NOVPUB
Chapter 604: 594
In the afternoon, several families went house hunting together. They bought an apartment of more than fifty square meters for Dashuan’s family. Although the house was quite old, it was close to a certain state-owned enterprise’s large factory and could be easily rented out with some renovation. Li Xianghe’s family also got an apartment of around the same size, which was considerably newer than Dashuan’s and was almost ready for move-in without much refurbishment. Of course, this house cost quite a bit more than the one for Dashuan’s family.
When choosing, Shen Yunfang’s main consideration was the location. All these properties were close to the second ring road, which would be very valuable in the future.
After showing them the way, Shen Yunfang and Ma Liguo stepped back, letting them deal with their own properties, while the two of them went home to do the accounting.
In the evening, everyone gathered again, and the focus of the day was on dividing the money.
Since Shen Yunfang was in charge of the books this year, she was also responsible for dividing the money.
"This year, roughly 90% of our goods were sold wholesale, so the profit is quite substantial. For the couplets, we each invested about twelve hundred, and in the end, we made a total of thirty-six thousand three hundred and fifty-six, including the initial investment. The change was given to Aunt Wang, so we’ll divide the round figures, nine thousand and seventy-five for each family," Yunfang finished speaking, Mu Huazhen distributed a cloth bag to each person, each containing their share of the pre-divided money.
"This, this is so much," Sister Li was a bit flabbergasted. Last year they only got a bit over four thousand, and now it had doubled, which was indeed frightening.
"Yeah, this year Brother Ma made early deals with suppliers and even signed a contract stipulating that these particular styles could only be sold to us. So, if anyone wanted to buy these couplets, they had to come to us. That’s why our goods sold so well and so fast this year. But I think it’s just this year, from next year on we probably won’t dominate the market anymore," Shen Yunfang explained.
In fact, she hadn’t expected the couplet business to remain so popular for three years; she thought it would only last the first year, with competitors emerging in the second year. Yet, they were allowed to keep at it without interference for three years.
After analyzing with Brother Ma, they concluded that no one had followed suit in the second year, probably afraid of potential changes or not daring to make a move. The third year was the same, with everyone still watching and no one imitating. Many didn’t dare to be the first to jump in. However, as the environment improved, there were already many inquiries about the business during their sales this year. Next year, they feared there might be a lot of copycats.
In summary, people were still quite naive and honest back then; in future generations, if you invent something new today, someone would knock it off tomorrow, giving you no room to breathe at all.
"What about next year?" Dashuan’s wife was anxious. Just as they were seeing good times, they were about to be overshadowed. Naturally, that would be concerning. Holding the bag of money, she never dared to dream that she, a rural woman, would become so wealthy so quickly, and now she even owned a house in the Capital, ready to register her residency there at any time.
"Next year...," Yunfang pondered for a moment, "I haven’t thought about it yet. I’m graduating this year, and since Li Hongjun is going to Z Province, I plan to follow him. So next year during the New Year, I might have to spend it in Z Province," which meant she wouldn’t be around to continue the business in the Capital. Although she couldn’t, Ma Liguo still could; they were both experienced with these dealings. Next year might not be as profitable as this one, but while they might not make a fortune, they would still earn some.
"But if you leave, what will happen to the business here? Are we just supposed to throw it away?" Li Xianglian was also worried. To give up such a profitable business seemed wasteful.
"How could we?" Yunfang said. "Even if I’m not here, don’t we still have Brother Ma and his wife? Next year, just let Brother Ma lead you as before," reminding them not to forget about Brother Ma.
Sister Li and Dashuan’s wife looked a bit embarrassed, they truly had forgotten about this living, breathing person.
Ma Liguo didn’t mind and chuckled, "It’s okay. You see, I’m good at running errands, but I’m really not up to selling goods. However, if you want to partner up again next year, I’ll help open doors. We can all invest as in previous years and share the profits at the end." He just wanted to give them a heads-up. If they were interested in cooperating, they could continue to do so. If they didn’t trust him, it wasn’t a problem—they simply wouldn’t participate.
At that moment, the men from the two families spoke up, "These matters are still far off. We haven’t even warmed up the money we received this year. We’ll talk about next year’s business when it comes." They were still self-aware; after all, Ma Liguo didn’t remember who they were. The reason he helped them make money was out of respect for Hongjun and Yunfang. Now that Hongjun and Yunfang had withdrawn, it would be impolite to keep taking advantage of Ma Liguo without appreciation.
"Alright, we are not just any relation after years of cooperation. If there’s anything in the future, just speak up," Ma Liguo understood their meaning and spoke the obligatory polite words with a friendly smile.
After dividing the money in the quadrangle courtyard, Shen Yunfang took Ma Liguo’s family back upstairs, where both families continued to divide the money.
This time they were dividing the money from selling fireworks and seafood.
The fireworks had sold for a total of one hundred and thirteen thousand and nine hundred some yuan. Shen Yunfang rounded it up to one hundred and fourteen thousand, and the two families split it, receiving fifty-seven thousand each. The biggest sum came from the four cars of seafood, which made a total of two hundred and thirty-eight thousand yuan, not counting the small change. Each family took one hundred and nineteen thousand yuan.
All told, each family’s share amounted to one hundred and seventy-six thousand yuan.
As they stared at the passbook Shen Yunfang tossed over, Ma Liguo and his wife were stunned. They knew they had made a profit, and quite a significant one, but they hadn’t expected it to be this much. After deducting the gratuities and other expenses, they had made a hundred and thirty thousand yuan just this year.
Shen Yunfang had invested a bit more than they had, but she had also made around a hundred and ten thousand yuan.
"Actually, if it were a normal sale, we couldn’t have made this much. We just got lucky. The units that came to buy the goods had high requirements. We set up our own boxes and once we packed the prawns and hairtails, the price doubled," Shen Yunfang shared the secret of their high sales. They could refer to this when they start doing business on their own in the future.
"Ah, I was wondering why you were so anxious to have Old Ma find boxes. I thought to myself, why make such a fuss over selling something? So, that was the reason," Mu Huazhen said, her eyes widening as she suddenly understood.
At the time, she had also been packing boxes late into the night with everyone else, thinking it was a special request from the buyers. It turned out it was to sell at a higher price.
"Heh, if it wasn’t for the money, who would bother with such a troublesome task?" Ma Liguo was aware of this. Yunfang had discussed it with him before, but he hadn’t told his wife. "Let’s not talk about that now. Yunfang, are you really going to follow Hongjun after you graduate? I heard it’s quite remote over there, nothing like living here in the Capital." It’s easy to go from humble beginnings to luxury, but hard to adapt going the other way around. After living so many years in a big city like the Capital, how could one suddenly adapt to life in the mountains?
Shen Yunfang smiled, "No matter how remote, I have to go. We can’t keep living apart as a family, it’s not good for the children or the adults."
