Time Travel: The Noble Family

The more Yueyao thought about it, the better the idea seemed. She shared her thoughts with Zhuang Ruolan, "Cousin-in-law, think about it, good clothes naturally bring repeat customers; if the rouge and powder are good, they will come back to buy more. The two shops can drive business for each other, I think it’s a great idea." Yueyao felt that as long as their products were good, they wouldn’t have to worry about business.

Seeing that Zhuang Ruolan was still not persuaded, Yueyao finally added, "If cousin-in-law thinks it’s risky, then I’ll take a seventy percent share. How does that sound?"

Zhuang Ruolan wasn’t very keen on the business, mainly because she felt that rouge and powder weren’t very profitable, possibly because the profit margins at the cloth shop were so high, she looked down on the lower-profit businesses. However, Zhuang Ruolan found Yueyao’s sequential business plans amusing; she had always thought of Yueyao as a lofty person who disliked mundane tasks and especially disdained doing business. This revelation opened her eyes; Yueyao hardly seemed like someone who disdained business, but rather like an experienced merchant.

Seeing that Zhuang Ruolan was still not enthusiastic, Yueyao felt somewhat disappointed, but then Zhuang Ruolan looked up, smiling, and said, "You girl, I thought you could only paint! I never expected you to know how to do business. Fine, let’s open both the ready-to-wear shop and the rouge shop." The ready-to-wear shop would be easy to set up, but the rouge and powder were trickier, requiring procurement from Jiangnan.

Zhuang Ruolan remembered that her brother’s fiancée’s brother was an official in Jiangnan, and her eyes lit up. When her sister-in-law was married into the family in October, it would be a good idea to invite her to join the business venture, not for profit, but to strengthen family ties.

Zhuang Changhe’s arranged marriage was to the legitimate eldest daughter of Lord Hong, the Libationer at the Imperial Academy. Although a Libationer was only a fourth-ranked position, it was immensely prestigious. Furthermore, although the Hong Family wasn’t among the most renowned families in the Capital City, they were very supportive; the legitimate eldest son was a Second Place Scholar from the previous sessions, and the legitimate second son was also a Palace Graduate. Both had married daughters from prestigious families, which was advantageous for Zhuang Changhe.

Zhuang Ruolan had seen the young lady from the Hong family too; she was beautiful and her manners and etiquette were top-notch, what satisfied Zhuang Ruolan even more was that this young lady had been managing household affairs since she was fourteen under her mother and the steward. A girl capable of managing a household was not easy to fool, and Zhuang Ruolan was not worried that her future sister-in-law would be oppressed by Madam Bao. The marriage pleased not only Zhuang Ruolan but also the Duchess.

Zhuang Ruolan shared her plans with Yueyao and then proposed, "Yueyao, how about this: you hold a thirty percent share in both the ready-to-wear shop and the cosmetic shop. What do you think?"