Chapter 125: 120 Boutique Shop

Passing through the courtyard from the bedroom in the back, one arrived at the main hall of the shop.

Pushing open the door, one saw a spacious and bright hall, spotless, with smooth and shiny decorative tiles paved on the floor; on both sides were hardwood shelves with colorless glass cabinet doors, making the Art Tools displayed inside clear at a glance.

Shi Chunqing had also traveled far and wide and was not lacking in discernment, but upon entering, he could not help but feel a sense of favor; there was no ingenious layout here, nor any luxurious decoration—it was simply clean, tidy, and comfortable.

Especially since the hall had ample light, and it was clearly not just from good natural lighting; there was obviously another light source. Shi Chunqing, also being a Talisman Sword Master, immediately noticed the Art Tool. Looking up, he saw the ceiling overhead shimmering slightly, the light pure white, like the sun at noon.

On the ceiling crawled plants like ivy and creeping fig, their vines trailing down from the pillars, half-shading the lamps to prevent the strong light from shining directly, which also appeared naturally cool and carried a faint, fresh scent of grass and trees.

Shi Chunqing praised, "So the ingenuity lies here. Since you have planted vines, why not let them climb onto the shelves, and have the shelves made of unpeeled raw wood? Wouldn't that give more of a forest feel?"

Tang Zhao laughed, "If I were in the city, I would have arranged it that way. But we are already in the deep mountains and old forests; outside are all big trees and bushes, and one sees green all the way here. It would be tiring to see green again upon entering the room. That is why I specifically chose a brighter red wood, just to be different from the outside—simple and elegant, to help people calm their minds."

Shi Chunqing said, "That makes sense."

There were original shop assistants in the store; two assistants were busy introducing products to two other groups of customers, so naturally, there was no reason to abandon the customers to come over. A young man who had been settling accounts behind the counter ran out, cupped his hands in a salute, and said softly, "Senior Brother. Eldest Senior Brother."

This assistant was seventeen or eighteen years old, upright and handsome, dressed cleanly and neatly, leaving nothing to be desired. Shi Chunqing looked at him and felt he looked familiar, asking, "Is he one of our fellow disciples?"

Tang Zhao laughed, "This is Moyu Disciple Shu Qian, and those few are as well. They come here to help as part of their mountain villa tasks. Our shop staff changes every three months, and in special circumstances, every six months." Besides the task rewards, he also paid an extra wage for this Boutique Shop task, so the income for this position was quite high; it was a top-tier task, and no one complained even with the strict requirements.

In fact, many disciples were willing to do this task long-term and keep working in the shop, but Tang Zhao mostly did not allow it, because one could not learn any real skills as a shop assistant; it was better to go tidy up materials for the senior brothers. Especially for these young disciples, it was better to earn some money and hurry back to study. However, there were a few who were older and felt their future in the way of Rune Formulas was at an end, who were willing to follow Tang Zhao in long-term management after descending the mountain; Tang Zhao had accepted two after an assessment.

Shi Chunqing then toured the display cabinets; each cabinet had one Art Tool per compartment, and it seemed every compartment had a tiny light, making the Art Tools shine with brilliant colors. There were price tags and descriptions in the compartments, ranging from several hundred to several thousand in silver, with the most expensive being no more than a thousand taels of gold. He counted them and saw fifty or sixty Art Tools in the hall, saying, "Not bad, you all must have produced ten or so Art Tools each. The Junior Sisters are fine, but you and the Eighth Junior Brother have only been crafting for a few years—won't you empty out your family fortunes?"

Tang Zhao said, "These are not all works by the senior brothers and sisters. If they were, how could you buy them for a few hundred taels? Most of these are the better works of the White Jade Disciples. The best of the White Jade and the works of the True Jade Disciples are over there—"

On a counter in the very center, there was a sign; one side read "Boutique prices negotiable," and the other read "Custom orders accepted." Shu Qian presented a booklet, which was actually a boutique catalog.

The book was quite thick, but every boutique item had text and pictures; the illustrations were lifelike, and the descriptions were extremely detailed. A single Art Tool took up two large pages, and there were not many items in total.

"For now, each Senior Sister and Senior Brother has only contributed two or three pieces; any more and they wouldn't be worth much."

"If one takes a fancy to something..."

Tang Zhao said, "There is a VIP room upstairs; we can go up and discuss it face-to-face."

Shi Chunqing said, "Will you be the one to discuss it? Or will you ask one of the Junior Brothers or Sisters to preside?"

Tang Zhao laughed, "Why bother the Senior Brothers and Sisters to preside? I have hired two White Jade Junior Brother and Sister who have the looks and the eloquence to hold down the fort. We only contact us for truly expensive VIPs. Or if they want a custom order, we can also talk face-to-face if the price is right." Those two were his long-term hired employees, temporarily called "Experts," and would be titled "Managers" in the future.

Shi Chunqing could not help but laugh, praising, "Good, very thoughtful."

Tang Zhao said proudly, "This boutique area is one thing, it's not much different from shops selling Art Tools outside. Who doesn't know how to run a high-end shop? The real good stuff is here—"

Pushing a wall, a passageway was revealed.

The passageway led to the room next door, and one saw another hall, though it was not as spacious. In fact, the space was still quite large, but it was packed densely with shelves, even more crowded than Xue Xianyun's study. Those shelves did not have large glass doors or small lights; although it was still one item per compartment, they were arranged tightly, one compartment right next to another.

On the wall were large characters: "Affordable Art Tools, one hundred taels each, White Jade gold-panning, every piece is real gold."

Shi Chunqing said in astonishment, "This... this is..."

Tang Zhao said, "These are all Art Tools that White Jade Disciples practice with; the level is average, but the Rune Formulas are complete, and there are no fakes. It's specifically for people to hunt for bargains."

Hearing his tone, Shi Chunqing wondered, how could there be incomplete ones?

Sure enough, Tang Zhao pushed open another door; that room was even larger, and the arrangement was even messier. Although there were lights, it was still rather dim, and there were not even cabinets, but rather open-mouthed boxes piled full of Art Tools.

"Cheap and good goods, ten taels each, every piece ten taels. For ten taels you can't buy a loss, for ten taels you can't buy a swindle—"

Shi Chunqing read the large sign board placed at the door, unable to laugh or cry, and said, "Where did you learn this set of tricks? Weren't you a little Scholar before?"

Tang Zhao chuckled twice and said, "Family tradition. These are all the backlog of defective products from White Jade Disciples and practice works from Moyu Disciples. If the Green Jade Disciples have anything to dispose of, they can also put them here."

Shi Chunqing shook his head and laughed, casually fishing one out of the box. He saw the material processing was rough, the Rune Formulas were intermittent, appearing and disappearing, and the combination and matching were out of the question. Let alone now, even twenty years ago, if he had made such a thing, he would definitely have been punished with the paddle.

After looking at a few pieces, Shi Chunqing only felt his eyes ache, saying, "This lighting is too dim. Why not turn it up?"

Tang Zhao coughed lightly, "This room cannot be too bright; if it's too bright, it's not easy to move the goods."

Shi Chunqing was both annoyed and amused, poking his Junior Brother's head with his finger, saying, "Why don't you learn something good? I don't know who taught you this."

He first felt that someone had corrupted his most innocent Junior Brother, but then he thought that although his other Junior Brothers and Sisters were a bit crooked, none had tilted in this direction; it seemed this unscrupulousness was a factory-default feature of Tang Zhao.

He straightened his expression and warned, "You can fool around yourself, but don't smash the reputation of our mountain villa."

Tang Zhao said aggrievedly, "Where is the reputation here? Let alone the mountain villa, I didn't even write 'Art Tools' in this room, just 'Affordable Goods'; isn't that honest enough? Even for the materials alone, buying it for ten taels is not a loss, not to mention there are Rune Formulas. Isn't this cheap?"

Shi Chunqing said, "The materials are valuable, but they become worthless after being ruined by their clumsy craftsmanship. The people who come to the mountains are all distinguished guests with high standards; can these pieces of junk be sold?"

Tang Zhao said, "They can. Those distinguished guests are all from wealthy and powerful families, surrounded by attendants when they go out. They buy the good stuff themselves, but the attendants usually come here to hunt for cheap goods. People aren't stupid; they buy things that are passable, and nobody buys the real junk. Now there are even middlemen coming in to hunt for goods; they buy these cheap ones, and I don't know how they sell them later. Anyway, the products in here don't have the shop's logo."

Shi Chunqing said, "Then the remaining junk is thrown away at the end?"

Tang Zhao said, "We ask the sellers for their own opinions; either it stays on display, and they have to pay if it exceeds a certain time limit. Or it gets stuffed into a Blind Box together."

Of course, there was also a portion he bought himself to fill his Glasses.

"Blind... Blind Box?"

"Yes, Blind Boxes are sold at the stall at the door, three for ten taels. Goods are placed inside randomly, and there might be surprises."

"Are there really surprises?"

"Of course. Do you really think I'm a profiteer? I often put good things in the Blind Boxes, not just Art Tools, but also silver, small toys, clothes and jewelry, stationery, and boxing manuals or sword manuals. Eight out of ten aren't a loss. I'm not doing a one-time business; the location is so remote, if I cheat everyone away, I'll starve to death without repeat customers."

Shi Chunqing said, "Even if you aren't a profiteer, you are quite..."

Just as he was speaking, several people in tight-fitting outfits came in from outside, shouting and picking through the Art Tools in the boxes. Shi Chunqing observed carefully, and sure enough, they were dressed like attendants.

Since there were outsiders, the two stopped talking and left the inner room. They saw that there were also people in the hundred-tael shop outside; those people were dressed more decently, probably stewards or Guest Ministers.

Arriving at the boutique shop again, he saw that Shu Qian was also busy, introducing Art Tools to a newly arrived couple dressed in refined clothing, saying, "... If you order here, there will be an owl to deliver it to your door later..."

The two passed through the shop and arrived at the backyard. Shi Chunqing said, "You can even have owls deliver goods?"

Tang Zhao laughed, "Yes, thanks to the Senior Sister; the owls she trains are very spiritual, giving our little shop more character and competitiveness."

"Actually, I have many more ideas—auctions, influencer marketing, lucky draws, membership systems, high-end customization... but they aren't useful right now. Who would come to the mountains to attend an auction? I thought about it carefully; our shop's only advantages are two: a large, cheap, and continuous supply of low-end Art Tools, and the owls the Senior Sister raises. The biggest disadvantage is the location; nobody will wander here while shopping. Since they have come, they must either buy top-tier goods or buy in large quantities at once."

"So for now, it's mainly the disciples' cheap Art Tools, and we can even organize everyone to make mass-produced standard Art Tools together. As for the high-end, we focus on the specialty owl delivery. Right now, we still need to order in person, but later I will set up mail-order. Stay at home, and the Art Tools will come to you. Slowly build the brand, and when the time comes, print the 'White Jade Flourishes' brand on every Art Tool; no one will not know it."

He spoke eloquently, his speech clear, his attitude confident, and he was glowing. Shi Chunqing looked at him and smiled gently.

"With this ambition, why don't you open a branch in Jichun City?"

"I rented a small shop, but the focus is still on the shop here. Before I officially become a Sword Guest, I will not expand out of the Jiugao Mountain area." Tang Zhao smiled, "At most, I'll occasionally have the owls go to the city to scatter some flyers or something."

Shi Chunqing nodded and said, "That is correct. You have ambition, but also self-awareness. However, I must still remind you that making money is a minor path; once you become a Sword Smith, money will mean nothing to you—you will have as much as you want. Do not put the cart before the horse..."

Flap, flap—

The sound of wings beating came from overhead.

A youth who had just reached adulthood flapped his wings and descended from the sky.

"Jiang Shixiong is here!"

Shi Chunqing nodded and said, "I will head back first. Junior Brother, I have high hopes for you; your future is as bright as polished jade..."