Chapter 43
Competition is both good and bad.
The upside is that it keeps Qin Xiang on her toes, preventing her from being blinded by the small profits of the moment. The downside is also obvious: right now, she's in the early stages of accumulating capital for her business, and competition can shorten the process of clearing out her inventory and selling off her inventory.
She wasn't sure if these two people were only going to this market, or if they were going to the larger market next door like she was, but they might set up stalls, and so might others. There were many smart people in this era. If she could see the opportunity, so could others. Seeing the profit, more and more people would join in.
Even though holding a big sale was just one of her initial plans, it increased the difficulty.
Qin Xiang came to talk to the two men about the price, naturally worried about a price war. Once a price war broke out, it would be bad for everyone.
She just hoped that these two people could understand this and not fight with her. If they really had to fight with her, she really didn't want to.
Now she is gambling.
Qin Xiang continued, "I have my advantages, and you have yours, don't you? Your location has a lot of traffic, and people come from many directions, while my location can only attract people from one direction. Don't you agree? Of course, if you want to start a price war with me, I'm not afraid. Let's see who loses money and who makes money in the end. I've been doing this for a while, and I have the capital. Even if I lose money on this batch of goods, it's no big deal. I think this is your first time doing this, right? You should always think about it."
Zhao Ming looked at Qin Xiang and felt that this woman was more powerful than he had imagined, and he didn't want to engage in a price war.
He hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay, then we have a deal. We'll sell them for eight dollars each and fifteen dollars for two."
Qin Xiang nodded, "Okay, I hope we can both keep our promise."
After she finished speaking, she went back. Zhao Liang hesitated, "Brother, should we really do what she said?"
"Right." Zhao Ming frowned. "Second brother, we pooled our money to buy this batch of goods. If we really bargain with her, we might only be able to make a one-time deal. It's better to just do what she says. In the long run, it may not be bad. Even if we only make half of her profit, it will be good."
Seeing Qin Xiang coming back, Qin Yang asked, "Did they agree?"
Qin Xiang nodded. "I've agreed, but whether I can do it is uncertain. We'll continue to sell it later. Since there are not many people selling now, let's hurry up and sell a lot. Once we have accumulated 30,000 or 20,000, we can go to Yangcheng to buy more goods and then develop in the provincial capital."
Twenty or thirty thousand!
"Then he would become a millionaire." Qin Yang exclaimed.
Qin Xiang laughed, "Third brother, we bought more than 1,200 pieces of clothing this time. If we sell them all, it will be close to 10,000 yuan."
Qin Yang had never done the math, so he had no idea about this. It was only after Qin Xiang told him that he suddenly realized that in less than a month, he had accumulated 10,000 yuan from a capital of 1,100 yuan?
Qin Xiang laughed, "Don't forget, most of my 1,100 yuan was invested in socks. Clothes are almost a zero-cost business."
Qin Yang was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening. He still sighed, "It was really quick. This is something I never dared to imagine before."
Qin Xiang raised an eyebrow and said, "I'll give you a salary later."
Around nine o'clock, people started to come to the market, so Qin Xiang and the others had to choose a seat near the entrance of the market. However, there was more than one entrance to the market, so the flow of people here was naturally less than before.
The spot where they had originally set up their stall had already been occupied by the Zhao Ming brothers, who had already started shouting.
Qin Yang was anxious and started shouting. The shouts echoed in the market.
Fortunately, the Zhao Ming brothers did not break their promise and lower the price privately, otherwise this business would really be impossible to do.
But for those who go to the market to buy clothes, it is a good thing. There are many sellers and they can bargain.
However, no one, whether it was Zhao Ming or Qin Xiang, was willing to lower the price. If they talked about it, it meant there would be no profit.
In the previous episode, those who came to the market bought clothes and showed them off in the village. Those who didn't come to the market naturally felt regretful, so on the day of the market, they came in groups of three or five.
But when I saw that there were actually two, I had to choose carefully.
The products of the two companies are not produced in the same factory, but they both have one thing in common: they are of good quality and cheap.
I compared them at the beginning and later found that they seemed to be similar.
Qin Xiang observed and found that her advantage was that she had not only tops but also pants, socks and underwear, while the Zhao Ming brothers only had jackets, and there were only two styles to choose from, and the quantity was limited. She estimated that the brothers had at most two hundred pieces of clothing.
In addition, Qin Xiang and Qin Yang are both good-looking and tall. When each of them wears a set of clothes, they look like clothes racks and look much better.
A group of aunties and grandmas like to come to Qin Xiang.
By three o'clock in the afternoon, there were fewer people at the market, and Qin Xiang sighed helplessly.
They had done their best, but because of the competition, they couldn't sell as many as they would at the Dazhuang Township fair. Roughly speaking, they'd sold 200 pieces at most.
Two hundred pieces is indeed a lot, but it is not a good thing for Qin Xiang.
"Let's go, let's sell some more in the village on the way back."
Qin Xiang was worried that there would be more people selling next time, and as spring plowing was approaching, there would be fewer people going to the market, so he had to sell it quickly before February.
It took more than an hour to get back to the county town, and they passed through several villages along the way. The brother and sister hawked their wares along the villages just like they did in Ningcheng, and it turned out to be quite effective.
At least there was no competition and the price was affordable, so at least 20 to 30 pieces were sold in one village.
By the time I arrived at the county town, only 120 pieces of clothing were left out of the 400 pieces I brought with me.
But this also took more time, and it was already five in the afternoon when I got home.
And at the door, they saw Qin Baotian.
When Qin Xiang saw him, he thought he came for Qin Jun and the others, and felt a little uncomfortable.
Qin Baotian hurriedly said, "I'm not here for your eldest brother and sister-in-law. They were detained for five days, and they deserved it. I'm worried about you."
Hearing this, Qin Xiang's heart fell back. She opened the door and let her third brother pull the cart in. "Dad, come in and talk."
Qin Baotian felt sorry for his daughter and son, looking exhausted. He didn't even mention that he had been waiting for them all afternoon. "Did you just get back from the market? Why are you so late?"
Qin Xiang then told her what happened at the market, "It's just a little late, it's okay, this is all normal."
Qin Baotian sighed and said, "Don't get too tired. I'll go back when I know you're all right."
It was already this late and there were no cars, so Qin Xiang advised, "You can sleep here for one night. We will go to the market in our town tomorrow and you can go with us and then go back."
It was already dark, and Qin Baotian had no choice but to stay.
In the evening, Qin Xiang cooked dinner. After the three of them ate, Qin Xiang went to study first. Qin Yang took Qin Baotian to his sleeping room and said, "You can stay with me tonight."
Qin Baotian looked at Qin Yang and asked, "Have you been doing well recently?"
"Very good." Qin Yang replied.
Qin Baotian asked again, "Did you really resign?"
Qin Yang nodded, "Yes, I resigned. Now Xiangxiang is my boss."
Qin Baotian sighed and laughed, "What's the point of talking about boss or not, brother and sister?"
Hearing this, Qin Yang was unhappy. "Even brothers should settle accounts clearly. I just work for Xiangxiang. Please keep an eye on my mother and don't let her be coaxed into doing those nonsense things by my eldest brother and his wife. Next time, it won't be as simple as detention."
Qin Baotian's face turned pale when he heard about this. Things had been quiet in the village for the past few days. No one knew about Qin Jun and his wife's detention, and even Fengying at home didn't dare tell anyone. The village was still buzzing about his daughter, a self-employed clothing seller at the market. Many people came to him to inquire about Qin Xiang's earnings, and some even approached him with marriage proposals.
He stopped all of these. He knew that Qin Xiang had high standards and a big heart. After what happened with Wang Junsheng, he didn't want to interfere in Qin Xiang's marriage easily.
Qin Baotian said, "You have to keep an eye on your sister here."
Qin Yang: "Do you even need to tell me that?"
As the father and son were talking, Qin Xiang knocked on the door and came in. She handed over the agreement she had written, "Third brother, take a look."
Qin Yang took it, took a look at it, and tore it up without saying a word. "I told you, just give me a salary. If you really feel bad, you can give me a little more. You can't just give me a share of the profits. I don't want this money."
Qin Xiang was helpless and took out another copy from his pocket and handed it to Qin Baotian, "Dad, please show it to me. My third brother is doing something stupid. Please help me check it."
Qin Baotian took it and looked at it, then looked at Qin Yang, "What do you think?"
"Just pay me a salary," Qin Yang said. "I also get a fixed salary and benefits from the team. Since you're a self-employed person, you can pay me a higher salary. It doesn't matter if there are no benefits."
Qin Xiang shook her head, "Take another look at what Dad is holding."
Qin Yang took it and looked at it, then changed the profit split from 46% to 28%. Qin Xiang explained, "Third brother, this is your investment in manpower and security. I won't return the 300 yuan you lent me before; I'll just put it into this. If you refuse again, I'll have to let you go back to driving, and I'll hire someone else to do this."
Qin Baotian on the side also advised, "Just listen to your sister. You think it's too much now, but what if you earn more money later and still get a few dozen yuan every month? Wouldn't it feel unfair? It's better to make it clear from the beginning to avoid quarrels between brother and sister over money in the future."
Qin Xiang was a little surprised that her father could say such words, and nodded in agreement, "Yes, that's right. To be honest, if it wasn't for my third brother, I probably wouldn't even look for my own relatives to partner with me. It's only because this person is my third brother that I feel at ease. I don't want our brother-sister relationship to be unhappy because of money in the future. Let's make this agreement in advance, it's good for both of us. Even if one day you want to do something else, I will convert my share into money for you."
Qin Yang looked at Qin Xiang's serious expression, thought for a moment and nodded, "Okay."
The agreement was made in triplicate, and both parties signed and fingerprinted it. Each of them took one copy, and the other copy was given to Qin Baotian for safekeeping.
After finishing the things, Qin Xiang went back to the room to sleep. Qin Baotian said to Qin Yang, "You should follow your sister and work hard. I can see that Qin Xiang is a capable person after the divorce. She will not be bad in the future."
Qin Yang nodded, "I understand."
The next day, the three of them got up before dawn and pulled a cart to the Sunzu Township market.
Their Qinjiatun belongs to Sunzu Township, which is not too far away. They walked over and set up their stall again. Qin Baotian did not go back, but stood not far away and watched his daughter and son go to the market to sell clothes.
People started coming in around nine o'clock.
Because someone had seen Qin Xiang before and promoted it after returning, so no matter whether they were from Wangjiazhuang or Jiangjiatun, many people came to see Qin Xiang in these two episodes just to watch the fun.
Qin Yang noticed the looks from those around him and felt a little unhappy. "How about I chase them away?"
Qin Xiang said indifferently, "That's not necessary. I'm so beautiful, how can I stop people from looking at me? If they want to look at me, then they can look at me. I have to make them pay to look at me."
Qin Xiang shouted directly at a young man in his twenties, "Sanzhu, come to the market."
Sanzhu didn't expect to be called out by Qin Xiang for just watching the fun. He smiled awkwardly and said, "Yeah, I came here to stroll around before the busy work starts."
"Then what are you going to buy at the market? You have to buy some clothes for your sister-in-law." Qin Xiang didn't even wait for his answer. She immediately picked up a piece of clothing and showed it to him. "Take a look at the clothes and buy one for your sister-in-law to make her happy."
Qin Xiang then called out to the other people from Qinjiatun, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up, if not buy something for yourself, then buy something for your family. We are all from the same village, I will give each of you a pair of socks."
We were all from the same village, so it was really embarrassing to refuse. Qin Xiang pulled me to the side of the cart.
Sanzhu was about to say no, but when he looked up and met Qin Yang's eyes, he immediately backed off and let Qin Xiang stuff the clothes into his hands. "Eight yuan a piece, fifteen taels a piece, do you want to buy a set for your sister-in-law?"
"No, no, just one will do." Sanzhu was afraid that Qin Xiang would say something else, so he quickly took out the money and handed it to Qin Xiang, completely forgetting why he came to the market.
The others were the same. They were all afraid of Qin Yang and took out money to buy clothes. After taking the clothes, they ran away after a while.
As for the people from Wangjiazhuang, they were afraid of Qin Yang since he became famous in Wangjiazhuang. Qin Xiang even came to buy clothes obediently without saying anything.
One of them was still a young man from the adultery-catching team. He couldn't help but ask Qin Xiang, "Qin Xiang, you didn't know that Wang Junsheng and Cui Hong got married, and the Wang family split up."
Qin Xiang had known about this for a long time, but she didn't care. After hearing this, she said, "Say congratulations for me."
The young man continued, "By the way, I think Wang Junsheng deliberately didn't take Cui Hong with him."
Qin Xiang looked up at him, "Are you still buying clothes?"
The young man shook his head. Qin Xiang pointed to the side and said, "Go away. Don't block my business here."
There were quite a lot of people at the market, and the brothers Zhao Ming and Zhao Liang happened not to come to this market, so Qin Xiang had the opportunity to make some quick money. She had nothing better to do than to chat with others about irrelevant things instead of making money.
Nothing is more important than money.
Qin Baotian also stayed there, standing not far away and watching his daughter and son busying themselves. At noon, he went to buy some buns and came back. "You two take turns eating, I'll help keep an eye on things."
Qin Xiang was surprised, "Dad, you haven't gone home yet."
"No, Dad, look at you guys doing business." Qin Baotian's honest face was full of heartache, "Everyone says you make money, but it's really hard work."
Qin Xiang didn't really care. "What isn't hard these days? Isn't selling clothes here much easier than farming?"
Qin Baotian couldn't help laughing, "That's true."
Qin Xiang said, "Dad, we have nothing to do here, please go home early."
She suddenly remembered what Liu Minhua had said about raising ducks in Jiangsu Province, so she asked Qin Baotian, "Dad, what do you think about raising fish and ducks in the fish pond in the village?"
Qin Baotian was no fool. He thought they wanted him to do it, so he hesitated and said, "This is not easy to do. When our team raised it before, we had to pay for it."
"That's because I don't have the skills. I need to find a place to learn." Qin Yang took over the conversation. "There are people raising ducks in Ningcheng. If you're interested, we can go there and learn a little bit. It would be great for you and my mom to raise ducks later. It's better than farming."
Qin Baotian frowned and said, "Let me think about it. We'll talk about it after the spring plowing."
Qin Baotian went home, and Qin Xiang and Qin Yang continued to be busy.
Because there is no competition, sales are pretty good today. We sold about 300 pieces, and there are not many socks left.
After returning home and taking a short rest, Qin Xiang called Liu Minhua, who said that she had left a message and was heading to Hangzhou.
Qin Xiang calculated the time Liu Minhua went to Hangzhou and found that it was very frequent, so Liu Minhua was probably doing wholesale.
Did she accidentally come into contact with a big wholesaler? She's still in the stall-keeping stage now.
Qin Xiang called the number they had left. Liu Minhua happened to be at the guesthouse. When she received her call, she laughed and said, "I was just about to call you. What's going on? Are you planning to restock?"
Qin Xiang smiled and said, "Yes, but I still need to order some ordinary socks. I'll have to trouble Sister Liu to go to the Rainbow Knitting Factory over there and ask Xu Xiaoping to buy me a thousand pairs of socks."
"No problem." Although Liu Minhua didn't understand why Qin Xiang didn't buy new styles and went for cheap ones, she didn't refuse since someone had entrusted her with the task, and she immediately said that she would do it tomorrow.
After hanging up the phone, Qin Xiang thought about the goods in hand. If everything went well, it would take another three to five days to process them all. The next batch of goods might require more than 1,500 pieces.
This money is like a snowball, getting bigger and bigger. If nothing unexpected happens, she will have more and more money in her hands.
Qin Xiang breathed in the early spring air and was full of expectations for the future.
But when Qin Xiang saw two more individual businesses selling clothes at the market the next day, her good mood suddenly faded.
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