The Farm Girl’s Charismatic Fortune
Chapter 206 - 202 Flourishing Business

Chapter 206: Chapter 202 Flourishing Business

The three of them were very happy to hear Ruo Xuan say that she had made a lot of silver.

Granny Lei finally put her worries to rest, "As long as the business is good, that’s all that matters."

As long as the bookstore’s business was thriving, the silver needed for her grandsons’ education would be secured, and Xuanbao’s dowry would become more substantial.

Madam Liu and Madam Jiang were also pleased; no one wouldn’t hope for their family to prosper.

Excited, Madam Jiang didn’t think twice before asking, "How much silver are we talking about? Have you calculated it yet?"

Madam Liu smiled and said, "Xuanbao came back early, so I reckon the accounts for today haven’t been settled yet!"

Ruo Xuan didn’t know about the rest, but she did know roughly how much silver they sold before she left for home: "According to the cost calculations they did, after deducting the costs of brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, the gifts, and the wages, as well as the shares given to Master Han and Brother Xuanyuan, the net profit should be around a thousand taels. The main reason our costs were high this time is because we gave out many gifts for the opening. Otherwise, we could have earned even more!"

In this dynasty, paper and ink were expensive. The books of Wenyuan Pavilion were printed on high-quality Xuan paper, and each book’s cost was quite high since it was stamped with prestigious Hui Ink that was worth a taels of gold per taels.

Of course, the most expensive were those gifts; aside from the fifty bottles of Yanmo elixir, which did not cost silver, the brushes and draw prizes all required silver to purchase, and they were all selected for their high quality.

Especially the prize for drawing the first place draw, a complete set of the Four Treasures of the Study worth two hundred taels—three people drew it, which meant six hundred taels were given away right there.

Then, since they were running the bookstore as a legitimate business to earn silver, all who contributed to the bookstore had to be paid; since the store was Ruo Xuan’s, there was rent to consider, a hundred taels every month. Ruo Jiang and Ruo Shui were paid for copying books, fifty taels per person each month; Ruo He received payment for engraving the typefaces, which was not easy work, with a set costing a hundred taels. The store also hired a shopkeeper to watch over the premises, with a monthly wage of thirty taels, plus an additional thirty-five in various bonuses and holiday subsidies.

If the business was good, they would need to hire two more shop assistants, each being paid five taels a month.

Moreover, since many books were obtained by Ruo Xuan from Master Han and Xuanyuan Que, the selling of copied books carried a different nature than borrowing them to read; although Ruo Xuan had their consent and they said they didn’t want silver,

The Ruo Family brothers all felt that for each book sold that was copied from those provided by them, they should give a twenty percent commission.

As for the Yanmo elixir developed by Ruo Xuan, the silver earned was all hers.

This time, a total of sixty bottles were given away, and initially, her family wanted to count all the silver as Xuanbao’s.

However, Ruo Xuan thought by giving them away, others would recognize the benefits of the elixir and would want to buy it later, so she refused to accept the silver.

Madam Liu and Madam Jiang were delighted to hear that a thousand taels had been earned.

A thousand taels a day, it was as if they were minting money!

Seeing what they were thinking, Ruo Xuan reminded, "It won’t be this much every day because many scholars bought a lot books today. Only those from particularly wealthy families would buy so much at once. After all, the bookstore is right there, they can buy whenever they want to."

Madam Liu and Madam Jiang nodded in agreement.

Madam Liu said, "I understand, but having earned a thousand taels in one day, we won’t have to worry even if we don’t make a sale every day afterwards! It’s enough! It’s enough!"

Madam Jiang nodded, "Exactly! We’ve earned in one day what takes many others years to earn! Truly as the old saying goes, ’In business, sometimes you don’t open for three years, but when you do, you can eat for three years.’"

Ruo Xuan: "...."

Her mother and her aunt were so easily satisfied; they thought a thousand taels was enough?

Reminding them of the bigger picture, Ruo Xuan said, "A thousand taels wouldn’t last three years, and with Father having six brothers, each share would only be a little over a hundred taels—not much, right?"

She was hoping for brisk business every day, but unfortunately, Divine Lord Xuanyuan did not allow her to sell the Yanmo brain tonic in large quantities. There had to be unscheduled, limited supplies each month, or else she would have earned even more silver.

Madam Liu: "..."

Madam Jiang: "..."

Upon hearing what Xuanbao had said, it really didn’t seem like much!

Granny Lei glared at the two women: "Pah pah pah, what nonsense are you spouting?"

Then she mumbled some kind of incantation: "The Heavens forbear the strange, youth do not understand the world, hereafter the bookstore shall have business every day, guests will swarm like clouds, and profits will pour in like a torrent."

Madam Liu and Madam Jiang quickly realized they had spoken inauspicious words and hurriedly smacked their own mouths.

"Pah pah pah, we misspoke, may the bookstore do a roaring trade every day, may wealth flow in from all directions..." the two recited a series of auspicious phrases.

Ruo Xuan watched them do this with a bit of speechlessness!

She was not worried about bad business at the bookstore at all, and she believed it would get even better. Hence, even if the scholars in Shaxi County had bought enough, there would be those from other cities.

She believed more and more people would come to buy. Now, the most important thing was to print the books faster and to have a greater variety of books in the bookstore, as this would guarantee a steady stream of customers.

But how could she increase the varieties of books in the bookstore?

~

The next day, the business at the bookstore was also good, earning over a hundred taels of silver.

On the third day, there was another peak in business. Around noon and evening, the bookstore welcomed a large group of scholars who all came for the books by Ruo Shui, asking non-stop if there was any more Yanmo brain tonic to give away. Some were even willing to pay a high price to buy it.

This was because, after everyone returned to the Academy for classes, they found out from their classmates that all of the books sold in the newly opened bookstore were written by Ruo Shui.

They had also heard about the miraculous effects of the Yanmo brain tonic, and the scholars who hadn’t browsed the bookstore yesterday could already feel it from their peers!

In a few more months, the autumn imperial examinations would begin. After ten years of arduous study, everyone was betting on this one opportunity and wished for a bottle of the Yanmo brain tonic that could enhance their intellect and revive their spirits.

Shopkeeper Liu’s mouth went dry explaining according to the owner’s instructions to every customer who wanted to buy the Yanmo brain tonic, "The Yanmo brain tonic was only available as a giveaway on the opening day; once given away, there were no more. Moreover, the ingredients required for that brain tonic are very rare, and we still haven’t gathered enough to produce it. Additionally, all of our bookstore’s books are copied with that ink, so we have very few to sell. If we make more and have surplus, the bookstore will put them on the shelves for sale."

When the scholars heard there would be some for sale, they began to pay silver to place orders.

Shopkeeper Liu waved his hands, "We don’t know when we will have the Yanmo brain tonic or how much there will be, so we cannot accept pre-orders."

The scholars who hadn’t come the day before regretted it bitterly, feeling even worse than if they had lost a hundred-tael silver note.

Without the Yanmo brain tonic, they bought books because, after all, the books could provide them with profound insights.

Until nightfall, having seen off the last batch of scholars, the bookstore closed and tallied up the accounts, netting over four hundred taels after all costs.

In the following days, the bookstore’s business stabilized, earning at least a dozen taels a day, which satisfied the entire family.

The fact that Wenyuan Bookstore sold Ruo Shui’s books and Yanmo brain tonic, thriving so well that the daily profit was like scooping gold, quickly became known to other bookstores in the city.