The little one at home also knew that Wan Shu was coming today, and that there was another reason for her to come: to find a substitute for crayfish.
They also wanted to share their mother's burdens.
So he followed behind Wan Shu, carefully observing each shop.
It's always faster for four people to come up with an idea than for one person to come up with one. In addition, Wan Shu had always wanted to train their thinking, so she asked.
Do you have any ideas for new food items?
Recently, Wan Shu has been asking them questions frequently, and they are no longer as timid and hesitant to express themselves as before. They speak up freely whenever they have an idea.
Dazhu, as the eldest brother, spoke first: "Mother, what do you think of braised pig's trotters? Pig's trotters are delicious and cheap."
Wan Shu had already considered the matter of pig's trotters, and shook his head upon hearing this.
"It won't work. Pig trotters are indeed cheap and taste good when braised, but a county can only consume a maximum of five or six pigs a day. Even if we buy all the pig trotters in the county, we'll only get about twenty."
"One pig's trotter weighs about one pound, so about twenty pig's trotters would weigh about twenty pounds."
Without Wan Shu needing to say anything further, Da Zhu understood.
"Twenty jin is simply not enough for distribution, and it would be quite a challenge to buy all the pig trotters in the entire county."
Dazhu was quite dejected: "It's my fault for not thinking things through."
“That’s how business is. Take it slow. The fact that you thought of pig’s trotters is already quite impressive.” Wan Shu smiled and comforted him, “Aside from the issue of supply, pig’s trotters are indeed a good product for us to sell. My mother had considered it before.”
Upon hearing this, Dazhu regained his happy expression.
Although his idea wasn't adopted by his mother, hehe, he hates that his mother thinks the same way!
"Er Ya, what about you? What are your thoughts?" Wan Shu asked again.
While she was still asking Dazhu, Siya looked eager to try.
When asked, she immediately replied excitedly, "Mother! We've saved up some money, why don't we take this opportunity to open a restaurant!"
I never expected this young girl to have such big ambitions—opening a restaurant!
If Siya and the others had enough resources, it wouldn't hurt to open a restaurant for them if they wanted to. However, with their current strength, they are far from being able to afford the expenses of a restaurant.
However, Wan Shu did not dampen Si Ya's enthusiasm; on the contrary, she inquired with great interest.
"Tell your mother, what made you decide to open a restaurant?"
"Of course it's because I think distribution is too unprofitable!" Si Ya said with a serious expression. "Except for Jinzunlou, the other three restaurants buy braised food from us for 38 wen per catty, but they sell it for 88 wen per catty!"
"When I first found out, I was really shocked. I thought they wouldn't be able to sell it at such a high price. But I didn't expect that they not only sold it, but sold it so well! Braised food can be more profitable than we imagined. If we opened our own restaurant and started selling it, wouldn't we be able to get rich right away!"
"Besides, I've already inquired, and the cheapest shop rent in the county town is only two taels a month. With our current capital, that's definitely enough!"
Wan Shu has no plans to open a store for the time being, but he is familiar with the rent for shops in the county town.
"A shop that costs two taels of silver, is it a shop on South Street?"
"Yes! Mother, you're so amazing, you even know this!" Siya scratched her head, but was also a little puzzled: "But why are you asking this, Mother? Are you worried that there won't be any foot traffic on South Street? I've already checked, there's a lot of foot traffic on South Street, and even our own restaurant doesn't have any competitors!"
Wan Shu: "Didn't you think of why there isn't a single restaurant on South Street?"
Siya looked puzzled; clearly, this question had touched on a blind spot in her knowledge.
Wan Shuwen explained to her, "That's because the shops on South Street are the smallest in the entire county. They can only be used to open noodle shops and steamed bun shops that don't require a large area."
"As for restaurants, whether it's Jinzunlou, Yumantang, or even the worst-performing Laifu Inn, their area is at least five times the size of the shops on South Street."
“In addition to rent, there are other expenses for opening a restaurant. Renovation is a major expense. After opening, our family alone will not be able to handle it. We will also need to hire a lot of staff. With our current financial situation, we are not capable of opening a restaurant.”
Wan Shu did not directly reject Siya's idea, but instead patiently explained it to her in detail.
Although Siya felt a little disappointed, she understood what Wan Shu meant.
“Mother, I understand. We are not strong enough to open a restaurant, but I will work hard to earn money for the family in the future and try to open a restaurant as soon as possible.”
That's really impressive!
Wan Shu patted her head approvingly, then looked at San Shun, who hadn't said a word.
"Sam-soon, it's your turn. What are your thoughts?"
San Shun is a smart kid. Wan Shu doesn't even need to ask him; she knows he must have something in mind.
Sure enough, as soon as Wan Shu asked him, San Shun immediately turned around and pointed to a large butcher shop next door that specialized in slaughtering chickens and ducks.
“Mother, I think we can sell the offal of chickens, ducks and geese.”
During the Great Sheng Dynasty, the offal of chickens, ducks, and geese included not only their internal organs, but also their limbs and heads.
There are no hormones in Dasheng Dynasty, and everyone raises chickens, ducks and geese for a very long period of time, so the chickens, ducks and geese are very heavy when they are slaughtered and sold.
Heavy means substantial, and substantial means expensive.
There are more poor people than rich people in Sishui County. They often only buy one or two kilograms of meat to treat themselves. As a result, overweight chickens, ducks and geese can only be cut up and sold.
If you cut them up and sell them, you'll encounter the same problems as with pigs.
The residents of the Great Sheng Dynasty, who lacked meat, all desired meaty breasts and thighs.
The limbs and heads of chickens, ducks, and geese have little meat, so they are all left over.
Similar to the situation with pork shops, owners of chicken, duck, and goose meat shops often can't sell their offal, so they end up taking it home and dealing with it themselves.
But with so much offal, how could we possibly finish it all in one day? We'd get tired of eating it every day, so in the end we had to keep lowering the price.
When Wan Shu asked about the price, he found that the offal of chickens, ducks, and geese was even cheaper than that of pigs, costing only six to eight coins per pound!
Upon hearing this, Wan Shu thought it was a great deal, and she was determined to take advantage of it!
She immediately bought fifty catties of chicken, duck, and goose offal, and secretly bought a lot of spices and sugar in her space before taking her three children home with a full load.
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