazine hadn't come out yet, and the servants of Prince Jing's household had come to ask eight hundred times, but they still couldn't name a new magazine, so they overturned their stall.
It was a young general who passed by and helped him drive the people away. It was said that the young general also went to find the prince, beat him up personally and warned him not to cause trouble.
靖王世子一边挨揍, 一边骂邵晖, 说他爱丑哥儿，然后就被揍得更厉害了。
The old prince was used to it. Every time he never criticized Shao Hui for being wrong, he would scold his son for being useless and always getting beaten. When he beat him back, he would think he was really successful. At that time, the old prince would definitely not stop him from doing whatever he wanted.
Although this condition is very tempting, the idiot Prince Jing really can't do it.
Lin Yu wanted to ask Shao Hui for help. If Prince Jing really dared to go after Shen Yuntang, he wanted him to help stop him.
Shao Hui would occasionally come to Lin Yu's place for dinner, partly to protect Lin Yu. Although there were gossips about the two of them outside, if he didn't come, Lin Yu would most likely be killed by the princess's people, or bullied by those who wanted to please the princess.
He would come over occasionally, making everyone misunderstand that Lin Yu was his man, and for his sake, everyone would not make things difficult for Lin Yu.
However, the old general said that he could help others, but not in this way, which ruined his own reputation. Many noble ladies misunderstood that he had a mistress and were unwilling to marry into their family.
Shao Hui said that life was important and reputation was secondary. Others could misunderstand him however they wanted. Anyone who could misunderstand him meant that person didn't like him in the first place, and he didn't want to marry someone who didn't like him.
The second reason why he came to Lin Yu was that Lin Yu's cooking was delicious.
Every time he came, Lin Yu would cook for him personally, saying that she wanted to thank him, but she had nothing good to give him as a thank you, so she just cooked for him.
Although they are all home-cooked dishes, Shao Hui still likes them very much.
Shao Hui heard that Cheng Yeran had come to Beijing, so he came here specially.
Lin Yu told Shao Hui about Shen Yuntang's situation. Shao Hui smiled and said, "Don't be afraid of that idiot prince. He has been locked up by the old prince again and can't leave the palace for at least three months. After three months, Cheng Yeran will have finished his exams."
Everyone felt relieved after hearing this. Shen Yuntang had never felt that appearance was a burden.
Yang Shiming also came to see them, but Zhao Yanlin did not come. It was said that after he married the princess, he rarely met Yang Shiming, and their relationship became much distant.
Yang's reputation as a poet has not changed much, he's just a few years older, and now that he's an official, he's become more stable.
After Yang Shiming passed the imperial examination and became the top scorer, the academy awarded him three hundred taels of silver. Together with the savings he had made from painting for Cheng Yeran and some silver awarded by the emperor, it was enough for him to buy a house that was not too far away. Since there were only two of them in his family, mother and son, they did not need to buy a house that was too big.
He did buy a carriage to make it easier for him to go to and from work, and he also hired a coachman, who also had a servant to follow him.
This was the person his mother bought for him. Yang's mother said that since he was an official, he always needed someone to serve him.
They hadn't seen each other for a long time and were particularly happy. They went out together to find a pub and have a drink.
Cheng Yeran knew his alcohol tolerance, so he only took a small sip and put down the glass, but Yang Shiming drank several glasses.
Although he acted very happy and mentioned a lot about their time in the academy, Cheng Yeran felt that he had a lot of troubles in his heart. With Yang Shi's personality, he was too upright and too principled and had bottom lines. He was afraid that he would not be able to get along in the officialdom.
At first, Yang Shiming only talked about the past, but later, when he drank a little too much, he opened his heart. It turned out that he had just been crowned the top scholar, and several high-ranking officials heard that he was still unmarried, so they wanted to marry their daughters to him. He rejected them all, offending many people.
His mother always advised him that he was old enough to get married, and even if he didn't want to marry the daughters of high-ranking officials, he should find one because she wanted to have grandchildren.
He asked Cheng Yeran what he should do?
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In the past, Cheng Yeran always asked Yang Shiming questions, and today it was Yang Shiming's turn to ask him questions.
Cheng Yeran finally understood why he was depressed. It turned out that he was urged to get married.
"Think about Zhao Yanlin. He married someone he didn't like. Not only was he miserable, but his partner was even more miserable. So when you get married, you should find someone you like and live comfortably with him. Otherwise, you'd better not find someone and don't torture yourself or others." Cheng Yeran advised him, "You have to live for yourself. Although your mother urges you to get married, she wants to see you happy more."
Yang Shiming: "You are the only one who can advise me like this, but you are the only one who touches my heart."
Finally, Cheng Yeran sent him to the carriage, and Yang Shiming told him to take the exam well and not to be nervous, as it was not that difficult. He also told him some things to pay attention to when meeting the emperor, and asked him not to break any taboos.
…
Cheng Yeran went to take the exam, and Shen Yuntang followed Lin Yu to check out the shop first.
The shop is a rectangle with a large door. The door panel is removable and there is a slot to lock the door. Every day, as long as the door is removed, people passing by can see everything in the shop.
On the innermost wall hung the paintings they had sent over, one of ingots and the other of willow buds.
There is a huge contrast between the two paintings; Cheng Yeran said that they are a goddess and a fairy.
The third issue of the magazine is going to feature willow buds as the main product, and will be lipstick.
There are already imitation versions of lipstick on the market. After all, if you take the thing apart, even a carpenter can figure it out.
It's just that the lipstick inside is not as good as theirs. Lipsticks of this era are soft and greasy, and it is difficult to push them out as easily as theirs. It is more suitable to be put in the box and dug out to take a picture. Moreover, the carvings on the box are not as delicate as those made by Indian brothers.
Customers are not fools. Of course they would buy the better ones when given the same price. Later, the imitation versions of lipsticks began to drop in price, and the low prices attracted many people.
Cheng Yeran said that making lipstick is more convenient and comes in many colors, so he first made three color numbers, let Liu Ya be the model, and then write a short story.
Before, Cheng Yeran read a box of stories about guys, many of which were about "The Domineering Prince Falls in Love with Me" and "The Cunning Emperor Favors Me". He can also learn this style, add lipstick advertisements, and serialize them in magazines. He is sure to charm these guys and implant the message in their minds that if they use their lipstick, they will be favored by the domineering prince. Then he won't have to worry about the sales of lipstick.
You can also write some stories to make men think that they can win the love of boys and girls by giving them lipstick.
Shen Yuntang also said that people cannot be brainwashed just by reading a story, the product must be strong enough.
Cheng Yeran said that in their era, there were many things that people didn't really need, but they became a must-buy because of brainwashing by capital.
For example, the health care product advertisements he saw when he was a child were linked to giving them as gifts to parents during Chinese New Year and other festivals. These things were originally useless, but they were sold at high prices. However, many people still bought a few boxes as gifts for their parents during Chinese New Year.
When he was a child, he saw a box of his grandfather's health supplements. The TV commercials said so many benefits, as if drinking it could make you look younger, but the box only said that it could improve sleep quality. When he looked at the ingredient list, it said melatonin...
But Shen Yuntang said that it is not allowed to make money by cheating people. The story can be written, but the description cannot be exaggerated. It should be just for dissemination.
Shen Yuntang pulled himself back to his senses and told Lin Yu to make another cabinet and put the lipsticks in it after a few months.
Nail another nail on the wall, and then take down the two current paintings and hang up the new painting of willow buds.
Lin Yu took out the account book and showed it to Shen Yuntang. He used the accounting method taught by Shen Yuntang, and he remembered it very clearly.
Sales have been very good in the past few months, with the magazine selling for five taels of silver per copy. At first he wanted to sell it for three taels, one tael of silver higher than the county town, but was resisted by other shop owners. His low price lowered the prices of other shops.
In some shops, ten taels of silver for a copy is considered cheap.
People in the capital are too rich and prices are frighteningly high. Although he earns a lot, he also spends a lot of money.
After the new models were published in the magazine, they became a hot commodity. However, the price of soap has dropped. It used to sell for dozens or hundreds of taels, but now it has been dropped again and again. The new models are now less than ten taels, and sales have also dropped a lot.
In the beginning, people bought too much and couldn't use it all. When a new soap came out, they would just buy one or two bars to keep as collections.
Their shop priced the soap at one or two taels of silver per piece, and other shops were almost lowering their prices to this level.
But even if it was one or two taels of silver per piece, it was still much more expensive than the small county town before.
Lipstick sells well in autumn and winter, but not at other times.
The most profitable product is fabrics, most of which are ordered by wealthy families, who send them to him for dyeing.
What they earn in Beijing in one month is almost as much as they earn in a year from all their shops in the small county town combined. No wonder they all want to develop in big cities.
After they come over, we will move the noodle shop and sausage shop here and make more money.
After looking at the shop, Shen Yuntang wanted to buy the house as well, so that they would have a place to stay after moving.
Lin Yu really wanted them all to move in, but there wasn't enough space.
Shen Yuntang asked around the houses near Lin Yu's home, and found that most of them were priced at around 50,000 to 60,000 taels, while the larger ones could cost over 100,000 to 200,000 taels.
Besides, all the people living around here are dignitaries, so it's not a good idea for them to do business in this yard.
But Cheng Yeran will be an official in the future, so it would be nice for him to live here.
He was thinking that it would be better to buy a similar house here and then buy a yard somewhere else to do business, and it would also be possible to arrange for Yuanbao Liuya and the others to live there.
He asked about a yard that was not as well located but not too remote. The yard was about the same size as the one in their county and the price was cheaper, about ten thousand taels.
If you go a little further, there are also some that cost several hundred taels.
It's just too far, so it's inconvenient.
…
Cheng Yeran became the number one scholar chosen by the emperor, and the process was somewhat confusing.
When he and other candidates were meeting the emperor, he was not allowed to look up at the emperor. When the emperor asked other people questions, he did not ask them to look up. Only when he asked him questions did he ask him to look up.
The emperor stared at his face for a moment. There was something very wrong with his eyes, which reminded Cheng Yeran of the scene when Huanhuan entered the palace to choose a concubine. What was the emperor going to do? Leave a sign for him? Something is wrong. Something is very wrong.
The questions the emperor asked him were also not right. He did not ask about academic matters, but instead asked him many personal questions about his life.
After asking the questions, he looked at his paper again and then named him the top scorer.
Although he became the top scholar, he was still very nervous. He thought that the emperor would not take advantage of him.
When he was riding a horse in the parade, many girls in the capital threw handkerchiefs at him and almost buried him. Fortunately, he had heard of this tradition before and was prepared. He held an umbrella to keep the peach blossoms out.
"I have a husband, and I am a very virtuous man." As he said this, he saw Shen Yuntang watching in the crowd. He wanted to blow Shen Yuntang a kiss, but now that he had become the top scholar, he had to be more stable.
He just kept smiling at Shen Yuntang. Seeing Shen Yuntang, he felt at ease. No matter what the emperor thought, he would just fight back against the enemy with his troops and block the water with earth.
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