Preparing for a New Business

Mu Yuchen let go of Liu Xiaolan and sighed.

Each day she keeps calling him a little fool, yet she often makes small mistakes and forgets about obvious things. Who's really foolish here?

Well, if Liu Xiaolan could her his thoughts, she would probably rebuke him heavily. After all, she's still confused, alright?

Like let's not say selling mushrooms, but who in the modern times would think of picking chestnuts and selling them once they need to earn some money? Even if she herself already thought about doing it when she passed by them, it's really not her fault that they don't show up in her mind first when it comes to earning money.

But her little fool's reminder was really timely. As far as she noticed during her visits to the city, chestnuts are a pretty cheap and unpopular thing here as well. But every time she saw people selling them, it would either be sold raw or just boiled a little.

Most people wouldn't care to take off the shell at all, and even if they did who would like to chew on a bland chestnut? Why not season it or cook in a different way?

It might not be possible to become super rich in a short time while selling chestnuts, but it's possible to earn some money as long as they position themselves properly. The only thing that worries her is that some people might see the way she prepares them and imitate her, but that's something she will need to take care later on…

"It's too late to go to the city today anymore... " Liu Xiaolan sighed. Seems like she needs to wait another day before she can bring back some pans and cooking utensils needed for her business.

"Little fool, we are going to need a lot of chestnuts. Can you take the empty sacks with you and go pick them up on the mountain?" She asked him softly.

Mu Yuchen immediately picked up the needed things and started moving towards the mountains. "Lady doesn't need to worry, I'll quickly come back with sacks full of chestnuts!"

Liu Xiaolan sat down on the ground and begun thinking of everything she needs to do before they can start selling.

The most important thing is to know who to sell. Even if she tried her best, it's not like she can get nobles to buy chestnuts from her… Logically speaking, her biggest customer group should be simple citizens having a little money on their hands.

If so, then selling on the market would be great, but that's another place where she would need to spend money on… One can't just go in and sell, you would need to pay a registration fee for a place on the market, and that's only if there are still free spots.

Even if she could grit her teeth and get the money out, it's almost certain that she wouldn't get a place anyway. Since that won't work, then perhaps a roadside stall would be good?

From what she understood and saw so far, as long as you're not bothering the owner of the shop near which you're setting your stall on and he agrees to let you be there, you're going to be fine.

Liu Xiaolan was slowly deciding on all the details concerning her new business, some of them being the place to sell, how to cook the product and what seasoning to use so it's cost effective, in which way to sell at all.

After all, for modern people it seems to be a stupid question, but it took Liu Xiaolan quite some time to figure out what she should use as a container for her cooked chestnuts so she can sell them.

It's not like people are going to go home while holding them in their hands, right? Nobody would want to buy them from her if she did this.

Other chestnuts sellers that sell raw product or barely cooked ones mostly put them in sacks and sell to some households in big numbers, but her target customers are people walking past. They won't buy too much from her, and using sacks to hold a small amount wasn't good either.

After thinking of it for a long time, the only way she thought of was making small wooden buckets or straw baskets. Either way, they aren't too pricey and they can be made in smaller sizes.

While Liu Xiaolan was thinking inside their home, Mu Yuchen was walking up the mountain towards chestnuts trees. Suddenly he heard some footsteps coming towards his direction and the voices of people from the Liu family.

'Should I ignore them?' He thought for a moment and decided to avoid them for now. It wouldn't be good if they bothered him right now, he didn't want to bring any trouble towards his lady…

"Sister, quickly pick them up. It's all money lying on the ground and waiting for us to take away…" Liu Peng said with greed, and soon his father walking behind him voiced his agreement.

Liu Xueyue felt a little bitter but had no choice but to obediently squat down and pick the nearby mushrooms. Her brother and father both got hooked on the idea of earning money quickly and couldn't wait to sell mushrooms, but neither of them wanted to move their own hands and pick them up.

Although Liu Peng usually treats her pretty well, Liu Xueyue still looked a little unhappy right now. Knowing their family, even if she and her mother do all the work right now, they probably won't even get some copper coins for it.

Liu Xueyue couldn't help but imagine how good it would be if Liu Xiaolan was still in the family. She and her mother could still live their lives pleasantly, without the need to worry about doing any work…

Shen Meijing walked past her husband and came towards her daughter, trying to comfort her quietly. She's not happy right now either, but what can she do? It's not like she can just go against her husband wishes, wouldn't Grandma Liu kick her out as well?