Chapter 373: The Stench of Money
Xiao Wang lowered his head and saw that there were indeed quite a few of these bags under the table. Upon closer inspection, he saw they contained Spring Festival couplets and red envelopes, which, of course, were just the covers without money. It wasn’t possible that Jian Zhiqing would give them money as a New Year’s gift.
Moreover, their New Year’s gifts had already been distributed. These must have been brought by Secretary Jian himself.
Xiao Wang smiled so wide his mouth almost split; he was just short of thumping his chest to guarantee that anyone who wouldn’t take these was a fool.
Xiao Wang carried these Spring Festival couplets and distributed one to each person, even to the gatekeeper grandpa. Of course, they also prepared a pair for their office’s main gate, which he would come and stick himself later. Everyone had just received their New Year’s gift, and now they got the Spring Festival couplets as well; they were really happy. They even said they were planning to buy some in a few days, but now they didn’t need to. Moreover, those with thicker skin and sweeter mouths could even grab an extra pair. At this moment, Mr. Wang didn’t mention anything and was easygoing, giving them to anyone who asked, as long as he kept enough for himself.
Over ten thousand Spring Festival couplets were busily distributed over several days by a few people. Qin Xiangnuan also shared some with Teacher Wang who, seeing them packed in these hard paper bags, immediately praised the idea as excellent.
Nowadays, people’s living standards have gradually improved, and they are becoming more particular about what they eat, wear, and use. In the past, there were no brightly colored clothes, but now the colors on the streets have increased. The clothes worn by young women are becoming more fashionable and revealing, and many foreign brands have entered the domestic market. In this rapidly changing era, even their Spring Festival couplets were starting to evolve into various styles. Actually, Teacher Wang had thought about this since last year; selling Spring Festival couplets for one yuan or two wasn’t very profitable. If there were some unique ones that everyone liked, exclusive only to them, then couldn’t they earn much more money?
Qin Xiangnuan thought of a good method — this bag could probably sell for 10 yuan. It included blessings characters, large and small Spring Festival couplets, and ten red envelopes.
Teacher Wang happily took over two thousand sets back home, prepared to sell them at a high price. Everyone has money during New Year, so a difference of 10 yuan wasn’t a big deal.
Qin Xiangnuan originally thought about selling them for five yuan, but after listening to Teacher Wang’s suggestion and considering the costs, it made sense. A large Spring Festival couplet along with a small one alone costs three yuan, and with this year’s price increases, perhaps the large ones could sell for three yuan, and the small ones for two yuan. Two "Fu" characters were one yuan and red envelopes, considering the cost, were 50 cents. They would probably also buy one or two yuan worth of additional things, which would add up to nearly seven thousand yuan in total. Selling them for five yuan would indeed be a loss.
Thus, they sold them for 10 yuan each. Everyone has money during New Year; no matter what, the money was meant to be spent during the festival.
From the 26th day of the Lunar New Year, the Qin family was ready to go out and sell Spring Festival couplets. Early in the morning, everyone in the household went out. Qin Xiangnuan distributed three hundred bags to Taotao and Jian Zhiqin, along with two hundred separate Spring Festival couplets for them to sell. The money earned would be theirs.
The two kids made quite a bit of pocket money last year and were financially more comfortable, able to buy things they wanted. Although Taotao still didn’t quite understand the use of money, under the influence, he knew making money was a good thing; it could be used to buy lots of good things. So, he eagerly followed Jian Zhiqin around.