Chapter 79: Old Soap
"But you've already made it on your counter. If they really need it, it's not a problem. Just sell it at the exorbitant price."
"Make sure the size is perfect. It can't be bigger than the glass on your counter!"
"I understand. Greed is insatiable." Fu Chenan smiled wryly.
"That's right," Xiao Yingchun gave him an admiring look. "You have plenty of ways to make money now anyway. The glass can come later, the better. As for this, you can start selling it..."
Xiao Yingchun reached for the shelf and pulled out a bar of old soap.
This old soap was more than twice the size of the soap they were selling before.
While not as pretty, it worked just as well.
"You can cut this into two pieces and sell them for only one or two taels of silver each."
"The ladies of the aristocratic families can use this to wash their clothes, shoes, and socks. It's much more convenient and cleaner than using soap nuts."
Fu Chenan took a look at the old soap; it was indeed huge.
Even if cut into two pieces, it would still be larger than the small soaps they were selling before.
While it might not look good, it was enough for ordinary wealthy families to wash their clothes, shoes, and socks.
Fu Chen'an nodded. "Would you mind buying some for me? I'll take some back and sell it?"
Xiao Yingchun simply handed him all the stock from her supermarket.
"This box is all yours. I'll give you more when I get more."
There was only one box in total, without any outer packaging, neatly arranged.
Fu Chen'an placed the box of old soap on top of the cosmetics box, then the food box on top of the soap box, and carried them away one by one.
Xiao Yingchun called after him, "Come back tomorrow to get the stab-proof vests and gloves!"
Fu Chen'an: "Okay..."
At Taotao's Cosmetics Shop, the wife of the Minister of Rites was visiting for the third time. She stood tall, proud and reserved. "What goodies do you have today?"
Ruyi greeted her personally. "Madam, Pearl, you bought some last time, but this time we have a few new colors of lip balm. Take a look?"
Ruyi said, pulling out four new boxes of lip balm, a pale haze blue and smoky pink porcelain. Opening them revealed a box of lip balm, one red almost purple, and another red almost black.
The Shangshu's wife frowned immediately, "This color is too dark!"
Ruyi calmly took out a small brush and began to test the color on the Shangshu's wife.
"Madam, this color, if you apply it lightly, it will be just right. If you need to wear the imperial robes, apply it a little darker to make it more majestic..."
Ruyi used the brush to brush two marks of lip balm, one darker and one lighter, on the back of her fair hand, and held it out for the Shangshu's wife to see clearly.
She nodded modestly, "Then you try it on me."
"Okay, madam."
Ruyi first washed the lip balm off the back of her hand with old soap, dried her hand with a handkerchief, and then used the brush to test the Shangshu's wife's lips.
After trying two colors and two different uses, the Shangshu's wife pointed to two porcelain boxes and said, "Give me five boxes of each color."
"Okay, madam..." Ruyi quickly and skillfully got her a new one, wrapped it in a gift box, and handed it to the maid serving nearby.
The Shangshu's wife then pointed at the old soap Ruyi had just used to wash her hands. "Isn't this different from the perfumed soap you bought earlier?"
Ruyi pulled half a bar of old soap from under the counter. "This soap isn't as pretty as the perfumed soap, but it's excellent for washing hands and women's underwear, shoes, and socks."
"One bar is only one tael of silver."
The Shangshu's wife was immediately tempted. "Give me fifty yuan."
Ruyi didn't say, "Okay, ma'am," but smiled apologetically. "Ma'am, this soap is new stock that Boss Xisi sent along with the lip balm shipment. It only cost a few dozen yuan."
"Originally, our General Fu said he wanted to give customers one or two to try first, so he could have a few more."
"The most I can give you is five yuan. I'll give you more next time Boss Xisi ships us a larger batch. Is that okay?"
From two yuan to five yuan, the Shangshu's wife knew this was a favor from General Fu, so she nodded.
The maid nearby paid the silver note, took the ten boxes of lip balm and the five old soap bars, and left.
"Madam, you came to buy these things in person? I'd just have them delivered to your door." The nanny whispered to the Minister's wife as they left the shop.
The Minister's wife said calmly, "You're nosy,"
and the nanny didn't dare say another word.
Ruyi and Qiuyue exchanged a glance: they'd heard it, too.
After the shop closed that evening, these words reached Fu Chen'an's ears.
"General, why didn't the Minister's wife have us send them to her house for her to choose? Instead, she condescended to come and choose them herself?"
Fu Chen'an smiled. "As the Minister of Rites, she naturally values rules. Perhaps they have some special rules."
What special rules?
It was simply that the court officials knew the emperor's fear of the Fu family.
They would rather travel in person than risk being labeled on the emperor's side.
Ordinary merchants, wealthy families, and some minor officials didn't have such fears. They would have their stewards visit the shop from time to time to inquire about new arrivals.
Whenever new merchandise arrived, the female shopkeeper from Tao Tao Ji would bring it to their homes to try on.
This gave the remaining maids, who were usually away from Tao Tao Ji cosmetics shop, a job.
Fu Chen'an hired a few skilled martial arts maids to escort them to clients' homes, patiently testing their makeup on the ladies and returning after selling the merchandise.
The money rolled in...
The shops of the wealthy families who had previously purchased the goods also saw brisk sales, boosting sales of other items in their own shops.
This intensified their dissatisfaction with Fu Chen'an's "low prices."
Fu Chen'an was a complete salesperson!
Who gets exclusive access to the goods and only makes a 10% profit?
Isn't that like begging with a golden bowl?
So the six wealthy families who had been supplied by "Boss Xisi" came to Fu Chen'an one after another, demanding a price increase.
Fu Chen'an simply invited them all to the Marshal's Mansion.
In the Marshal's Mansion, the newly renovated reception room still smelled of paint, the old ebony furniture, and the various valuable but mismatched ornaments all exuded the atmosphere of the poor suddenly becoming rich.
Everyone took their seats, looked at each other, and had their own guesses.
General Fu had probably been poor for too long, so as soon as he had a little money, he wanted to spruce up his house?
Fu Chenan, dressed in a light green flowing cloud brocade, came in in a hurry and clasped his fists at the young illegitimate sons of the noble families present: "Everyone, you have been waiting for a long time! Sorry, sorry..."
"General Fu, you are polite!"
They responded with a smile and took their seats one after another.
Most of the illegitimate sons were second-generation heirs who lived a life of idleness and waited for death. Their family resources did not favor them, and they were basically not qualified to enter the court.
By chance, I went to Zuihonglou with Fu Chenan, and unexpectedly got the opportunity to cooperate with Boss Xisi.
They had actually discussed this privately, and figured Fu Chen'an must have helped out. Otherwise, with so many people coveting Boss Xisi's Western goods, why did only a few of them get them?
Therefore, they've been particularly enthusiastic about Fu Chen'an recently.
Here are two updates for today.
Regarding the heroine's overly "soft" approach to her grandmother and aunt's family, some readers felt it wasn't straightforward enough.
Let's just say: the heroine is human, not a god, and she can't be perfect.
She also has character weaknesses that need to be overcome and grown.
After all, in her original family, her mother was someone who longed for affection and recognition, and had a "people-pleasing personality," and was rather soft-hearted.
She needs time to overcome this influence from her mother.
Xiao Yingchun: Dear parents, can you be patient and wait? Things will get better and better.