novelhk Chapter 172 Organizing a Small Market
Chapter 172 Organizing a Small Market
Lin Chang'er paid no attention to these things.
These days, she's been incredibly busy, like a spinning top.
Chen Ming's message came a few days later. He not only introduced her to two restaurants that were buying seafood, but also made a special trip to Ninghai County to meet with Lin Chang'er. The two sides then negotiated the sales rights for Fucheng brown sugar and signed a contract.
He also expressed his willingness to help if Linshui Village encounters difficulties in the future.
Lin Chang'er was focused on making money and equipping the coastal defense team, so she naturally didn't refuse. However, she had some vague guesses in her heart that the imperial court probably didn't intend to send troops to suppress the bandits.
Otherwise, Chen Ming would have given a different explanation.
However, his stance also shows that Prefect Chen supported the people's spontaneous resistance, which would make it easier for them to act later.
Wild sugarcane is scarce, and brown sugar production has not yet begun on a large scale, but distributors in two locations have already signed contracts with her.
There was no time to plant sugarcane now, so after discussing it with Pei Sihai and Bai Shaoan, Lin Chang'er decided to buy sugarcane from other places and process it into sugar.
Wu Qingfeng was an official and was already busy, so it was inconvenient for him to handle business matters in person. Therefore, Pei Sihai would handle things on his behalf. Lin Chang'er never contacted him about business matters on a regular basis.
Grandma Bai and Bai Shaoan have already arrived in Linshui Village and taken their positions. Liu Zi has taken over from Wu Qingfeng as the martial arts instructor for the coastal defense team. Bai Shaoan has taken over a group of children to teach them to read and write. Grandma Bai is responsible for teaching a group of women self-defense techniques.
All three are temporarily staying at the Gu family's house.
Zhou Hai helped Lin Chang'er find a feng shui master to choose an auspicious day to build a new house. The grandfather and granddaughter also bought a piece of land next door, planning to build a new house together.
Upon hearing the news, Wu Qingfeng also bought a piece of land next to Lin Chang'er.
After hearing the news, Lao Liang and his friends followed suit and bought land nearby.
Chen Ming received the news late, but he still joined in the fun.
After years of deficit, Linshui Village finally turned its finances around. Zhou Hai held several sheets of silver in his hands, and even this big man's hands were trembling.
Afterwards, he came to Lin Chang'er to discuss the matter of adding equipment to the coastal defense team.
Last time they confiscated more than 50 knives, which were all taken away by the county government. Wu Qingfeng later sent over an equal number of broadswords as a reward to the coastal defense team men who fought against the enemy that night.
However, after the last pirate invasion, many men in the village spontaneously joined the coastal defense team. Now the coastal defense team has as many as 200 men and more than 50 broadswords, but it is a drop in the ocean and not enough to quench the thirst.
However, the land in Linshui Village is not valuable, so the income from buying the land is not enough to buy so many weapons.
When Zhou Hai heard Lin Chang'er say these words, the light in his eyes instantly dimmed.
Lin Chang'er shook her head and comforted him, "Uncle Hai, we can't just buy so many weapons whenever we want; we need approval from above."
"Besides, our coastal defense team members each have their own strengths. Some are good at close combat, some are good at reconnaissance, and some are good at long-range attacks."
"Let's categorize our brothers according to their strengths first, and then purchase weapons later. Lord Wu and Prefect Chen both support us and will help us find a solution."
"Of course, you don't need to worry too much about money. Although my daily expenses are high, my income is also quite substantial. I'll find a way."
Zhou Hai knew Lin Chang'er was reliable, but Lin Chang'er's money was also earned through hard work. "You silly girl, you can't take on everything yourself. How about we buy some more land?"
Lin Chang'er waved her hand, "Uncle Hai, we only have this much land." Selling land is not a long-term solution.
Zhou Hai knew he had probably given a bad idea, so he scratched his head and said, "Alright, then I won't say any more. If you come up with a solution, just tell me."
Lin Chang'er smiled and said, "I do have an idea. I mentioned it to Lord Wu before: let's open a small market at the entrance of our village."
“It might be difficult at first, but now our village is famous for fighting pirates, and people from the neighboring villages come here to visit us from time to time.”
“Let’s try to get started first. Even if people from other villages don’t come, it will still be convenient for everyone, right? If it can be scaled up, we can charge a management fee of three or five coins. It won’t be much, but it will still be income.”
Zhou Hai doesn't understand business, but if Lin Chang'er says it's okay, then it must be okay.
Zhou Hai patted his chest and said, "Just tell me, what should your uncle do?"
Lin Chang'er smiled and said, "There's no need for anything right now. It's just the beginning. We can just send two or three brothers over there to maintain order every day."
"Then spread the word and get everyone involved."
Although it was a small matter, Lin Chang'er still wanted good luck, so she asked Zhou Hai to find a fortune teller to choose an auspicious date.
On that day, the Gu brothers and a few other boys went to the big tree at the village entrance early in the morning and set up their stall.
There was rice and flour that Lin Chang'er had bought from outside, as well as small fish, small shrimp, brown sugar twists, snowflake strips, mung bean cakes, sesame candy, ding-ding candy, and sesame sticks—these were the snacks that Lin Chang'er sold in the shops in town. In addition, after so many days of studying, Aunt Gu had also figured out how to make tofu and tofu pudding.
So, on the first day of the market, the Gu family set up three stalls. One stall sold tofu pudding, which was managed by Gu Ersao and Gu Xiaoman. Gu Ersao couldn't speak, so Gu Xiaoman spoke for her. Although the little girl was young, she was very good at arithmetic and had been with Lin Chang'er for a long time, so she was also very eloquent.
Gu Dalang and Gu Erlang were in charge of selling snacks. The two brothers were not good with words, but they both had honest faces and did not drive customers away.
Aunt Gu ran her own rice and flour stall with Gu Xiaolu. Zhou Yi had been spending a lot of time with the Gu family's boys and girls, and he followed Gu Xiaolu around like a little shadow every day. Gu Xiaolu helped sell the goods, and he also asked Zhou San's wife to bring a small stool from home to sit on the side and watch the stall.
In addition, the women who helped out at the Gu family also set up several stalls after hearing Lin Chang'er talk about the small market.
Some sell potatoes and sweet potatoes from their own homes, while others sell their specialty snacks, such as roasted glutinous rice cakes, fried dough sticks, wontons, and steamed buns.
Of course, many people are not optimistic and are therefore waiting to see how things develop.
The market was right at their doorstep, which the villagers found quite novel. They came over early in the morning to join in the fun after hearing the shouts and calls of vendors.
Aunt Gu said that if you don't have money, you can exchange goods for it, such as wheat or beans, as well as other dried goods, mushrooms, wood ear fungus, honeysuckle, etc.
At first, the villagers didn't believe it, until a bold old woman took two jin of wheat and exchanged it for one jin of rice.
The villagers began to rush about, and soon the market became lively.
Other food stalls, like Gu's, allow customers to barter for goods, and then exchange the goods they received back with Gu's, ensuring that their goods won't end up rotting in their hands.
In addition, now that a third of the villagers work for Lin Chang'er, they have some spare money in their pockets.
They also enjoyed the spectacle, so although there weren't many stalls, it was quite lively, and by noon, word had spread to the neighboring villages...