in spring

Chapter 112 Moving Ahead Through Difficulties and Twists
Having a good start does not mean smooth sailing.

Chunying and Hu Fei walked in the outskirts of the city for a few days, and after visiting two or three villages, they felt exhausted.Neither of them had traveled a long distance, and even with a pony carriage, they were so jolted that their bodies almost fell apart.Hu Fei's shoulders were worn out by the pole, and Chunying had to sew layers of thick cotton into cushions for him to rest on his shoulders while carrying the burden.Even so, his shoulders were red and swollen.

Chunying rummaged through the medicine left by her second uncle and found two bottles that could be used, and sent them to Hu Fei to wipe. The latter applied the medicine by himself, put on clean clothes, and walked out, looking at the medicine sitting in the courtyard. Chunying smiled wryly: "Although I have been watching people do business since I was sensible, it was not until these two days that I realized how difficult it is to earn money, even the difficulty of running errands for Uncle Jiang to find a buyer is nothing. Uncle Lu paved the way for me to make money as a middleman, so he really gave me money for nothing!"

Chunying smiled: "Of course it's not easy to make money, but the money earned in this way also makes people feel more fulfilled?"

"That's true. It's just that the money we earn may not be enough for us to live on." Hu Fei sat on the bench, looked at the account book in Chunying's hand, and added a bit of bitterness to his smile.

is not that right?The results on the first day were good, but the purchasing power of a village is limited, they cannot go to the same place every day, they can only change places every two days, and they plan to wait ten and a half months before returning.But it was in the outskirts of the city after all, and the two of them couldn't move, so they had to hire a pony carriage to travel. After a day, even if there was a surplus, it would be greatly reduced.The two of them calculated that if they didn't hire a car, they could at least double their daily earnings by relying on their two legs.

However, with their physical strength, can they really walk on their feet?I'm afraid I'm too tired to walk before I leave the city gate.

Hu Fei thought that when he couldn't bear the burden, he had to rely on Chunying to help him with the cargo box, so as to lighten the burden for himself, so he blushed, as if he felt that he was so incompetent as a man, and he was really ashamed to face others.He glanced at Chunying cautiously, and said in a low voice: "How about...how about I go alone tomorrow? You can stay at home and rest, and by the way... save a city gate tax..."

Chunying couldn't help giving him a blank look: "Now it's not a matter of saving a city gate tax!" It is true that one more person will have to pay two more city gate taxes, but one less person, he can't even get out of the city gate , what's the point?After thinking about it, she slapped the low table: "Simply leave the city! Let's sell it in the city!"

Originally, I went out of the city because of the competition in the city, and customers might not appreciate their cheap products. However, after a few days, it proved that the purchasing power of the suburban villages was limited, and their physical strength was insufficient. They had to hire a car and pay the gate tax. , All the money they earn is spent here. They don't even dare to buy delicious dry food, so they can only make the cheapest unstuffed coarse grain steamed buns, and bring boiled water in bamboo tubes.

Chunying said: "I think the city is not bad. You saw it when you came out of Dongbianmen, right? There are quite a few people living in the Toutiao Hutong area! They are all ordinary people, they are our good customers! You don't need to go out. You don’t need to hire a car at the gate of the city, you only need to work hard and carry the burden to get there. The big deal is to sell all the way, stop and yell a few times when you are tired! Maybe you are lucky, and all the goods are sold out before you reach the place. !"

"This..." Hu Fei hesitated, "But I seem to have caught a glimpse of someone doing this business over there..."

"What are you afraid of if there are competitors?!" Chun Ying retorted, "As long as the product can be sold, it's fine. Our rouge hair oils are all carefully selected and genuine products! Although the jewelry silk flowers are not expensive, the patterns are also exquisite. The price is reasonable, and the needlework is excellent! Tomorrow, I will buy some needles, threads, combs, hand mirrors, etc., and open up the daily necessities market, I don’t believe it can’t be sold!”

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that doing this was the right way. Where in the whole capital were there no salesmen and flower girls?Even in the backstreet of the Hou's Mansion, apart from the usual woman, there is an occasional uncle who picks out needles, thread, and brains to sell, but it's not permanent.Competitors are not to be feared, what is to be feared are competitors with absolute strength.Their products are no worse than others, so they are not afraid to compete with others!

Hu Fei hesitated for a moment, then shook his head slowly: "I know what you mean, but it may not be beneficial to us. When we buy goods in other people's stores, they are only one or two cents cheaper than the regular price, so If you sell it outside the city, you can sell it at a higher price, if you still sell it in the city, how can people buy it when they see that we are more expensive than other houses?"

Chunying seemed to have been doused with cold water, and suddenly came to her senses, patted her head in frustration, thought for a while, gritted her teeth and said, "Then let's go to a street where there are few people in the business to sell, let's go through these few days first, put your hands on it." Let’s talk about it when the goods are cleared! At that time, I will buy those goods that sell well, buy more, and keep the price down! It’s better to earn less than to go outside the city and spend money.” She suddenly thought of an idea: "By the way! We don't necessarily have to go near Dongbianmen, we might as well go directly to Chaoyangmen! It's crowded and lively, and there are merchants from Tongzhou passing by. They may not have the time and energy to go shopping in the capital to buy silk flower powder. Let's just give it to them. Are they providing some convenience?"

Hu Fei's eyes lit up, and he nodded with a smile.

They went to Chaoyangmen the next day.This place is closer to the Hou's Mansion, and there are many businessmen coming and going, both Chunying and Hu Fei were worried about meeting acquaintances, but after a day, the two of them let go of their worries.They are tanned and thin now, Chun Ying changed her hairstyle and grew taller, Hu Fei changed to short brown and shaved his beard again, even if someone thinks they look familiar, they will not recognize them.

The area around Chaoyangmen is indeed bustling and lively. Although there are other vendors on the street, and there are serious cosmetic and jewelry shops on the side of the street, Chunying and Hu Fei still cleared half of the goods smoothly, and the selling price is lower than before outside the city. Go higher.At this rate, they will have to restock in two or three days.

The two happily carried the load home, and the heavy cargo boxes became lighter.Chunying supported the cargo box behind the burden with one hand, and stretched out five fingers in the other hand, carefully calculating today's income: "Silver hairpins and gold-plated jewelry are the best sellers. Although the customers are porters and attendants, they are willing to Buy some gifts for the family. Copper hairpins are not very popular, but they are still too shabby, right? If they can’t be sold, they can simply make a deal, buy one get one free, and raise the prices of other goods to attract more people. Guest?"

Hu Fei didn't look back, but nodded repeatedly: "That's a good idea - besides hairpins, next time we should also buy some bracelets, rings, earrings and so on, but there is no need for the makeup and hair oil produced in the south. We only buy some famous ones in the capital. It’s from a makeup shop. Pouches, sachets, etc... do you want to embroider some auspicious words like 'Lu Lu Ping'an' and 'Wealth is prospering'?"

Chunying thought for a while: "It's a bit vulgar, but the intention is still good, but this kind of thing is usually done by the wife for the husband, right?"

"You can't say that, who doesn't want to carry some auspicious things with them?"

Chunying smiled lightly: "Okay, it's up to you, anyway, it doesn't take much trouble." If you want to embroider braille on the embroidery of this era, unless it is a serious embroidery painting, or it is made by a wealthy lady from a wealthy family, otherwise Most of them are crooked, and she doesn't need to be too demanding.

All the way home, they didn't forget to yell a few times, and they made a few deals by the way. After going home and counting, today is really a bumper harvest. After deducting the cost and miscellaneous expenses, they actually made more than three taels of silver!

Hu Fei sighed: "Sure enough, after all, merchants from other places have money. In addition, we don't go out of the city gates and don't hire horse-drawn carriages, so the cost will be reduced immediately. But today, it is only because a few fleets have arrived in Tongzhou that it is so good. business, usually may not be able to sell so much."

"It's not a seaport, except when the canals are frozen and closed in winter, when will there be no ships?" Chun Ying said disapprovingly, "Besides, if the business was really so good every day, it would have attracted countless peddlers. We are lucky today , but there is no need to worry about gains and losses, what we sell is not food, if we can’t sell it, we just sell it slowly.” She calculated today’s accounts carefully, made a booklet, and showed it to Hu Fei: “Look, I can count right?"

Hu Fei did a quick mental calculation, and said with a smile: "That's right. The girl is getting more and more capable now. She was already able to read and write, but now she can even do accounts, she can do needlework well, and she is also good at cooking. What else can I do?" won't it?"

Chunying cocked her nose triumphantly, and humbly said, "Where is that?", "Where is the prize?" In fact, she was very happy in her heart, but when she saw that there seemed to be a smile in Hu Fei's eyes looking at her, she restrained herself a little. Pretending to get up and count the leftovers.

Hu Fei held back his smile, and immediately said: "There are fewer people buying embroidered handkerchiefs these days. I asked a few customers, and they all said that it's not that the needlework is bad, but that these things are made by girls themselves. , no need to buy it outside. In the villages on the outskirts of the city, the older girls and daughters-in-law bought our handkerchiefs because they saw the novelty of the flowers embroidered on them. Tuna's material is excellent. In my opinion, you might as well save your time and cut some supas for sale instead of embroidering them."

After hearing this, Chunying was a little disappointed, but still nodded: "Well, anyway, everyone thinks that she is better at needlework than others..." She has obviously improved a lot...

After a few days of hawking at Chaoyangmen Market, they cleared out their inventory, and after deducting taxes and costs, they made a profit of seven to eight taels.Hu Fei distributed Chunying two taels according to the labor ratio of each person, and Chunying confiscated it. Instead, he advised him not to rush to divide the money, but to use the money he earned to buy more goods, so that it would be better to continue to work hard.How could Hu Fei not know this truth?He just felt that Chunying had worked hard for many days and wanted to make her happy, so he took back the money after listening to her.

This time, Hu Fei had a good idea of ​​the type and quantity of the goods, so he went to the powder jewelry store early the next morning, intending to buy more at a low price, and take a look at any middle-of-the-road business.Chunying was not idle either, she had been thinking about Supa, and there was not much pure-color gauze material left in her hand. She got Yunxiang Pavilion to buy goods from shopkeeper Shi, so she also changed the clothes she went out, and went to Fuzhou alone. Ning Street.

When she followed Hu Fei in a pony carriage last time, she had already memorized the route, but this time it didn't take much effort. She asked a few people along the way, and visited a few cosmetic shops and stalls by the way. When she arrived at Funing Street , it is already noon.As soon as she rubbed her belly, she felt a little hungry, thinking that Yunxiang Pavilion might not have food to greet her, so she walked towards Mrs. Jia's food stall, intending to buy a bowl of tofu nao to fill her stomach.

When she arrived at the stall, she greeted Mrs. Jia with a smile, and noticed that Mrs. Jia looked at her strangely, but the other party quickly returned to normal, and asked with a smile, "Miss Chun, would you like a bowl of tofu nao?" ? A marinade without onion and garlic?"

"Aunt Jia, do you still remember? Thank you very much." After talking to Mrs. Jia with a smile, Chun Ying fixed her gaze on the small cart in front of her, and a thought quickly flashed through her mind: Why is she so stupid? !Hu Fei was working hard to carry the burden, why didn't she think of making a small cart?Wouldn't it be easier to put the cargo box on the car than to carry it around? !
Secretly decided to go home and propose to Hu Fei to build a cart, Chunying suddenly saw Sister Yun next to her give her a wink, she was a little curious: "What's wrong?"

Sister Yun blushed, quickly glanced at her mother, lowered her head and turned around, Chunying was very surprised to see the stern look in Mrs. Jia's eyes.Speaking of Mrs. Jia's relationship with me, it's only shopkeeper Shi's family, right?While taking the tofu nao handed over by the other party, she asked tentatively: "I came here specially to see the shopkeeper. How is he recently...?"

(End of this chapter)