When Shen Luzhu first proposed to make grain basins and paper products, Uncle Chu didn't agree so much. The grain basins they used for funerals were all prepared by the family themselves. They used a few wooden sticks and a few pieces of white paper, and made them by themselves. How can anyone spend money to buy something that can be made? Losing money is secondary. After all, making a few grain basins does not require a few copper coins. I am afraid that the young couple will be too busy working and end up with nothing. It's all in vain.
Chu Yi thought it was nothing. How could he know it wouldn't work if he didn't give it a try? Especially after seeing Shen Luzhu's enthusiastic look, he couldn't say anything unsupportive.
Shen Luzhu could naturally see Uncle Chu's hesitation and worry. Although she knew the beauty of paper-bound products, she was unable to explain it to everyone, so she could only promise: "Don't worry, Third Uncle, let's try it first. If it doesn’t work well, I won’t bother with it anymore.”
It would not be difficult to simply make an ordinary grain basin. Let alone Chu Sanshu and Chu Yi, even Chu Li and Chu Xiuxiu could make it smoothly after taking a look at it. However, the young couple now wants to make it. To sell it as a commodity, it naturally needs to be more refined and beautiful.
Different from the previous two times, the production of paper-tie products, whether it is the selection of raw materials or the steps and methods of production, has been based on the workshop assembly line processing method from the beginning. They thought if they could really make this paper-tie product at home, If it is promoted in the county town, it will definitely be processed in the workshop in the future. If you think a little more now, you will save trouble in the future. Even if it fails, you will not lose anything.
In addition to the paper and a little paint, the most important raw material for making paper products is the skeleton of the paper products. In fact, the most suitable material for the skeleton is bamboo, which is very suitable in terms of weight and toughness. The demand for paper binding frame.
Unfortunately, not to mention Xing'an County itself, there is no bamboo growing in the entire north of Daqian. After experimenting with several types of wood and branches, Shen Luzhu finally decided to use willow branches and corn stalks to make paper products. skeleton.
Willow branches have very good toughness and will not be easily broken even after drying in the shade. The parts that need to be bent and curved are used as skeletons. The dried straw is not only very light, but also very flammable. Using it as the main skeleton, even a large paper object can easily follow the funeral procession. In the absence of bamboo, the desired effect can be achieved by combining the two.
To make the paper for paper binding, Shen Luzhu directly chose Lin Kee's oil paper and crepe paper. Considering that the production process requires repeated folding and the use of water-containing materials such as paste, the toughness and waterproofness of oil paper are very important. The key is to use crepe paper for decoration where it needs to be colored and fluffy.
After deciding on the materials, they tried to make the thing perfect bit by bit, determining the size and shape, binding the frame and pasting the outer layer of paper, and finally coloring and drying it. In time for the Winter Clothes Festival, the couple finally made it. I got a few satisfied grain basins.
Although Third Uncle Chu had been paying attention to the couple's progress and knew that with such meticulous craftsmanship, the finished product would be much better than what he made at home, but when he actually saw the grain basin made by the couple, he still couldn't bear it. Live in amazement.
In order to be better accepted by others, the couple retained the size and basic shape of the original grain basin, but made great improvements in appearance. The original grain basin was just made of white paper to make a rough appearance. However, the young couple made the porcelain basin and grains even more lifelike. Not only did they paint some colors, but even the graininess of the grains was imitated by nearly 50%. From a distance, they looked just like the real ones.
"It's so similar! If you can make a grain basin like this, I'm afraid there won't be anyone else except you. This thing will definitely sell well. I'll make it now, but I plan to make it during the Winter Clothes Festival." Start selling?”
Shen Luzhu was very happy that his craftsmanship was approved by Third Uncle Chu: "Uncle Third said it would be easy to sell, so it must be good! But I'm not in a hurry right now. I want to make a few more things and put them in the shop together. With this grain basin to follow, other paper bundles can be more easily understood and accepted."
Uncle Chu thought about the scene for a while, nodded in agreement and said, "When the time comes, we will put more paper bundles in the shop, and the scene will definitely attract a lot of neighbors."
The Chu family learned the word "zhi tie" from Shen Luzhu's mouth. Of course, as always, it was from books. At that time, Uncle Chu also praised that he didn't know who came up with this name. It was really appropriate. .
In late September, the Winter Clothes Festival has not yet arrived, but Chu Ji's funeral on Changqing Street has ushered in the peak season. Every paper money shop in the county wants to take advantage of the Winter Clothes Festival to make a profit from him. Nowadays, it is very popular in the county. The popular copper coin burning paper, of course, cannot be ignored. The retail investors who come to buy goods and paper ingots actually make the shop have a lively atmosphere like when it was still in the village.
Thanks to these paper money shops, burning paper with copper coins has become more popular in the county. Not only that, Chu Ji’s funeral has also become more famous in the county. The young couple even made a lot of money through this Winter Clothes Festival. Pen.
Business in the shops in the county town was good, and the workshop at the Chu family's old house in the backing village was even more busy. Villagers saw Jiang Quan coming in and out all day long, either driving bullock carts to the town to buy raw materials, or driving a fleet of vehicles to the county town. After delivering the goods, just looking at the situation, I knew that the Chu family had completely established a foothold in the county. Not to mention, the business was still booming!
Someone in the village has become prosperous, even if it has nothing to do with his own family, but when everyone talks about it after dinner, they are still happy, and the Chu family feels proud when talking about it.
If I have to say that mentioning this matter is a bit unpleasant, it is those families who have had bad relations with the Chu family before, and among them, Grandpa Chu's family is the most uncomfortable.
Every time Grandpa Chu wanders around the village, he can hear comments about how well his third son and second grandson are doing now. People are always like this. In the past, when others were only slightly better than him, he would always be jealous. He secretly cursed God for not having the foresight to let others go so far away.
But now there is no comparison between the two families. On the contrary, Mr. Chu no longer felt the same hatred as before. Looking at Chu Ren who was once again failed at home and the strange atmosphere at home, he suddenly felt a trace of doubt. At the beginning, he He and his wife were worried that they were in the wrong team. If they had followed Chu Yi all the time, they might have gone to the county town to enjoy their happiness.
The business of Chu Ji's funeral business was booming, which naturally attracted the attention of his colleagues. In early November, when the couple continued to study paper-tying, imitations of copper coins and burned paper suddenly appeared in the county. The paper money shop was called Yang Ji. They also started wholesale of copper coins and burning paper. Not only that the burning paper was exactly the same, but even the wholesale price to other merchants was set based on the price of the young couple, which was higher than the Chu family's price. The Chu family sold it for twenty-five cents, so they decided to sell it. Twenty-three cents per knife.
The Yang family's paper money shop is relatively large in the county. In addition to the paper money shop, it also sells incense, candles and tombstones. It has its own workshop. However, in addition to the sale of tombstones, the main business of incense candles and paper money is wholesale.
When the Chu family's shop first opened, it actually didn't attract the attention of the Yang family. The county is so big and there are a lot of people doing business. Today a new paper money shop has opened, and tomorrow two more paper money shops have closed. For people like the Yang family, For a large shop that specializes in wholesale, this is a common and trivial matter.
I noticed that it was still around the end of September for the Chu family, and most of the shops in the county bought copper-coin burnt paper for sale. The better the sales of copper-coin burnt paper, the more affected the yellow-burnt paper operated by the Yang family was. The wholesale volume was decreasing for one month in a row. I also heard from a servant at home that it was the newly opened Chu Ji Funeral on Changqing Street, and even the people queuing up to purchase goods. How could the old man of the Yang family sit still, so he hurriedly sent his eldest son out to find out what was going on.
The eldest son of the Yang family, Yang Fangwen, had only been out for half an hour before he returned to his main room with a solemn look: "Dad, I went to take a look. Although what the servant said is a bit exaggerated, the business of the Chu family is indeed very good. This is not bad." It's not the Winter Clothes Festival, but there are more people in the shop than any paper money business, and my son also saw a lot of familiar faces, all of whom are shop owners who have been buying goods from our house before."
When the old man of the Yang family was young, he and his brothers started a family business together. However, when life became prosperous, the brothers separated and started fighting for their own interests. In the end, they had no choice but to break up the gang. After the old man Yang got the money, he started a new business. It is now nearly seventy years since I opened this paper money shop. Although I am a little overwhelmed, I am still unwilling to let go and leave the shop to my three sons.
"Where does this Chu Ji come from? His paper money is cheaper than ours?"
The second eldest child, Yang Fangwu, has always been more thoughtful. When he learned that the old man had asked the eldest brother to find out the news, he took action first. In order to express himself, he directly took the lead from Yang Fangwen and said directly: "Dad, I have noticed this Chu Ji before. He moved here from a village in Changshui Town. His paper money is a bit special. It is different from the ones we have seen. It is also more expensive to sell. I heard that it is expensive to purchase. It costs twenty-five cents a knife.”
"Twenty-five cents per knife? Why is buying paper more expensive than selling yellow burnt paper in bulk? Will anyone really buy it?"
Yang Fangwu continued: "It's called burning paper with copper coins."
Mr. Yang nodded, and then said angrily to his eldest son: "Boss, what have you done every day? The second brother has noticed it for a long time. How about you? With people like you, how can I trust you to hand over the shop to you!"
The boss, Yang Wenwu, quietly glared at the second child beside him, thinking that he should pay attention to this obvious thing in advance, maybe he just went out to inquire about it, and he was very knowledgeable, but he didn't dare to say it. Complaining at all, he could only bow his head and admit his mistake: "Son, pay more attention in the future. If I could have known earlier, I would have discussed it with my father immediately, and we wouldn't be like this now. By the way, his family actually has another one called It’s paper ingots, but this one is only sold to retail investors, and my son even bought some back, would dad like to take a look?”
Yang Fangwen's words immediately made Yang Fangwen change his face. Didn't this mean that he deliberately concealed it and refused to report it? He raised his head and looked at Mr. Yang who was staring at him. He was angry in his heart, but he didn't dare to make a mistake.
The youngest son, Yang Fangsheng, was nestled in a chair, watching the two elder brothers' battle with pleasure.
The old man of the Yang family took a look at the two types of paper money handed over by his eldest son. They were indeed very different: "How well do these two sell?"
"It's good."
"Let's talk about it, what should we do?"
Yang Fangwen didn't want to be taken advantage of by his second son again, so he hurriedly said: "I heard that their family didn't sell to the paper ingot from another shop because the workshop didn't have enough manpower and scale. Why don't my son go talk to Chu Ji's boss? Let’s take over the processing of this paper ingot, and we can cooperate with each other, or we can just buy the recipe from him. It looks like the son of this paper ingot will make more money than that copper coin burning paper.”
