Chapter 42 Miao Wuni Sells Flowers; Someone Wants to Publish Ding Xian's Biography
Can you really make money selling wildflowers?
Having resolved the two major concerns of new articles and royalties, Pi Xiukang was finally able to ask Miao Wuni about her profession. He had seen old women selling magnolias and young girls wearing gardenias in their hair, but those were all plants from their own gardens, and the money they earned was just extra income during their spare time. Professional flower girls almost always sourced their flowers from flower shops.
Pi Xiukang felt that Yao Xiaoyu really liked to explore new avenues in the industry. Shangben Dingxian was now known as a tutor, but in the past she was called a female teacher. However, she mainly taught women not how to be virtuous and chaste, nor how to protect their dowry or how to cleverly fight back when they suffered injustice.
As far as he knew, only a week after the story of Ding Xian working as a tutor was released, wealthy families who doted on their daughters were already secretly looking for similar women and hiring them at high prices to teach their daughters. Now, even his old-fashioned friend was asking him if he had any connections in this area, and it had clearly become a trend.
Miao Wuni in the new book, although she chooses the more common flower girl, does not buy and sell from flower shops, but chooses the risk-free business of wildflowers. However, with Mr. Xiaoyu's reputation, in a few days, camellia streets and apricot streets will be full of wildflowers and spring will be everywhere.
Camellias and apricot blossoms are the only flowers in the story that Miao Wuni found—flowers without a name, a story, and a plot. Especially the apricot blossoms; to boost sales in the story, Yao Xiaoyu even wrote a tale of a couple secretly in love who finally confessed their feelings through the apricot blossoms and became partners.
We each held an apricot blossom branch, passing each other unnoticed, when the branches collided and petals fell. We instinctively turned our heads and met the eyes of the one we loved.
This plot has been overused in modern times, but it is still very novel at this time. Even Pi Xiukang, who is already married, is a little tempted and is thinking about doing it with his wife after get off work. Not to mention the young men and women who have not seen as many tricks as Pi Xiukang, how could they not follow the trend and have a go!
"You can make money, but you have to carefully select the flowers, and you can only make a quick buck."
Yao Xiaoyu didn't hide anything. She wrote the manuscript for Pi Kangxiu, which ended with the wildflowers selling like hotcakes and Miao Wuni earning her first pot of gold. After that, Miao Wuni wanted to expand her business, but then she found that wildflowers were being sold everywhere overnight. The small number of customers who bought them just for novelty couldn't possibly absorb such a huge market, so the wildflower vendors started a price war without any instruction.
At this time, Miao Wuni did the opposite and bought fresh flowers from the shop, earning a second source of income.
However, these are all later plot developments. Yao Xiaoyu had no intention of sharing the outline with anyone. She merely satisfied Pi Kangxiu's curiosity and then happily went downstairs to buy meat as usual. However, when she went to work the following week, she found a day when Zhou Erniu could take leave and skipped the hospital's lunch break to eat a mutton hot pot.
The shop owner was from Beiping and his Erba sauce was excellent. Seeing that Yao Xiaoyu came alone, he specially arranged a corner seat for her. Yao Xiaoyu did not disappoint the shop owner's expectations. After finishing her meal, she paid the bill with silver dollars and was even given a cucumber, which was extremely expensive at the time, to cleanse her palate.
Even so, when Yao Xiaoyu entered the pharmacy, Aunt Gu still complained that she had a strong muttony smell.
"Looks like they just rolled around in the sheepfold."
Yao Xiaoyu silently moved her chair around, considering the possibility of getting a change of clothes at the pharmacy—winter is just too perfect for hot pot, and she had already mentally booked a beef hot pot for next week. These clothes absorb so much smell, she'd probably end up smelling like a little fish after one meal.
Aunt Gu can be understanding once or twice, but she can't push her luck.
Clothes prepared specifically for eating don't need to be washed; just hang them outside to air out overnight, and all the smells will dissipate completely. The only problem is that you have to be careful not to let them get stolen...
When Yao Xiaoyu got home that evening, she gave up the idea of making special clothes for her to eat in – it was too expensive, especially thick clothes with added cotton!
She now understood why Ah Q's quilt could be pawned for two thousand coins; warm clothing was really valuable at that time!
Of course, if Yao Xiaoyu were willing to compromise and change the filling from cotton to straw or reeds, the price of the clothes would be more than she was willing to pay. However, compared to satisfying her own appetite, Yao Xiaoyu felt that health was more important, and could only regretfully give up the idea of making new winter clothes.
Let's wait a little longer. When spring comes, I'll make a new spring shirt that I can wear all summer.
Yao Xiaoyu mentally reassured herself, then looked at Tao Erniu, who, despite wearing thick clothes, still had parts of her hands and feet sticking out of the way:
"You're allowed to wear this out in your house like this?"
After spending some time together, Yao Xiaoyu had a general idea of the Tao family's situation—although they weren't so poor that everyone shared a pair of pants, they only had two thick coats. Would they really be willing to give one of them to Tao Erniu?
"I snatched it."
Tao Erniu said with some pride, and seeing that Yao Xiaoyu was interested, she explained the matter in more detail—
When the Tao family makes light clothing, they sometimes consider the women in the family and make a new bamboo cloth shirt for Tao Danu, but when they make thick clothes, they don't receive such good treatment.
There are only two people who can wear the new, thick clothes: Tao's father and Tao's eldest son. Tao's father is the male elder in the family, and Tao's eldest son is the eldest grandson. Only what they are willing to give up can be fought for by others.
"Just a few thatched huts, and they're acting like an emperor is ascending the throne?!"
Yao Xiaoyu never expected to encounter practitioners of "cute and coquettish" literature during the Republic of China era, but thinking about it, it doesn't seem so strange. After all, the modern era is the future of this time, and only if these ideas continue to spread can we have the "Nine Sons Seizing the Di" incident that netizens are complaining about.
Yes, the "Di" in Yadea electric bike.
"Who says otherwise? I built one of the two thatched huts."
As Tao Erniu spoke, she rolled her eyes. When she was under a curse, she had to shoulder the burden of the whole family all by herself. While other people's oxen needed to be fed fine fodder, she only needed a bowl of wild vegetable porridge to plow the Tao family's land.
I didn't notice it before, but after eating well these past few days, I realized that her heart is twitching from time to time. Although we don't have money to see a doctor, even a fool would know that this is not normal. She didn't have this problem a few years ago; it's obviously caused by overwork.
"I earned this dress myself. They made such a good deal when they bought it, saying they'd let me know if I needed it, but when I mentioned it this morning, their mouths were so dirty..."
As Tao Erniu spoke, she frowned. Recalling those words, even though she had knocked out five of Tao's eldest son's teeth with a single punch, she still felt uneasy.
Yeah, let's go back and beat her up again. She saved her brother's life three times, so beating her up is just interest.
"They wanted to take the clothes back, but none of them could beat me."
Tao Erniu smiled smugly, thinking that she would attach a section to the sleeves and trouser legs in a couple of days. Perhaps because she had been doing a lot of work, she had lost some weight, but she was still the tallest in the family, a whole head taller than Tao's eldest son.
This garment was made to the eldest brother's size and will be passed down to the second and third brothers... until the youngest brother finishes wearing it, then it will be passed down to the eldest and second eldest sisters.
It's unfair, but that's the Tao family's rule—now it's changed. Tao Erniu used physical means to temporarily reform her parents and gain ownership of the clothes.
"They said they'd wear them for two days and then return them... let's wait until the weather gets warmer."
Tao Erniu smiled slyly, clearly pleased with her own idea, while Yao Xiaoyu felt only disappointment and frustration.
"Why go back? When it gets cold, just take the cotton out and wash it, and you'll have a spring shirt! Then you can make a bag out of scraps of cloth, stuff the cotton inside, and you'll have a pillow too!"
Tao Erniu was clearly the one with worse economic conditions, so why didn't she know how to make the most of things?
"How much of the clothing in your house was earned by you? Take out everything you can, whether you exchange it for money or goods, or take it apart, wash it, and make something else, isn't it better than wearing it on them?"
Yao Xiaoyu put a lot of effort into portraying Miao Wuni, and unknowingly developed some empathy for Tao Erni. In addition, the configuration of the "extremely bad family" was so classic that she unconsciously said a few more words, which opened the door to a new world for Tao Erni...
Go to work, write articles, get off work, eat, sleep.
As usual, Yao Xiaoyu brought her manuscript to Editor Pi on her day off. She took eight shiny silver dollars and was debating whether to treat herself to a treat or buy cotton shoes when she heard Pi Kangxiu bring up the publication of Ding Xian's biography again.
"The finale won't be officially published until next week, but some people have already contacted me wanting to publish it."
Pi Kangxiu was enthusiastic about publishing Ding Xian's biography, not only because of the intangible benefits the publication would bring to the newspaper, such as a good eye for talent, but also because of the more direct financial incentive—he, as the editor in charge, would receive a bonus if Ding Xian's biography was successfully published!
Which companies are involved? What are the royalties like? Are there any other requirements?
Compared to Pi Kangxiu's excitement, Yao Xiaoyu seemed much calmer. When she first heard that Ding Xianchuan's story could be published, she was so excited that she couldn't sleep for several days. However, Ding Xianchuan became famous too early, and publishers came to her too quickly. Time and time again, they wore down Yao Xiaoyu's excitement, leaving her with nothing but maximizing profits in her mind.
"How many copies are planned for the first batch? When can I expect to see them in bookstores? And when will I receive payment?"
Yao Xiaoyu had already inquired about the royalty rates of this era, which generally hovered between 10% and 25%. However, some authors received higher royalties because their works were in high demand. Yao Xiaoyu felt that her royalties would not fall below the bottom line, but since it was her first book, the price should not be too high, probably between 11% and 15%.
Even if a book only sold for one silver dollar, as long as the printing numbers weren't too dismal, Yao Xiaoyu could still earn a considerable income.
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Author's note: This seems a bit padded; I'll push the pace forward in the next chapter.
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During the Republic of China era, publishing income was generally calculated in two ways: royalties multiplied by the number of books sold, or royalties multiplied by the number of copies printed. The price of royalties depended on the price of the work. For example, if a book was printed and sold for one silver dollar, and the royalty was 10%, then the author would receive one cent for each book sold.
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