Chapter 106: Improvement
Yang Pei Min’s days became filled with purpose, as she spent her time preparing medicine pouches for her in-laws before and after work, and reviewing her lessons in the evening.
Gong Cheng Lan came to her, declaring that the market had indeed been opened by her. After several sporadic days, she notified her to increase production once again.
Pan Shui Qin also came over to help, as she had been aware of the situation the whole time. At Yang Pei Min’s request, she took charge of gathering and transporting the raw materials and got involved as well.
Her enthusiasm and level of involvement exceeded even that of Yang Pei Min, and she even went out of her way to get her relatives to keep an eye out for materials like honey and beeswax. She would often come over to Yang Pei Min’s house to urge her to hurry up and produce the finished products.
Yang Pei Min had been following the same materials and procedures as before, but Pan Shui Qin pulled her aside and said, "Minmin, I was thinking, could we perhaps introduce two more colors for the lipstick? I think carrots and red plums could be worth a try. Can we experiment with those?"
Yang Pei Min looked at her admiringly, impressed by her ability to apply a principle in a broader context.
So, with her supervision, Yang Pei Min couldn’t afford to slack off. Gong Cheng Lan’s first trial run had brought back a profit of fourteen yuan and fifty cents for her, nearly two-thirds of her salary as a teacher.
"The girls at the factory love to compare with each other," Gong Cheng Lan said with a sense of achievement. "Once one person buys it, the business then spreads from that person. We’ve also set the price reasonably; it’s only 50 cents a piece, much cheaper than those powders. A little goes a long way, lasting over a year, which makes it an acceptable expense for the factory girls and young brides with salaries."