Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 69 - 67 All Sold Out

Chapter 69: Chapter 67 All Sold Out

Chapter 69 -67 All Sold Out

Today is the market day in the county town, the streets were buzzing with an unusually large number of people from early dawn.

Unlike what the traditional customs dictated, the grand opening of the toy store did not involve setting off big firecrackers to attract a crowd.

Instead, a stage was set up in front of the shop.

There was a large wheel mounted on the stage.

This wheel served as a target featuring several segments, each segment adorned with text.

Some marked with the names of toys, such as ‘large-size Mashimaro’, ‘medium-size turtle’, ‘small-size caterpillar’ etc., while others carried words of good wishes like ‘wish for good health’, ‘grow taller quickly’, ‘try again’ etc.

A cacophony of gongs and drums drew passersby to form a crowd around the stage, where Uncle Fu was presiding over the events.

“Fellow villagers, don’t walk by without taking notice.

Our shop is opening today, and to celebrate, every toy in the shop is available for a 10% discount while all amusements are half-priced.

All consumption earns double points.

Moreover, anyone who buys anything gets a chance to throw a dart.

Hitting the lucky spin wheel gets you a free toy.

The supply is limited so hurry up!”

“Manager, what are these points?

What’s their use?”

“Manager, do we really get something if we hit it with a dart?”

“If you buy toys worth 10 taels of silver from the shop today, you earn 10 points.

If you buy toys worth 5 taels tomorrow, you’ll have a total of 15 points.

You get one point for every tael spent on shopping, equating to the total taels spent.”

“Points can be redeemed for gifts.

For example, 100 points can be exchanged for a pair of cartoon sleeve-covers or a small purse, and 1000 points can get you a smaller deer.

We have a points’ handbook in the store.

If interested, you can ask for it from one of our shop assistants.”

“Yes, anyone who buys anything from our store gets a chance to throw a dart.

You win what you hit on the lucky spin wheel.

Though wishing phrases like ‘good health’ and ‘grow taller’ are bereft of rewards.”

“Mum, I want to throw a dart!”

“Let’s go in quickly and buy the cheapest thing, then come out and throw a dart!” freёweɓnovel.com

However, the prices in the shop surprised many.

While asking for the price of one thing cost 10 taels, some other thing cost 20 taels, going up to 50 taels.

Even the cheapest toy was priced at one tael.

Such high prices deterred many.

However, there was no shortage of affluent people in the city.

All the toys that were well-placed in the shop got picked up instantly, with the shop assistants hurrying to refill from the warehouse.

Meanwhile, outside the store, cheers and sighs of disappointment were echoed around the dart-throwing area.

“This gentleman has hit a large Mashimaro.

Please come on stage to collect your prize.”

“This lady has hit ‘good health.’ May you always stay healthy.

It’s alright if you didn’t get a toy, better luck for next year.”

“This young girl has hit a bouncing tiger…”

…

Before noon, the store had sold all it had.

Only the laughter and chortling in the amusement area was left.

The shop assistants were pulled aside and bombarded with questions like when would the toys be restocked, and why the shop was out of inventory on opening day.

Di Zhaowei, pacing up and down in the accounting room, asked, “Uncle Fu, when will the stuff in the store be restocked at the earliest?”

He hadn’t anticipated business would turn out so good.

Despite having had prepared a stock of about 200 pieces of each variety of toys, the store had sold out.

It’s unheard of for a shop to close on its opening day.

!

“I’m afraid it’s going to take seven to eight days!” The Mashimaro toys are under production at Embroidery Lady’s place.

However, just having those wouldn’t suffice to reopen.

“Seven to eight days is too long!”

“Or we could transfer some goods from the Imperial Capital shop…” It would still be more than ten days before the grand opening of the shop in the Imperial Capital.

“No, we need to prepare even more stock for the Imperial Capital shop.” The Imperial Capital was heavily populated by the affluent, one Imperial Capital shop could account for several of these smaller county shops.

“Right, I almost forgot, Uncle Fu, please send a pigeon post to the Imperial Capital shop informing them about the business here at the grand opening.” If their Imperial Capital shop runs out of goods as soon as it opens and has to shut down for a few days, Di Zhaowei and Shangguan Xuanyi’s will inevitably become the laughing stock.

Now he understands that doing too well in business can also be a source of vexation!

“Brother Di, the production team you are in charge of is not up to the mark.”

“The business is too good!”

“Oh～ doing too well in business is also a mistake!”

Di Zhaowei looked pitifully at Xiao’er, “Hey girl, that’s not kind of you.

You are laughing at your Brother Di instead of helping out with some solution!”

“There are only so many people in the city who can afford such toys.

Most of them would have bought what they wanted today.

But slowly, more people from other counties would start trickling in who’ve heard of us.

Let’s get some essentials transported from the Imperial Capital shop to tide us over.

Meanwhile, we need to hire more people and work overtime here.

The production team at the Imperial capital also needs to expand and work extra hours.

I’ll go to the village and get a few skilled seamstresses to start manufacturing the parts.

We can have 500 pieces ready within three days.” She planned to assemble the parts in her space, which should allow for a great deal of production overnight.

“By doing so, would it leak the design of the toys?”

“With the toys already sold, if someone wants to steal the design, they surely can.

What we need to do now is work faster than them to get a fresh batch into the market.

We mustn’t lose any potential customers due to a prolonged shortage.

We also need to prepare to launch our new products and massively increase production!

We can’t let the situation we have today repeat.”

Uncle Fu promptly left to arrange everything.

For the grand store opening, Di Zhaowei hosted a feast at the Taste of Xuan.

He initially intended to introduce Xiao’er to some dignitaries and nobles, but had to cancel as she had to rush home.

There would be plenty of opportunities in the future anyway.

First, Xiao’er went to the furniture shop.

The entire shop was under renovation, with Liu Minhong and several assistants hurriedly working on furniture.

After discussing some renovation issues with the workers, she went to the backyard to give a shout-out to Liu Minhong, and invite the Jingrui brothers to go home with her.

She still needed to rush to Manager Yao’s shop in the town to place an order for some flower pots.

Quality furniture paired with attractive accessories would certainly catch the eye and stimulate the desire to purchase.

“Uncle, are you coping well with the workload?” Xiao’er asked quietly, seeing Liu Minhong and his team diligently working.

“Xiao’er is back, I’m managing for now.

However, I want to hire another man.

His name is Shi Dalin.

He used to work in this shop like I did.

He is skilled, but he got a peculiar disease that rendered him unable to see anything at night, though he was perfectly fine in the daytime.

His master’s mother was worried that he would gave her the disease, and Dalin himself was also worried that he would infect others, so he quit and went home.

This disease of his has not been cured all this while, but nobody around him got infected.

He’s hardworking and honest, definitely worth hiring!”

Upon hearing this, Xiao’er nodded, “As long as Uncle thinks it’s good, we should do it.

We must only employ people with good character in our shop.

Now, about his disease…”

“Don’t worry, it’s definitely not contagious.

I’ve been visiting him all this while and I haven’t caught it.

His parents also share the same house with him, and they’re okay.” Liu Minhong cut Xiao’er short to vouch for Dalin.

Xiao’er couldn’t help but chuckle, “Uncle, don’t rush.

I know it’s not contagious.

I have a rough idea of what his disease might be.

Ask him to work, I might even be able to help him recover.”