Chapter 106: Going to Sell Pots on the Street

After leaving Xiao Yuji's shop, Chen Wuji deliberately walked slowly, wanting to give Xiao Yuji a chance to change her mind. He didn't like taking advantage of people for nothing, especially when this advantage was quite big.

Unfortunately, even after he had walked a long distance, he still didn't see Xiao Yuji come out chasing him.

He had hinted, he had given her the chance to reconsider, but Xiao Yuji remained unmoved, so Chen Wuji naturally felt at ease.

Doing business like this, he could be considered very upright.

Some people are overly blindly confident and also stupid, unable to react; then it's not his fault.

Going around that street, Chen Wuji brought Yuan Jinshi to Yang Tiejiang's smithy.

The smithy was especially busy; a group of sturdy men swung their hammers, sending sparks flying, while someone nearby was pounding molds, and the two bellows they pulled made a whooshing sound.

In such hot weather, doing this kind of work is miserable.

The only difference from soaking in a pot of boiling water is that it doesn't directly scald the skin.

Chen Wuji entered familiarly and called out, "Old Yang, how's the stock?"

"Here I am, I've been preparing these two days to send someone to find you. Look, we now have about sixty-odd pots; the cast ones are few, only ten-odd, the rest are forged." Yang Tiejiang took a towel and vigorously wiped the sweat dripping down his face, then spoke loudly.

The noise in the smithy was chaotic; if you didn't shout at the top of your lungs, you couldn't hear anything clearly.

"Let's talk outside!" Chen Wuji shouted.

"Okay!"

The two went out of the shop, one after the other, and stood under the shade of the trees across the street.

"With sixty-odd pots we can start selling; has Fuwa gone out to the street?" Chen Wuji asked.

"He has, and sales are great!" Yang Tiejiang said.

"We started selling yesterday morning; in the morning we set up a stall when those caravans arrived at East Market, and in the evening we sold on Funing Street—two pots of meat would be gone in the time of a meal."

Funing Street's east side borders the Xianya, while its west side is full of pleasure quarters and tile-roofed shops.

The whole street smells of rouge and powder, plus a strange mixture that only married men and women would understand.

"Fuwa was worried yesterday about not selling, so this morning he prepared less on purpose; I went over and saw a huge crowd—once the pot lid lifted, the merchants came running at the smell." Yang Tiejiang sighed, "With the recipe you gave, if that kid Fuwa were clever, he could feed generations."

"Yesterday he sold over two taels, with a net profit of about one tael. Today we don't know yet, but if nothing unexpected happens, it shouldn't be much different."

Hearing this, Chen Wuji also felt relieved, "That's a good start; has anyone been curious about the pots?"

"Indeed there is; this morning someone came to the shop asking, but thought it was too expensive." Yang Tiejiang said with some regret, "Brother Chen, isn't our price a bit high? One tael of silver is really too much for ordinary folk."

"How much does one cauldron cost?" Chen Wuji asked.

"It depends on the material; an earthenware cauldron is naturally cheap, only two or three hundred cash, an iron cauldron also costs one tael of silver, while a copper one is higher, needing over ten taels." Yang Tiejiang said.

Chen Wuji nodded, "Are the ones asking about price ordinary folks or the caravans?"

"Looks like ordinary folks." Yang Tiejiang said.

"Recently we're in the midst of a refugee disaster, grain prices have skyrocketed; even if families have a cauldron and see the convenience of a pot, they probably wouldn't want to spend money to exchange for one. So let's first try a trade-in, to lower our costs." Chen Wuji thought, then said, "Old Yang, what do you think?"

"You decide on this; I don't understand, I just need to make the pots." Yang Tiejiang waved his hand.

He was straightforward, directly becoming a hands-off shopkeeper.

"Then like this, Old Yang, pick a few of your clan's nephews, and I'll teach them first!" Chen Wuji said.

Yang Tiejiang hesitated and said, "Brother Chen, I'm afraid I can't agree to this."

"Why?" Chen Wuji asked doubtfully.

"We can't have all pot-making and selling done by my clan alone; you also need to pick some reliable people to handle this. Best is for me to handle the forging, and your clan handles the sales." Yang Tiejiang said solemnly.

Chen Wuji gave it serious thought, nodded and agreed.

He indeed should also find a side income for his clan.

At first, when he partnered with Yang Tiejiang, his idea was actually quite simple.

He would provide the ideas, Yang Tiejiang would just sell, and later they could split the profits.

But after going back and forth, the sales segment has become something he personally handles.

Actually, at this point, Chen Wuji still wants to quickly teach the people Yang Tiejiang has selected, then step back himself, just take the money, and free up his energy to do other things.

For example, put the papermaking business on the agenda.

But after Yang Tiejiang said that, Chen Wuji suddenly felt that selecting a few youngsters from the clan to open up sales channels for the pots, for them, is certainly not a bad livelihood.

He should also prioritize taking care of his clan.

"Presented Scholar, go back to the village and call San Shu, Chen Wuwei, and Chen Qun." Chen Wuji thought of this and told Yuan Jinshi, "Also have the Scholar come over."

"Okay, Brother Wuji!"

After giving his orders, Chen Wuji then said to Yang Tiejiang, "Old Yang, for now keep the pot price unchanged; lowering it further would leave us no profit margin. But if we do a trade-in, we only need three hundred cash, and we'll also throw in a pot spatula."

"Isn't that a bit dark? I've tried it—one cauldron can indeed make two pots, with a little surplus left over." Yang Tiejiang thought and said.

Chen Wuji gestured to Yang Tiejiang toward the busy Yang family nephews across the way, "Old Yang, your nephews aren't working for free; three hundred cash for two pots works out to one hundred fifty cash each, you really ought to pay them wages."

"Although we net gained one pot via the trade-in, early on we can't just keep taking cauldrons and exchanging them for pots without giving anyone any copper coin wages. Everyone needs to see some benefit; it's best to state clearly how much cash per pot and pay it in full!"

Yang Tiejiang fell silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Once the pot sales channel opens up later, we can adjust anytime—trade-in without paying money, just exchange, and even throwing in a pot spatula or lid would be no problem." Chen Wuji said.

"But with so many people now, plus the charcoal expenses, we need about two taels of silver per day in expenses; if we don't recoup some blood, this business will be hard to run." Chen Wuji said.

Their two funds are both limited, so they have to budget carefully.

"Need two taels that much?!" Yang Tiejiang exclaimed in surprise.

"When forging one pot, you can't even give your nephews fifty cash?" Chen Wuji asked.

Yang Tiejiang's face darkened, "I told them it's three hundred cash per month."

"In such hot weather, working this hard and tired, only ten cash a day? Old Yang, you tell me who's really the black-hearted one between us?" Chen Wuji was shocked; this guy even had the nerve to say that.

Yang Tiejiang felt a bit embarrassed, "Actually it's about the same; porters carrying sacks at the dock earn only ten to twenty cash a day, and that job is also very tiring."

"These are your own clan's nephews, and the people I want to use are also clan members; how can we compare them to those merchants at the dock? Moreover, we need to motivate their enthusiasm, so they'll voluntarily forge iron and use their brains to sell pots." Chen Wuji said.

"The enthusiasm of making ten wen a day probably won't last a few days, Lao Yang!"