After Han Qi brought the blueprints over, the family sat down at the wooden table in the yard and began to study them.
Xu Han was the first to suggest, "I think we can clear out everything in the shop. The first room on the left can be used to store canned fruit and fruit wine. We can then put them on shelves in rows and layers, which will save space and look nice."
The Taoist priest agreed, saying, "That's a good idea, but the frame can't be too high, and the space in the middle needs to be large. Otherwise, since they're all fragile things, they'll fall over if we touch them, and then we'll suffer a great loss."
Lu Chuan interjected, "The Taoist priest's suggestion is very important. We should pay attention to it and make sure the structure is solid so it doesn't collapse."
“Then let’s settle on this one.” Xu Han continued, “Let’s use the second one as the dried goods section. Dried goods are more expensive, so there will be fewer people buying them. This way, the area selling canned goods will have less foot traffic, making it less likely for the goods to break.”
"Okay, it would be best to add another partition between the two, so that they can be separated."
Grandpa Zhao then raised a very important question: "Wouldn't it be bad to sell both canned goods and fruit wine in this shop? After all, both of these items are quite expensive."
Furthermore, the target customer groups are different; will this cause any unnecessary trouble?
Xu Han explained, "We had thought about this issue before, but this year we only have 1,300 cans of food in total, including 480 cans of pears, 360 cans of apples, and the rest are hawthorn cans."
We don't have much fruit wine either. If it really sells well, this inventory won't last more than a few days.
Opening a standalone shop wouldn't be worthwhile; it would close down after a short time. Putting it inside the local produce shop would at least bring some foot traffic to our general store.
The Taoist priest slapped his thigh and said, "If the fruit wine is sold out, then let's sell sweet potato wine! Sweet potato wine is strong and delicious, and people who love to drink will definitely like it. Besides, sweet potato wine isn't cheap either, so we can sell them together."
Xu Han realized, "Oh right, how could I forget about sweet potato wine! Canned fruit and fruit wine can't be sold all the time, but sweet potato wine can. I just made a lot of sweet potato wine recently, so we can sell it when the shop opens."
Lu Chuan said, "But we didn't plant many sweet potatoes this year. We already made half of them last time. Didn't you say that the rest should be used to make sweet potato vermicelli when they have some free time?"
Xu Han pulled Lu Chuan aside and said, "It's okay if we don't plant many. We can buy them from farmers. We can make sweet potato wine from the sweet potatoes we bring back in our houses or spare shops in the county town, which will save us the trouble of hauling them all the way back to the mountains."
Grandpa Zhao smiled and nodded, saying, "That's a good idea. Don't you have a lot of shops in your county? Anyway, it's impossible to rent them all out in a short time. Why not use them for brewing wine?"
Besides, almost every household grows sweet potatoes, so they'd definitely be happy to exchange them for money.
The others nodded in agreement, and Xu Han made the final decision: "It's settled then, we'll open another shop."
"Okay, let's do it that way. But what about the mountain produce shop?"
Xu Han said, "That's simple. Just set up two rows of shelves at the wine shop, just like we just discussed. Put small jars of wine on the shelves. Then put a row of wine jars against the wall, specifically for bulk wine, the kind that you buy and fill up as needed."
As for the local produce shop, the first one on the left has some homemade pickles. These pickles are displayed in small jars on a row of cabinets, with small tongs for picking them up next to them, so customers can take as much as they want.
For the second compartment, use the kind of compartment I told you about before (the kind used for selling rice in supermarkets; the top is a bit deep so dry goods won't spill, and the bottom can be used for storage).
The third and fourth rooms are connected. The front part is used to store fresh vegetables and fruits, which can be adjusted according to the season.
Use the kind of vegetable rack I told you about before (refer to supermarket vegetable racks).
The back half will have a row of cabinets. This area is close to the door from the shop to the backyard, so we can sell meat here. Live chickens and ducks can also be stored in the backyard, which will prevent the house from smelling bad.
As for the payment area, we'll put it on the right side near the entrance, one on each side for easy weighing and payment (think of it as an ancient fresh food supermarket)."
After listening to Xu Han's long-winded explanation, everyone felt that the arrangement was indeed very good and expressed that they had no objections.
Xu Han said, "Since everyone has no objections, let's settle on this. We'll open the mountain produce shop first, and once the mountain produce shop is up and running, the tavern will be ready for renovations, and we'll open together then."
The Taoist priest nodded. "Yes, today is only the sixth day of the eleventh lunar month. There's still a long time before the New Year. There's plenty of time."
Lu Chuan also said, "Tomorrow I will take them to make out the cabinets needed for the mountain produce shop. After the cabinets are made, we will go to the county town and make arrangements step by step."
Xu Han smiled so broadly her eyes disappeared. "Then I'll have to trouble you. Try to finish it as soon as possible."
The Taoist priest said, "Hahaha, let me tell you, you've really struck gold! Among the new people we bought is one named Li Er. I only found out during our last chat that he happens to know some simple carpentry work. With his help, your speed will probably be much faster."
Xu Han raised her eyebrows after hearing this. "Is there really such a good thing? How come I didn't know about it and never heard him mention it?"
"I found out by chance. He said he couldn't do some complicated things, and could only make tables and chairs, so he didn't dare to say anything."
Lu Chuan said, "Being able to make tables and chairs is already quite good. Back in the day, I only knew how to make these simple ones. It was only after I made more and studied more that I was able to make them all."
Xu Han immediately flattered, "Master is truly amazing. He can do everything. Not only is he good at masonry, but he can also do some bamboo weaving, and even a little bit of stonemasonry. What's even more impressive is that he's now a skilled carpenter, and his craftsmanship is already quite excellent."
Lu Chuan was captivated by Xu Han's address of him as "Master." In the past, Xu Han would always call him by his full name, or she would not call him by his name at all. She had almost never called him like this before, so it was quite a rare sight.
Grandpa Zhao laughed and said, "You know what, I never thought of it before, but now that Xiao Han has said it, I have to say that our Xiao Chuan is really all-rounder, he can do a little bit of everything."
Lu Chuan blushed as everyone praised him. In fact, when the two first met, he wasn't that capable. He only knew the basics of everything. It wasn't until a year of famine and war that he lived alone in the deep mountains for seven years. He had to do everything himself.
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