Chapter 797: It's a dimensional reduction blow

Again he produced a groundbreaking item, Xiao Zong was so excited he could hardly contain himself, and he eagerly told Chen Wuji, "Commander, I've made quite a few soaps so far—about seven or eight scents, though I can't recall the exact details now; I remember I brought them all, Commander, just wait while I look for them."

Chen Wuji looked on expressionlessly as Xiao Zong rushed over to rummage through the chest.

This old brat's habit of staying up for days on end really needs to be reined in.

Otherwise, this sole creative talent of his will surely drop dead from overwork sooner or later.

His current mental state is already terrible; if it continues, serious problems will definitely arise, and we cannot take it lightly.

"Commander, this is agarwood, this is cypress wood fragrance, this one is... apparently sandalwood, and also musk; these... seem to have herbs added, like angelica, sandalwood, and sweet pine."

Xiao Zong said while stacking each soap onto the table.

Chen Wuji stared, mouth agape, "You made this many?"

"The scent of bath beans is more complex, and soap is superior in every way, so we definitely can't fall behind in fragrance. Therefore, I've made some with all the materials I could find—namely, extracting floral scent is more complicated via steaming, so far I've only done osmanthus." Xiao Zong said.

Chen Wuji thought, that makes sense.

This soap has just entered the market, and the first to take notice will surely be the wealthy families.

These people are picky; if it smells foul, no matter how good its cleaning power, they probably won't accept it.

Regarding the rudimentary method of extracting pure essential oil from fresh flowers, Chen Wuji had already taught Xiao Zong earlier; although the process is indeed a bit more troublesome, with enough manpower it's also simple.

Upon thinking this, Chen Wuji suddenly had an idea: "Mr. Xiao, I think we can also produce essential oil in tandem and sell it together with the soap—for example, for every soap sold, give a small bottle of essential oil, preparing for future market segmentation."

Xiao Zong stared blankly, eyes bewildered: "Commander, what is market segmentation?"

Following Chen Wuji around, he had already heard countless unfamiliar terms.

Most of the time he could guess and figure things out a bit, but this one he truly had nothing to associate with.

"Soap is destined to enter every household; initially we can set the price higher to prioritize the wealthy, and once the market saturates—when the rich have bought enough—we'll consider lowering the price so ordinary folks can afford it." Chen Wuji explained.

"As for essential oil, it will mainly target the wealthy going forward, with the price set high."

Xiao Zong pondered again for a while, and only then did he barely grasp Chen Wuji's meaning.

"Commander, according to this, have we got soap and essential oil backwards?" Xiao Zong muttered, "The function of essential oil is just to provide some fragrance—why would its price go high instead?"

Chen Wuji waved his hand, sat down on one side, and greeted Xiao Zong to sit as well.

After thinking, she had Yan Qiushui call Xiao Yuji over as well.

This lesson, they father and daughter need to listen together.

Xiao Zong handles the creation; it's fine if he doesn't fully grasp the reasoning here, but Xiao Yuji needs to understand.

"Husband, you're looking for me?" Xiao Yuji walked over.

"Sit down first, take a look at what your father has made." Chen Wuji said.

Xiao Yuji smiled and said, "When my father came before, he treasured these things to death; we a few wanted to see what they were, but he simply wouldn't let us look."

When the old father shows up at the door, the daughter certainly ought to give him a proper welcome.

At first Xiao Yuji thought the things inside this chest were a gift brought by her old father, and out of curiosity she wanted to have a look. As it turned out, her dear father plopped himself down on top of it and refused to let them move.

Xiao Zong said with a hint of pride, "This is a task assigned by the Commander; even if you're my daughter, you can't look before the Commander has inspected it—that's the rule."

"Yes yes, but now it's my husband letting me look." Xiao Yuji said deliberately, picking up a bar of soap to examine it, "What is this?"

"Soap, similar to a bath bean." Chen Wuji briefly introduced the origins of soap and essential oil to Xiao Yuji, just to give her a rough idea.

Xiao Yuji's eyes lit up, and she immediately declared firmly, "This soap will definitely sell well!"

"You haven't even tried it, yet you're so bluntly judging?" Xiao Zong shouted.

He completely agreed with that viewpoint.

But Xiao Yuji merely glanced twice and gave such a hasty conclusion; he thought it was too rash, with no basis at all in what was said.

When business came up, Xiao Yuji's fierce female aura burst forth, and she said with utter confidence, "Dad, what do bath beans look like? I use them daily, so I know them inside out. Aside from anything else, just this pure scent and appearance—soap beats bath beans many times over."

"Most people who use these things are women, and women care more about first impressions. Even if this item is slightly inferior to bath beans for washing up, people will definitely still prefer it."

Xiao Zong said with a touch of pride, "You're actually wrong about that—soap's cleaning power far surpasses bath beans, and the stuff I've made is certainly not junk."

Xiao Yuji glanced at Chen Wuji and silently swallowed her criticism of her old father.

If she hadn't gotten her husband's guidance beforehand, the stuff her old man made would seem like total junk.

"How should we price this thing? Yu Ji, you decide. Initially it can be one or two times the price of bath beans; after a while, we can consider just slightly higher than bath beans." Chen Wuji said.

"In the future, this thing should still be affordable for the vast majority; it won't become exclusive to royalty, nobles, and the rich. On the contrary, the essential oil just mentioned can have its price pushed high."

Xiao Yuji nodded slightly, "It takes several pounds of fresh flowers to yield just a tiny bit of essential oil; this product's price ought not to be low. After all, the cost is high, and the production process is extremely tedious and complex—if the price were too low, we'd essentially be doing charity."

"My idea is, we purchase a large quantity of soap, and we can consider giving a small bottle of essential oil with it—doing a bundled sale early on to boost the essential oil's reputation and lay groundwork for later." Chen Wuji said.

"Just now your father was still wondering why I'd push essential oil upscale, since these things aren't merely about providing fragrance—fragrance is their most direct outward manifestation."

"But more importantly, essential oil moisturizes, makes skin more elastic, fades spots, and to some extent improves complexion—it's a great product for beauty and skincare."