Sign in and get rich in farming

Yu Hongdou's mood was different this time when she came to Wu'an County. This seemingly small county was about to become the base for her career to take off.

Who would have thought that the social animals who had been working quietly for capitalists in their previous lives would actually start their own businesses in ancient times?

These days, Duan Zhuangtou and the people in the village have been working overtime to make soap and toys, and all the soap nuts brought back from Cigou Village have been consumed.

There weren't that many inspections of troops on the battlefield or Shaolin martial arts performances, but the person in charge of painting the toy plates had a sudden idea and painted the wooden figures clothes in several different colors.

This stimulated the carpenters who were making the game disk to modify the wooden figures, and thus the chicken eating rice disk that Yu Hongdou wanted at the beginning was born inadvertently.

This time they did not park the carriage at the north gate, but went around to the east gate, entered the city gate directly, and drove the carriage into the back door of the shop.

From the outside, it was obvious that the walls and doors had been renovated, and the door had been widened to allow a carriage to drive directly in.

After entering, the small courtyard seemed much narrower, but it was no problem to stop there for a while.

In the yard, Duan Yuan, a middle-aged man and a young man were waiting in the carriage to greet their master, pounding their hands.

When Yu Hongdou got off the car, Duan Yuan's eyes were bright, and the middle-aged man and the young man's faces were flushed with excitement.

Yu Hongdou took a look at the yard. The entire yard had been almost renovated. Blue bricks were paved in the yard, and a little land was left against the wall. Now, a row of fences were made with bamboo sticks, and some small green vegetables were planted inside.

The firewood shed is already full, and an area is reserved next to it for use as an animal shed. If it rains or snows and the deliverers do not have time to get away, the animals can be moved in to take shelter.

"Miss, this is Liu Xi from the farm. He is responsible for clearing the goods, counting the goods and settling the accounts. This is Zhang Li. I think he is smart, so I want to make him my assistant." Duan Yuan told the lady about his arrangements immediately.

Following Duan Yuan's introduction, Liu Xi and Zhang Li bowed to Yu Hongdou.

Yu Hongdou looked at the two of them seriously and nodded: "I'll leave the shop to you from now on. Don't be afraid. If you have any problems, go to the county government office to find my brother."

"This yard is fine, but the water is a little expensive. Don't be stingy. When you can't take care of it, just call the water vendors on the street to bring water. A load of water is only a few cents. Just report it when you remit the money."

Yu Sanlang looked into each room and saw that the kangs and stoves were all in good order and the water tank in the kitchen was filled with water, so he gave some instructions.

"We understand." Liu Xi wanted to say that carrying water is not difficult, just get up early, but seeing Duan Yuandu said nothing, he swallowed his words.

"We also need to prepare a few peace cylinders. The houses here are connected. It would be bad if someone was accidentally implicated." Xu looked around and made a suggestion.

"Yes, Duan Yuan, you should go and have a look later and buy a few more. Then get a dog. It will be useful for fire prevention and theft prevention." Yu Hongdou slapped her head. She had forgotten that fires in ancient times were not as easy to put out as in later generations.

Duan Yuan agreed and led his master and his family into the main hall in front where goods were sold.

The shop's signboard had been completed and was being hung on the door to dry for paint. The signboard was proposed by Tan Bailu, who had someone make it and sent it over. He proudly sought credit for it from Yu Song and boasted about it in a letter to the capital.

The sales counters, exhibition stands, tables and chairs, etc., all the miscellaneous items are in place.

Yu Hongdou was thinking about several ways to display the products and how to catch people's attention at once.

When she was thinking about the opening ceremony at home, she also thought of several ways. Now, after looking at the layout of the counter, she felt that some highlights could be added.

First of all, for soap, during the first three days of opening, you can give away some scraps every day, just cut them into pieces the size of a fingernail.

Then it is best for the store to always have some water available so that customers can come in and try it.

If you have a toy tray, it would be best to display it at the door to attract the children’s attention…

Chrysanthemum tea is easy to make. Just use white porcelain bowls to make some tea and place them in a row. Then hang a picture of squashed chrysanthemums on the wall...

Yu Hongdou first told Duan Yuan all this, and then gave some instructions on how to arrange the soaps.

Then comes the most critical issue: how to calculate the price.

A set of twelve soap bars is definitely a high-end luxury product, and you certainly can't count on the store to ship it on a daily basis, but you can break it down and sell it individually, which is a good opportunity to do some market research.

The cost of soapberries bought from Cigou Village and before is very low, averaging about two or three cents per pound, not counting the wood ash. The most expensive thing is the essential oil used in the soap, and pigments and labor must also be taken into account.

In other words, the price of soap varies slightly depending on the fragrance (materials), ranging from twenty cents to two taels. If you buy a set of twelve soaps, the discounted price is twenty taels.

The cheapest is the soap made by mixing soapnut water and wood ash and drying them. Yu Hongdou asked Zhuangzi to cut the soap into small pieces, about the size of a baby's fist, and sell them for five cents, as a welfare for ordinary people.

A toy plate of Shaolin martial arts performance costs twenty cents, a toy plate of soldiers on the battlefield costs fifteen cents, and a toy plate of chicken pecking rice costs ten cents.

There are two ways to sell chrysanthemum tea: by weight, one liang for six cents; by flower, two flowers for one cent.

There are about 16 to 20 flowers in one ounce, so it is of course more appropriate to buy them by ounce. But for those who want to try something new but are short of money, two flowers for one penny is just right.

There are two recipes for chrysanthemum beauty-enhancing and heat-reducing tea given by Mr. Yu posted on the wall of the store. Whether you buy anything or not, you can write them down and take them home to drink by yourself. But after writing down the recipe, no one would be willing to leave empty-handed, so buying two flowers for a penny is a nice token of your appreciation.

Although the shop is not big, it is still a bit scanty to sell only these few items, so Yu Sanlang suggested bringing some unused agricultural products from the farm to sell here together.

Yu Hongdou saw some grains, chicken and duck eggs, and even some salted duck eggs. She suddenly remembered that there were some preserved eggs under her brother's bed.

She has to go back and see if it is successful. If it is, wouldn’t that mean the store has added a new product?

Yu Hongdou also instructed Duan Yuan to buy more colored paper, scissors and some colorful flags and embroidery, and to go directly to the dock after the opening. She also asked him to find a drama troupe or a gong and drum team, and then build a stage at the dock to play gongs and drums for three days to attract passing ships and guests.

Duan Yuan nodded when he heard an idea. His eyes lit up like light bulbs and he kept saying flattering things, which made Yu Hongdou giggle.

Of course, Duan Yuan was not just flattering. While repeating Yu Hongdou's requests and orders, he also incorporated some of his own ideas. Yu Hongdou valued this point particularly. She felt that Duan Yuan would definitely become a good salesperson in the future.

On the other hand, the return gift sent by Tan Bailu to the capital finally arrived in the hands of the three long-awaited noblemen of the Tan family.