books44 Chapter 148 Small Market
Chapter 148 Small Market
Song Tingnan is busy, indeed very busy.
Even though it's summer vacation, I seem to be even busier. I finally managed to train the students at the martial arts school, and I also have to find time to keep an eye on my younger brothers at home.
Song Mingxiang and Song Mingli are both in first grade and are doing well in their studies. Of course, Song Mingli is better and more self-disciplined. He is always the one who keeps an eye on his older brother Mingxiang's studies. Now that Nan is on vacation, he has to give that kid a little nudge.
Then, the summer vacation is the off-season for the bamboo products business. Song Tingnan traveled back and forth between the county and her home more often, so she decided to take Zhao Xiaojuan to open a new path to make money.
The urban-rural divide is still quite large. Although some people go out to work, the villagers are still not used to going to the streets, and the nearby shops are really too 'small', which makes it inconvenient to buy anything.
In rural areas, although people's consumption level is not very high and they are very frugal, they still cannot skimp on daily necessities.
Ting Nan discussed with her uncle Song Wanli and Zhao Xiaojuan about setting up a "mobile market". She bought the goods from the county town, transported them back by tractor, and then she and Zhao Xiaojuan pulled the cart to the intersection of various villages to stop and sell their wares.
Considering that she wouldn't have time to set up a stall together after school started, Song Tingnan decided that every Saturday and Sunday would be designated as the market's opening days, with the stalls located on separate days to ensure that the market could reach several neighboring brigades.
She didn't want to exhaust her aunt-in-law; there were many things to do at home, and children to take care of. Song Tingnan thought about occasionally offering discounts and special promotions to get customers into the habit of buying everything they needed in one go, saving time and effort for both sides.
Song Wanli and Zhao Xiaojuan naturally agreed. Song Wanli would be responsible for all expenses and purchasing in Tingnan, while Zhao Xiaojuan would be responsible for sales. How to calculate the profit was a matter for Song Wanli and Zhao Xiaojuan.
Zhao Xiaojuan said it was all for her family; her older brother was supporting Mingli's schooling, and she had no expenses. She only set up her stall two days a week, which wasn't much work, so she didn't need any money. Song Wanli disagreed, as he had experienced firsthand what it felt like to be broke. Finally, Qian Shuzhen said, "Let's keep doing this for now and see how it goes before we pay Xiaojuan."
Ting Nan agreed: "Uncle, from what I understand, business will be good. If it's booming, you'll have to give Aunt a bonus!"
Song Wanli naturally agreed. His sister-in-law was an honest and straightforward person, and he trusted her with the business. The boys in the family were very enthusiastic and all clamored to help. The adults also agreed to get involved and experience what it was like to earn money.
Progress is going very smoothly. Ting Nan gets most of her goods directly from Li Yang's general store, or through introductions from his wife. Li Yang is currently focusing all his energy on the martial arts school, so the general store is left to his wife, Xu Wen, to manage. Ting Nan is sweet-talking and gets along very well with Xu Wen; they also keep very clear accounts.
With low purchase prices, the selling prices naturally wouldn't be high either. The goods were also plentiful, and the familiar face of "Tingnan" greatly increased trust, attracting many fellow villagers at once.
When everyone rushed in, Zhao Xiaojuan couldn't help but be grateful for Tingnan's foresight in letting her learn to read and do arithmetic early on. Otherwise, the business would have been impossible to run, and she was afraid that she would make a mistake in the rush and all her hard work would have been for nothing.
When there are many people, some people take advantage of the chaos to try to take advantage of others, grabbing things and leaving, or taking more and hiding them... At this time, the boys come in handy, saying, "Auntie, please pay at my mother's or sister's place."
"Auntie, do you really like this? You have excellent taste. There's not much of it, so hurry up and pay."
Song Wanli had anticipated this chaotic situation, so he "trained" the children, instructing them that they could act freely, but not to offend the guests.