Chen Dabao said confidently, "Don't worry, Sister Qingqing, I will definitely work hard and never let you down."
After saying that, he added in a consultative tone, "The output of raw brown sugar has been pitifully low these days. I think I will stop making raw brown sugar starting tomorrow and focus on making white sugar instead."
"No, even though white sugar sells well, we can't stop making brown sugar."
Da Bao looked puzzled. "Since the output is low, why bother with the business? It's time-consuming, laborious, and slow to sell. Why not just focus on white sugar? Judging from the current situation, white sugar is more popular and is already in short supply."
Chen Qingqing frowned slightly and patiently explained, "Da Bao can't be impatient for quick success and instant benefits. He only sees the immediate benefits and ignores the long-term development. As the saying goes, 'He who does not plan for the future will have trouble in the present.' You can't just focus on the immediate benefits, but you have to think about the problem comprehensively."
Although brown sugar is selling slowly now, its moisturizing and blood-nourishing effects are irreplaceable by white sugar.
If you give up making brown sugar, you're essentially giving up this market.
Giving up this market is tantamount to providing Liang Fugui with a great opportunity.
If he were to capture even just 10% of the market, you can calculate how much money we would lose.
Another point is that he can establish a foothold in the market by relying on brown sugar.
He couldn't possibly not study how to boil sugar. If one day he discovered the method for boiling sugar...
Given his market share, shopkeepers who have a good relationship with him will naturally prioritize buying his goods. That would be tantamount to you creating a formidable rival for yourself.
Upon hearing this, Chen Dabao suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly, "Sister Qingqing, I understand. Don't worry, I will never give Liang Fugui that chance."
"Good that you understand. Remember, if you encounter any problems that you can't solve, come and find me."
"I understand, Sister Qingqing. I'll head back now."
"Okay, drive carefully."
Chen Qingqing watched Da Bao's departing figure, pondering to herself.
If you seize the opportunity to make a name for yourself with white sugar, you'll be rolling in money in the future.
She could potentially become the richest woman in the Great Ning Dynasty, but the difficulties involved are unimaginable.
If she guessed correctly, the Liang family's troubles wouldn't disappear, and she was quite looking forward to seeing how Da Bao would resolve them.
Nanshan Village.
Looking at the mountain of beetroots piled up in the yard, Mrs. Liang felt worried.
What to do with so many beets? Even if we boil them down to make brown sugar, who can we sell it to?
Although we've already recouped our initial investment, what will we do if Zheng Xi comes to deliver goods again next time?
No, we've already signed a contract, and breaching it would mean going to jail.
If we keep him, what will we use to pay him for the goods?
It's all that damned Chen Qingqing's fault. If she hadn't invented white sugar, brown sugar wouldn't have been unable to sell.
If I had known this would happen, I should have stayed with the Chen family for a few more months; perhaps I could have learned how to make white sugar...
Seeing his wife looking worried and sighing, Liang Fugui quickly offered words of comfort.
“Don’t worry, wife. Even though Li Jiang doesn’t want our goods anymore, brown sugar is a good thing. If all else fails, we can take it to town and sell it ourselves. They sell it for 100 coins a pound, we can sell it for a lower price, I don’t believe we can’t sell it.”
Madam Liang frowned. "Will this work?"
"Why not? I've already calculated it out. Last time we boiled 500 catties of sugar and used 2,500 catties of sugar beets. Now we still have more than 7,000 catties left. We can at least boil 1,400 catties of sugar."
Even if we sell it for fifty copper coins a pound, we can still make seventy taels of silver. Even if Zheng Xi comes to deliver the goods, we can still keep them. Don't worry about it."
After carefully considering his words, Mrs. Liang found them to make some sense, but she was still worried. "You're right, but what if no one buys them?"
"How could no one buy? As the old saying goes, there's no such thing as a shop that never opens. Besides, our prices are low. Who would choose the more expensive option over the cheaper one? That would be foolish!"
Upon hearing Liang Fugui's words, Liang's eyes immediately lit up, and her anxiety subsided. "Yes, it's the same thing. If it were me, I would also buy the cheaper one."
After saying that, he lost his previous disappointment and waved to Liang Fugui, "Come on, let's get to work and try to make more sugar."
The Liang family's business was booming, and the Chen family's sugar mill was also thriving.
Chen Dabao recruited more than a dozen workers in the village, and the number of donkeys used for pulling the millstone increased to ten.
The large pots used for boiling sugar burned continuously day and night, and the amount of sugar produced increased daily.
At the same time, more and more merchants came to buy the sugar, eager to sign exclusive sales contracts for it in their localities.
Da Bao was deeply worried; the supply of raw materials was insufficient, and the amount of sugar produced was far from enough.
He wished he could go to the field right now and harvest the unripe beetroots to make sugar.
But haste makes waste. He had no choice but to put on a smiling face, say kind words, and see the merchants off one by one, promising that they wouldn't leave empty-handed in the autumn...
Seeing the long lines of merchants buying sugar from the Chen family, Liang Fugui couldn't help but feel envious and resentful.
He figured these people were all big merchants from afar; if they couldn't buy white sugar, they certainly wouldn't leave empty-handed; they'd probably take some brown sugar back with them.
If his brown sugar is cheaper than the Chen family's, there will definitely be people buying it...
Thinking of this, Liang Fugui carried the two hundred catties of brown sugar that his family had boiled to the big willow tree at the entrance of the village.
Upon seeing customers approaching, he started shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Don't miss out! My brown sugar is pure and free of impurities, and it's cheap. Others sell it for 85 coins, but my top-quality brown sugar is only 70 coins per pound."
Seventy copper coins is a steal! Gentlemen and ladies, stop and take a look! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity…
After Liang Fugui shouted for a long time, a carriage finally stopped. The curtain was opened, and a middle-aged man dressed in blue silk and with a thin face stepped out of the carriage.
The man's name was Hou Da Kui. He owned a shop in Anyang, not far from the shop of Manager Jiang, who ran the Anyang General Store.
Seeing the booming business at the Anyang general store these past few days, he became envious and insanely jealous.
After making several inquiries, I learned that the white sugar they were selling was purchased from Nanshan Village.
So he rushed over without stopping, only to find that he had made a wasted trip and hadn't managed to order a single pound of sugar.
Just as I was feeling disappointed, I heard hawkers calling out from outside the carriage...
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