The sickly son died young? After the marriage exchange, I will bring prosperity to his entire clan f

Chapter 686 Women Need to Be Wise

Bing Cheng didn't rush to sign. Only after Xia Yu brought people in did Du Mingxian get up to greet them.

After asking around, I learned that the man was a local merchant who wanted to buy some goods to sell.

"That's right, we have two models here: one is agency, and the other is self-sales."

“Being an agent means you can sign an agreement with us for a state, a city, a town, etc. Once you've signed an agreement, if other merchants come and want to get the goods, we will no longer supply them.”

"So you are the only agent in this area, and you are the only one who can sell it."

“If it’s self-sales, then there’s no such thing. For example, if you’re selling some goods in our county, and someone comes to us wanting to become an agent, we will sell the agency rights. Then, if you want to buy goods again, we can’t supply you unless you sell them elsewhere.”

Du Mingxian's explanation made the visitor's eyes light up: "Are you really willing to sell like this? Aren't you locals? This way you won't be able to sell it yourselves."

"We're a small workshop, we focus on volume. As long as the people we sign up with sell well, do we have to worry about not having business?"

Upon hearing Du Mingxian's words, the man was immediately tempted, "I want to sign an agency agreement."

So Du Mingxian began to explain again, how to represent, which places to represent, and so on.

The clan chief listened in stunned silence. The agency fee sounded substantial; it would cost sixty taels of silver to become an agent in just one town, and the larger the area where the agent was acquired, the higher the agency fee would be.

Under Du Mingxian's urging, the visitor indicated that he wanted to secure the agency.

"It's possible to become an agent, but we need to verify your funds. You need to come up with this amount of money before we will sign the documents with you and start acting as your agent."

The man hesitated slightly, "We can't take the goods first. After I get the goods, I'll sell them and have the money, then I'll pay you the agency fee. It's the same thing."

Du Mingxian smiled without saying a word, just staring at the man until he felt embarrassed by her gaze. Only then did she say, "You can choose to sell yourself."

"With such a large price difference between self-sales and agency sales, only a fool would sell directly."

"I'm sorry, we do business here, not charity. You only have two options: you can't become an agent to buy goods, sell them, and then pay the money."

"Make an exception..."

Before the man could finish speaking, Du Mingxian's expression changed, and she said directly to Xia Yu, "Xia Yu, please ask him to leave."

"No, no." Seeing that Du Mingxian was serious, the man became a little anxious. "Don't do this, I'll take care of myself first."

"That's fine too. Just tell the soap vendor at the door how much you want. Also... you'll need to pay a deposit, half the price of the soap, otherwise we won't make it."

"You're robbing me."

Du Mingxian's face turned cold. "We're in business. You came in and asked for soap. We didn't force you. Besides, we run a shop, we're not going to run away."

"But what if you say you want to order a lot, and after we've finished making them, we can't even find you? What then?"

The man waved his hand awkwardly, "I didn't say I didn't want it, it's just... I just feel that half the price is a bit high."

"You can come less."

"That means if we sell fewer units, we won't get a discount on the price."

Du Mingxian didn't say anything, just stared at the man. The man felt a chill run down his spine from her gaze, and finally turned and left.

After the person left, Bing Cheng said, "Shall we sign now?"

"Boss Bing, if you sign now, you'll have to pay the agency fee right now."

“Okay.” Bing Cheng was genuinely interested in doing this business. Seeing that Du Mingxian wasn’t the kind of person who acted casually, he was confident in the deal and immediately signed the contract.

The clan chief is signing this. He has never done anything so big before, it's nearly ten thousand taels of silver. He's trembling the whole time.

After both parties signed the agreement, Bingcheng gave them the money. Du Mingxian was also generous and treated everyone to a meal. The clan chief also ate with them and was very envious of Ling Erlang's wife for having such a generous hand.

When Bingcheng left, Du Mingxian gave him two small jars of wine.

Bing Cheng did not refuse, and Du Mingxian said that it would be like making friends, and that was the end of it.

After seeing everyone off, Du Mingxian noticed that the clan leader was slightly drunk. "Clan leader, would you like to go back now, or later?"

"Go back now, right now."

"Then I'll have my maid escort you back."

"Alright." After saying that, the clan chief added, "I want to sit outside the carriage."

"As you wish."

After arranging for Xia Yu to escort the clan chief back, Du Mingxian went to ask Feng Bao, "Has that person ordered the soap?"

"No." Feng Bao's face turned slightly red. She didn't want to say it at first, but thinking that Du Mingxian was a capable person, she said, "That person just bought a few pieces and left, but... but he told me that he took a liking to me and wanted to go to my house to propose marriage."

Du Mingxian could tell at a glance that the man was all talk and no action. “Feng Bao, you are the workshop’s accountant now. The bigger the workshop grows, the more people will likely surround you.”

"Therefore, you must have your own judgment and not believe a man just because of a few words. Maybe they are not interested in you, but in the fact that you are in charge of the workshop's accounts and they are interested in your job."

"You can earn your own money now. What if they just want to marry you and have you earn money to support their family?"

Feng Bao was quite pleased with himself before, but after Du Mingxian pointed it out, he froze and was somewhat frightened.

"I...I understand, thank you, sister-in-law."

"No need to be polite. You are an only child. It would be good for both of you to find a husband. You wouldn't have to put up with that kind of unnecessary trouble, and you could do what you like. Your parents wouldn't be without support in the future. The reason we asked you to be the accountant was firstly because your family had good relations with the villagers, and secondly because we guessed that you would need to find a husband in the future."

“There are many people in the village. If you get married and leave, do you think this job will still fall to you?”

Because Feng Bao has always been an only child, some people have mentioned this matter, but she hasn't taken it to heart. However, when it comes to finding a husband, many men are unwilling to come to her home, so her marriage has never been settled.

“There are many ways to live. Your parents are still alive, they are your support, and you will live better than many women in the village.”

"Thank you, sister-in-law."

"You're welcome. Just stay true to yourself."

"Ah."

Seeing that Feng Bao seemed to understand, yet also seemed not to, Du Mingxian didn't say anything more. Out of consideration for their shared womanhood, she suggested that if the Feng family's choice was truly not good, the workshop could simply find another accountant.

Du Mingxian walked inside, and Xia Yu followed. "Madam, I received news that the boss across the street went to the yamen and redeemed the arsonist I sent there."

She stopped in her tracks. "It really was him. I'm afraid he might have another trick up his sleeve."