Lu Lin tapped his fingers lightly on the table and said thoughtfully, “Next, we can stock up on winter gloves and sell them when the cold season arrives.”
“But we already sold gloves last year, so sales might be limited. Maybe we should consider selling something else. What about those scarves you mentioned?” Chen Xiaomi asked.
“We can consider it.” Many people here were poor and couldn’t even afford clothes, so scarves might be a bit unnecessary. But they could still stock some. Poor people couldn’t afford them, but rich people could.
Chen Xiaomi glanced at Lu Lin and asked, “How much money do we have?”
“About three hundred taels,” Lu Lin replied.
Chen Xiaomi nodded. “That’s quite a lot.”
Lu Lin nodded too. “Right, this year’s weather has been good. Wind and rain have been favorable. The grain harvest should be good, so we can stock up on grain.”
Chen Xiaomi nodded again. “That’s a good idea.”
Since they weren’t short on money now, maybe they could consider going into the mountains to dig some caves and store grain in case of disaster years. With Lu Lin’s convenience store, transporting grain to the mountains shouldn’t be too difficult. During disaster years, grain prices could instantly jump several times higher.
Chen Xiaomi sighed wistfully. “Autumn is almost here… the animals are at their fattest this season.”
Lu Lin fell silent. Chen Xiaomi wasn’t thinking about going hunting in the mountains, was he? In his current condition, that definitely wasn’t a good idea. “Don’t even think about it. What if you run into a blind bear out there?”
Chen Xiaomi replied somewhat guiltily, “I never said I was going now. Speaking of which, the bears from your place are really cute!”
“Bears?”
Chen Xiaomi took out a keychain. “Did you forget?”
Attached to Lu Lin’s convenience store keychain was an adorable panda doll.
Lu Lin looked at the charm in Chen Xiaomi’s hand and said, “Oh, that one. Why don’t we make some stuffed dolls to sell?”
Chen Xiaomi thought about it. “That could work.”
There weren’t many toys for children here. Many wealthy families in town doted on their grandchildren and were willing to spend money on kids. Once they made up their minds, Lu Lin began preparing.
They already had plenty of fabric on hand from earlier stockpiles for making school bags and fans.
Stuffing the dolls required lots of cotton filling, so Lu Lin went directly to buy several old cotton quilts.
The dolls’ eyes were especially important, so Lu Lin decided to order a batch of wooden beads and dye them black.
Lu Lin found Granny Shen and Yunniang, Wan Li’s wife, to try making the dolls.
Neither Granny Shen nor Yunniang had any concept of what a doll should look like, so their first attempts turned out rather strange. Still, Xiaomai had never seen anything like it. Once the doll was finished, he clung to it and refused to let go, even taking it to bed with him.
After a series of experiments, Granny Shen and Yunniang gradually improved, and the dolls they produced became better-looking.
But with only the two of them working, the pace was too slow. Lu Lin had no choice but to recruit more people and assign different tasks.
Of course, Lu Lin wouldn’t tell these people the complete doll-making method. Granny Shen and Yunniang brought the female workers over in batches to teach them different parts of doll-making. Some made ears, some made feet, some made clothes for the dolls, and some sewed ribbons into bows.
Since each person only made one part, the female workers were somewhat confused about what they were making.
Still, for these workers, having work was always a good thing. Sales of book bags had already declined, and the amount of work assigned to each person had decreased significantly. Since everyone was paid by the piece, recent earnings had dropped for all of them.
At Su He’s house
“Wife, the thing you’re making looks so strange!”
Su He nodded. “It is a bit strange. I’m probably only making one part. Maybe it’ll become a finished product when everything’s put together, like with the book bags.”
It was the same when they made book bags before. Everyone thought the things they were making looked weird and that the shop owner would definitely lose money.
But when the book bags came out, they sold like crazy. Unfortunately, there were now many similar bags outside, so the shop’s bags weren’t selling well anymore.
“It’s probably like that, but what will it become?”
Su He rolled her eyes. Among the female workers, probably only Granny Shen and Yunniang knew what the final product would look like.
But no one could just barge into Granny Shen and Yunniang’s room. Some time ago, Lu Lin had bought ten cotton quilts, and when that wasn’t enough, he bought ten more. She didn’t know what he needed so many quilts for. The weather wasn’t cold now, so buying so many quilts couldn’t be for storage.
“Mom, did you bring me buns?” Su He’s youngest son suddenly tugged at her pants.
Su He looked at her son with a pained expression. “I didn’t buy any buns today. Tomorrow, after I deliver the goods, I’ll have your dad buy some for you, okay?”
The child was disappointed at first, but he nodded happily after hearing his mother’s promise.
Su He was secretly relieved that she’d managed to coax her son. A while back, there hadn’t been much work, earnings were low, and there were hardly any extra sources of income. But these past few days, work had gradually increased, which was a good sign.
While Granny Shen and Yunniang were busy making dolls, Chen Xiaomi was stuffing them with cotton batting. Filling the cotton evenly throughout the doll’s body wasn’t easy either.
Chen Xiaomi didn’t like needlework, but he quite enjoyed this cotton-stuffing job.
Granny Shen and Yunniang had moved their workspace to the main room. The floor and the bed were now covered with all kinds of dolls.
Chen Xiaomai was overjoyed, hugging one doll after another, having the time of his life.
Although Granny Shen and Yunniang were the ones doing the sewing, the designs of the dolls all came from Lu Lin. The two women admired Lu Lin completely.
They had made many small dolls. These used less fabric and cotton, so costs were lower. Chen Xiaomi looked at Lu Lin and said, “Isn’t this doll too big?”
Granny Shen and Yunniang had gotten much better at making dolls recently, so Lu Lin planned to have them make an extra-large one.
Lu Lin shook his head. “Not at all. Once this doll is finished, it’ll become our shop’s signature once it’s made.” A signature had to be eye-catching enough, preferably something that would stop people in their tracks at first glance.
Chen Xiaomi：”……”
Although Chen Xiaomi felt that such a large doll wouldn’t have any buyers, he still had great confidence in Lu Lin. After finalizing the doll design, Lu Lin had Granny Shen and Yunniang put aside their current work and make a pair of oversized bear dolls.
As summer gradually faded, the fan business in the shop began to cool down.
Shen Chi sat in the shop, resting his chin in his hand with a worried expression. “No one’s buying fans anymore.”
Chen Xiaocai replied unconcernedly, “Don’t worry. If we can’t sell them, those other shops can’t sell them either.”
Recently, many stores in Liu Town had started selling book bags and fans, driving prices so low that no one was making a profit. Even the shop owner who had previously stolen business from them was now facing slow sales. Anyway, they had already earned back their costs, so it didn’t matter.
Shen Chi puffed out his cheeks and blinked.
Chen Xiaocai said confidently, “Brother Lin sent a message. He said there’s a big fair in a few days, and he’s planning to introduce some kind of doll at the shop. It should bring in plenty of money.”
Shen Chi blinked. “Really? But what’s a doll?”
Chen Xiaocai shook his head. “Don’t know. Whatever it is, as long as it makes money.”
Shen Chi: “…”
Lu Lin rushed to make over eight hundred stuffed dolls in a short time.
At the autumn market, Lu Lin brought out the dolls. The market was bustling with people, and Lu Lin’s shop front was packed with people. Many gathered around Lu Lin’s doll shop to watch the excitement.
“Grandpa, I want that one, I want that one.”
A chubby child tugged at the hand of a well-dressed old man’s hand, pointing at the largest bear doll in the shop and shouting loudly. The shop’s largest bear doll was very tall, wearing beautiful clothes with a big silk bow around its neck. Its wooden eyes were bright and full of spirit.
Around the big bear were a variety of smaller plush toys – little yellow chicks, little yellow ducks, little rabbits, little snakes. Each doll had a unique design, but they all looked very eye-catching.
“Manager Wan, how much for the biggest doll?”
Wan Li shook his head. “Master Li, sorry, but that’s our shop’s treasure. It’s not for sale.”
Master Li nodded understandingly. “A shop treasure can’t be sold casually.”
“You heard that. It’s not that Grandpa won’t buy it for you, but they won’t sell it.”
Hearing this, the chubby child plopped down on the ground and refused to get up.
The old man looked at his tantrum-throwing grandson helplessly. “We can’t buy that one, but we can buy another. If you don’t get up, you won’t get any at all.”
The little fatty’s eyes darted around before he scrambled up and pointed at several other plushies in the shop.
“Then I want that rabbit.” The little fatty pointed at the rabbit, then at the little yellow chick nearby. “And that one.”
Looking around the shop, the boy seemed a bit overwhelmed by all the choices. “I want that one too,” he added, pointing at a small cat plush.
“Just one rabbit.”
Wan Li nodded. “The rabbit is six hundred wen. Master Li, would you like to pick another one? If you buy two, it’s cheaper. You’ll just pay one tael of silver.”
The little fatty tugged at Master Li’s robe and started wailing loudly. “Two! I want two!”
Master Li helplessly bought two dolls.
The little fatty hugged the big doll, grinning so wide his teeth showed.
Master Li said sourly, “Manager Wan, your Huaxia Trading Company really knows how to do business.”
Wan Li smiled. “Not at all, not at all. Master Li, you flatter us.”
People constantly passed by the Huaxia shop front. Families with slightly better conditions would buy one or two stuffed dolls to coax their children. Those with worse conditions bought smaller ones, and those with better conditions bought larger ones. Buyers came in an endless stream.
Throughout the autumn market, children carrying dolls could be seen everywhere.
When children saw other kids holding dolls, they naturally clamored for them too. Wan Li was incredibly busy.
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