Casting Nets to Catch a Husband

Chapter 159: Fangfeiyin (Fragrance Guide)

Lu Shuang had something on her mind.

A fifteen-year-old girl, after the initial panic and confusion, began to vaguely realize what was happening to her.

However, precisely because she understood what was going on, the small, secret joy and fluttering in her heart were quickly overshadowed by confusion and helplessness, and perhaps even a bit of disappointment.

She knew who Wang Mingyun was.

And because she knew, she clearly realized that this was probably a love that would lead nowhere.

He was a newly appointed Juren, with the potential to become a higher-ranking official in the future. She, on the other hand, was the daughter of a small merchant family—someone of such a background could never match him.

Moreover, Wang Mingyun had only helped her today out of respect for her third brother. There were no other intentions behind it.

Falling for someone for the first time, yet that person being someone almost impossible to be with—it was inevitable that she would feel sad. And while it wasn’t easy to just suppress these feelings, Lu Shuang was clear-headed enough to recognize that nothing would come of it. As a result, she buried this secret deep inside, not letting anyone see even the slightest hint of it.

~

The next afternoon, the three sets of clothes that Liu Yu had asked the embroiderers to make were finished. There was no need to wait for customers to come and try them on—there were already a few women with different body shapes among the workers, including Chen Shi, Qin Shi, and Lu Shuang, who were invited to take turns trying them on.

After this round of testing, it turned out that Liu Yu’s method of adjusting the sizes really worked. She was overjoyed and immediately discussed with Madam Zhang to produce several sets of clothes using this method for each type of garment priced between one and two or three thousand coins. These would be put directly on sale in their own embroidery house, allowing customers to try them out for a period of time.

Madam Zhang happily agreed, and the female workers and embroiderers who had tried on the clothes returned to the embroidery room in the backyard, excitedly discussing the possibility that Ruyi Embroidery House might be expanding.

It was at this moment that Lu Chengxiao, Liu Yanping, and Liu Yanan returned. Lu Chengxiao, concerned about Liu Yu, didn’t go back to the fabric shop but instead accompanied his two brothers-in-law straight to the backyard of the embroidery house.

Just as they heard a few words of conversation from the female workers in the embroidery room, Liu Yu returned from the front shop. She was originally heading back to the cutting room, but as soon as she saw Lu Chengxiao and her two brothers, her eyes lit up, and she abandoned the idea of going to the cutting room.

“Chengxiao, Second Brother, Third Brother, when did you get back?” she asked.

Lu Chengxiao smiled, “We just walked in.”

He glanced toward the embroidery room and said with a smile, “I overheard some conversation inside. Did you manage to solve the problem with the ready-to-wear sizes?”

Liu Yu couldn’t contain her smile and said, “Yes, I thought of a method yesterday, and today we tried it out with the finished clothes. It seems to be working quite well. We’ll first use this method in our own embroidery shop, let more customers try it, and observe it for a while. If there are no issues, we can start distributing it more widely.”

Liu Yanping and Liu Yanan’s eyes also brightened. They were aware of Liu Yu’s plans to expand the business of the embroidery shop. They had heard her mention it before but didn’t expect a solution to be found so quickly.

It was just before noon, and Liu Yu asked the three of them, “Have you had lunch yet?”

Liu Yanping shook his head. “We hurried back and didn’t have time for lunch. Let’s ask Aunt Lin to cook us three bowls of noodles.”

Aunt Lin was the woman Wei Shi had hired to help with cooking and laundry. She had noticed when the three of them returned, so she didn’t need to be called. She came out smiling, asked what kind of noodles they wanted, and then went back to the kitchen to prepare.

The noise of their conversation caught the attention of Wei Shi, Chen Shi, and Lu Shuang, who were still at the front of the shop. Wei Shi had to stay to tend to the business, and Qin Shi had gone back to take care of her children, but Lu Shuang and Chen Shi came to the backyard.

Chen Shi didn’t join the conversation between the younger ones. After confirming that her son had returned, she went back to help Wei Shi with the shop.

The rest of the group moved to the hall to talk. After asking where the three of them had been in the past few days, the topic shifted to the embroidery shop. Liu Yu mentioned how Lu Shuang had discovered that An Ji Embroidery Shop had copied eight or nine of their designs yesterday, and only then did Liu Yanping and the others understand why Liu Yu had acted so quickly.

Liu Yanping had mixed feelings. Being copied so quickly was, in a way, a sign that Ruyi Embroidery Shop, though newly opened, had already established a foothold in the ready-made clothing market in Anyi County.

“Now that the sizing issue is resolved, what are your plans going forward? Is there anything Second Brother or I can help with?”

“There certainly is!” Liu Yu replied, listing the tasks one by one.

“If we want to sell our more affordable ready-made clothing externally, we first need to differentiate our high-end clothing line. I’ve been thinking about it, and it would be best to name them as a series. After thinking all night, I came up with ‘Fragrance Guide.’ Since we’re naming them as a series, we’ll also need a series name for the high-end line. We’re still missing that, so why don’t you all help me think of one?”

Everyone’s eyes lit up at the mention of “Fragrance Guide.”

“That sounds lovely!” Lu Shuang was the first to compliment.

Lu Chengxiao repeated the words “Fragrance Guide” and said, “That word ‘Guide’…”

It reminded him of a poem, Enchantment Guide, but since the poem was written for a courtesan, it might not be appropriate to use it in a shop that specializes in women’s clothing, as it could be seen as taboo.

He tapped his fingers on the table and looked up at Liu Yu, asking, “How about ‘Enchantment of the Immortals’?”

By changing the last character, he retained the “Enchantment of the Immortals” part.

Liu Yu was moved, and Liu Yanping immediately clapped and praised, “Excellent! ‘Fragrance Guide’ and ‘Enchantment of the Immortals’—just the names alone are beautiful!”

Liu Yanan and Lu Shuang nodded in agreement, “That sounds good!”

Liu Yu smiled, “Great, then we’ll go with that series name. Now, onto the second matter. Since we’re dividing the series, we need to display them separately. I thought about it last night, and it’s not feasible to stop business for renovations or to split the shop into two. The project would be too large, and our shop isn’t very big; adding a Moon Gate partition would diminish its grandeur. Do you have any ideas?”

Without hesitation, Liu Yanan raised his hand, “I have an idea. When we were buying supplies in Lin’an City, we saw a silk shop with a beautiful display. They used wooden decorative partitions above their shelves and integrated their shop’s name into the woodwork. It looked antique and elegant. Second Brother, do you remember?”

Liu Yanping recalled it and nodded, “Yes, that could work. We can have a craftsman design wooden partitions like that, incorporating the names ‘Fragrance Guide’ and ‘Enchantment of the Immortals.’ We can then have separate sections for each series, which would make it clear and also enhance the shop’s appearance. This way, you don’t have to worry about it. Later, I’ll check with Third Brother to find a craftsman, get a few sample designs, and you can choose from them. The good thing about these wooden partitions is that they won’t interfere with our shop’s operations. The craftsmen can take measurements, create the designs, and we can install them at night once they’re done. We’ll just need to move the clothes from the shelves, and it will be completely transformed overnight.”

The idea of not disrupting the shop’s business was very appealing to Liu Yu.

She could roughly imagine what her brothers had described.

“Good, then I’ll leave it to you, Second Brother and Third Brother.”

Liu Yanping smiled, “It’s our own business. Why would it be troublesome?”

If anyone is to talk about hardship, they couldn’t compare to Liu Yu, who was working hard for their family.

Liu Yanping remembered that Liu Yu had mentioned a third matter, so he asked, “Is there a third issue?”

Liu Yu smiled, “Yes, and it’s the most urgent one: finding distributors. Since our capital is limited, I plan to avoid stocking goods ourselves. Instead, we should find embroidery shops willing to sell our ready-made clothes, have them place orders and pay in advance, and then we’ll fulfill the orders. Can Second Brother and Third Brother handle this?”

“That’s not difficult.”

Liu Yanping and his brothers had been buying silk materials from the Two Zhejiang regions and had found buyers themselves. Whether it was Liu Yanping or Liu Yanan, they were quite familiar with the process. The difference was that they had been dealing with fabric shops before; now they just needed to deal with embroidery shops, which was no problem.

However, Liu Yanping hesitated a bit and asked, “How much profit are you willing to give up for bulk sales of the clothes?”

Liu Yu had already thought about this, so she answered without much deliberation, “Fifty percent profit. We’ll take fifteen percent, and leave thirty-five percent for the embroidery shop.”

In other words, for a piece of clothing priced at three hundred wen, they would make a profit of one hundred ninety-five wen, and the embroidery shop would make four hundred fifty-five wen.

Liu Yanping nodded. If the clothes covered all sizes, the embroidery shop could save on the cost of maintaining embroiderers. Moreover, the designs from their shop sold well. A piece could earn four to five hundred wen, making the business quite manageable.

“Alright, but I have a suggestion. Second Brother, let me share it, and you can consider it.”

Liu Yu nodded.

Liu Yanping said, “In Yuanzhou City, there are eighteen counties and numerous towns. Have you considered limiting our embroidery shop’s business to just Yuanzhou City and the eighteen counties?”

Liu Yu was stunned, but Lu Chengxiao’s eyes brightened as he guessed Liu Yanping’s meaning.

Sure enough, Liu Yanping continued, “Our affordable clothes are considered cheap only in the county, but in the towns, they are actually high-priced. Only the wealthier class in each town can afford them, while the villagers mostly wear self-woven coarse cloth or simple clothes. So, seeking distributors in towns might not yield significant results. Just look at how much our clothes sell in Sister Cui’s shop compared to our county’s sales.”

“About twenty to thirty percent,” Liu Yu could estimate without looking at the accounts.

Liu Yanping nodded, “Exactly. The volume in towns is limited. With only twenty to thirty percent of the volume, if we give more than thirty percent profit to the embroidery shop, it might be better to focus on county-level and above. With Yuanzhou City and the eighteen counties, once we solve the sizing issue, we could even open branches of Ruyi Embroidery Shop ourselves.”

Nineteen Ruyi Embroidery Shops!

Even Liu Yu was stunned by the idea.

She had naturally thought about it, but implementing it wasn’t easy. Liu Yu said, “I’ve considered it, but there are a few issues. First, finding good locations for shops isn’t easy. We got lucky with this shop; it might take a long time to find good locations for eighteen branches. Second, with one shop per county, managing them might be challenging due to the distance. Third, the capital required for eighteen branches is substantial. It could take five or six years, or even longer, to open them all.”

Liu Yanping smiled and addressed Liu Yu’s concerns. “First, for finding locations, we can cast a wide net. We can have intermediaries look for opportunities in the seventeen counties and the city. We’ll expand wherever we find a good location first. Second, for management, we can start by exploring methods and hiring reliable shopkeepers. Not all branch stores are managed directly by the owner; many businesses manage them remotely. Third, for capital, we can reinvest the profits from our existing embroidery shop. I and Yanan will also contribute our earnings. It’s like a snowball effect: initially, it’s hard to make money with a small amount, but the more money we have, the faster it grows. The first few branches may open slowly, but later it will speed up.”

“In the first couple of years, the branches might make slower profits compared to distributing the clothes, but since the brand is ours, it will build up over time. The reputation of Ruyi Embroidery Shop will grow, increasing customer recognition and loyalty. Eventually, even Yuanzhou Jinxiu Shop will look up to us.”

The last sentence excited Liu Yu.

Lu Chengxiao sighed in admiration and said, “Yanping is right. However, I think these two approaches are not mutually exclusive. ‘Fragrance Guide’ and ‘Enchantment of the Immortals’ could be our flagship series for the branches. If we have the capacity, we could also develop another series more suitable for small-town embroidery shops. The price should be controlled within nine hundred wen, balancing style and affordability. This series wouldn’t be displayed in our shop but would be specifically for small-town embroidery shops.”

“This series doesn’t need to have many designs initially. A dozen classic styles per season, with large-scale reproductions, could be sold in bulk. There are over a hundred towns, and if we find one embroidery shop per town and sell ten pieces per design, that’s a thousand pieces for one design. With ten designs per season, that’s ten thousand pieces, which is a significant amount. Moreover, once this approach is established, future seasons will have more designs. The profits could be substantial. While this method has lower margins, it requires less management. Besides Yuanzhou, nearby prefectures can also be developed similarly.”

Liu Yu understood, “These are two different approaches, but we don’t have to choose between them. We can pursue both paths, right?”

She looked at her second brother.

Liu Yanping also smiled, “Yes, if you have the capacity, you can!”

Liu Yu’s eyes lit up, “No problem. If it works out, I’ll hire a dressmaker. I’ll only need to provide the sample clothes and can manage both.”

Lu Chengxiao, seeing her enthusiasm, chuckled, “If it works out, with increased production, we could also procure fabrics directly, significantly reducing costs. The profits would be much higher than fifteen percent.”

Not only for the embroidery shop, but also for Lufeng’s fabric shop, wherever Liu Yu’s embroidery shop expands, Lufeng’s fabric shop would likely expand in sync as well.

Sansukini: Oh well, that’s why I dropped out of Accounting and Finance in my second year in University and shifted to another major.

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