Transmigrated Farmgirl's Scheme to Get Rich - Chapter 193
Humanity’s Flames
Since ZHong Cheng had returned, and the courtyard wall had been repaired, Mo Yan didn’t need to stay here any longer, and would return to Qianshui Town the next day. Mo Ling let her take the carriage back.
Before she left, Mo Yan reminded Mo Ling that she definitely had to see a physician, and Zhong Cheng asked in shock, “Ling’er, you’re ill? Where do you feel unwell?” When Mo Ling lowered her head in embarrassment, Zhong Cheng was even more anxious, “You need to tell me! If you’re ill, you have to get it checked up on as soon as possible, and you definitely can’t delay in doing so.”
Mo Yan said, “Sister-in-law, don’t worry, she isn’t ill, but we think you’re going to become a father soon.”
As soon as he heard that Mo Ling might be pregnant, Zhong Cheng was overjoyed beyond words, and immediately dragged Mo Ling to find the village’s physician.
After telling them to send her a letter after receiving any news, Mo Yan drove back to Qianshui Town on the carriage.
The operations of the workshop has returned to normal, and Ms. Hua’s courtyard had been built, so Ms. Hua cleaned up the room she had previously been livin in and moved over.
After posting the notices that they were looking for vendors for their storefront, people were already starting to ask for details.
The storefront by the official road was very large, but they were worried that it wouldn’t be able to be rented out. Fortunately, they had left two extra doors on the storefront, so it could be used for a large shop or three small ones.
The original storefront Mo Yan and Mo Ling had sold food from had become multiple small storefronts. To catch the eye of passersby, Mo Yan decided to put a plaque on the official road leading to them, but hadn’t decided what to write on it yet.
Days spent without Lu Junming seemed almost like normal, but Mo Yan thought that even the sunlight was dimmer without him.
These few days, the commercial firm had imported a new batch of goods. Mo Yan was directing the employees to place the goods when Mo Zenian suddenly came over. Although she was still unwilling to call him ‘Father’, in front of the employees, she still had to give him face. Mo Yan greeted him and asked, “Do you need me for something?”
Mo Zenian said with a faint smile on his face, “I heard that you have storefronts for sale, and I also want to rent one of them. It’ll be fine to charge me the same price as everyone else.”
Hearing him say this, Mo Yan didn’t have any words of rebuttal and could only lead him to take a look at the storefronts. However, she gave herself some ground to defend herself with, “These storefronts are ultimately my godmother’s, and we’re just helping her out.”
It went without question he was unable to afford to rent the large storefront along the main road, so Mo Yan took him to the small storefronts in the alleyway.
The small storefronts in the alleyway all looked the same, and lined up one after another. There was only a thin wall separating each storefront, and the front of each of them were all wide open. It looked similar to a souvenir street in a tourist area.
Mo Zenian said, “These storefronts are in the alleyway, they can’t even be viewed from the main road! How can they be called storefront?”
“Don’t worry. There are a multitude of products within the commercial firm, and naturally not all of them are displayed at the very front of the firm, however, all of the products still sell. When these storefronts are grouped together, they can even help each other attract business. Business won’t be any worse than if you had a storefront on the main road, and the rent is far cheaper, so it’s excellent for running small businesses with low start-up capital.”
“Then I’ll have the first storefront, the one closest to the main road.”
“Alright, if that’s decided then you should go and sign a contract with godmother! 25 percent of the rent should be paid upfront, and there’s a discount if you pay annually.”
“This storefront needs to be refurbished, and it takes time to import goods…”
He was negotiating prices in a very standard manner, and Mo Yan didn’t feel uncomfortable with it, “You can begin to pay rent a few days later.”
They had just exited the alleyway when they saw Zhong Cheng driving his carriage over, “Yan’er, father-in-law.”
Seeing his face full of joy, it was clear he had good news to share. As expected, Zhong Cheng jumped off the carriage and said, “Ling’er is pregnant!”
Mo Zenian nodded in congratulations, while Mo Yan said, “Take whatever sis wants to eat and use from the commercial firm, and put it on my tab.”
They were still speaking when Mr. and Mrs. Zhen went over with Mo Zheng. When he saw Mo Zenian, he immediately ran over and called him daddy, grabbing his arm. Mo Zheng still didn’t know about what had transpired between his mother, Mo Zenian and his biological father.
Mo Zenian pulled Mo Zheng’s small hand off him, “Go away, who are you calling your father? Stop calling random people that.”
Being reprimanded out of nowhere, Mo Zheng pouted and was about to cry when Mo Yan sent him back to Mrs. Zheng’s side, “Zheng’er, be obedient. You’ll be living with Auntie Zhen from now on.”
The Zhen couple had also come to look at the storefronts, but they were instead attracted to the innermost stall. Mr. Zhen said that their business dealt with a lot of smoke and fire, and it might not be safe if it was on the outside due to a large number of passersby.
Mr. Zhen’s phrase ‘smoke and fire’ reminded Mo Yan of something, “The businesses within this alleyway are all the smokes and fires of humanity, let’s call this alley Humanity’s Flames.” [1]
This time, Mo Yan asked Chi Jie to write on the plaque. He had a foundation in design, and used exquisite calligraphy to write the words ‘Humanity’s Flames’ on the plaque, adding imagery of steam and flames on each word.
The plaque was made to the same width as the alleyway, but to install it would require putting it against the outer wall of the neighbouring grain shop, so they would need to ask the owner for permission.
Mo Yan went to ask Manager Ho of the neighbouring grain shop, but was rejected almost as soon as she owned her mouth.
He said unhappily, “This was originally a peaceful alleyway. I’d be willing to tolerate you building storefronts and causing a ruckus, but now you even want to have a plaque. I run a grain shop, not a storefront which sells toys and snacks. I refuse!”
His reaction was within Mo Yan’s expectations, so she didn’t get mad and instead slowly said, “Manager Ho, your grain shop sells the five major grains and miscellaneous rations, it’s an integral part of humanity’s smoke and fires.” [2]
Manager Ho waved his hand impatiently, “I’ve run my grain shop here for many years and know all of the people nearby and far away. I’m not related to humanity’s smoke and fires.”
Mo Yan smiled slightly, “Manager Ho, you might be mistaken. Although you’ve run your shop here for many years, business hasn’t increased much since your start, and you’ve just been treading water all this time.”
Manager Ho casually said, “What, will my business improve if I let you build a plaque here?”
“Of course it won’t improve just by installing a plaque, but Manager Ho, why don’t you change up your business like what we are doing? The entire back half of your storefront is still empty.”
“That’s my grain repository. I run a grain shop, how can I not store grain? And a grain repository is most afraid of smoke and fire.”
“However, if you have your grain repository at the back of your store, customers won’t be able to try it, so can only buy the grain and try it at home. Therefore, new customers definitely won’t buy a lot of it. If they live far away, as it will take some effort to return home with the grain, they might consider it too much of a hassle and won’t buy your grain.”
“Your words aren’t irrational, but all grain shops run like this. Do you want me to cook all of my grain so customers can try it?”
“Why not? Your grain can not only alleviate hunger, but can also be made into countless delicacies. You could hire some chefs to run their own shops, but they had to use grain from your shop.”
Manager Ho thought for a while, “Can that really work?”
“Of course!”
Hearing his tone, he had changed his mind. After all, which businessman wouldn’t want to expand their business?
The most important concept in business is mutual benefit. If your neighbours have better business, not only will it increase your business by proxy, you may even get new business opportunities.
When Mo Yan returned to the workshop, she saw Zhao’er walk over here, “Zhao’er, why have you suddenly come back?”
Zhao’er wiped off the sweat on his brow, “I’ve come back to see my mum.”
“Your mum’s already moved back to her own courtyard.”
“Sis, brother Cao Zhang is ill, he’s severely ill.”
Mo Yan was shaken, “His father is a physician.”
“Master said his illness is incurable.”
Mo Yan wanted to leave when Zhao’er said, “Yan’er, you go and see him.”
P.S. I officially hate November. So much. Additionally, if you’re reading this chapter again, I changed the last chapter to make it less disjointed with the following one.
[1] Humanity’s smoke and fires is basically just ‘mundane and pedestrian things’. It’s commonly used as part of a phrase to mock pompous people who believe they are above most humans.
[2] The five major grains aren’t actually five types of grains, and the term is usually used in modern times to refer to all types of grains. Historical accounts of the five major grains vary.