Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 335 - 334: A Major New Order

On the day Liu Bai and Liu Fei set off with the last thousand book boxes, Bai Shan personally drove a carriage to the stationery factory to pick up the stationery gift boxes he needed.

"Why are there only six hundred and twenty-five?"

Seeing the goods, Bai Shan’s face darkened, "I said in my letter, the more the better. Why did you only prepare this much for me?"

Qin Yao raised an eyebrow, pointing to the amount filling two carts, and retorted, "You think this is too little?"

Earlier, she had given him fifty pieces, and he thought that was too much.

"Oh come on!" Bai Shan was on the verge of tears, "Blame me, blame me. It’s all my fault for not making it clear to you. What I meant was, with this stationery gift box, we can go for a long-term supply now."

Qin Yao certainly understood his meaning, but since Bai Shan hadn’t come in person, she dared not set up a separate production line for him based only on the four words "the more the better" in his letter.

The two foxes exchanged a glance, and Bai Shan gave in, "Can we talk in private?"

Qin Yao immediately signaled Liu Qi to settle this payment, gesturing politely to Bai Shan, "Let’s discuss inside."

Bai Shan instructed his assistant, "Settle the payment with him," and followed Qin Yao into her small office.

The interior was simple, with two long tables; one belonged to Liu the carpenter, filled with woodworking tools and wood shavings on the floor.

The other was neat and organized, clearly belonging to Qin Yao.

Bai Shan clicked his tongue twice as he passed by Liu the carpenter’s messy desk and sat down on a chair on Qin Yao’s side.

Qin Yao asked if he wanted tea, and Bai Shan nodded affirmatively. Qin Yao then took the empty teapot, asking him to wait a moment while she personally went to the canteen to get water for tea.

"Sister-in-law, can you heat a pot of water for me?" Qin Yao naturally handed over the teapot.

The lunch had already been eaten. He and Mrs. Qiu, along with Hua’er, were cleaning the stove, preparing to finish work soon.

Fortunately, Qin Yao arrived just in time; otherwise, she would have had to restart the stove. It seemed that when winter came, she would need to prepare a small charcoal stove in her little room to keep some hot water ready to warm up.

He hesitantly came to take the teapot, and Qin Yao unintentionally looked up, suddenly freezing, "Sister-in-law?"

"...Yes," She responded hesitantly. Seeing Qin Yao’s shocked face, She shyly smiled, lifted her face, revealing rosy cheeks and ’fiery red lips,’ "Fourth brought this rouge. Do you think it looks good on me?"

Qin Yao swallowed hard and controlled her shocked expression, hesitantly looking at Mrs. Qiu, who was pretending to be busy behind her, "Why don’t you ask Second Sister-in-law if she thinks it looks good?"

Suddenly being called out, Mrs. Qiu turned back, confused, "Huh?" She asked expectantly, "Does it look good?"

"It looks good." Mrs. Qiu nodded with a soft smile, giving her affirmation. She had answered this question when leaving the house in the morning. No, it should be that she had answered this countless times today.

Because every worker who saw her today showed a look of shock.

Qin Yao almost failed to suppress her laughter but managed to hold it back. She said to him:

"Sister-in-law, I think city folks are into small cherry-like lips. Maybe you can try that next time. Of course, I’m not saying your current look isn’t good."

He suddenly realized, pressing the teapot lid heavily, and glared at Mrs. Qiu and Hua’er, somewhat annoyed,

"I knew it; none of you are telling the truth. I felt something was off when I left this morning. They don’t wear it like this in the city!"

Mrs. Qiu and Hua’er breathed a sigh of relief, patting their chests, relieved. They had been worried that she had realized they had deceived her into thinking she looked good.

He turned back, handed the hot tea to Qin Yao, and said with a smile, "I’ll try the cherry makeup you suggested next time."

Qin Yao nodded, "I’m sure it will look great."

He covered her mouth and laughed, feeling inexplicably coquettish after using rouge, unable to laugh heartily. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

As a newbie, it’s completely understandable to need more affirmation. Qin Yao thought to herself.

Returning to the small room, she poured a cup of hot tea for Bai Shan and sat down to wait for him to start discussing business.

The two were old acquaintances. Bai Shan cleared his throat, took out two contracts, and showed them to Qin Yao.

These were contracts he signed with the Pen Factory, showing only the central pages to Qin Yao, displaying the order amounts.

"Our Zijing Mansion is indeed great, with fine wool, which allows us to have such a large Pen Factory and secure so many orders," Bai Shan said happily.

Qin Yao looked at the contracts with [100,000 Stationery Gift Boxes] [50,000 Stationery Gift Boxes] printed and couldn’t help but smile.

"I won’t hide it from you; these figures can allow me to open two new production lines in the factory, enough to keep us busy for two years."

A single stationery gift box costs 8 coins, so fifteen 150,000 boxes amount to 1,200 taels of silver.

From the timber merchant, the larger the quantity of timber, the more cost-effective it becomes. With the number of Divine Power Book Boxes, the separate wood cost for stationery gift boxes can be reduced by 20%.

Conversely, labor costs take up 30%. After deducting other miscellaneous expenses and taxes, she and Liu the carpenter can still get nearly 40% profit.

Opening two new production lines means workers’ wages for two years are secure!

It can only be said that the news Bai Shan brought today came at the perfect time.

She was about to go to the Prefecture to settle the remaining balance with Fulong Trading Company, so cash flow was not an issue.

And if there are any new orders from the trading company, she could take the order to Manager Fang at the timber merchant and further reduce the material costs.

Qin Yao returned the contracts to Bai Shan and asked how much deposit he could give her.

"Ten percent; for any amount exceeding the ten percent deposit, I’ll settle the payment with each delivery," Bai Shan, a savvy businessperson, replied. Of course, the less the deposit, the better.

If there were none, even better!

"Dream on!" Qin Yao retorted directly, adjusting the terms, "Since you opened up the market for us, I’ll settle for 25%; no less."

Bai Shan clicked his tongue immediately, "Since you’ve put it that way, you should recognize my contributions. Without me, where would you get such a big order? Besides, your factory was already there; the Fulong Trading Company hasn’t come, so they don’t know your tricks."

"I’m different, I know the exact monthly production numbers at your factory, and the spare work hours and workers are definitely tasked with making stationery gift boxes. So don’t talk to me about new production lines; let’s compromise at fifteen percent."

Qin Yao rubbed her forehead, feeling troubled dealing with someone so sharp-eyed.

Giving up resistance, "I’ll be upfront with you, twenty percent; below that, I can’t do it!"

Bai Shan laughed; this was also his bottom line. The two old acquaintances played open cards but still needed some bargaining.

Qin Yao said, "Let’s sign the order today. Once I have the funds, I’ll head to the Prefecture the day after tomorrow to get the materials and start production for you immediately."

"That’s not good enough," Bai Shan pushed further, "Start production tomorrow. I can’t hear any activity in your factory, and there aren’t many workers around. Did you finish the previous order early and let them take a break?"

Qin Yao gritted her teeth, "I truly regret bringing you into the factory!"

Dealers are always demanding. Qin Yao sighed, sending someone to fetch Liu Ji to draft the contract.

It’s wise to use the available resources!