in spring

Chapter 111 Doing business is not easy
When Lu's mother came over at night, Chunying asked her this question, but Lu's mother was surprised: "Why can't it be used? Isn't the embroidery pattern just for looking at the embroidery?"

Chunying said: "But it's for the embroidery shop of the young lady, isn't it? I can use it to sell embroidery work, is it really okay?"

"Of course." Lu's mother was a little amused, "Since the patterns drawn by Xiuzhuang are intended to be sold, there is no way to prevent others from learning them. Everyone is like this. When they see other people's patterns are good, then I also learned to embroider. Besides, since your father came to work under the management of Xiao Chen, I was afraid that my wife would not be happy, so I stopped doing work for the old lady's embroidery shop. Now I just do one or two consignments occasionally. Brochure of patterns It's also from last year, and someone has already learned the stuff in it. Didn't you see that three or four of the ten girls outside have patterns from the Jing Family Embroidery Village?"

That's right, where is there any talk about intellectual property right now?Except for some patterns that ordinary people can't use, don't ordinary flowers and grasses do what you want?Seeing beautiful embroidery on other people's clothes and handkerchiefs, I embroidered a copy when I came back.Chunying remembered that she had seen this kind of thing when she was in the Hou's mansion, so she felt relieved.

But Lu's mother couldn't help taunting her: "What are the patterns? You think Jing's embroidery shop sells patterns? What they sell is craftsmanship! Even if it is the same flower, his embroidery workers embroider it better than others." You are a hundred times better at embroidering by yourself! It’s not that mother looks down on you, it’s useless to have good patterns, if you want to be rare, you have to see how well your needlework is done!”

Chunying pouted, of course she knew this truth, she had improved a lot in the past few months, otherwise she wouldn't have the confidence to sell it.She said: "Don't worry, mother. If the things I embroider can't be sold, I can use them as practice. It doesn't cost much anyway. But can you bring me some of the embroidery patterns that mother has used before, when I come back next time?" share?"

Lu's mother agreed, but she still hesitated: "I don't object to you selling needlework, but... is Brother Xiaofei really reliable? You are grown up now, and you go out with others to show your face. If there is any gossip..."

"I don't care what other people say!" Chun Ying was unhappy, "I'm only 12 years old, I didn't steal or snatch anything, I went out with Brother Xiao Fei to set up a stall to sell some makeup, and the people who came to patronize were naturally big girls and young wives. What gossip can I talk about? Mother, I don’t know who has stolen the silver I’ve saved for several months. Now I only have some scraps of silver in my hand. If I don’t want to make any money, do I really want to sit and eat? Brother Xiao Fei’s business, I I don’t need to pay any capital, but I just help out with ideas, and then do some needlework consignment sales. Although it’s a bit tiring to follow along, it’s a lot tougher when I divide the money. Don’t worry, mother, I won’t go every day, I still have to work. .”

Mother Lu heard what she said, and she also had a heart for those ten taels of silver: "I told your sister, and asked her to quietly inquire in the mansion, to see who was greedy for your things. Go! Make sure she spits it out!" After a pause, he looked at his daughter with some distress and said, "Although you have lost a lot of money, you don't have to work too hard. Now it's no different than before, and your father is about to be promoted to deputy. Steward, the family has moved to a bigger house, and the money is much looser. Even if you lose a monthly payment, my mother will not lose a bite of food. You just live in your second uncle's house with peace of mind, and earn money slowly. ?”

Chunying frowned and said: "Mother, what are you talking about? How can anyone earn a lot of money? Even if you don't want to redeem yourself, you should be prepared for when you need it urgently. I am idle all day long, and it is better to earn money." Huh?" She was a little discouraged, feeling that her parents seemed to be looking for stability again, and she no longer had the idea of ​​leaving the country, so she could only put it mildly: "Mother, don't you and dad be satisfied just because life is easy now, People always have to look forward, isn't the eldest young master getting up again now? Who knows what will happen in the future? It's better to be fully prepared."

Lu's mother hesitated back and forth, and felt that her daughter's words were reasonable, so she reluctantly obeyed her, but then she muttered to Hu Fei: "Then what is Xiao Fei really reliable? I've never seen it before..."

Chunying was a little funny, it seemed that Hu Fei shaved his beard, so the old lady would not recognize him, so she said: "You have seen him too, he is not a bad person, if you don't believe me, ask the second uncle? Mother can't trust me, but I can always trust the second uncle Bar?"

Uncle Lu walked over with a smile, and handed a small bundle to Mother Lu: "This is what I said earlier, please put it away for me, sister-in-law." Then he sat down and briefly explained Hu Fei's background.

Lu's mother suddenly realized: "So it's him?" Then she was a little worried, "But... I heard that he is a disobedient person, and his character is not good..."

"It was his elder brother who framed him!" Chun Ying hurriedly defended her friend, "He is not that kind of person, mother, you don't know how much the Hu family went too far, actually forcing his mother to death and forcing him to leave the capital! "

Mother Lu was taken aback, and Second Uncle Lu hurriedly said: "We don't care about other people's housework, we just help him because he is a good person. No matter how capable the Hu family is, they dare not treat our Hou family What do people do. Sister-in-law just rest assured. Brother Hu, I think he is a little clever, and he may have a great fortune in the future. If he sells him a favor now, he will always be grateful to us in the future."

Chunying glanced at her second uncle, but said nothing.Mother Lu showed a smile on her face: "That's a good statement..."

Someone knocked on the door outside the courtyard, Chunying ran out and opened it, but it was Hu Fei, who was holding a bamboo box with a lid in his hand, and said with a smile: "I heard that your mother is here, I bought some snacks, and asked her to have a taste." Bar?"

old man? !Chunying turned her head to look at her thirty-year-old mother, and was suddenly struck by lightning. She took the snack numbly, and then watched Hu Fei salute and greet her mother and second uncle.Uncle Lu came up to meet him, said a few words to him, and then sent him out.

As soon as he left, Lu's mother came over with a smile and said, "I thought it was strange when we met last time. So it's really a child. How much older than Chun'er? Five years old? Six years old?" She snatched the box from her daughter and saw It contained half a box of sugar fire and half a box of steamed red bean and almond cake, which smelled fresh and sweet, so he smiled with satisfaction: "He knows how to behave, he is not frivolous, even though he is a young master, he has no pretensions... "He also glanced at his daughter meaningfully.Chun Ying suddenly shuddered.

My old lady...couldn't it be some weird idea?
Fortunately, Lu's mother didn't say anything else, but after the second uncle came back, she reiterated the precautions for going out and what she wanted to bring to her husband, and then turned around and asked Chunying for half a day before leaving.

Early the next morning, Second Uncle Lu got up, washed and prepared to go out.Chunying made breakfast early and asked him to take the cakes and biscuits to eat on the road, and packed a big basket carefully.While checking whether there is any missing luggage, a boy's voice came from outside the courtyard: "Is Second Master Lu at home? Master is about to leave."

Uncle Lu frowned when he heard the words, and hurriedly confessed to Chunying, telling her to hide behind the door, then picked up her luggage and went out.Chun Ying heard him talking to the young man outside the door: "Nan Qiu? Why are you here?" The young man replied in a low voice: "What Wang Guanshi said last night..."

"Since it's Guan Wang's words, it's fine." The second uncle's tone seemed a little stiff, "Going out with the young master this time is not for fun, you have to be honest! Don't make trouble! If you let me know what your kid is hiding Guixinsi, you don't have to come back anymore, let me fend for myself outside!"

The young man made no sound, Chunying was secretly surprised behind the door, she had never heard the second uncle speak in such a tone, and she came out only after hearing the sound of the carriage wheels going away, and locked the courtyard door.

In the next ten days, Chunying was busy making various kinds of needlework, including brightly colored purse sachets (Hu Fei's exclusive spice formula), silk handkerchiefs with unique patterns, and exquisite forehead handkerchiefs. I added a few more fan pendants embroidered with green pine and green bamboo, and a dozen pairs of silk stockings and cloth socks, and made twenty or thirty nets. They are all simple patterns, but I added some glazed beads on them, which looks quite Something like that.She made her fingers almost bald, and the finished work, together with the work received from other places, filled a cargo box to the brim.

And Hu Fei was not idle either. Apart from continuing to inquire about the market of cosmetics every day and buying goods at low prices one by one, he also made his own cargo box for loading.Chunying provided the idea to make the box like a layer of drawers. The goods are placed inside, and they are pulled out when they are called for sale.It's a pity that due to Hu Fei's limited skills, this kind of cargo box has a disadvantage, that is, when the upper drawer is pulled out, it will block the lower layers.Chun Ying felt very regretful, but she could only make do with it.

Facial hair, oil, silk flowers and various silver, copper, and gilt jewelry occupied a full container, and together with the other, it looked a bit like a salesman's outfit.Chunying happily encouraged Hu Fei to try to walk around the small courtyard, but Hu Fei was carrying two cargo boxes on his shoulders. After biting his teeth for a long time, he managed to lift a foot high, but he couldn't even walk. .

Chun Ying was extremely regretful, and Hu Fei was also blushing. Both of them only wanted to make their goods as rich as possible, but they didn't consider the issue of physical strength.After all, Hu Fei has been pampered since he was a child, so where did he do rough work?It was a little bit of a stretch for him to carry such a heavy burden.The two had no choice but to pack the cargo box again, reducing half of the cargo, and Wei Gong gave an idea to modify the cargo box to reduce the weight. Finally, Hu Fei successfully picked up the load and walked in the small courtyard on a lap.

The problem is temporarily solved, where should I sell it?
Chunying's opinion is that it is in the densely populated area of ​​Dongcheng.The residents here are generally richer, women also have spare money to buy cosmetics and jewelry, and for the two who also live in Dongcheng, it is more convenient to go back and forth.In contrast, the law and order in the northern city is too poor, and it is easy to be robbed, while the western city is mostly poor, and there are too few houses in the southern city. The middle city is a place where dignitaries live together, and it is not easy to enter.East Side is clearly the best option.

Hu Fei disagreed.There are indeed many rich people in Dongcheng, but the rich may not be interested in what he sells, and there are too many sellers in Dongcheng, and the competition is fierce. He would rather sell in various villages on the outskirts of the city.The girls there can't easily go out, even if they can go to the city to go to the market, they may not be able to buy such a good and complete range of cosmetics.The most important thing is that few of the salesmen in the capital are willing to go to the countryside outside the city.

Chunying thought for a while, and felt that he made sense, so she gritted her teeth and nodded.

The two of them went out to do business the first day, and they only carried a burden and walked through a street, Hu Fei couldn't bear it any longer. In the end, he rented a small carriage and sent the goods and people out of the city together.Hu Fei was frowning, and Chunying was also upset.If the business is not good, and they don't even earn back the car money, they lose money.

At first they could only go to the nearby villages. Because they were new faces, they were treated coldly for the first half a day. The old people in the village seemed to suspect that they were here to abduct girls from the village, and they had been watching them closely since they entered the village.Chunying wiped off her cold sweat, pretended to be an innocent little girl, and called Hu Fei, "Brother, I'm thirsty", "Brother, I'm so tired", "Brother, no one here buys our things, let's go ", which made the faces of those people loosen a little.After noon, when they were tired, hungry and thirsty eating dry food, they finally welcomed their first customer.

Fortunately, the goods brought by Hu Fei were very popular with the girls and daughters-in-law in the village.With the publicity of the first customer, the second and third came soon.The purchasing power of the village was limited, but Chunying and Hu Fei still sold eight handkerchiefs, two sachets, four hairpins, nineteen silk flowers, seven boxes of rouge and a bottle of hair oil in half a day.When they returned home exhausted, they counted the money they earned today. After deducting the cost, car rental and dry food expenses, there was still a surplus of one cent and four cents.

The two breathed a sigh of relief and looked at each other with joy in their eyes.

It's not easy to do business, but today is a good start, isn't it?
(The hard struggle history of two rookies...)
(End of this chapter)