Apart from the joint promotion between the two stores, that night, after watching Su Xiaozhu's performance, Liu Yiyi stayed in the inn. She then came up with another idea for Li Wanming.
" Wanming, most of the customers in our silk store are ladies and young misses from official families. If you want to catch their attention, you can try to start with stories."
"Your haunted inn is interesting, but it may lack a good story."
"If you can add more love elements and make the stories more poignant and soul - stirring, it will surely make those ladies and young misses cry their eyes out!"
Since Liu Yiyi officially took over the Liu family's business, she seemed to have had a sudden epiphany. Her business ideas kept pouring out.
The idea she gave Li Wanming was extremely ingenious.
Although the ghost element was novel, it was also too terrifying. Many ladies and young misses dared not come. It could only attract some bold young masters who wanted to try something new.
As a result, Li Wanming had unknowingly lost half of her potential customers.
However, if she added love elements and created a few heart - rending and moving scripts, wouldn't she be able to draw back the female customers who didn't like the haunted inn?
"Great!"
Li Wanming said excitedly, "I'll go find Qinglan right away and ask her to urge those storytellers to write some more scripts!"
In the following half - month, relying on the champion's inscription, the elements of love and ghosts, the joint promotion with Liu's Silk Store, the blessing of the Goddess Chenghuang, and some gossips about the emperor and the eldest princess... Changxing Inn finally began to gain prominence in the capital.
Later, things got out of Li Wanming's control.
Changxing Inn became more and more popular. The accommodation fee in the backyard rose from ten taels of silver to fifteen taels, but it was still in short supply.
Finally, Li Wanming had no choice but to introduce a reservation system.
Even so, some people would come to queue up before dawn, and even a group of professional scalpers emerged...
Li Wanming finally let out a sigh of relief.
Now both stores were booming, and they already had the strength to compete with the Imperial College.
The only thing she had to worry about was the paper - crafting shop in the south of the city.
The business of the paper - crafting shop in the south of the city had remained the same for the past month.
Except for a fool who bought a paper boat on the opening day, there had been no customers at all...
Since Qingchuan couldn't help much there, she simply returned to the inn. She would only go to the paper - crafting shop every morning to check the accounts and then come to the inn to help.
However, there was nothing much to check in the accounts.
Because not a single item had been sold...
And Tian Erya was still stepping up production.
Qingchuan once asked Xiao Jingnan tactfully. Xiao Jingnan just told her to be patient and ordered Tian Erya to maintain the production level. He said that there would surely be a turn for the better.
In the blink of an eye, another month passed. The paper - crafting shop was still deserted.
No matter how calm Li Wanming was, she began to get anxious.
She had signed the contract with the Imperial College on April 20th. Now, most of the agreed time had passed. It was already late June, and there was only one month left. However, the paper - crafting shop was still making slow progress.
How could she not be anxious?
According to the contract, all three stores had to turn losses into profits. Only then could she be considered the winner.
As long as one store was still in the red, she would lose!
Judging from the current situation of the paper - crafting shop, it wasn't just a loss; it was a huge loss... a loss of 30,000 taels of silver!
Xiao Jingnan still looked unhurried. He was slowly fanning himself with a bamboo - ribbed folding fan and said, "My dear, don't be impatient..."
" How can I not be impatient?"
Li Wanming said anxiously, "There's a deficit of 30,000 taels in your paper - crafting shop. Even if we use all the profits from the inn and the pawnshop to fill it, we still can't make it up..."
After two months, the number of business deals was countable on one's fingers. There was only a meager income of a hundred or so taels in the accounts. How could she possibly beat Chen Jinde?
"My dear, relax." Xiao Jingnan said with a smile, "Maybe there will be a turn for the better soon?"
" No matter how it turns, it's impossible to turn things around in just one month..."
Xiao Jingnan said seriously, "Do you know who the customer who bought paper - crafts the day before yesterday was?"
Li Wanming was stunned. "Was there someone who bought paper - crafts the day before yesterday?"
Tian Erya nodded. "Yes, that person bought a stack of paper money, a string of gold ingot - shaped paper, a paper figure, and a paper horse. He also asked me if I could make a paper carriage and a paper house. I said I could, and I guaranteed that they would be made very well."
After Tian Erya finished speaking, she tilted her head and said, "That person was really strange. He only bought one of each item. He didn't seem to be just curious, but he also didn't seem to be buying for a funeral at home..."
If he was just curious, he wouldn't have bought so many items.
If it was for a funeral at home, he wouldn't have bought so few, and he definitely wouldn't have bought only one of each item.
Li Wanming frowned.
This kind of behavior seemed more like a purchaser from a wealthy family looking for a source of goods and specifically coming out to look at samples.
Moreover, it might not be an ordinary family.
— The purchaser couldn't make the decision. He had to buy the goods back for the master to see.
Xiao Jingnan's voice came slowly. "The mother of the Duke of Qing passed away ten years ago. This year is the tenth - year memorial ceremony."
"The Duke of Qing's father passed away early. It was his widowed mother who brought him up single - handedly. Therefore, he was extremely filial to his mother and was willing to spend any amount of money on her."
" You mean..." Li Wanming slowly turned her head. "That person might be a purchaser from the Duke of Qing's mansion?"
"Not might. It must be."
Xiao Jingnan walked over. "I opened this paper - crafting shop just waiting for them."
The smile on his lips gradually spread. "My dear, do you know that among the Five Great Clans and Seven Prominent Families, the first - ranked clan is the Langya Cheng Clan. Who is the second - ranked one?"
Li Wanming stared blankly at him and couldn't say a word.
Xiao Jingnan closed his folding fan, and his eyes sparkled. "It's the Duke of Qing, the Mu Clan of Yanshan."
The Mu Clan of Yanshan was most famous for its gold mines.
As early as in the previous dynasty, the Mu Clan had owned six gold mines. Half of the world's gold came from their mines.
However, since the mining industry was of great importance, after the founding of the Dacheng Dynasty, all mines were taken over by the imperial court. The Armament Department of the Ministry of War and the Mining Department of the Ministry of Revenue were set up to manage and exploit them.
However, because the Mu Clan's ancestors had made great contributions in helping the founding emperor, they were specially pardoned by the emperor's grace and allowed to keep one gold mine.
One gold mine was enough for the Mu Clan to be as rich as a nation.
The wealth of the Mu Clan even exceeded that of the Langya Cheng Clan.
For a family like this to hold a tenth - year memorial ceremony for the Grand Duchess...
"The Mu Clan doesn't lack money. The Duke has liked novelty since he was a child. When he buys things, he never looks at the price. He only cares about whether they are unique and special."
"Our paper - crafting shop made such a big splash before. It must have caught his attention long ago."
Xiao Jingnan said with a faint smile. "The anniversary of the Grand Duchess's death is on July 8th. Now, there are less than twenty days left."
Li Wanming swallowed hard. "T - twenty days... Will we be able to make it?"
The memorial ceremony held by the wealthiest family in the world would surely shake the capital.
Could their small paper - crafting shop handle this once - in - a - lifetime fortune?