Gu Qingcheng understood the 28 effect of wealth, which always existed regardless of the society.
This world was no different; 80% of the money was held by 20% of the people.
80% of people were merely surviving, and only the 20% were truly enjoying life.
And when this 20% of people were willing to indulge generously in a quality life, those suspicions and worries about showing off wealth would vanish.
Especially in times of chaos, people had a "live for today" mentality. What she needed to do now was to successfully stimulate this consumption impulse in the 20%.
After all, you get what you pay for; good fabric felt different when worn.
In these turbulent times, no one knew what tomorrow would bring. Even with immense wealth, one might become a zombie tomorrow, or the extreme cold might return again. After surviving one disaster, they might not survive the next...
Enjoy one day at a time!
As long as she could ignite their desire to spend, Gu Qingcheng could reap considerable wealth.
Gu Qingcheng then said, "How much silk and fabric do you have? I'll buy as much as you have."
"Uh, the shop currently has about 1000 bolts. Are you sure you want to buy this much, honored guest?"
Even the shop assistant, who had seen a lot, was surprised.
Du Lanyue hadn't expected Gu Qingcheng to be so extravagant. She had only intended for Gu Qingcheng to buy a hundred or so bolts to test the waters.
"Don't worry. I think Sister Lanyue is right. We still lack a high-end silk shop on our island."
Gu Qingcheng was quite familiar with the commercial street of Chaliao Island.
Some businesses only operated once every three years but sustained themselves for three years. In these chaotic times, business opportunities flashed by in an instant. To run a business that made quick money, those old shops that had operated steadily for a hundred years were no more.
After all, there would be wind disasters to come. Who knew if their meticulously built island would still survive?
Gu Qingcheng wanted to leverage this opportunity to promote the new industry of high-end fabric stores on Chaliao Island.
Although Du Lanyue found Gu Qingcheng's decision a bit sudden, it was in line with her personality, so she didn't try to dissuade her.
Hearing that Gu Qingcheng was really going to buy everything, the shop assistant became so excited that he stammered.
Selling so much merchandise meant a substantial commission for him. It was a windfall.
The shop assistant quickly brought out all the silk and fabric from the storeroom to show Gu Qingcheng, and even offered a 30% discount.
Gu Qingcheng calculated that, at the current market price on Chaliao Island, she would make a 30% profit by selling the silk, whereas ordinary cotton and linen fabrics yielded less than a 10% profit.
After examining the various patterns of silk brought by the shop assistant, Du Lanyue approved of the batch. Gu Qingcheng, trusting Du Lanyue's judgment, made the decision to purchase the entire lot.
"Honored guest, if you need to procure goods in the future, just come directly to us and state your name. We will definitely give you a big discount."
The shop assistant said obsequiously.
Gu Qingcheng then gave her name and presented the shop assistant with a wooden plaque bearing the emblem of Phoenix Village.
The plaque was only palm-sized. Gu Qingcheng said:
"Let this be proof. In the future, anyone carrying a similar flag and coming to find you is from our Phoenix Village."
Gu Qingcheng also feared that others might impersonate her to purchase goods. Since the shop assistant had promised high discounts for goods procured by Phoenix Village, she would incur losses if someone falsely claimed to be from there.
The shop assistant solemnly put away the token and said:
"Honored guest, rest assured. From now on, our shop will only recognize this token. Anyone without it will not be accepted."
After agreeing on the price of the fabric, Gu Qingcheng paid a deposit of 1000 taels of silver.
Du Lanyue had also completed her task for this trip.
However, out of caution, after leaving the Bronze Fabric Store, she pulled Gu Qingcheng and visited a few more fabric shops.
They discovered that the storefronts and businesses of these shops were not as good as Bronze. Upon further inspection, the quality and texture of the fabrics were also inferior to Bronze, which confirmed their intuition to choose Bronze.
Although it was their first time on Peach Blossom Street to buy fabric, customer reviews served as their guide.
The Bronze Fabric Store was bustling with people, a clear sign of its thriving business. Their choice was not mistaken.
With the task completed, Gu Qingcheng finally relaxed and said, "Sister Lanyue, I'll tell Da Peng and the others back home to come here tomorrow to pick up the goods and load them onto the ship. I hope we can finish loading by tomorrow evening, and we'll head back the day after tomorrow."
"The day after tomorrow?"
Du Lanyue felt a pang of reluctance, while also considering whether her family would notice if she returned the day after tomorrow.
But then she felt relieved. Her family probably wouldn't notice.
Because when she and her sister were learning the art of dyeing in the past, they sometimes stayed at the estate for five or six days. Their parents were very supportive, so they generally wouldn't notice unless someone deliberately reported them or an urgent, unforeseen event occurred.
"Yes, the day after tomorrow. I'm worried your family might get anxious if I'm away for too long," Gu Qingcheng said.
Du Lanyue could only nod dejectedly and then asked:
"If that's the case, won't we be free tomorrow? We've already explored this entire street today, and there's no point in wandering around again tomorrow."
Gu Qingcheng thought for a moment and said, "Didn't the innkeeper say there's a scenic cave nearby? Why don't we go explore it? Perhaps we'll have some unexpected discoveries."
"Okay, let's go together then."
Du Lanyue would not consider where to go or whether there was danger as long as she had the chance to spend time with Gu Qingcheng.
Seeing Du Lanyue agree, Gu Qingcheng was also in a good mood.
Today, she had accomplished several happy things: she had given the mirror to Sister Lanyue, allowing her to see her own appearance clearly; she had successfully purchased the fabric, opening up a new trade route for Phoenix Village.
The sights and experiences from venturing out had stimulated her, and Gu Qingcheng had also secretly decided to find a suitable island to establish her own logistics transfer warehouse.
There were many things to do, which Gu Qingcheng needed to plan out one by one.
Her Mountain Cat Farm produced an abundance of goods. If they weren't sold, Gu Qingcheng felt it would be a disservice to the system's efforts.
The cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks, rabbits, and crops she raised were all cultivated and planted in rotation according to time. After adjusting the timeline, a batch matured every day.
The system automatically slaughtered, packaged, and stored them. Due to the lack of sales channels, these goods were piled high in her storage cabinets.
Fortunately, the storage cabinets had a preservation function, so there was no need to worry about the ingredients spoiling.
With the increasing business of the pharmacy on Chaliao Island, and by curing illnesses and saving people with pills, Gu Qingcheng now earned at least a thousand satisfaction points daily, and up to ten thousand at peak times. Thus, her accumulated satisfaction points had reached a staggering two million.
The satisfaction point crisis was averted. With no immediate worries about satisfaction points, the system sent a new message: accumulating 10 million satisfaction points could unlock new functions for the farm.
Gu Qingcheng was full of curiosity about this. Every time the farm unlocked new features, it brought her a refreshing experience.