Chapter 36: Focus on the Issue, Not the Person

Thank you to coco2011 and Ye Xue Chuji 0407 for their peace charm rewards. Much love to both of you.

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Once Fang Pingying stepped out, Luo Cuilan came over to Fang Xiu's side. She glanced outside the courtyard before whispering to Fang Xiu, "Don't be so anxious. Even if you want to talk about money, wait until she's made some before bringing it up. Right now, she's fronting the costs herself. It'd be strange if she'd listen to you."

"That makes sense. Let's wait a bit, and after she's made some money, then we talk to her about splitting the profits," Fang Xiu also found Luo Cuilan's words reasonable, "It wouldn't be fair if she uses everything from the family, and then doesn't share the earnings with us after making money."

"Exactly, we'll talk about it after some time," Luo Cuilan added in a low voice, a calculating smile appearing on her face.

When Fang Pingying got to the courtyard, Luo Zhiyong was there, as were Luo Dashan, Zhou Yunmei, and Luo Zhiming. After some thought, Fang Pingying didn't specifically call Luo Zhiyong inside the house. Instead, she asked him openly in the courtyard, "Zhiyong, how do you think we should price our hawthorn jam to sell well?"

Having never done business, and not knowing much about this sort of thing, Luo Zhiyong asked Fang Pingying, "What's your plan? How much do you plan to sell a jar for?"

Fang Pingying roughly compared current prices and said, "I thought about it. Those syrupy canned fruits sell for more than two yuan per bottle, and making our hawthorn jam definitely takes more effort than those canned fruits. So, we should price ours the same as the syrupy cans, or maybe a bit higher."

As soon as Fang Pingying finished speaking, Zhou Yunmei, sitting in the courtyard, snorted disdainfully and said to Fang Pingying, "Listen to you, talking as if everyone can afford canned fruits. Didn't you think about it? In the entire supply and sales cooperative, how many cans are sold during market days? And you selling this, at best you'll just be setting up a stall by the roadside with no brand. Who would spend so much to buy it?"

Although Zhou Yunmei's words were usually unreliable, what she said this time made some sense, and Fang Pingying agreed with her.

If this product were taken to a bigger place, marking up the price wouldn't be a big deal, as different places have different consumer attitudes.

In our small town, if the price is too high, it probably won't sell well. If it were to sell for the same price as the syrupy canned fruits, it might not even sell a single bottle in a day.

However, if the price is too low, Fang Pingying had her own worries.

She frowned and looked at her family members, "So, what should we do? If we sell it too cheap, this batch might be profitable for us since I picked the hawthorns myself near the village entrance, which barely costs anything."

"But what if there are no more hawthorns in the village later, and we need to start buying materials for other things? That will definitely cost more, and if we suddenly raise the price later, it could damage our brand's reputation."

"You really think far ahead, actually believing we can keep doing this, and thinking so long-term. It would be good if you could earn back what you spent on making these few jars," Zhou Yunmei inwardly thought Fang Pingying, who hadn't been to school for long or seen much of the world, wouldn't be able to achieve anything significant.

Thinking that she would at most earn some pocket money for herself, she was not optimistic and held no expectations for Fang Pingying's business venture.

Following Zhou Yunmei's comments, Luo Zhiyong's brow slightly furrowed. Just as he was about to speak up, Luo Zhiming spoke before him.

He glanced at Zhou Yunmei and said softly, "Mom, stop talking so much—sister-in-law finally managed to make all this. Why say such unpleasant things?"

Zhou Yunmei pursed her lips discontentedly, "It's not that I'm speaking unpleasantly, but the stuff she makes is just not good. That hawthorn cake might sell a bit better, but I think this hawthorn jam will be hard to sell. Just sell it cheap if you can, making a little is still making money, better than taking a loss..."

Seeing Zhou Yunmei prattling on, relentlessly badmouthing Fang Pingying's products, and noticing the increasingly sour expressions on Luo Zhiyong and Fang Pingying's faces, Luo Dashan quickly stood up to stop her, "Okay, okay, you're right. Go help Cuilan and the others cook. Let Zhiyong make the decisions about this."

After saying this, Luo Dashan immediately shooed Zhou Yunmei away.

In the courtyard, Luo Zhiming suddenly leaned in close to Luo Zhiyong and Fang Pingying, "Big brother, I might be able to help with this. I have quite a few buddies in town, all from well-off families. Maybe I'll talk to them, and who knows, they might buy everything in one go."

"How about this, Zhiming, let me think about it first. If I need help, I'll come to you." To be honest, Fang Pingying did not trust those buddies Luo Zhiming mentioned. She smiled and tactfully declined, "Plus, this is the first time we're selling this, those are your friends. If the price is set too high or too low, it wouldn't be good, let's stabilize the price first, then I'll ask for your friends' help."

Luo Zhiming was fairly open-minded. He shrugged, showing an indifferent attitude, "That works too. If you need my help, just come to me. I guarantee I know plenty of ways to sell things."

After Luo Zhiming left, Fang Pingying and Luo Zhiyong continued to discuss their business plans.

Fang Pingying said, "I think what mom said earlier makes sense, if this hawthorn jam is priced too high, it might be hard to sell."

Luo Zhiyong looked at Fang Pingying in astonishment, raising his eyebrows in disbelief, "You actually think mom's words make sense?"

Fang Pingying glanced at him sideways, "Did you really think I'm the type of person who doesn't judge things on their merits? I'll listen if anyone makes sense. Plus, when doing business, it's definitely beneficial to listen to more advice."

Luo Zhiyong had to reevaluate his young wife once again; such awareness didn't seem to be something a village girl should have.

Most village girls in Luojia Village didn't have much education, and most simply carried on the lifestyle and mindset of the previous generation. Not many could express such sentiments.

In fact, not just among the girls from Luojia Village, but even among the more educated ones, there are many who don't judge things on their merits, yet his little wife was not just all talk, she could actually do it.

Zhou Yunmei had looked down on the business she valued so much, yet Fang Pingying was able to consider Zhou Yunmei's suggestions; indeed, it was a rarity.

He now even started to doubt whether this wife of his was really the Fang Pingying who had been raised by the Fang Family from a young age, disliked studying, only went to school for one year, and never left Luojia Village in her life.

Seeing Luo Zhiyong silent, Fang Pingying didn't press him and instead continued with her plan, "How about we try selling at this price first, if people really find it too expensive and no one buys, then we can think of other methods."

"That works too." Luo Zhiyong agreed, then as if remembering something, he pulled Fang Pingying and said, "Right, I've been thinking about that hawthorn cake in the jar, a whole jar is too much. You should just take the cake out of the jar, wrap it in waxed paper, weigh as much as the customer wants, and not sell it by the jarful. A whole jar is too much and naturally, the price is also high, not many people will be willing to spend the money."

Fang Pingying felt this was a good idea and with a slight thought, followed suit, pointing at the jar of jam, "Actually, we could also sell the jam in small bottles, like one yuan per bottle. That might attract more buyers."

"We'll see how it goes, if the customers try it and only find it expensive, we can come back and discuss it again." Luo Zhiyong thought this approach wasn't bad either.