Chapter 4 The Young Master of a Declining Family

  The old man agreed to this matter, and Shen Chongming even made a request to go to the rice shop to help.

  Shen Qing's face, originally full of kindness, immediately fell as he scolded, "Nonsense! You're a scholar from a prestigious family, why aren't you at home studying properly? What are you doing in that place, disgracing your own reputation?"

  Shen Chongming did not expect the old man to react so strongly. Logically, since he had volunteered to go and experience labor himself, he should be happy instead of getting angry.

  "Yes, dear child, you are the face of our family. If you go out to do business, won't it be a joke? Listen to your father and stay home to study." The woman beside him, Wang Shi, also put down her chopsticks and advised.

  As soon as he said this, Shen Chongming finally understood that the history books had always said that in ancient times, the social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, workers and merchants was strict, and people with knowledge were highly respected. It seems that this is not false at all. As a student of the prefectural school, he has become the face-saving figure of his family, which is really somewhat embarrassing.

  However, once Shen Chongming has made up his mind, it's impossible to change it, even if nine oxen were to try and pull him back. He also has grand ambitions, and although merchants are of a low social status and not yet wealthy enough, when the time comes that we become rich enough to rival nations, I'm afraid even the emperor will have to come to our doorstep to borrow money.

  "The book says that learning should be applied in practice, and this time the child wants to go into the shop to help out is exactly what it means. What's written in the book can't be wrong, right?" Shen Chongming said with a sly tone.

  Shen Qing couldn't help but smile, feeling relieved. "Alright, tomorrow you'll follow me to the shop, but as the young master, you mustn't do any rough work, understand?"

  "Understood, just be at ease." We are going to learn the way of business, of course we won't do any physical labor.

  On the second day, Shen Chongming, who claimed to be an assistant, dressed up and followed Old Master Shen Qing in their family's carriage to De Long Rice Store located on the busiest street in Shaoxing City. This street was situated at the intersection of Shanyin and Kuaiji, bustling with people coming and going. As Shen Chongming got off the carriage, he looked up at the "De Long Rice Store" in front of him, his mouth slightly raised, thinking that the store's location was excellent and its daily income must be considerable.

  As Shen Qing walked into the store, Shen Chongming felt a sense of unease. More than a dozen apprentices were lounging around chatting idly, and in front of the large counter, there wasn't a single customer. Only an old man was leaning back in his chair behind the counter with his eyes closed, taking a nap.

  "Cough." Shen Qing let out a light cough, immediately startling the old man and those fellows, who hastily got up to welcome him.

  "Good morning, Master." The old man said with a flattering tone. Shen Qing frowned and looked at him, displeased: "Tao Zhanggui, it's still early in the Great Qing dynasty, but you're all so listless, how can this business possibly thrive?" As he spoke, he couldn't help but sigh, thinking that the ancestral De Long rice shop had fallen into his hands and become a half-dead state, truly a shame to his ancestors.

  Taoshanggui wanted to say something, but he opened his mouth and didn't speak. Shen Chongming, who was standing beside him, frowned and looked at the situation, this business is definitely not good, it's likely that the income does not cover the expenses, it's a losing deal!

  "Let Master Tao take you around for a look," Shen Qing said weakly, lifting her foot to head inside.

  "Master Rong, what do you want to see?" Tao Zhuang asked in puzzlement. He had been working at the De Long rice shop for over 30 years and had almost seen Master Rong grow up. This young master was usually useless, his brain not as good as even his own son's. It was only because of the silver that Master Rong's family had spent and the relationship with the uncle who worked in the government office that he was able to enter the imperial academy. Now, he had suddenly come to the shop, could it be that Master Rong was planning to pass on the business to him?

  Thinking of this possibility, Tao Zhuang couldn't help but worry about the future. The master of the house was considered a shrewd person in Shaoxing City, and he had managed the family business to such an extent that if this foolish young master were to take over, it wouldn't be long before he would have to change masters himself.

  Shen Chongming didn't know what the old shopkeeper was thinking, and lightly laughed: "Tao shopkeeper, looking at this situation, our business isn't doing well."

  Tao Zhuangui forced a smile, and even you can see that things are not going well. "Young Master has good eyesight." Tao Zhuangui said insincerely, then sighed: "Alas, our De Long Rice Shop is an old shop of over 100 years, but in terms of reputation, it's far inferior to the Wan Tong Rice Shop across the street, which has only been around for a few years. All these people buying rice are going there because of their reputation, while our shop and several other old shops nearby can hardly make ends meet. The monthly income is barely enough to pay the wages of the apprentices, and on top of that, we have to pay taxes to the government every month, which has been a loss for the master all along." As he spoke, Tao Zhuangui shook his head.

  Shen Chongming furrowed his brow and turned around to look at the opposite side, where the Wanjing Rice Store was more than a dozen times larger than his own shop. The entrance was bustling with people coming and going to buy rice, some carrying sacks on their backs, while others came directly in large carts. People from all walks of life were present.

  "This Wan Tong rice shop is really not small, what's the background?" Each industry has its own rules, it doesn't make sense that they get to eat meat and drink soup while others don't even get a drop. With so many shops having poor business and no way out, the only possibility is that the other party has too much backing, all the fellow businessmen dare not offend them, otherwise, they would have joined forces to squeeze him out long ago!

  When Shen Chongming asked this, Tao Zhuang shook his head involuntarily and looked at him. It turned out that even the facade of Mr. Wan, the richest man in Shaoxing City, was not clear, nor did he know how the young master grew up in Shaoxing City.

  "The young master doesn't know, but this Wanjia Rice Shop is actually one of the businesses owned by Wan Yulin, a wealthy merchant in Shaoxing. The rice shop is just a small part of his business empire, which includes pawn shops and silk stores throughout the city. It's said that nearly 80% of the shops in the city are his. No wonder so many fellow businessmen are struggling to make ends meet, sigh... it's not worth offending him." Seeing Tao Zhuanggui sighing repeatedly, Shen Chongming couldn't help but smile slightly, thinking that this was a pessimistic person.

  He didn't bother with Tao Zhuangui anymore, Shen Chongming himself wandered around and looked for a way to attract customers. After all, he couldn't force them, so he had to think of another approach.

  After a circle, Shen Chongming had a plan in mind. Although he didn't know many promotional tactics, he understood simple buy-one-get-one-free deals. The store had many types of goods, and by utilizing the price difference between them, buying expensive items and giving away some relatively cheaper ones could still be profitable!

  Found Tao Zhuangui, Shen Chongming carefully inquired about the prices of various goods, smiled slightly, and ordered someone to bring pen, ink, paper, and inkstone. He started writing with a flourish, although his handwriting was not very good. However, Shen Chongming felt very satisfied, compared to the "original works" he had kept in his study, this was much better. Who knows how that scholar passed their exams? As a student who always used a brush, the words to describe his writing could only be: messy!

  "Master Shen, what are you doing?" Although Shen Chongming had not finished writing his own advertisement, Tao Zhuangju had already seen the door from above. Originally, this business was not profitable, and if he gave away things, wouldn't he lose even more money? It seems that this young master is not only a blockhead but also a prodigal son.

  "Hehe, just post it and you'll understand later." Shen Chongming said with a smile as he put down his pen.

  Looking at him coming, Tao Zhuangui couldn't help but frown and raised his eyes to signal to the apprentice in front of him. "Young Master, shouldn't we discuss this with the master first?" Seeing Shen Chongming smiling at him, Tao Zhuangui's old face turned red, it seemed that his previous small action had been discovered by Young Master.

  "Then let's invite the master to come over," Tao Zhuanggui reminded. Shen Chongming's face was smiling, but his heart was already somewhat unhappy. Although Tao Zhuanggui's actions sounded cautious, they were actually sneaky and suspicious. Letting someone like him be in charge of the store was a mistake. A hundred-year-old shop had become like this, and it couldn't be helped that he had some fault in it.

  Shen Qing said as he picked up the slightly damp promotional poster and frowned, asking: "Guier, what are you doing? If someone really comes to buy rice, with your method, we won't make much money, will we?"

  "Haha, low profit and high sales volume, as long as there are many buyers, we can still make a profit." Shen Chongming said with a smile. Shen Qing furrowed her brow and muttered: "Low profit and high sales volume?"

  "Right, one stone of white rice costs five coins of silver. Our cost price is four coins of silver. After deducting labor and other expenses, we can make at least 50 cents per stone of rice. As for millet, the cost price is two coins of silver per stone, and 20 cents per peck. If we sell one stone of white rice with a free peck of millet, we can still make 30 cents. Suppose we used to sell ten stones of white rice every day, making five coins of silver. Now with this 'buy one get one free' promotion, we can sell at least twenty stones per day, which means we can make six coins of silver every day. This way, we won't lose any money!"

  "Hmm, well said." Shen Qing said with some excitement, his eyes filled with delight as he looked at Shen Chongming, this precious son finally able to share his father's worries.

  "Master, isn't this approach a bit unwise? What if not many people come to buy, and we end up worse off than before?" Tao Zhuang said anxiously. This young master was truly a spendthrift, while others were thinking of ways to increase their profits on each item, he actually voluntarily reduced the profit margin - it's really absurd.

  Shen Chongmeng looked at Tao Zhuangui with dissatisfaction, not even a glimmer of hope in his eyes. If this shop was handed over to him for management, how could it possibly make money? He must go back and tell the boss to replace him, so that he himself can take over and do better. At the very least, he would be able to double this month's sales!

  "Taoshu, don't worry about it, just do as the young master says. Hehe." Shen Qing saw that his son was getting more and more excited, as long as his son could learn something valuable, even if they made a little less money, it would be worth it!

  The master has spoken, and Tao Zhuang can't say anything more. After all, it's not his own thing, let him deal with it, as long as he pays the wages.