Chapter 80
80
When Yuanbao got the wrapping paper, he was extremely excited. He kept looking at it and was reluctant to use it to wrap the soap.
But adding this piece of paper to each soap would bring him an extra five cents, and his commission would also increase. He was very excited, as he was someone who could sell his soul for money. Of course, this money was earned through legitimate means, not stolen or robbed, it was honest money.
Yuanbao and Ye Gou bought fifty yuan in the evening, and the remaining fifty yuan was bought on the spot.
The weather was bad a few days ago, and there were few people on the road, so they did not set up the stall. Instead, they made a lot of soap at home, just enough to fill up their cart.
Fourth brother helped push the cart over, and on weekdays they could sell twenty or thirty bars of soap a day.
There were a lot of people watching, but the number of people watching was three times less than the number of people actually buying the soap.
There were many people watching at the beginning, but later they found out that they could see it every day and no one would go there every day. Only a small number of true fans would run over every day and talk to Yuanbao.
Yuanbao also used the money he earned to buy a new set of clothes to wear on weekdays. Seeing how hard he worked, Cheng Yeran reimbursed him for the new clothes and also paid for him to make a few more sets of clothes.
I also told him not to set up the stall every day, but to go out every three to five days. Although soap is a consumable, one bar will be used for one or two months. It would be more profitable to sell it wholesale like he did with the dried tofu before.
But Yuanbao likes to set up stalls outside, and Cheng Yeran also plans to open his own store. He also plans to expand the Xiangjie brand of soap into the whole country. In the future, when people buy soap, the first thing they think of is their soap.
The product categories also need to be expanded. When you open a store later, you can add new varieties. Opening a store will also look more professional than setting up a stall.
Sure enough, when Yuanbao went out to set up a stall today, many people were attracted by the wrapping paper.
The beauty on the wrapping paper is a cartoon based on Yuanbao. She is several times more beautiful than a real person, otherwise even Yuanbao himself would not be able to recognize that the person in the painting is himself.
However, Yuanbao was wearing exactly the same clothes as in the painting today, and he hung the large painting paper next to the stall. He was sitting next to the portrait making soap, and the beauty in the painting was also cutting soap. Many people thought of Yuanbao at first sight.
Someone shouted, "Isn't the person in the painting Yuanbao?" The others followed suit and moved closer to see the painting, but were stopped by Fourth Brother and Wild Dog, who told them not to touch the painting.
Then Yuanbao took out the packaged soap and showed it to everyone. Those who wanted to draw could buy this packaged soap, but it would be more expensive.
Some people who came here just to watch the fun or just wanted to buy the soap and didn't care about the packaging were unhappy when they heard that they had to pay extra. Such a beautiful painting must be more expensive, right? No less than 40 or 50 cents for one piece? A bar of soap is not worth it, they would never buy it even if they were beaten to death.
But when they heard Yuanbao say that the price of one piece would only increase by five cents, they all paid to buy it.
There was also a young master from a wealthy family who was pursuing gold ingots and bought fifty of them in one go.
Only one hundred pieces were made in total, and now half of them have been sold. Yuanbao said that half of them are gone, and others are rushing to buy them even more anxiously.
Ordinary people buy one or two pieces, use one piece and keep the other piece as a painting for collection. Those who have more money buy more.
One hundred yuan was not enough to share, and they were sold out in two hours.
Someone also asked Yuanbao if he wanted to sell the painting hanging on the wall, but Yuanbao politely declined.
In the past, there were two rich old men who asked Yuanbao if he wanted to be his concubine. They offered him thirty or fifty taels of silver as a dowry. Yuanbao's eyes widened when he heard this. In their village, a dowry of one or two taels of silver was considered high for marriages on ordinary days. Yet these people wanted to use thirty or fifty taels of silver to buy him.
This made him face his own beauty again.
In the past, those who wanted to marry Yuanbao but failed could only buy some soaps with Yuanbao's portrait on them. Looking at the portrait would remind them of Yuanbao, just like putting up posters of idols at home in the future world.
When Cheng Yeran came back in the evening, he learned that they were sold out in one day. Many shop owners came to ask if they could get goods from them. Cheng Yeran knew that this wave of marketing was a success.
He just asked Yuanbao to negotiate with the shopkeepers. The price could not be lower than 25 wen per piece, and the packaged piece could not be lower than 30 wen. The minimum order was 50 wen, and if the order was less, it would be sold at the original price.
The next day he went to the academy to find Zhou Hua and gave Zhou Hua a large stack of paper, asking him to take it back to print. This time he gave him 500 sheets of paper. The reason he only gave him 500 sheets was because the papermaking workshop he found worked overtime to produce only this small amount.
He wanted to buy wrapping paper online, but the paper of the future would be made with different craftsmanship from that of this era, and it would be a hassle to be asked where he bought the paper.
Even in the academy, soy milk soap became popular, but people were not as enthusiastic about the soap as they were about the pictures on the wrapping paper.
Some people even framed the wrapping paper and took it to the academy to show off. This reminded Cheng Yeran of high school when his classmates played games and drew cards, and they would show off to the whole class if they drew limited edition cards.
Only 100 pieces of this soap have been produced, and the rest have not been printed yet. They are in great demand, and anyone who happens to grab one will become the focus of the class.
Zhao Yanlin also came to Cheng Yeran and asked him if he had any extra soap to sell to him. He whispered, "Now the second-hand price of your soap is 100 coins a piece. If you have any, we can sell them in the academy and make some extra money."
Cheng Yeran: "...It's not good for me to sell my own pirated copies. And I don't have any more. If you want them, go find Zhou Hua and ask him to print a few more for you."
Zhou Hua was also frowning. "I don't know who leaked the news, but many people came to my house and asked my dad to sell them the printed wrapping paper. They offered very high prices, but my dad ignored them all. Recently, he even locked the door and worked overtime, fearing that other families would learn from him and print the same thing, affecting your business."
Zhou Hua's concerns were correct. Many companies had been secretly researching and printing the same wrapping paper, and within a few days, a large batch had been printed and circulated on the market.
It’s just that their craftsmanship is not as good as Uncle Zhou’s, and the time is tight, and the materials used are cheap, so you can tell at a glance that they are fake, but they are still not available.
Nanshan
People who bought the genuine product found out they were cheated after purchasing it. Not only was the painting poor, it was also more expensive, and even the soap inside was of inferior quality.
The deceived people were furious and swore never to spend this money again. They would wait until the Yuanbao were available before buying from the stall.
Cheng Yeran felt that it was time to add one or two more scented soaps. One was Shen Yuntang's favorite peach scent, and the other was also rose scented. The first flowers he gave Shen Yuntang were roses.
For these two scents, you can just buy essential oils online and add them to the soap. The method is similar, but you can add some pigment to make it a light pink like peach. The floral soap can be made transparent and a flower or petals can be put inside to make it like amber.
He has to study now and has no time to do it. After he buys the materials, he will tell Yuanbao the methods and ideas and let Yuanbao do it.
He also planned to make two new packaging for the two scents. He gave Yuanbao money and asked Yuanbao to make two sets of clothes with peach and rose themes, and then repaint the portraits when the time came.
Yuanbao was still curious, "Who drew this? Will that person come to our house and draw from me?"
Cheng Yeran was a little embarrassed. It was not easy to take pictures of Yuanbao secretly. It would be easy to be exposed if he took out his mobile phone, and it was not easy to find a good angle. Moreover, he had to run to Wangchunlou every time to revise the manuscript, which was not convenient at all. It would be great if he could find an artist in this world.
Just as he was worrying about this, he discovered that there was a trend of copying in the college. Since his classmates couldn't buy soap, they copied the pictures on the packages themselves.
There are indeed quite a few people who copy the images, but they are just likenesses, without soul, and are unable to create new movements.
But on this day, Cheng Yeran saw a picture of a gold ingot sandwiched in Yang Shiming's book. He didn't expect that Yang Shiming had also drawn it, and it was not just a simple copy, but he also drew new movements, which was very naughty and cute.
Actually, Yang Shiming doesn't seem to be older than Cheng Yeran. He is only seventeen years old this year, but he always gives people a very mature parental temperament, but he looks like a schoolboy on campus.
He looked at the portrait and imagined a plot from a campus BL novel. If Yuanbao was also studying in their academy, maybe these two could have had a campus romance. Unfortunately, it took him a lot of effort to get into the academy, let alone Yuanbao.
When he was distracted, Yang Shiming coughed uncomfortably and said in defense, "I just thought the style of that painting was special and wanted to give it a try."
They learn music, chess, calligraphy and painting in the academy. Yang Shiming is indeed the type of person who wants to learn anything new he sees, sometimes it's writing style, sometimes it's chess moves. He is a very hardworking person.
Moreover, Yang Shiming was quick to learn. Even if it was an ancient style comic, he would look at it once and then study the drawing method on his own, and incorporate it into his own style. His drawings were even better looking than those of the original artist.
Cheng Yeran remembered that Yang Shiming was from a poor family and earned his living by copying books. During his days off, he would go out to write letters for others or paint some landscape paintings to sell.
Yang Shiming has only one mother, who is frail and sickly. She can barely support herself by farming in the countryside. Yang Shiming has to earn his living expenses by himself.
"I want to ask you for help with something. I wonder if Brother Yang is free." Cheng Yeran understood Yang Shiming's character. If he asked him directly whether he wanted to make money, Yang Shiming might suspect that he was pitying him and his self-esteem would be hurt. So he changed his words and asked Yang Shiming for help.
Yang Shiming thought that the exam was coming up soon, so he started studying anxiously. "You have studied well in the past few months, so you will have no problem passing the exam, but it will be difficult for you to be assigned to Class A."
When he said there were certain difficulties, he was being euphemistic. Cheng Yeran's current grades were hovering between Class D and Class C.
The new students will start their first exam three months after they enter school. After the exam, the decision on whether to keep or leave the new students will be made, and they will also be assigned to classes according to their scores.
"I know my own grades well. I can't become fat by eating one bite. I have my own study plan. I just want to make steady progress." Cheng Yeran learned the study method from Yang Shiming. By studying according to his method, he feels that he will have a chance to pass the examination to become a scholar the year after next, and then spend about three years to take the imperial examination.
He also wanted to be faster. The book said that Xia Xiaowu would become an official in three years. In this life, Xia Xiaowu had to take the exam this year, and it was not something he could catch up with just because he wanted to.
Fortunately, they have a rule that officials are not allowed to return to their hometowns to take up posts. If Xia Xiaowu came to their place to be an official, he and Shen Yuntang would be tortured to death.
The conversation had gone off topic, so Cheng Yeran quickly brought it back to the subject, "I want to add two new scents to the soap, and the new scents require new packaging, but the previous painter lives in a remote area, so it's inconvenient to contact him. I wonder if I can ask Brother Yang to help draw two pictures, and I'll pay you." Cheng Yeran's face was full of worry, "I just don't know if it's convenient for you. If you don't have time, then forget it."
"It's just two paintings. I'll just paint them for you. Why talk about money?" Yang Shiming didn't want to talk about money with his friend.
"How can I do that? It's like if I go to painter Zhou and ask them to print my works without paying me. Who am I? I can't not charge anyone just because we're friends. If someone takes advantage of you in the name of friendship, it's better not to be friends with him." Cheng Yeran knew that Yang Shiming was upright, but the other party's integrity was not a reason for him to take advantage of others.
"Brother Ran is right. Brothers should settle accounts clearly. Besides, the time you spent drawing for him is enough for you to copy a book. He doesn't need this money, but you do." Zhao Yanlin spoke much more bluntly.
Yang Shiming felt embarrassed, but what he said made sense. Finally, he said to Cheng Yeran, "Just give it to me. I'll help you draw it when I have time."
Cheng Yeran thought about the previous painting for which he had given ten thousand yuan. It was originally one thousand yuan, but he kept making one request after another. When he saw that the other party was about to give up, he increased the money and finally increased it to ten thousand. He also wanted to give Yang Shiming ten thousand. Yang Shiming would definitely be the most awesome person among them in the future, so ten thousand yuan would be too little.
But his current status does not allow him to pay so much money, "How about two taels of silver for a painting?"
"Two taels is too much." Yang Shiming refused directly. Some of his paintings were sold at high prices, some for seven or eight taels of silver per pair, but it was good enough if he could sell one at such a high price in a year.
You can't make much money from copying books. After deducting the cost of pens and ink, you can only make two or three cents from each book. They have food and accommodation in the academy, but you have to buy your own pens, ink, paper and inkstone, which are not cheap. He also has to buy some books. He can earn about two taels a month, which is barely enough to buy these things.
"Not much, much less than the last time the painter asked. I can save money by asking you." Cheng Yeran felt that even when he said two taels, it was too little. "I am going to raise the price of these two soaps to fifty cents a piece. Whether I can make this money depends entirely on your painting."
"Besides, it's not that easy to make this money. I've troubled Brother Yang to come to my house on your days off and paint my cousin. I have prepared two sets of clothes for him. It's a waste of so much effort. The two paintings only cost four taels of silver in total, which is not much." Cheng Yeran tried his best to persuade Yang Shiming, and he agreed.
When Zhou Hua heard that she had to paint a new picture, she was tired but excited. "I'll go back and tell my dad that I was so busy printing packaging for your family that I didn't have time to take on other people's business. Fortunately, my family doesn't have much business usually. Thanks to you, you support my family."
"Don't say that. Uncle Zhou has good skills. I am grateful to Uncle Zhou for supporting our family." Cheng Yeran thought that finding someone to print and package would be a very troublesome matter. It happened that he knew Zhou Hua, so it would be convenient and reassuring to be with someone he knew.
"If we can go to Beijing together in the future, we will ask your family to help us print and package." Cheng Yeran said.
"You will be an official in the future, and his father will be an old man. Will he still work for you?" Zhao Yanlin teased him with a smile.
"This is my family's ancestral craft. Even if I become an official, I will not lose this craft. But I may do it on a bigger scale. My father also plans to take in a few apprentices, and the children of other brothers will continue to study." Zhou Hua said.
Cheng Yeran nodded: "Even if they are officials, their families will have some other industries, such as shops and farms. They are all written in the picture book. Haven't you read it before?"
"Read less idle books." Yang Shiming reminded him, "Come to me every night after class these few days, and I will test your homework."
…
The ingredients for making sausages arrived these days, and Shen Yuntang gradually handed over the task of cooking noodles to A Xiang. He was still responsible for making the noodles and the soup, and putting the seasonings in the bowl first, and letting A Xiang cook the noodles and put them in the bowl. Wang Sanyi was responsible for entertaining the guests.
These two days he will stay at home in the morning to make sausages, and then go to the store in the afternoon, and he is barely able to handle the work.
It's such a small shop, and two people are busy enough
The wind
, that is why Shen Yuntang did not want to waste labor and wanted to do more things.
Business this month is better than last month. We can sell more than 50 bowls a day, which means we can make 12 taels of money a month.
But he was still not satisfied and wanted to add a sausage.
The ingredients for making sausages arrived a few days ago, and he tried to make some at home. Cheng Yeran said that adding some starch to it would make it taste better than pure meat, and it would also save costs.
There were already potatoes and sweet potatoes in this era, but no one was making starch. Shen Yuntang bought some starch at first, and later learned to make some himself, and he actually figured out how to make starch.
He thought that when he had time in the future, he could also make starch and sell it, just like their soap, by putting it in packaging bags and selling it as a commodity.
However, he couldn't do much by himself, so he made sausages at home for the time being. He was in a hurry to make the first few sausages and forgot to pierce the vents. When he opened the pot after cooking, he found that they had exploded. Or they were too dry when they were drying, or they were taken away by wild cats.
After cooking, he smoked it, and the taste was almost the same as the one you buy, or even more fragrant.
He made a pot of it and the whole family ate it up in one meal.
After eating, Yuanbao rubbed his round belly and said, "It would be great if I could eat sausages made by my sister-in-law every meal."
Cheng Yeran rolled his eyes at him, "You are so beautiful, do you want to tire my wife to death?"
After the first success, he wanted to make more and try selling them in the store.
Cheng Yeran suggested that he could give it away for free first and have a tasting session, and when everyone likes the food, they would come to buy it.
And they can also send some to nearby neighbors. Before, their family said they wanted to sell dried tofu, and told the neighbors that they would send some dried tofu to everyone after opening for business. But later they stopped selling dried tofu.
They gave the tofu market to the second brother, and the soy flour and tofu business to the eldest brother. Now the peddlers in the village and other villages as well as the tofu shops in the town also purchase goods from the second brother.
At first, the taste of the tofu changed and everyone was not very happy. The tofu shop in the town even said that they would just sell it for a while to see how it goes and if it doesn’t work out, they would sell it. They also advised Cheng Yeran not to give up this business.
Some people even said that Cheng Yeran was stupid. She had a good and profitable business but she didn't want to do it and insisted on giving the business to her husband's family. They also said that her husband was ignorant and was taking advantage of her husband's family after they got married.
Cheng Yeran would get angry every time they heard this. Later, although the taste of the dried tofu changed, it was still delicious and sold well, so those people gave up the idea of letting Cheng Yeran continue the dried tofu business.
Now they run a noodle shop and they can’t deliver it to everyone, but if they make sausages, they can deliver it, and everyone can go and eat it if they like it.
The noodle shop is not too far away, and it only takes about ten minutes' walk out of the alley to get there. They can also come to my house to buy noodles. Although there are only a few households nearby, there are wine workshops and cloth dyeing workshops. Both workshops have many apprentices, and they can all come to buy noodles. If the noodles are delicious, they will recommend them to their friends and relatives, which can be regarded as helping to advertise.
Even without Cheng Yeran telling him, Shen Yuntang was planning to do the same. He had even calculated how many sausages each family would receive.
The second batch of sausages he made tasted much better than the first. He didn't even cut them into slices. Instead, he wrapped them in paper bags and delivered them door to door.
After returning gifts to all the families he had given gifts to before, when he passed by his second aunt's house, he thought about whether he should send some gifts to her as well.
Aunt Zhao didn't send them anything when they moved in, and Shen Yuntang didn't like this relative very much. His dislike for Aunt Zhao had nothing to do with whether she sent him any gifts or not, he simply didn't like Aunt Zhao as a person.
Every time Aunt Zhao came over, she would point fingers at him, saying that he was doing something wrong, as if he had made a mess of the household.
She would also ask a lot of questions about their family's private life, such as how much money their family made from running the noodle shop. How much money is saved at home? He always asked them when they would have a baby, saying that he was unable to have a baby, or why there was no movement in his stomach and he needed to take some medicine.
When Aunt Zhao found out that Shen Yuntang had opened a noodle shop, she came to Shen Yuntang's house and said, "No wonder she couldn't have children. She ran outside every day and never came home. It would be strange if she could have children. She said that her husband should stay at home to take care of the husband and children instead of being out in the public eye doing business."
Before leaving, she would add, "Don't think I am being harsh, I am doing this for your own good. Although you look pretty, if you don't give birth to a child, your man will change his mind sooner or later. If he has a child with someone else and brings it back, you will cry. Look at me, I have given birth to three children in my life, all boys, and my man listens to me."
Whenever Shen Yuntang thought about what she said to him every time, he was very reluctant to meet her. Yuanbao also hated Aunt Zhao Er. Every time he saw Aunt Zhao Er going out, he would quickly lock his door and pretend that he was not at home.
Now if Shen Yuntang were to take the initiative to go to Aunt Zhao's house to give her something, wouldn't that be uncomfortable? But if he didn't give anything, he was afraid that she would be picky about the gift. After all, they were all relatives...
He rubbed his aching forehead and put it off for now. He would come back in the evening and ask Cheng Yeran. Cheng Yeran had a lot of ideas and nothing could stump him.
He remembered that last time Cheng Yeran said that she didn't know how to rely on her husband at all, but he was obviously very dependent on Cheng Yeran.
He was not so dependent on his parents at home. After marrying Cheng Yeran, the first person he thought of when he was bullied outside was Cheng Yeran. He would consult Cheng Yeran whenever he made any important decision at home. Even when he went to bed at night, he would sleep in Cheng Yeran's arms. Isn't this called dependence? Does he want to take care of himself like a baby?
When Cheng Yeran came back in the evening, Shen Yuntang told Cheng Yeran about his predicament. Only then did Cheng Yeran know that Aunt Zhao had said so many unpleasant things to Shen Yuntang in private before.
"Ignore her. Next time she says that to you, just curse back. If you're too embarrassed to curse, just call me. It just so happens that I haven't lost my temper and cursed anyone in a long time, and I still don't feel satisfied." Cheng Yeran hugged her husband with heartache. He usually couldn't even express his love enough, so why should he be belittled by her like that.
"He is a relative after all. It would not look good if the news got out." Shen Yuntang was worried that it would affect Cheng Yeran's reputation. Reputation is very important to a scholar.
"She has no shame, so why should I have any shame? If she dares to mess with you again, I will have a shameless contest with her to see who wins." After Cheng Yeran finished speaking, he heard the little husband in his arms laugh, raised his hand and touched his head, "Don't hold it in your heart if you feel uncomfortable. It's easy to get sick. It's better to insult others than to waste your energy."
"Okay, I understand." Shen Yuntang felt sweet and safe when she heard every word he said to protect her. She thought she should marry a man like this. She had wasted her life in her previous life.
The other families all received the sausages sent by Shen Yuntang. No one had ever seen them before, so they asked Shen Yuntang what they were made of. They didn’t want to ask for the secret recipe, but they were just curious and wanted to know what they were eating.
Shen Yuntang gave them a brief introduction: "The outside is pig intestines, and the inside is meat filling."
When Sister Liu from the opposite door heard this, she was surprised and said, "You are really patient. It's hard enough for me to chop meat and make dumplings. You even stuffed the meat into the intestines. How did you get it into such a small intestine?"
"Of course I have my own way." Shen Yuntang smiled but didn't say the specific method.
Sister Liu was also sensible and didn't ask any further questions. "Okay, I'll take it. You're going to sell it in your store, right? If it tastes good, I'll buy it from your store."
She was just being polite; she actually didn't like eating pig intestines.
She has eaten braised large and small intestines, as well as fried ones, and she always feels that there is a layer of oil inside, which is greasy and has a fishy smell. No matter how clean it is washed, it still has a smell. Can sausages wrapped in meat filling be delicious?
The color looks a bit weird, and combined with the shape, I have no appetite.
She took it home and put it on the table and ignored it.
Shen Yuntang gave away two in total. When she came back from selling buns, she found that there was only one left on the table.
She frowned. She didn't like it, but she didn't feel bad. "Are there mice at home?"
As she spoke, she saw her little baby eating one and had already eaten half of it.
Xiaobao is eight years old. He is usually very picky about food. Unexpectedly, he was happy to eat this. When he saw his mother looking at him, he hid the sausage behind him like a treasure.
Sister Liu asked curiously, "Last time I took you to a restaurant to eat pig intestines, didn't you say they weren't tasty? Why are you so happy eating these pig intestines now?"
"This one doesn't stink and tastes good." Xiao Bao said and took another bite.
Sister Liu thought the sound was quite crisp. She picked up another one and took a bite out of curiosity. She was immediately amazed by its taste and texture.
The casing was crispy, and the meat filling inside was different from the meat filling in buns and dumplings. It also had a smoky aroma. The taste was something she had never tasted before, and the flavor was also very rich.
Nanxi
It is rich, moderately salty and tastes better than simply cooking the meat.
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