Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Zhong Yizhu never expected that they would sell out of all the goods in the shop on opening day.

Although the ox cart couldn't hold much cargo once the wooden compartment was attached, especially with people riding in it, they had transported one cartload yesterday and brought some more goods this morning, expecting the goods to last two or three days...

The shop closed earlier than anticipated. Not only was Zhong Yizhu surprised—everyone who stayed to help was both astonished and delighted.

Everyone was exhausted, except for Pei Mu, who could spend ten days in the mountains without getting tired.

They all found spots in the backyard to sit and rest. Liu Mingtao and Wang Ping'an and his husband were tired but wide-eyed with excitement that hadn't yet subsided. Liu Mingtao animatedly chattered with Chen Xiaorong, and Wang Ping'an also joined in the chatter.

Sun Yunniang, being older, had a backache from standing too long and went to lie down in the room. She left the door open, just lying there resting without sleeping. Liu Mingtao kept bringing her into the conversation, making Sun Yunniang laugh and respond.

The laughter drifted into the shop. Zhong Yizhu was still organizing the account books behind the counter when Pei Mu stood behind him and gently squeezed his shoulders. Zhong Yizhu squinted contentedly and tilted his head back to look at him.

Their eyes met, both filled with joy. Pei Mu stroked Zhong Yizhu's cheek with his thumb and suggested, "I'll go buy some food from the eatery up front. Let's eat in the yard—I can see everyone is tired."

"Aren't you tired?" Zhong Yizhu tugged at his sleeve. "Just send someone to fetch some food. You should rest too."

Pei Mu smiled and leaned in close to whisper, "Not tired. I could even carry you there. Zhu Ge'er, entertain the guests here while I go buy wine and dishes."

Zhong Yizhu's ears turned visibly red. Even after being married for so long, he was still easily embarrassed. After Pei Mu left, the heat in his ears slowly subsided.

He did a quick tally, saving the detailed accounts for later. He did, however, make sure to note down the families who had sent firecrackers today while it was still fresh.

Gong Laosi was a given, and Yao Sheng had sent Yao Le to deliver and personally light the firecrackers. He didn't dwell on the spice stall owners who had sent theirs in a batch that afternoon, but what surprised Zhong Yizhu was that two strings of firecrackers had been sent by other incense shops in the city by their employees.

He couldn't quite figure out their motives but recorded them nonetheless for future reference.

He quickly tidied up the counter, placed the account book in the money box to be counted later, and went to the yard. There, he heard Liu Mingtao imitating a generous customer, waving his hand dramatically, saying, "Wrap all these up for me."

Chen Xiaorong and Wang Ping'an burst out laughing. Liu Mingtao lifted his chin proudly. "If I ever get rich, I want to be just like her. How impressive."

Liu Youzong's family had gone home earlier, telling Liu Mingtao to join them when he was done since they had the ox cart with them. When Liu Mingtao saw Zhong Yizhu coming out of the shop, his eyes lit up. "Zhu Ge'er, I didn't let you down today, did I?"

Zhong Yizhu smiled. "You helped a lot. How could you have let me down? Without you sharing the load, we'd be totally exhausted by now."

Liu Mingtao puffed out his chest, grinning at the praise.

Soon, Pei Mu returned with two large food carriers full of dishes. They had a hearty meal, then packed up and drove the ox cart back to the village.

Since all the goods had sold out, there was no need to leave anyone to watch it. Because they closed early, it was just getting dark when they reached the village.

They dropped off Liu Mingtao first, then Wang Ping'an and Chen Xiaorong. Back at their courtyard at the foot of the mountain, they set aside everything else. Zhong Yizhu worked an abacus on the account book while Pei Mu and Sun Yunniang each counted coins from a money box.

Both money boxes were new ones Pei Mu had made, much larger than the ones they used at the stall. Even so, they were nearly full and very heavy.

They sorted out the loose silver to weigh later and threaded the copper coins onto strings to later exchange for silver.

Zhong Yizhu finished with the abacus faster than the others could string coins. He double-checked to avoid mistakes and wrote down the day's earnings in the account book: seventy-three taels, five mace, and sixty-four cash.

Even though he had a rough estimate of the total revenue for all the goods sold, his hand shook with excitement as he wrote.

Pei Mu and Sun Yunniang also finished counting and weighing the money, and everything matched. If Zhong Yizhu was this excited, Sun Yunniang was even more thrilled. She stared blankly for a while, so thrilled she didn't know what to do.

This was the money her young man earned in one day—what an incredible feat!

After returning from Quzhou Prefecture with spices, Zhong Yizhu had recalculated. The cost of spices for making incense was about 35%, and the packaging materials like paper bags, wooden boxes, and porcelain jars cost less than 5%. Since he offered a 20% discount on opening day, roughly half of the money—about thirty-six taels—was pure profit, which far surpassed his expectations.

Pei Mu placed a beautiful silver ingot in Zhong Yizhu's palm and grinned at him.

"Shopkeeper Zhong, best wishes for a prosperous opening day and may you get rich!"

...

The newly opened Bamboo Fragrance Shop in Songyun County quickly made a name for itself, drawing mixed reactions from competitors in the city.

Even when Zhong Yizhu was just a stall vendor, he had drawn the attention of Liu's Fragrance Shop, let alone other incense shops. They had all been monitoring his stall's activities.

The news of Zhong Yizhu opening a shop came as no surprise to most of them.

In the past, some might have tried to sabotage him, as no one wanted a new competitor. But recently, everyone's business had been struggling, so no one had the energy to bother with a new shop.

The root cause could be traced back to Liu Zhenhan.

Earlier, to make the shop's accounts look good, he had tried to poach Zhong Yizhu but failed. Then he came up with a malicious scheme—relying on the shop's deep pockets to slash prices without warning, stealing customers from other shops.

For a while, Liu's Fragrance Shop flourished, but small incense shops suffered. Their costs were higher, and as business dwindled, one shop couldn't stay afloat and closed. Only after Old Master Liu stepped in and regained control of Liu's Fragrance Shop did the chaos end. Then the Liu family fell into turmoil, making everyone worry that Liu's Fragrance Shop would cause more trouble. Fortunately, no one had time to make a move.

So when the news broke that the popular stall in the West Market was opening a shop, people's first reaction wasn't worry but speculation about whether the new shop could challenge Liu's.

Liu Zhenhan's reckless moves had left them dazed, and now they just wanted stable business, free from chaos.

This was also because Liu's Fragrance Shop had been dominant, with no real rival. The remaining incense shops couldn't surpass the faltering Liu's.

Many even hoped the new shop could replace Liu's Fragrance Shop, so they sent firecrackers to celebrate its opening.

In contrast, at Liu's Fragrance Shop, Manager Huang wore a grim expression as he collected his severance pay.

From today onward, he was no longer the manager of Liu's Fragrance Shop. He had been with the shop for sixteen years, working his way up from assistant to manager, watching it grow into the best incense shop in Songyun County—but now it was over.

He couldn't talk sense into Liu Zhenhan and could only watch as he ruined the shop, and now he himself was a victim.

After Old Master Liu passed away, the shop fell back into Liu Zhenhan's hands. Though Liu Zhenhan was busy fighting for the family fortune and had no time to manage it, he still had Manager Huang fired on the day Bamboo Fragrance Shop opened.

Liu Zhenhan's lackey sneered at Manager Huang in front of everyone: "Our young master said useless trash should get out early. If you can't even beat a young man, don't hog the job."

The other staff watched Manager Huang stagger out in disgrace, but no one felt pleased.

Their new boss acted on whims, and the shop became quieter each day. If Manager Huang was gone today, who would be next? Could they keep their jobs?

No one could answer.

...

On the second day after opening, Zhong Yizhu, his family of three, loaded the cart and opened the shop.

He didn't ask Wang Ping'an and his husband to help again, as spring plowing was near and they had plenty to do at home. He didn't hire anyone else either, thinking the three of them could handle it.

Most regular customers had already bought their incense at the 20% discount yesterday, and many new customers were drawn in by the sale, though they ultimately decided to buy based on the quality of the incense.

Incense lasts a long time and isn't a daily necessity, so Zhong Yizhu expected today's foot traffic to be much lighter than the previous day's.

The three of them set out the goods and opened for business. As expected, the shop today was far less bustling than yesterday. However, having made a name for themselves, there were still quite a few new customers referred by others. Zhong Yizhu and Sun Yunniang handled the reception, while Pei Mu was responsible for collecting money and keeping accounts. He had learned many characters by now, though he wrote slowly, but fortunately, there was enough time to write them out at a leisurely pace today.

In the following days, the customer numbers dipped a bit further and then stabilized at a fairly consistent level. Zhong Yizhu understood that this was roughly their usual customer count.

By this point, he could just barely handle things on his own.

From the third day onward, Sun Yunniang stopped coming and stayed in the village to continue teaching embroidery and working on new patterns. This time, Zhong Yizhu also waved at Pei Mu and, imitating him, said, "Boss Pei, safe travels!"

Pei Mu smiled, pulled the reins, and drove the oxcart toward the West Market.

The cart carried several wooden boxes filled with all kinds of spices.

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Author's note: Love you all, it won't be angsty. How could you think I would write angst! No way!