Quick Transmigration: Why did you provoke him? He's love-struck!

Chapter 303 Towards the Golden Palace (7)

Given that he is now a "man", Yan Zhen is not flustered.

She quickened her pace, carrying a bamboo basket, and slipped into an alley.

The sound of footsteps following closely behind her came close behind.

Just as the other person approached, Yan Zhen darted out from around the corner of the alley, nearly bumping into her and giving him a fright.

It was the middle-aged man who bought five bars of soap from her, and he was followed by a servant.

Yan Zhen sized him up and asked bluntly, "What are you doing following me?"

Upon hearing this, the man quickly bowed to her and said, "Brother, please don't misunderstand. My surname is Qin, and I am the second son in my family. I usually do some small business and would like to ask if you are interested in cooperating with me."

Yan Zhen raised an eyebrow; she had achieved her goal of setting up a stall today—

Although retail soap has a large profit margin, the price of a single bar of soap can be equivalent to an average person's monthly salary.

If such a public business is booming, it is easy to attract attention and bring trouble.

She had no powerful backers in Yinzhou City. If she attracted the attention of those jealous thugs, gangsters, and local bullies, she would be no match for them.

The best way is to attract the attention of distributors and have them take the lead in getting the soap sold in Yinzhou City.

"Cooperation?" Yan Zhen asked, "How do we cooperate?"

"The soap you're selling is a good product. My family owns a few general stores, and I'd like to get a batch of soap from you to try selling in my stores. What do you think?"

Yan Zhen hesitated: "Buy more goods?"

“Yes,” Qin Er replied immediately. “But don’t worry, brother, even if we buy in bulk, the price per piece will not be lower than the eight hundred coins you set.”

Upon hearing this, Yan Zhen's face lit up with delight: "Okay, how many do you want?"

"Let's start with 100 yuan."

Yan Zhen took Qin Er home to retrieve the goods.

The money and goods were exchanged, and Qin Er and his servant had just left with the soap when A Bao arrived right behind them.

He changed into a patched-up outfit and walked in, confidently reaching out to Yan Zhen: "I've taken care of things for you. Where's the pork lard?"

Yan Zhen raised his hand and tapped his head: "The pork cracklings are in the kitchen. Take as much as you want."

Ah Bao turned and ran towards the kitchen.

Yan Zhen grabbed him by the back of his collar and pulled him back. Before A Bao could speak, he stuffed ten coins into his hand.

"You did a good job today, here's some money for you to buy some candied hawthorns."

Ah Bao was clever; if he hadn't "accidentally" fallen into the river and then staged a collision with Qin Er, who looked like he had money, her deal today might not have gone so smoothly.

Ah Bao grinned and put away the copper coins: "Come to me again if there's something like this next time."

After Abao left, Yan Zhen did some calculations.

Today, including the batch of goods brought in by Qin Erjin, a total of 130 bars of soap were sold, generating 100 taels of silver in revenue.

After deducting labor and costs, the profit is about seventy-five taels.

If this money were kept in Luojia Village, it would be enough to support an average farming family for ten years.

This business deal was incredibly profitable.

For the next few days, Yan Zhen didn't leave the house except to deliver goods.

Three days later, Qin Er came to visit.

His face was beaming with joy: "Brother Cao, just as I expected, that soap is very popular. The hundred yuan worth that I bought from you has already sold out, and many customers have placed pre-orders. How much stock do you have at home? I'll take it all."

Yan Zhen said slowly and deliberately, "Boss Qin, I do have a lot of stock at home, but I can only give you two hundred yuan today."

Qin Er's expression froze: "Why? Does someone else get their goods from you?"

"No, not at all," Yan Zhen said with a smile. "It takes at least a month from making the soap to shipping it. These two hundred pieces were made a month ago."

Although Qin Er felt the quantity was too small, he had no other choice but to pay 160 taels of silver in cash and take away 200 bars of soap.

After seeing Qin Er off, Yan Zhen returned to her room and took out the primers she had bought at the bookstore a couple of days ago, preparing to study the writing system of this era.

But just as she sat down, there was a knock on the door.

When Yan Zhen opened the door, she saw a man in his fifties standing outside, exuding the stench of a businessman. Behind him were two servants who greeted her with a smile and bowed, saying, "Boss Cao, I apologize for disturbing you."

The man explained his purpose: he was a businessman who had his eye on the soap that was selling well at Qin Er's general store.

However, despite making numerous inquiries, Qin Er kept the source of the goods tightly under wraps and forbade anyone to reveal it.

He secretly followed Qin Er here and saw Qin Er and his servant carrying away a box of soap.

"I wonder if Mr. Cao still has any soap left? I'd like to buy a batch of goods as well. Don't worry, the price is negotiable."

The other party was very sincere and raised the purchase price to one tael of silver. Yan Zhen readily gave him two hundred bars of soap wholesale.

The day after Manager Yuan finished purchasing the goods, Qin Er rushed over to find Yan Zhen.

He was clearly complaining that Yan Zhen shouldn't have given the goods to Manager Yuan, allowing the latter to steal some of his business.

Yan Zhen said calmly, "Manager Qin, if I remember correctly, you and I didn't reach an exclusive supply agreement, did you? Manager Yuan came to purchase goods with sincerity, and it's a profitable business for us. Why would I refuse?"

"But didn't you say the other soaps weren't ready to ship yet?"

“Yes, but Manager Yuan insisted on taking it away.” Yan Zhen shrugged. “He said that if it was sold, the seller would have to bear the consequences, so there was nothing I could do.”

Qin Er: "..."

Finally, at Qin Er's insistence and with a price increase, Yan Zhen wholesaled him another two hundred bars of soap, instructing him to dry them for a few more days before putting them on the shelves for sale.

-

Soap is selling like hotcakes in Yinzhou City.

In her spare time, Yan Zhen went to a retail shop to inquire about the market price. She bought soap from them for one tael of silver and resold it to various shops for four taels of silver.

Gee!

If we're talking about shady dealings, these unscrupulous businessmen are the worst.

The fact that Manager Yuan came to Yan Zhen to purchase goods opened a floodgate, and in the following days, distributors of all sizes kept coming to Yan Zhen's door, wanting to buy goods.

Yan Zhen accepts all comers; as long as the money is right, he'll give goods to anyone who wants them.

The three thousand bars of soap she made in the past twenty days sold out quickly.

Qin Er came to buy more goods again, but he didn't believe Yan Zhen's claim that he was out of stock.

Yan Zhen simply opened the room where she kept her soap to show him.

The shelves were completely empty.

Qin Er said anxiously, "Then hurry up and make a batch! Right now, this stuff is not only selling well in Yinzhou City, but merchants from other places are also flocking here. If we don't seize this opportunity to make a fortune, when will we ever get another chance?"

Yan Zhen: "There are too many people ordering goods, I can't keep up."

Qin Er was silent for a moment, then said, "Brother Cao, why don't you sell me the soap formula? I'll find someone to make it, and I'll cover the raw materials, labor, and sales channels. You don't have to do anything. I'll give you 10% of the net profit from the soap we sell. How about that?"

Yan Zhen smiled slightly: "To be honest, Manager Yuan also told me yesterday that he wanted to buy the soap recipe, and he offered 20% of the net profit."

Qin Er panicked upon hearing this and hurriedly said, "Brother Cao, you can't trust that guy surnamed Yuan. He's very cunning. You have no relatives or friends in Yinzhou City. If you give him the soap formula, whether you get a share or not is entirely up to him. Even if he doesn't give it to you, what can you do about it?"

“That’s what I think too,” Yan Zhen said, then changed the subject, “So, if I cooperate with you, Manager Qin, I won’t have this risk?”

Qin Er paused.

“I don’t trust anyone to give the formula to. Right now, the demand for goods is so high that I can’t handle it all by myself, so I came up with a solution.”

Yan Zhen said, "I have already made arrangements with five or six suppliers, including Manager Yuan, to meet at Shidinglou at noon tomorrow. I will be exclusively transferring the recipe there, and the highest bidder will win. If Boss Qin is interested, he may come and bid."

Qin Er: "..."