PFC Chapter 081 Talking about buying and selling pen
Chapter 081 Talking about buying and selling pen
Ancient people held a prejudice against menstruation, believing it to bring bad luck, and even women would not discuss it in public. Due to feudal ethics, items like menstrual belts and menstrual cloths were not sold openly, and their production methods varied widely, with each person's method different from the last, basically passed down from elder to younger, and from mother to daughter.
The original owner was eight years old, not old enough to use this. If it weren't for Liu Ying suddenly getting her period, she wouldn't have thought of using it for business.
In ancient times, women mostly used cloth for menstruation. Wealthy families used absorbent cotton cloth, while poor families used old clothes and scraps of cloth that they no longer needed. They would stuff the cloth with wood ash and then tie the menstrual cloth around their bodies. Some noble families used cotton or soft paper instead, but these were not as absorbent as wood ash.
The rich only find it inconvenient, but the poor suffer greatly. Those old clothes and rags often carry germs, and infections during special periods can be fatal for them.
Lu Zhiyuan didn't know how much longer she would stay in this world. Adhering to the principle of making things convenient for herself and others, she designed a menstrual cloth that was both in line with modern concepts and easy for people in ancient times to accept.
She wanted to promote this product, but promotion required a lot of manpower and resources. Looking at the entire Northern Liang, only her uncle had the strength to cooperate with her and achieve a win-win situation.
Xie Yu'an blushed, not daring to look at what Lu Zhiyuan was holding: "Yuan'er, it's not that your uncle is a coward, but even if your uncle dared to sell this, no one would dare to buy it. How about we talk about something else, like your rouge shop, or your furniture shop?"
Lu Zhiyuan shook her head. There was nothing to discuss about those deals; someone would imitate them in a few months.
The hall was bustling with activity. The eldest aunt and the second aunt led Xie Chaoyun in by the hand. Seeing the eldest uncle's worried face, the eldest aunt couldn't help but laugh and said, "I've been married to him for more than ten years, and this is the first time I've seen him like this."
Lu Zhiyuan handed the menstrual pads she had made to her aunt, saying, "These are called sanitary napkins. They are for women only and can protect a woman's health and safety during special periods. Men may not understand, but my aunt, my second aunt, and my mother certainly do."
Upon hearing that it was for women, the eldest and second aunts blushed. Xie Chaoyun also felt a little embarrassed and secretly gave Lu Zhiyuan a wink while rubbing her cheeks.
Knowing that the ancients were old-fashioned, Lu Zhiyuan did not expect to be persuaded in a short time. Instead, she earnestly introduced her other design concepts, business ideas, and operating methods.
Making sanitary napkins isn't difficult; the challenge lies in the raw materials, which is why Lu Zhiyuan sought out Xie Yu'an for advice. She needs to cultivate cotton to reduce raw material costs, making them affordable for women in Beiliang. She needs to build factories and hire workers, and since these are women's products, the workers must also be women, thus solving some of the women's employment problem.
In addition, promotional channels are also needed.
Initially, you can offer free trials to the empresses in the palace and noblewomen in the capital. You can also place some in your uncle's shop and your own shop as special gifts for female customers. The packaging must be discreet and exquisite enough so that they don't feel embarrassed receiving these items, yet feel that the shop has put a lot of thought into using them.
Later, my uncle will need to give up some of his shops. These shops cannot be located in a bustling area, nor can they be too quiet. They cannot be located next to shops that mainly cater to male customers, nor can they be without male customers, because many women come out with their husbands, and only when they come out can they have the opportunity to buy things.
The store is exclusively for women, ensuring their privacy and avoiding any embarrassment for shoppers.
Mother needs to manage the Lu family's affairs, but she is still too young to go out, so this matter can only be left to her eldest uncle. If her eldest uncle is unable to come forward, her eldest aunt can take charge, with Amber assisting her. As for shop management, the Song sisters should have already mastered the skills by the time the shop opens.
Lu Zhiyuan had considered every aspect from production to promotion, and from promotion to sales. Whether as Lu Zhiyuan's uncle or a pure businessman, Xie Yu'an sensed the business opportunity and had no reason to refuse. Moreover, Lu Zhiyuan had provided him with even better cotton seeds, which could help him expand his textile business.
From a public and private perspective, and for the people and the country, this is a good thing.
“I don’t know anything about business, but I can help with cotton planting,” my second aunt said. “My family’s ancestral home is in the Northwest, where we have a lot of land. We can take the cotton seeds there to plant first. If it’s successful, my eldest brother can then promote it. If it doesn’t work out, then we can just pretend it never happened. That way, we won’t cause any trouble for my brother and his family by avoiding gossip.”
"Besides cotton, there are also sweet potatoes. Originally, we were going to talk to my second uncle, but since my second aunt has land in the Northwest, we'll talk to her instead." Lu Zhiyuan happily hooked her arm around her second aunt's.
Xie Yubai glanced at her, frowned, and said, "What can that thing do? It's not even enough to fill your stomach."
The reason we weren't getting enough to eat was because we were using the wrong variety of sweet potatoes.
On her last day in the neighboring county, she suddenly craved candied sweet potatoes. Scarface searched for a long time and brought her back a string of things about the size of ping-pong balls. She asked the cook at the county office and learned that all sweet potatoes in Beiliang looked like this; the largest were no bigger than a two-year-old's fist. It was clearly impossible to fill one's stomach with just this. The reason they still grew them was because nothing else could be grown in the mountains; even the worst of it could barely stave off hunger.
These small sweet potatoes have a poor appearance and an even worse taste. I only found out from the system that this is the most primitive type of sweet potato that has not been improved. It is still grown in some mountainous areas, where locals call it "sweet potato laying eggs."
In Beiliang, many people still struggle to get enough to eat, such as the bandits on Luoxia Mountain, some of whom would climb the mountain just for a bite to eat. If those high-yield new varieties of sweet potatoes could be brought here, it would at least solve the food problem for some people. The system was reliable enough, sending her a sack of sweet potatoes. She would store these sweet potatoes and start planting seedlings next April.
Liu Ying took the samples she had brought from the carriage, divided them into four parts: one part was steamed, one part was boiled, one part was cooked, and one part was eaten raw. After they were all prepared, they were served to everyone to taste.
"This is a sweet potato?" Xie Yubai's eyes widened. "Yuan'er, where did you get this?"
"I'd like to know too." Xie Yu'an took a bite of the raw sweet potato, which was just as good as the fruits he had eaten. "I consider myself a man who has traveled all over the country, and I have never seen a sweet potato like this. You are just a little girl, and the farthest place you have been is Linxian County. Where did you get this good stuff?"
"It was left behind by my master."
At the crucial moment, they had to drag that fictitious beggar master out to take the blame, and on the side, they made up a story that the beggar was looking for food, accidentally entered a mountain cave, discovered a mysterious species, and ate it to fill his stomach.
The Xie brothers were stunned, yet couldn't quite put their finger on what was wrong. These sweet potatoes could yield several thousand catties per mu (a Chinese unit of area, approximately 0.165 acres). What did several thousand catties mean? It meant that with large-scale cultivation, no more people in Beiliang would starve to death.
"Not only can the sweet potato itself be used, but its stems and leaves are also edible. They are delicious when stir-fried or used to make dumplings. The old roots and stems can be used to feed pigs, cattle, and sheep. In short, nothing is wasted."
Regarding Xie Yubai's concern about storage, Lu Zhiyuan provided a corresponding answer. In plains areas, cellars can be dug for storage, while in mountainous areas, sweet potatoes can be dried into sweet potato chips or ground into sweet potato flour.
After hearing this, Xie Yubai took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart, and bowed deeply to Lu Zhiyuan: "On behalf of the people of Beiliang, Yubai thanks Lu Zhiyuan!"