activa-t Chapter 417 Open the skylight and tell the truth
Chapter 417 Open the skylight and tell the truth
Wenrou didn't know what her mother was thinking. When she heard her mother say that this was especially delicious, she happily agreed, "Okay, then mom will tell me and Grandpa Yang how to make it later. I will help Grandpa Yang. Dad said when he left that you are not allowed to go to the kitchen."
Gu Qingqing raised the corner of her mouth and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Just when Wenrou was about to say something, she suddenly heard the sound of a bell. She listened attentively as the sound got closer and closer. She happily put the beans in her hand into the basket at the edge of the field and said, "Mom, I'll go see if our donkey cart has returned."
Gu Qingqing thought the shaking bell sounded like her own donkey cart, but it was only a little after noon, and on normal days the donkey cart would take at least half an hour to return.
Seeing Wenrou jumping and running towards the path beside the vegetable field at the intersection, she muttered, "It shouldn't be, it's not this early in the past."
As soon as she finished her muttering, Wenrou, who had already run to the main road, immediately ran back and said, "Mom, I saw that our donkey cart came back, and there was a big cart following behind."
"A big cart? Could it be your Uncle Shen coming?" Gu Qingqing said as she walked out from the vegetable rack.
Her gentle and beautiful eyes widened and she shouted in surprise, "Is Uncle Shen here? I'll go check it out."
After saying that, the man ran back to the road, but this time he did not stop and wait, but ran towards the donkey cart.
When Gu Qingqing walked onto the road with the basket of vegetables, she saw Wenrou running to a distance from the mule cart and suddenly stopped. She looked back at herself, then at the mule cart, and ran back in panic, shouting, "Mom, this is not Uncle Shen's mule cart, and the person inside is not Uncle Shen."
Gu Qingqing covered her face with her hands, smiled softly and shook her head. The usually clever little girl was shouting so loudly today. Was she afraid that the visitor wouldn't be able to hear her?
"You, please keep your voice down. This is impolite." Gu Qingqing pointed a finger at her forehead.
Wenrou took the opportunity to pull Gu Qingqing's hand and raised her little face and said quickly, "Mom, it's not Uncle Shen."
"If it's not Uncle Shen, then it must be a guest. Let's go and take the things home first." Gu Qingqing looked at the guests who had not arrived yet, and walked towards home with the vegetable basket in one hand and Wenrou in the other.
After returning, he washed his hands and then went back to the door to greet them.
"Whoa" As Lu Xiaocao gave the command, the little donkey had already stopped as if he was familiar with the route.
"Sister!"
"Why did you come back so early today? Did you bring guests with you?" Gu Qingqing said as she looked at the man who got off the mule cart.
"Sister, this is what happened..." Lu Xiaocao quickly recounted the story of Shopkeeper Chai.
Gu Qingqing nodded at her and went to greet Shopkeeper Chai, "Hello, Shopkeeper Chai. You must have been exhausted from the journey. Please come to my house and have some tea first."
"Manager Chai, this is the boss I told you about, the Wen Gu family." Lu Xiaocao introduced Manager Chai to the side.
Manager Chai was a little surprised. He just came back to visit relatives and friends and he came across a soap that was better than bath beans. He never thought that this thing was made by a village woman, and it seemed that she was the head of the family.
"My name is Chai Kexin, a manager of the Chai family's store in Xinzhou Prefecture. I hope Madam Wen will forgive me for my intrusion today." Manager Chai did not look down on Gu Qingqing just because she was a woman.
Because in his opinion, the other party must have certain skills to be able to make something as useful as soap.
"Manager Chai, we're seeing a rare visitor. Please come to our house." Gu Qingqing said as she stretched out her hand to invite him. At the same time, she turned to Lu Xiaocao and said, "Drive the donkey to the backyard. Ask Sister Baoyu and Xiaoxiu to move the things off the donkey first. You can come to the study to find me directly."
Even though she was in her own home, it was inappropriate for a woman like her to talk with a strange man in the house.
"I understand, sister." Lu Xiaocao said something to Wang Baoyu, and then saw Wang Baoyu quickly enter the yard gate and walk towards the backyard.
Gu Qingqing took Wenrou and led the guests into the study room in the inner courtyard. After serving tea, Lu Xiaocao hurriedly walked towards the inner courtyard from the backyard. When she was almost at the door, she slowed down her pace and walked in.
As soon as she entered the door, she heard her elder sister talking to Shopkeeper Chai.
"Since Manager Chai has used the soap from our shop, he must know how good it is. There are more wealthy people in Xinzhou Prefecture. As long as they like it, they don't care about the price. So, I will supply Manager Chai with the soap in bulk at 25 cents per piece. My price is not high." Gu Qingqing had the upper hand in the negotiations.
Manager Chai smiled and shook his head when he heard this. "Madam Wen, you are joking. A piece in Taohua Town only sells for 25 cents. How can I get more than the retail price in town? We have to make some money, right? Although Chai is interested in the soap you make, if the price is not right, we don't have to sell it in our shop."
"Shopkeeper Chai, I would also like to sell it at a sky-high price in the town, but how can the rich people in this town compare to you in Xinzhou Prefecture? I also believe that there will be more varieties of bath beans or other bathing products in Xinzhou Prefecture, but I can be more sure that there is no other shop in Xinzhou Prefecture that sells soaps like mine." Gu Qingqing said calmly and confidently.
The reason why she dared to say so was because of the answer given to her by Manager Chai in front of her. Otherwise, it was impossible for a manager who was in a big city to not know what was going on in Xinzhou Prefecture.
Since he didn't know, it meant that there was no soap in Xinzhou Prefecture at all. Maybe there were bath products made with Poria cocos and spices, but they were probably far inferior to the soap she made, otherwise the man in front of him wouldn't have followed Xiaocao and the others on such a long trip.
Even though Chai Kexin knew in his heart that he was at a disadvantage when he came here, he did not expect that the woman in front of him, whom he had already thought highly of, could actually make a thorough analysis of the situation in Xinzhou Prefecture.
However, he still grasped the key point, pretended to be relaxed and took a sip of tea and said, "Can't find a third one?"
"Yes. There are only two shops. One is my own shop. Manager Chai has been there today. The other is a shop owned by a noble family in town. My family and her family have a lot of connections."
Gu Qingqing smiled at the other party when she said this, and then she came straight to the point and said, "Manager Chai is also a man who has seen the world, so let's speak frankly. You know the situation in Xinzhou Prefecture better than a country woman like me. You know better than me what price soap can be sold for in Xinzhou Prefecture and whether it is worth buying. In addition, I will open a new shop in Shangyang County soon, mainly selling soap and shampoo. When the business in Shangyang County stabilizes, we also plan to open a shop in Xinzhou Prefecture. Because as long as the product is good, it will not be a problem if the alley is deep. Of course, if we open a shop in Xinzhou Prefecture one day, we will sell it at the same price as your shop. We will not sell it at a few cents cheaper just because it is our own shop to steal business. I don't like malicious competition."
Gu Qingqing paused here deliberately and continued, "The market is limited. Although I have a grand dream of having every household use the soap from my workshop, it is enough to have only a few shops open to the outside world. After all, things are valuable because they are scarce. What do you think, Shopkeeper Chai?"