TATLC Chapter 80

“Huaxia Trading Company really has new and interesting things to sell again.” A wealthy young master looked at the plush dolls in the store, his eyes lighting up.

“Gongzi[mfn]公子 (gōng zǐ) – son of an official / son of nobility[/mfn], the things in this store aren’t cheap! If you buy this, you probably won’t have enough silver left for drinks later,” his servant said.

The young man snapped his folding fan shut and lightly tapped his servant’s head with it.

“You’re such a blockhead. My grandmother and mother both love things from Huaxia stores. Once I buy this doll for grandmother, do you think she won’t give me money?”

The servant looked at his master with admiration and said, “How brilliant of you, Gongzi.”

The young master walked up to the counter and bought two dolls.

Lu Lin stood to the side and noticed that many men came to buy dolls too, most of them probably buying them as gifts for their families.

When Yang Hengzhi walked to Huaxia Trading Company, he saw the crowd gathered outside.

Many people weren’t buying dolls but just staring from outside, occasionally making sounds of amazement.

The dolls in the store were still quite expensive, so some parents who couldn’t afford them came with the idea of going home and making similar ones themselves.

“Lu Lin, your store is really popular. On my way here, I noticed your store has the best business by far,” Yang Hengzhi said.

Lu Lin smiled. “Yang-gongzi, you flatter me.”

“Earlier, on my way here, I saw someone holding a white rabbit doll, but I don’t see any in the store,” Yang Hengzhi asked.

Lu Lin sighed lightly, “Those are already sold out.”

Yang Hengzhi frowned. “Sold out?”

Lu Lin nodded. “Yes, many of our doll varieties have been completely sold out.”

Yang Hengzhi smiled bitterly. “Business is really good!”

Business was just as lively in Liu Town as it was in Lin Town.

After relocating to a different shop, business had slowed down, and they barely saw a few customers a day.

However, on the day of the autumn market, Chen Xiaocai brought out the same store treasure as the one in Lin Town, which completely amazed all the people in Liu Town who had never seen such things.

Actually, the residents of Liu Town understood by now that if they wanted to buy stylish new goods, they went to Huaxia Trading Company, and if they wanted cheap knockoffs, they went to other stores.

When Huaxia store’s dolls appeared, they got all the usually dignified and quiet young ladies excited.

A young lady in purple looked at Chen Xiaocai with bright eyes and asked, “One doll costs six hundred wen, two for one tael. If I buy ten, can you make it any cheaper?”

Chen Xiaocai rolled his eyes and answered, “I can’t lower the price any further, but if you buy ten, I can throw in an extra small one for free.”

The young lady in purple nodded, a hint of pride in her tone, “Very well, I’ll take ten.”

Chen Xiaocai thought, There really are many rich people in this world. These dolls look nice but aren’t practical, yet this young lady is buying so many at once.

Chen Xiaocai handled the payment while Shen Chi handed over the dolls one by one. The young lady was followed by several maidservants, each carrying two dolls, making quite a spectacular sight.

The purple-dressed young lady looked at Chen Xiaocai and Shen Chi with curiosity and said, “Your shop owner is really bold! Such a big store, and he actually lets you two children run it.” One of them was even a young Shuang’er.

Chen Xiaomi lifted his head and glanced at the young lady, replying, “Uncle Qin is here too.”

The young lady in purple: “…” There was indeed a man standing there like a wooden post, but he clearly wasn’t managing anything.

This store really seemed quite strange. Two children were in charge, while that fierce-looking guy only served as a door god.

The purple-dressed young lady paid and left with her maids.

Customers like the purple-dressed young lady who bought ten dolls at once were rare. Most people only bought one or two.

Several customers who had been hesitating saw the young lady walk away with ten dolls and grew worried that if they waited any longer, the good ones would be gone. Their urgency quickly spread.

“Xiao Ge, I want that bear…”

“Xiao Ge, I’ll take that rabbit.”

“Xiao Ge, what animal is that?”

Several customers swarmed over at once, and Chen Xiaocai suddenly found himself overwhelmed.

Seeing this, Qin Yi couldn’t help but speak up, “Everyone, please line up, one at a time.”

On the day of the autumn market, Chen Xiaocai’s shop was packed with people, but the fake store didn’t have such luck.

When some children appeared on the street holding dolls, they naturally attracted other people’s attention.

When children who knew each other met, they would ask where the dolls came from, and the buyers would say Huaxia Trading Company.

Compared to Chen Xiaocai’s newly opened Huaxia Trading Company, more people knew about the shop they had rented before.

Some people who knew the inside story knew that Huaxia Trading Company had changed owners, and this current store had nothing to do with the real Huaxia Trading Company. But some people didn’t know the inside story and thought it was just another branch of Huaxia Trading Company.

Large numbers of people flocked to the fake Huaxia Trading Company, asking if the store sold dolls.

Lu Lin had always kept the doll-making process secret, and people here had no concept of various cartoon dolls.

Although the boss had been closely monitoring Lu Lin’s activities, he couldn’t figure out what Lu Lin was doing, so naturally he couldn’t copy and make dolls. Of course, there were no dolls for sale in the store.

People who couldn’t buy dolls were very disappointed and questioned why other Huaxia Trading Companies had dolls while this store didn’t. Those with bad tempers directly cursed the boss for running a worthless store.

Faced with the crowd’s accusations, the new shopkeeper was visibly overwhelmed.

Lu Lin’s shop had quite a reputation, with a steady stream of customers from morning till night.

He had tried to stock up as much as possible, but still underestimated the townspeople’s purchasing power. Many people bought dolls and took them home, only to have them “confiscated” by older family members, so they had to come buy more.

With so many people buying dolls, several styles quickly sold out.

“Boss, how much silver for that doll?” A well-dressed young man stood at the store entrance and asked.

“This is our store’s treasure, it’s not for sale.”

“A treasure, huh? It must be expensive then. How about twenty taels?” The man played with his folding fan and asked with a smile.

Wan Li forced a stiff smile and repeated, “This is our store’s treasure. It really can’t be sold.”

“Shopkeeper, you’re really firm! Thirty taels of silver! That’s quite a lot, it should match the status of a store treasure, right?” The man asked with bright eyes.

Wan Li hesitated and said, “Let me ask about this.”

With Lu Lin absent, Chen Xiaomi agreed when he heard someone was willing to pay thirty taels for a fake bear, waving his hand in approval.

After the big doll was made, Chen Xiaomi loved it very much.

Lu Lin had also considered that there might be big spenders who’d be drawn to “treasure” items, so he had specifically made several extra store treasures. But since rare things are valuable, Lu Lin didn’t make too many.

When the price was right, even a treasure could be sold. That was thirty taels of silver! A real bear wouldn’t even cost that much.

The so-called treasure was just made with a bit more fabric and stuffing, something that could be reproduced quickly.

The man spent thirty taels to buy the store treasure and felt quite proud.

“What a big doll!”

“Yes!”

“Didn’t they say the store’s treasure wasn’t for sale? How did they sell it?”

“Thirty taels of silver! Spending thirty taels on just a doll is too wasteful.”

The man carried a large doll on his shoulder, drawing curious glances from passersby. He walked back and forth on the busy street several times, basking in the crowd’s amazed and envious looks, before finally carrying the doll back to his inn.

Lu Lin hadn’t expected that after going out for a bit, the store treasure would be sold. When he learned it sold for thirty taels, Lu Lin immediately felt that selling it was fine, it didn’t matter.

“I didn’t expect we’d need the backup store treasure so soon.”

After the big bear treasure was sold, Lu Lin replaced it with a big cat.

Lu Lin felt that having a big doll in the shop really attracted people. Even though large dolls were harder to sell, Lu Lin’s shop treasure had become a talking point everywhere. Many people had come specifically to see it after hearing about it, only to find it was gone.

“Shopkeeper, your store treasure changed!”

“Shopkeeper, where’s the original store treasure? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t sell it?”

Wan Li calmly said, “The store treasure met its destined owner and went away with them.”

“Shopkeeper, how can you tell if someone is destined for the store treasure?” a young man asked.

Wan Li smiled and calmly replied, “If you’re sincere, you’ll naturally have fate.” If you don’t pay enough, you’re not sincere enough. If you pay enough, then you’re sincere.

“Then how do you judge sincerity?”

“Well, that depends on fate.”

Chen Xiaomi, listening from the backyard, heard Wan Li’s words and awkwardly rubbed his nose.

In the evening, Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi counted the day’s income.

During the autumn market, they sold over a hundred dolls, bringing in more than ninety taels. Thirty taels came from selling the store treasure. The store treasure really lived up to its name! However, people willing to spend thirty taels on a store treasure were still a minority.

Chen Xiaomi looked at the silver in his hands, feeling excited. “Several people asked about the store treasure today.”

Thirty taels wasn’t something you could casually take out, so many people just asked without intending to buy. Still, Chen Xiaomi felt several people seemed very tempted, though they hoped the price could be lowered to twenty taels.

Lu Lin thought, As they say, rare things are valuable. If we priced it according to materials and labor at three taels each, many people would probably think buying such a big doll was pointless. But calling the big doll a store treasure and adding mystery made people more interested in it.

On Chen Xiaocai’s side, they earned over seventy taels in one day. Liu Town had more wealthy people, and if Lin Town hadn’t sold a “store treasure,” Liu Town’s income should have been higher.

After the new shop opened, business had been slow and quiet. But once the dolls went on sale, the shop’s decline was quickly reversed.

Chen Xiaocai hadn’t been used to the shop being so busy for a long time. He was overwhelmed with work, but fortunately Shen Chi was also good with numbers and bookkeeping, which helped him a lot.

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