Chen Xiaocai and Shen Chi were going over the accounts. Shen Chi looked at the numbers in the ledger and couldn’t help feeling shocked.
There was so much money. Shen Chi, who had never seen such wealth before, felt dizzy from the calculated numbers.
He knew the items in the shop were expensive and had a high profit margin, but he never realized it was this high.
Chen Xiaocai was also shocked, but he had more experience than Shen Chi after all. He recovered much quicker than Shen Chi. After being amazed for a while, he calmed down.
The sound of footsteps approached. Chen Xiaocai looked up and saw Qin Yi walking in.
“Uncle Qin, thank you for your hard work today. If you hadn’t helped keep things in order, it would have been chaotic,” Chen Xiaocai said with relief.
Qin Yi smiled. “It’s what I should do. Speaking of which, I saw the boss of that fake shop today.”
The fake shop Qin Yi mentioned was the Huaxia shop in town that used their name. Actually, there were quite a few shops copying products from Huaxia Trading Company, but only one did it so blatantly.
Chen Xiaomi glanced at him in surprise. “The fake’s boss? Did he come to buy something?” There were too many customers today. Chen Xiaocai was so busy he was overwhelmed and didn’t notice many details.
Qin Yi shook his head. “No, he didn’t buy anything. He just stood there staring at our shop.”
Chen Xiaocai wrinkled his nose. “That bastard must be up to no good.”
Shen Chi chuckled. “He probably wants to steal our methods again.” The fake shop mainly sold book bags and fans. Now that the weather was cold, fans weren’t useful anymore. Many shops were already selling book bags now, and that shop’s copying skills were limited, so their profits probably weren’t much.
“This doll thing shouldn’t be easy to learn,” Qin Yi said.
Chen Xiaocai nodded. “Exactly!” Even if they figured it out, reproducing them would take time. By then, they would have already made a considerable profit.
Xia Haisheng came back from Chen Xiaocai’s shop and shut himself inside his own store, fuming. Xia Haisheng was a concubine’s son who had been suppressed by his older brother since childhood. His business always lost money. Over time, everyone in the family said he had no talent or ability for business and was far inferior to the eldest young master.
What Xia Haisheng hated most was people saying he couldn’t compare to his big brother. Although his father loved him, he privately thought he was useless too.
Xia Haisheng had always wanted to achieve something to prove the old man wrong, but he had never succeeded. After Huaxia Trading Company appeared out of nowhere, it attracted a lot of attention. Xia Haisheng discovered that Huaxia Trading Company really made huge profits! If he opened a similar shop and set the prices lower, he would definitely make money too. However, reality wasn’t as beautiful as Xia Haisheng imagined.
His shop’s business was good for a while at first, but because the prices were low, he didn’t make much money. Later, things stopped selling. He had stocked too much inventory, and a lot was piled up in the warehouse. The shop rent wasn’t cheap either. After deducting all the expenses, his income was even less.
Xia Haisheng assumed that if his goods weren’t selling, the real Huaxia Trading Company must be struggling even more. Who knew they would come up with some strange new things, and just one day’s sales were shocking. Huaxia Trading Company was busy all day today, but his shop wasn’t doing well. The few customers who did come accused him of being a fraud.
In the courtyard.
Lu Lin clicked the abacus and said, “We’ve already earned back all the initial costs we spent during this period. Next, we need to produce more.”
Chen Xiaomi nodded. “Okay.”
On the first day the dolls appeared, they were met with a buying frenzy. On the second day, everyone calmed down considerably, but many people still came to the door. The third day was the same. After that, the shop’s business became stable again.
The dolls were expensive. Wealthy families would buy one or two to play with, while families without much money could only look.
Lu Lin asked around and discovered that something had become popular in town recently. This new trend is making clothes for dolls.
Most of the dolls Lu Lin sold had no clothes. Only a few scattered ones had clothes. Dolls with clothes were mostly more refined and more expensive.
Many people who couldn’t buy ones with clothes had to make their own.
Some wealthy ladies would even gather together to exchange tips on making doll clothes.
Lu Lin felt that the rich people in this world were still too bored. They had nothing to do all day, so making clothes for dolls became popular. The appearance of dolls made Huaxia Trading Company popular again.
In just a few days, the two shops earned nearly three hundred taels, making Lu Lin very excited.
At the Yang family, several women each held a doll and sat together making clothes for them.
“Grandma, your tiger is really handsome!”
“Yes, Mom, your tiger looks so mighty.”
“Grandma, there aren’t many tiger dolls in the shop. Most are rabbits and bears. Yours is really rare.”
The old lady was flushed with pleasure from the compliments. “I heard there weren’t many tigers and they sold out quickly. It’s because Hengzhi is filial and discussed with the boss to have the shop specially make one for me.”
“Grandma, I heard the rarest one is the shop’s treasure. One day, I’ll buy it for you.”
The old lady looked at her grandson. “Don’t waste that money. The shopkeeper said the treasure isn’t for sale.”
“The shopkeeper was just saying that casually. Before, someone said they’d pay thirty taels for the shop treasure, and the shopkeeper agreed.”
The old lady looked at her little grandson helplessly. “Thirty taels! Don’t spend that money unnecessarily.”
She had heard about Huaxia Trading Company’s treasure. Although the Yang family had money, thirty taels of silver still made her feel bad.
“I wonder what kind of person bought this treasure,” the old lady said suspiciously. The Yang family was one of the top families in Lin Town. For such a big spender to suddenly appear, the old lady was quite curious.
“It seems like they’re not from our town, a stranger.”
“Huaxia Trading Company’s reputation has spread far and wide. They’re probably from another town.”
“Huaxia Trading Company’s fame just keeps growing!”
When Yang Hengzhi came home, he saw his mother making clothes. From the size of the clothes, he knew they were for dolls.
Yang Hengzhi couldn’t help feeling sad. His mother hadn’t made clothes for him in a long time, but now she was diligently making clothes for dolls. The doll already had several sets of clothes. Dolls couldn’t feel cold anyway, so was there really a need to dress them?
“Son, how do you think these clothes I made look?” Madam Yang asked cheerfully when she noticed her son.
Yang Hengzhi forced a smile and said, “Mom, your skills are getting better and better.”
Madam Yang smiled. “Your grandma really likes the doll you brought her, but your brother is making a fuss about buying the shop treasure for her.”
Yang Hengzhi lowered his head. Although the old lady liked him, his brother was also very good at pleasing people.
“Then, Mom, do you think I should buy the treasure?”
Madam Yang sighed. “The old lady’s thoughts are hard to guess!” She probably liked the treasure too, but it was too expensive. If he bought it, he might be considered wasteful. It was hard to judge this properly.
“In that case, I’ll check if the store has any new or interesting dolls in stock,” Yang Hengzhi said.
Madam Yang nodded. “Good idea.”
Many women in the village worked for Huaxia Trading Company. Recently, when business slowed down, people began to speculate whether the shop was going to close down.
The villagers’ thoughts were strange. On one hand, they thought Huaxia Trading Company made too much money, taking things that cost almost nothing, putting them together casually, and selling them at sky-high prices. It was practically a black shop that deserved to close down.
On the other hand, many villagers now depended on Huaxia Trading Company for their livelihood. They felt the shop couldn’t close down. If it closed, everyone would have no work again, and they’d lose an income source just when their lives had gotten a bit easier.
Lu Lin made a fortune from dolls and lived very comfortably.
Chen Xiaomi absolutely adored a large tiger doll, carrying it around all day without ever letting go.
Lu Lin suspected that Chen Xiaomai liked the big tiger doll so much because Chen Xiaomi had once killed a tiger and used the money to buy the house in the village, moving them out of the cave.
Tiger dolls were more complicated to make, so Lu Lin didn’t have many made. Most of their stock was still bears, and all kinds of bear plushies were selling very well.
Lu Lin held a mouse doll and said, “This mouse doll is so cute, why isn’t anyone buying it?” Originally some people wanted to buy the mouse, but when they heard the doll was a mouse, they gave up the idea of buying it.
Chen Xiaomi blinked. “Isn’t that normal? Who would like mice?”
Lu Lin fell silent.
In his previous life, hamsters were very popular, and Mickey Mouse was famous worldwide. But the aesthetic tastes here hadn’t evolved to that point yet.
“I really don’t understand you. Why did you make mice? These animals only steal grain,” Chen Xiaomi said confusedly.
Lu Lin: “…” How should he answer this question? Fortunately, he didn’t make many, or the loss would have been significant.
“Young Master Yang came by and asked if our shop could make some deer dolls,” Chen Xiaomi said.
“Deer?”
Chen Xiaomi nodded. “Yes! Deer symbolize longevity. Many elderly people want to live a few more years as they get older, so they like things with good meanings.”
Lu Lin said, “I see!”
Since filial piety was highly valued here, and children’s money often ended up with their parents or grandparents, it made perfect sense to cater to the older generation’s preferences.
The weather got colder, but the doll craze grew stronger.
Dolls were more popular than book bags. Many people from other towns also came to buy dolls after hearing about them.
In comparison, the book bags in the shop stopped selling well, and they had stocked quite a few. Lu Lin came up with a few ideas, like attaching small plushie charms to each book bag.
Also, if someone bought a lot of toys, he’d give away a book bag. This way, a few book bags were gradually sold.
Chen Xiaomi’s eyes sparkled as he counted the silver and coins in the jar. “We have almost six hundred taels,” he said excitedly.
Lu Lin nodded. “Yes.”
Chen Xiaomi hugged the money jar in intoxication. There were actually over six hundred taels! Adding the shops and houses he owned, their family already had over a thousand taels. He felt like he was floating on clouds.
When he used to hunt in the mountains, he never imagined that making money could be so easy.
“The weather is getting really cold,” Lu Lin said.
Chen Xiaomi nodded. “Yes, it is.”
Recently, the prices of fans had dropped to rock bottom, but dolls were becoming more and more popular. Many competitors seemed to want to copy their dolls like before, but their dolls came in many varieties, so they couldn’t be copied quickly.
“Autumn harvest should be coming soon,” Chen Xiaomi said.
Lu Lin thought about it. Their family had no land, so autumn harvest didn’t matter to them. But Granny Shen’s family was different. Including the two mu he had given her, she had five mu. For a large family, five mu wouldn’t be a problem, but for an elderly woman like Granny Shen, it was a lot of work. Shen Chi had gone to Liu Town with Chen Xiaocai, otherwise he could have helped.
Lu Lin decided to discuss the autumn harvest with Granny Shen. She was getting older. If she took a bad fall in the fields at her age, she might not be able to get up.
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