Chapter 424: The predicament of Ji Jiang, the true affection of siblings, the beheading ghost strikes again

The ninth year of Does Does Da Xia, March 1st, at dawn.

Hong Sect Nancheng, Zeng's Xia Clothing Workshop.

It was the market-closing period at dawn. As soon as Ji Jiang finished cleaning up and closed the door, she immediately brought a jar containing silver and walked to the quiet room in the back.

"Ding, ding, ding..."

As soon as she sat on the chair in the quiet room, Ji Jiang poured all the scattered silver in the jar onto the table, then took out a small scale and began to weigh and measure them one by one.

As the weighing work drew to a close, Ji Jiang's brows furrowed increasingly tightly, until it was all over, she sighed slightly, her face full of worry.

"Excluding the cost of stocking, and deducting the 30% commercial tax, the total profit in February was 8,920 taels, only 580 taels more than in January."

The current exchange ratio between Does Does Da Xia's contribution points and silver has basically been fixed at 1 to 10, which is 1 tael of silver for 10 contribution points.

Earning 8,920 taels a month converts to 89,200 contribution points.

When this Xia Clothing Workshop was auctioned, the bulk of the money was paid by Zeng Rou. Although Ji Jiang only paid a quarter of the money, because she was responsible for managing the shop on a daily basis, the shop's income was split equally between the two.

Calculated this way, she earned 44,600 points in February. Looking at Does Does Da Xia, this is definitely a considerable income. At least 70% of the Cold-Resistance Realm experts in the hunting team cannot earn so much.

Considering that those people in the hunting team have to hunt cold beasts in the snow forest every night against the wind and frost, get injured from time to time, and even have life risks, while she only has to wait in the shop to welcome and send off guests, this income is even more valuable.

It's just a pity that people are very difficult to satisfy. The first reaction after getting something is generally not satisfaction, but wanting more.

Ji Jiang is currently in this situation.

"The shop opened on August 20th last year. The net profits for the first four months were 12,820, 13,720, 14,220, and 15,270 respectively, and it was always on an upward trend. But after the start of the year, it didn't work out. In January, it was cut in half directly to 8,340 taels. If it weren't for the fact that I purchased some Beishuo silk and blood-jade fox fur this month and made a batch of new-style Xia garments myself, attracting some new customers, I wouldn't even dare to think about an increase. The final total profit is estimated to not even reach 7,000 taels."

After Ji Jiang calculated for a while, her brows locked, and her worry deepened.

"There are now nearly fifty shops selling Xia clothing in the Nancheng, and the competition is starting to become fierce; coupled with the fact that it hasn't been very peaceful in the city since the new year, the number of new faces is clearly decreasing. It is normal for profit to decline rapidly, but I can't solve these problems. If I want to reverse the trend of declining profit, I can only think of ways from the source of goods like last month..."

All the shops in the Nancheng are operated by Does Does Da Xia people, and the source channels for these Does Does Da Xia shops are, without exception, the Forging, Medicine Refining, Xia Clothing, and Technique workshops under the Craftsman Department of Xia City.

This leads to a problem, which is that for shops of the same type, the materials sold are extremely homogenized. In common terms, the goods are all about the same.

Since the goods are all the same, everyone naturally wants to pick the most popular types of materials when stocking at the Camp Needs Department.

For example, the 50-plus shops selling Xia clothing all stock from the Xia Clothing Workshop. Which types of Xia clothing sell well, which have high profits, and which don't sell well—after a few months of exploration, everyone knows clearly, so when stocking, they will all pick the good ones.

But in this way, the Xia Clothing Workshop is not happy.

All Xia clothing is sewn by them using raw materials of different grades. According to the preciousness of the materials, the final Xia clothing products are naturally divided into four grades: low-end, mid-end, high-end, and the top-end.

Does Does Da Xia's resources are not infinite, and they have to prioritize meeting the needs of Xia City, so the amount available for sale each month is limited. To balance sales, they naturally pick a portion from each of the four specifications.

Everyone just wanting to stock one type won't work. Coupled with the fact that Hong Sect's business is still in a state of short supply, and the output is limited, while the demand from outsiders in Hong Sect is still very large, the Camp Needs Department directly issued a regulation that stocking must be matched with all four types. Coupled with the limited supply, the stocking quota for the 50-plus shops is directly allocated equally according to the total amount.

In fact, the intention of the Camp Needs Department can be seen by everyone, which is to reduce the competition of similar shops. Everyone sells the same types of goods and the same quantity. Moreover, because Xia clothing is currently in a state of short supply, generally by the end of each month, the shops are basically cleared out. Therefore, unless someone is willing to lower the price and cut profits, everyone's business is actually about the same, and what they earn is the same.

But there are policies above and countermeasures below. Since the Camp Needs Department cannot produce so many Xia clothing, and the demand from outsiders in Hong Sect is still very large, the shops below naturally have to open up more sources of goods. It just so happens that Hong Sect can not only sell but also buy. Thus, slightly more active shops began to acquire other raw materials that can weave cloth, and then make them into ready-to-wear clothing themselves to sell.

The Hong Sect Camp

Of course, this involves issues of cost and technology, which depends on the ability of each individual shop.

Ji Jiang's talent in clothing is certainly not low. She herself was one of the first batch of tailors at the Xia Garment Workshop. Coupled with her keen sense of fashion trends and her unique eye for updating and improving clothing styles, among the more than fifty shops selling Xia garments on this street, it can be said that if she dares to claim second, no one dares to claim first.

For example, when stocking up at the end of January, the Xia Garment Workshop released blood-jade fox fur for the first time. She immediately sensed that this kind of clothing would be a big hit. After stocking up, she immediately began purchasing blood-jade fox fur in the city, and then, leading the shop's assistants, worked day and night to produce more than 300 pieces. Just this alone brought her at least 1,500 taels of extra profit.

"Relying solely on purchasing, the profit margin is still too small. It seems I also have to find time to go out hunting. This way, the beast meat submitted can earn contribution points, I can keep the beast fur to make clothes myself to stock the shop, and the beast bones and other scraps can also be sold for some money in the city..."

Ji Jiang sat on the chair, head bowed in thought, and soon had an idea.

At the beginning of this year, the Camp Supply Department issued new regulations. From now on, individuals in Does Does Da Xia do not need to hand over all their hunting gains. Low-grade cold beasts only require the submission of beast meat, while medium-to-high-grade cold beasts only require the submission of beast meat, beast blood, and beast bones. Other parts can be handed over in exchange for contribution points or kept for personal use, entirely at the individual's choice.

"That's it. My hunting experience is too little, so I won't touch medium-to-high-grade cold beasts for now. It should be no problem to hunt some low-grade cold beasts on the outskirts of Beining Mountain. Moreover, I can collect some dyeing materials in the mountains, which can also reduce my clothing production costs. I am powerless to change the depression in the city, so I can only think of ways to reduce costs first, increase profit margins, and strive to increase the profit back to over 10,000 taels next month!"

Ji Jiang is at the mid-stage of the Frigid-Resisting Realm with 7 mane of strength. If others knew she only went to hunt low-grade cold beasts with this strength, they would probably be dumbfounded.

This brings us to her brother's care for her!

Ten years ago, when their parents had just passed away, Ji Jiang was only nine years old and Ji Hong was fourteen. Neither of the siblings was an adult, so naturally, there was no need for them to go out. By the first year of Does Does Da Xia, when Ji Hong turned fifteen and officially became an adult, he took on almost everything in the household. The siblings' food, clothing, and expenses, including their cultivation resources, were all earned by Ji Hong alone in the hunting team.

In the fifth year of Does Does Da Xia, Ji Jiang finally turned fifteen. Her talent was not weak, and she originally wanted to join the hunting team Ji Hong was in, but Ji Hong refused without a second thought. Furthermore, he strictly forbade her from going out to hunt and directly found someone to send her to the Camp Supply Department. Later, it was her own display of outstanding tailoring talent that allowed her to enter the Xia Garment Workshop of the Craftsman Department.

The year before last, Ji Jiang broke through to the Frigid-Resisting Realm and couldn't hold back anymore. She expressed that she had broken through to the Frigid-Resisting Realm but hadn't even seen what a cold beast looked like. After pestering Ji Hong for a long time, he finally took her into the Red Wood Ridge three times to experience the feeling of hunting cold beasts.

When she first broke through to the Frigid-Resisting Realm, she had 2.6 mane of strength and could naturally deal with low-grade cold beasts easily. However, she knew that the Frigid-Resisting Realm members in the camp could normally join forces to hunt high-grade cold beasts, so after hunting two low-grade cold beasts, she proposed to try hunting a medium-grade cold beast.

She also had some fame in the inner city, often catching that group of younger brothers like Zou Ping, Liu Peng, Lu Dong, and Zhao Yuankong to beat them up. Moreover, her cultivation talent was not weak, so even though she had never truly hunted, she was confident in her strength and felt that a medium-grade cold beast would definitely be easy to capture.

But the result was that with her 2.6 mane of strength, she was actually helpless against a medium-grade snow mane in a one-on-one situation. Even that snow mane, in a desperate struggle, would have caused her to suffer serious injuries if her brother hadn't intervened in time.

It was at that moment that Ji Jiang realized how much suffering her brother had endured over the years to take care of her.

Of course, that disgraceful performance also earned her a stern warning from Ji Hong, who explicitly told her that in the future, when alone, she could only hunt low-grade cold beasts at most.

Ji Jiang naturally kept her brother's words in her heart, so even though she now had 7 mane of strength, she still only thought about hunting low-grade cold beasts.

"At the very least, I must accumulate some hunting experience. If I rashly deal with medium-grade cold beasts and happen to get injured, I'll have to waste money buying healing pills and make my brother worry. It's not worth it!"

After pondering for a moment, Ji Jiang stood up, preparing to collect all the silver fragments on the table. But just as she had collected half, a voice came from outside.

"Shopkeeper, why is there not a single piece of clothing in the shop?"

Hearing the voice, Ji Jiang was stunned for a moment, then reacted, her face instantly filled with surprise. She dropped the jar in her hand and ran outside.

Ji Jiang quickly ran to the outer room and saw a young man in black Xia clothing with handsome features standing in the middle of the shop, looking at her with eyes full of doting. Who else could it be but her brother Ji Hong, whom she had been thinking about!

"Wow... Brother, it's really you!"

Seeing Ji Hong, Ji Jiang couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, taking a step forward and throwing herself directly into her brother's arms.

"Alright, alright, you're a big girl now, why are you still acting like a child."

Ji Hong had a doting smile on his face, patted his sister's head, and thinking that they were both no longer young, he still brought out his authority as an older brother.

After Ji Jiang stood up, she pouted and said with a crying tone: "Brother, you haven't come to see me for almost five months. If it weren't for you telling me not to leave the city in your letters, I would have been unable to resist going to Basha to find you several times."

Seeing his sister's eyes redden, Ji Hong's expression instantly softened, and he said slowly: "I just joined the Dragon Martial Army and am still only a reservist. I'm very busy at the Basha military camp usually. Even if you came over, I wouldn't have time to accompany you. Look, now that I have time, didn't I come to see you immediately?"

Ji Jiang realized she had shed tears and felt a bit embarrassed. She rubbed her eyes and suddenly noticed the silver token at Ji Hong's waist, immediately picking it up curiously to look at it.

The front of the token only had the three characters "Dragon Martial Army," while the back had the seven characters "Scout Battalion, Fifth Team, Ji Hong."

After reading the token, Ji Jiang immediately looked up at her brother with uncertainty.

Ji Hong said proudly: "Haha, there was a vacancy in the Scout Battalion last month, and your brother has already become an official member of the Dragon Martial Army Scout Battalion."

"That's great!"

Hearing this, Ji Jiang was naturally overjoyed, her face full of pride.

Currently, in Does Does Da Xia, apart from the officials of the Eight Departments, the best way out for ordinary Frigid-Resisting Realm members is to join the army. Not only is there a fixed military salary, but individuals can also directly keep half of their gains from hunting and the battlefield. This single point alone surpasses 70-80% of the Frigid-Resisting Realm members in the camp.

Not to mention that the Dragon Martial Army her brother is in is one of the top existences among the fifteen armies of Does Does Da Xia. Whether it's the current treatment or future prospects, it is definitely the best.

Seeing her brother's proud face, Ji Jiang suddenly remembered something and asked with a smile: "Brother, you've broken through to the mid-stage of the Frigid-Resisting Realm, right? How many mane of strength do you have now?"

Ji Hong nodded, a confident look appearing on his face: "I broke through two months ago, and I now have 9 mane of strength."

Even though she knew her brother must have surpassed her, hearing 9 mane of strength, Ji Jiang couldn't help but show a look of surprise.

Although her brother has top-grade battle body aptitude, he only broke through to the Frigid-Resisting Realm last September. It has only been five months, and his strength has actually increased by 6 mane, which is equivalent to 1 mane per month. This speed is probably among the best in Does Does Da Xia.

"Hmph, isn't it all thanks to the Yang Origin Pills I sent you!"

Hearing his sister's words, Ji Hong immediately withdrew the smile from his face, looked down at Ji Jiang, and his expression became serious.

Seeing her brother's serious expression, Ji Jiang's heart skipped a beat.

Ji Hong took out three small porcelain bottles from his bosom and said in a deep voice: "A-Jiang, brother is now an official member of the Dragon Martial Army and will not lack cultivation resources in the future. You are not allowed to send me anything anymore. Keep all your contribution points for your own use, do you hear me?"

After finishing his words, he handed all three porcelain bottles to Ji Jiang.

Ji Jiang picked up the small porcelain bottles, opened them one by one to look, and discovered that the 30 Yang Origin Pills she had placed inside were still in their original, unopened state. Her pretty face immediately turned indignant.

But looking up at her brother and finding him still full of seriousness, she didn't dare to say anything more. As she thought about it, she became more and more angry, her eyes gradually reddened, and after a while, she turned her head away and began to weep silently.

"A-Jiang, what are you crying for? Don't cry!"