Chapter 109: Chapter 109: Their Flavor Tastes Just Like Ours
After Qu Fulan left, Fang Yuan also lost her appetite.
She suddenly had a feeling that everything had changed since she came here this time.
The old lady doted on her, although not as much as her second brother, but she had no complaints about that. However, her second brother doting on her less than on a maid made her uncomfortable.
She disliked this feeling, much like after her father remarried, how everyone treated her changed from before.
Previously, she liked coming to the Pei Mansion because it was more relaxed and free than home, completely belonging to her, but now it didn’t completely belong to her anymore.
After dinner, Fang Yuan didn’t bring anyone, sitting alone in the pavilion looking at the moonlight.
No longer like before, after dinner she would run to her second brother’s courtyard to play, now it’s not just the traces of her second brother’s life, but also another woman’s.
Fang Yuan wasn’t foolish, she knew her second brother would surely take Fulan as a concubine one day, and later he would marry and have children, spreading his attention more towards his family.
She selfishly hoped this day would come later, letting her second brother belong more to her alone, not getting taken away by others so soon.
Her biological mother left right after giving birth to her, her father’s second wife’s children were not close to her, only her second brother was the best in her life.
And now he didn’t belong to her anymore either.
Meanwhile, the third house also left the table with a sullen demeanor tonight.
At tonight’s family banquet, even the eldest son spoke eloquently, performing extremely well, maintaining his poise.
Only the third son was listless, lacking any trace of charisma.
The Third Young Madam saw her eldest and second brothers-in-law performing well, while her own husband looked dejected, making her feel stifled inside.
She also held in her pent-up frustration, silent from the beginning to the end of the family banquet with a gloomy expression.
The second young lady had just been reprimanded by her second brother yesterday, so at today’s family banquet, naturally, she didn’t dare to stand out, only putting on a cooperative smile, though inside she was extremely annoyed by the banquet’s bustle.
Yesterday, not bringing Fulan over, those noblewomen didn’t say anything, but she could clearly see the ridicule in their eyes.
Her face was utterly lost.
Thinking about how her second brother opposed her for a maid made her feel terribly heartbroken.
While these well-fed and well-watered people have time to "shed tears at the season of flowers, and bemoan the separation of birds under the moon," Qu Fulan had to rush to the bookstore to make every second count.
As soon as she reached Wanfu Road, she saw a lot of people gathered in the distance, doing something seemingly not far from the entrance of the "Ten Thousand Books Bookstore."
Qu Fulan felt a thud in her heart, seeing such a crowded scene was not a good sign, so she hurriedly ordered the carriage to move forward.
However, very soon they were blocked by the coming and going of people, unable to move forward.
Shi Yi went ahead to investigate the situation.
Not long after, he brought Manager Wu over.
As it turns out, although Shi Yi is skilled in martial arts, he couldn’t just force his way into the crowd, so he thought those in the bookstore must know the specifics, and brought Manager Wu directly to Qu Fulan.
Seeing Qu Fulan, Manager Wu immediately wanted to kneel down.
"Miss Qu, I had a total of a hundred copies of ’Journey to the West’ printed. I thought selling a dozen to twenty copies would be good, but who knew it would be snapped up frantically, and now there’s only the last copy left. Everyone wants to buy it and they’re even fighting over it."
This is something unimaginable even in dreams, from morning till afternoon, only seven or eight customers came in total, and only two bought ’Journey to the West.’ He was relieved for not printing too many copies, otherwise, there would be huge losses.
But in just the time for a meal, people started coming in one after another to the store, continuing till the evening, suddenly there were many people fighting to buy ’Journey to the West.’
But there were only a hundred copies of ’Journey to the West,’ each selling for ten taels of silver, and they quickly sold out.
Before Manager Wu could even rejoice, a large crowd streamed in wanting to buy ’Journey to the West,’ upon hearing there was only one copy left, everyone wanted it, which caused a commotion.
"It was my miscalculation, I really didn’t expect it to sell so smoothly..." Manager Wu was extremely ashamed.
With so many crowded and causing trouble, they must disperse quickly, otherwise, the bookstore couldn’t continue business if an accident happened.
Qu Fulan ordered the guards to act, swiftly calming the troublemakers, then instructed the shopkeeper to speak according to her instructions, promising overnight work so that everyone could buy a copy by first light the next morning.
That last book wouldn’t be sold to anyone for now.
With guards present, servants sent by their masters to purchase books didn’t dare to cause trouble and soon dispersed.
"How many assistants are in the shop now?" Qu Fulan asked.
"There are three assistants, including me, four in total."
Previously with lousy business, just a shopkeeper and an assistant at most could barely hold up.
"What about the ten people who went out for promotion today?"
"After completing their task, they took their pay and left."
"You’ve been at the bookstore for years, you must know quite a few people. Use your connections to find five or six reliable assistants, work overnight, and strive to print a thousand copies by 5 a.m. tomorrow. Once the task is completed, each will be rewarded with one string of cash."
Manager Wu took a deep breath, realizing that the store’s assistants usually earn a monthly salary of only 500 cash, given the easy nature of just looking after the store. The monthly salary couldn’t be too high.
Now a night’s work rewarding one string of cash, equivalent to two months’ wages, who wouldn’t want such a job?
"Rest assured, Miss, I’ll have people find them immediately, they will surely be found quickly."
"Additionally, the ten people responsible for promotion during the day must continue tomorrow. This promotional activity needs to last for a month, make sure to communicate this to them clearly."
The shopkeeper was momentarily stunned, though printing a thousand copies overnight seemed a lot, if not fully sold, they could be stored as inventory for later sales.
But why continue the promotional activity? Isn’t there already business?
"Today’s business success is a result of the promotion, but the number of people who know is still limited. Continuous promotion is necessary until at least this area knows, achieving the promotional goal."
"Similar to today’s situation, all-day promotion needs a reaction period, so no one shows during the day but suddenly there are people at night..."
Qu Fulan seemed to see through the shopkeeper’s confusion and was not reluctant to explain to him.
The promoters distribute flyers everywhere they go, given they don’t have the qualifications to distribute flyers directly to the wealthy, it’s a matter of probabilities.
By giving everyone a flyer, eventually, one will land in a servant’s hands and through this, reach their master.
Alternatively, scattering flyers at the entrance of those restaurants is sure to draw attention.
Those who have never heard of ’Journey to the West’ naturally wouldn’t care, but hearing from one who’s heard of it might help in the promotion, or becoming interested themselves, they’d send a servant to buy it.
Qu Fulan was never worried about the charm of ’Journey to the West,’ people who have heard it would naturally buy to cherish it.
In short, promotion needs a time reaction to take effect.
The shopkeeper nodded appreciatively, "Thank you, Miss, for your enlightening advice."
Scholars indeed speak with such eloquence.
Qu Fulan nodded, scanned the store, after the shopkeeper made rectifications according to her requirements, the entire store felt much more spacious and elegant, the books on the shelves were arranged neatly, clear and distinct.
Then, Qu Fulan left the bookstore to retrieve the account book at the "Flower Garden Ode."
Only then did she learn a piece of important news from Manager Yu.
"The ’Tingya Building’ diagonally opposite also started selling milk tea today, the customers say their taste is just like ours."