Chapter 055 Special Profits
When leaving Xue's house, Tang Yuan not only took the addresses of those people who wanted to buy strawberries, but also left the addresses of two people with whom she had chatted a lot, saying that they could contact each other more often in the future when they had time.
I don't know what they are thinking, but at least Tang Yuan will have more connections. Even if they are not needed now, if they encounter any problems in the future, at least they will be able to call out his name in their hearts.
Today's strawberries were picked early in the morning. After returning to the game space, she did not take them out immediately, but went to the street.
During the first month of the lunar year, everyone was visiting relatives, but the shops on the street were not completely closed. Tang Yuan went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought all the small baskets there.
When I went to deliver strawberries to Xue Shiqi again in the evening, I still gave her a whole package of strawberries.
And the next day, she divided the five pounds of strawberries into three portions using small baskets, one portion of one pound, and two portions of two pounds. Whether they ate them themselves or gave them away as gifts, they would not lose face.
Sure enough, when the goods were delivered and the other party handed her the money, the condition was much better than she expected.
Three days' worth of strawberries were delivered, and as soon as she returned home, she received a call.
The other end got straight to the point: "You've already delivered all the orders for three days. Will anyone else place an order for strawberries from you?"
"No one has called yet." Tang Yuan said directly.
"Then can you give me the strawberries for the next three days as well? Please write down your address and send them to me early tomorrow morning, okay?"
"Of course, no problem."
Tang Yuan happily agreed and quickly wrote down the other party's address. After hanging up the phone, she handed the cigarettes she bought to the security guard and said, "If anyone calls me again, please notify me."
"Don't worry, pretty girl, since you've given me such a favor, I will definitely do it for you." The security guard put away the cigarette with a smile.
At the same time, after hanging up the phone, the other party also smiled and said to the person next to him: "Okay, the strawberries have been ordered. She will deliver the strawberries in the next three days."
"That's great, Mommy. My classmates said her strawberries are of very good quality. They are so good that you can't buy them during normal strawberry season."
"Yes, although it's a bit expensive, it's normal for strawberries to be a bit expensive in this season, and it's also very face-saving to give it as a gift."
"She really knows how to run a business. Who would have thought that she would sell strawberries in this season?"
"This business is great. Others may think of it but cannot grow it. It is said that strawberries have very high temperature requirements. Now the temperature is so low, it costs a lot of money just to raise the temperature in the greenhouse."
…
The next day when Tang Yuan came to deliver strawberries, he heard the family's numerous inquiries, all of which were about how to grow strawberries.
Fortunately, they were only slightly interested and had no intention of delving into the matter. Tang Yuan just gave them a brief introduction and fooled them into thinking that they really had a strawberry shed.
However, it was precisely because of these people who were praising her that she received a new order not long after she returned that day.
She did not sell without restraint, but set the quantity of strawberries to a level that could only be sold until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Whenever someone asked her about it after that, she always said that they were sold out.
It's not that she made enough money, but mainly because this business is a short-term business. Being able to sell until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the longest time she can extend. During the first lunar month, more people visit relatives and friends, so sales will be better.
From now on, people won’t need to visit relatives, and the situations where you can consume five kilograms of strawberries at one time will become less and less.
However, with the current general development of the greenhouse industry, strawberries will not be officially available on the market until May or June. Before strawberries are officially available on the market, there will still be some market.
So she didn't give up, but just said that after the 15th, there might be a kilogram or two of strawberries that will mature after a while, but the quantity will not be large because there are not many plants planted. If they need it, she can deliver it to their door on time.
Many people are unwilling to take the trouble in this situation, but two families also said they would deliver strawberries to their homes whenever they have them.
Tang Yuan made an agreement with the two families to deliver strawberries in turns according to the maturity period. Two kilograms of strawberries are ripe, about once every five days on average. The two families take turns and can deliver two kilograms of strawberries every ten days.
A pound of strawberries still costs 200 yuan, and two pounds costs 400 yuan. A family delivers three times a month, and the expenditure is 1,200 yuan.
This is not much for the well-off families in Hong Kong.
So when she mentioned this, both families expressed their willingness.
After deciding on these two stores, whenever someone came to her, she would tell them that the strawberries she had on hand had been ordered out. Unless these two stores said in advance that they did not need the strawberries delivered, she would not have any extra strawberries.
"Really?"
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Tang Yuan delivered the last order of strawberries of the day and came to Xue Shiqi's store. As soon as he met her for the first time, he received her questions.
"What? Strawberries?" Tang Yuan looked at her and nodded when she nodded. "Really, there are no more. This batch of strawberries was originally for the Chinese New Year. After the Chinese New Year, there is less demand, so we don't plant many."
Seeing Xue Shiqi's regretful expression, she added, "But the harvest may not be exactly two kilograms each time. If there is any extra, I will bring it to you secretly. Don't tell anyone else. After all, I refuse to let anyone know."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xue Shiqi's face lit up with joy: "I knew you would give me a surprise. I was going to order strawberries from you, but my mom also orders a lot of other fruits every month, so there's no room for strawberries. If you have any extra, you must bring them to me. Even if you only bring me two taels, I'll pay you two taels."
Tang Yuan laughed: "Even if there are only two more, I will bring them to you."
"The strawberries you sell are delicious. During the normal strawberry season, I eat strawberries from other places, but none of them are as delicious as yours," Xue Shiqi said as she sat at the table. "By the way, the pattern for this time is going to be warmer, so the sweater needs to be made thinner."
"How did you do business in the summer before?" Tang Yuan asked.
"It's the same as now," Xue Shiqi looked up while searching for the pattern. "No, it's a little different. You know, I knit slowly. In the past, I knitted more sweaters in the summer so that I could sell them in the winter. If it's the same now, there will be too many this winter, right?"
"Yes," Tang Yuan nodded, "there will definitely be more."
Shen Wenyu and Second Aunt worked very quickly. During the Chinese New Year, neither of them took much rest and kept knitting sweaters. Now, it can be said that all the sweaters hanging in the store were knitted by the two of them.
Not only that, there are a few sweaters in the corner that have been knitted but not hung on the wall.
Winters in Hong Kong are short to begin with, so a sweater is usually enough to keep you warm. However, after the Chinese New Year, the weather is getting hotter and hotter, so sweaters won’t be selling for long.
If Xue Shiqi was the only one knitting, she could indeed "knit in summer and sell in winter", but nowadays sweaters are knitted very quickly, and if she has to wait until winter to sell them, I'm afraid the sweaters will pile up into a mountain.
"Then what should I do?" Xue Shiqi frowned. "I haven't thought about this. I really want to continue working with you. There are no worries when working with you. I feel so relaxed and there is no pressure at all."
"Do you only design sweaters?" Tang Yuan asked.
"Ah?" Xue Shiqi looked at her.
Tang Yuan stretched out his hand and took out a few small ornaments from his palm: "These ornaments are all very beautiful. Although they are not very useful, I am still willing to spend money to buy them. Can you design these ornaments in the same way as knitting sweaters? Knit them out."
"Huh?" Xue Shiqi sat up straight and looked at the ornaments in front of her in surprise.
"Also, you don't have to knit sweaters. Ordinary clothes can also have woolen decorations, right?" Tang Yuan looked at her. "Isn't your mom in the clothing business? You can take those plain clothes and knit some sweater patterns on them. That way, you can do more than just winter business."
"That's right," Xue Shiqi patted the table, "I never thought that you could do this! But this is your idea..."
"We are partners. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have gotten any orders. Besides, not everyone can do the sweater business. If you weren't interested, I wouldn't be able to do it, right?" Tang Yuan smiled at her, hoping to convince her. "I believe you can do it. Do you believe in yourself?"
"Can I?"
"You can do it."
"Yes, I can," Xue Shiqi nodded vigorously, "Then I'll listen to you. I want to weave different sweaters, small ornaments, and ordinary clothes. Don't worry, I will think about it carefully these days and try to start this business before the weather gets hot."
"I know you can do it." Tang Yuan encouraged again.
She naturally hoped that Xue Shiqi could make it. Although the sweater market was very good in later generations, it had already left the field of manual work and was all machine-processed.
Handmade sweaters have limitations, but there is a market for them. After all, the market prospects for handmade products are still good in the next few decades. Although it is not on a large scale, there are still many people making them.
In Xue Shiqi's situation, it is not easy to find someone to help with the processing. If she hadn't met her, normal people who are willing to work would not choose an intermittent job.
After chatting with Xue Shiqi, Tang Yuan took back the wool and sweater patterns as usual.
It is still cold in the Northeast. Shen Wenyu and her second aunt did not think about the future and focused entirely on the work at hand. With the climate in the Northeast, the sweater business could last at least another two or three months.
She didn't tell the two of them what happened and went straight back to the game space.
After returning home, she took out all the money she had earned during this period and counted it.
In 15 days, she sold a total of 73 kilograms of strawberries, at 200 yuan per kilogram, earning 14,600 yuan, which was enough for her to rent for 18 months.
If I had known...
She couldn't have known earlier that the strawberry business only booms during the Chinese New Year period, and sales are good only when there are more visits to relatives. It wouldn't be good before or after. She just happened to encounter a good time. If it were any other time, her strawberries would not be sold at such a high price.
By the way, she will also earn 400 yuan from the strawberry business every five days, which means she can earn 2,400 yuan a month. Not counting her current savings, her monthly income will be enough to cover her three months' rent.
What a profit!