Chapter 20
Chapter 20 Making Money
After getting ready and dressing up, Lin Wanrong and Old Dong each carried dozens of booklets and arrived at the examination site to observe the situation. Lin Wanrong gave his new strategy a fancy name: "Exploratory Marketing". Of course, he had to explain the concept of marketing to the eager-to-learn Qiaoqiao.
Today was the last day for the Xiao family's servants to register, and tomorrow would be the official start of the recruitment. Therefore, talented people from all over the place, regardless of their literacy, rushed over.
Not only were there locals from Jinling, but also talented people from Hangzhou, Suzhou, Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, and other places who came one after another, surrounding the registration site inside and out, making it very crowded.
Just like yesterday, the servants and the talented people were divided into two teams and registered separately, with clear boundaries between them. The order was maintained, and there were no line cutters. Perhaps this was because everyone was a civilized person.
With so many talented people attracted to come, the charm of the Xiao family's young lady was extraordinary. However, what was even more attractive was the huge industry behind her.
The Xiao family must have noticed so many talented people coming, but they neither supported nor opposed it. It was unclear whether they wanted talented people or servants, or both.
But the more commotion they made, the more Lin Wanrong liked it. He was determined to take advantage of the chaos and make a fortune.
Lin Wanrong's target was these handsome and talented men. Seeing them dressed in bright clothes and looking like something out of a magazine, he felt that five taels of silver was too low a price.
As for the servants-to-be, brothers, it's not that I look down on you, but that's just the reality of society. If you want to date girls, you have to earn more money first.Lin Wanrong spotted a fair-skinned handsome man and approached him, whispering softly, "Brother, do you want a good book?"
He took out the booklet from his arms and quickly flashed it in front of the man, letting him see the beautiful face of Miss Xiao on the cover, and then swiftly put it back into his arms.
Sure enough, the fair-skinned man's eyes lit up. He looked around cautiously before lowering his head and asking Lin Wanrong, "Brother, do you have a colored version?"
A colored version? Lin Wanrong was taken aback for a moment, then immediately understood that this guy thought he was selling playboy magazine..
Lin Wanrong was instantly furious. "Your grandma! I am handsome and charming like a jade tree in the wind, how could I possibly sell those things? Even though I have collected a fair share of stuff like flower boys and playboys, I wouldn't rely on selling those for a living. This pale-faced turtle has no eye for things, seems like he is not a good guy either."
But to be honest, what Lin Wanrong had in his hands right now was really similar to those illegal disc sellers at Zhongguancun computer market.
Lin Wanrong was feeling extremely depressed and only wanted to punch this pale-faced guy. However, he remembered that Old Dong was watching him from a distance, learning how to market. He had to make the first move, no matter what.
Lin Wanrong gritted his teeth and said, "Brother, we can talk about the things you mentioned later. Not only do I have color treasures passed down from the palace, but also precious imported collections from Japan. Father-daughter, mother-son, threesome, the poses, the expressions, tsk tsk, I guarantee you've never seen them before."
The pale-faced guy immediately blushed and rubbed his hands together. The light in his eyes showed that he was definitely a pervert.
"But, the most important thing now is, I want to recommend to you this rare book that has been passed down from the Xiao family's internal collection. Please take a look," Lin Wanrong took out the small booklet again. The portrait of Miss Xiao immediately caught the pervert's attention. "This is..." he exclaimed with excitement. He looked around and immediately shut his mouth, but the surprise in his eyes was obvious even to a blind person.
"Correct, this is Miss Xiao. One of my intermediate servants spent a lot of money to get this for me. Look," Lin Wanrong shook the cover, and the rustling sound caught the pervert's attention. He finally shifted his gaze from Miss Xiao to the words on the cover.
"The Secret History of Miss Xiao," five simple words, with two lines below: "Organized by the Xiao family's servant committee, printed by XX Printing House, top secret" in the upper right corner.
Seeing the light in the guy's eyes, Lin Wanrong knew he had a chance. He quickly struck while the iron was hot, "Look at this portrait, how delicate it is. I can tell you with great responsibility that this is the first time Miss Xiao's portrait has been released. You are the first person, besides me, to see this portrait. And the content inside is definitely genuine, no deception. We are destined to meet today, brother. I need money urgently, and I am willing to transfer this rare book to you at the lowest price."
The pervert hastily glanced at it, and seeing "Miss Xiao's View on Marriage" made his eyes shine even brighter. Lin Wanrong quickly closed the booklet before he could read more.
The pervert had no choice but to say, "What's your price?"
"Ten taels of silver, I can't sell it for a penny less," Lin Wanrong said. He knew he had hooked his fish, so he sat on the ground and doubled the price.
Without the expected shock, the man simply frowned and said, "It's a bit expensive. Can you lower the price?"
Lin Wanrong was overjoyed, it was indeed a rare treasure and he had the upper hand. He firmly shook his head and said, "Friend, this is a valuable item that has been passed down within the Xiao family. It's priceless. I paid a large sum of money to obtain it, and ten taels of silver is already the lowest price. As you know, once this item is sold to someone else, everyone will fight for it."
The man hesitated a bit, but Lin Wanrong acted helpless and turned to leave without saying anything.
"Friend, please wait a moment," Dong Qiaoqiao, disguised as a talented scholar, called out to Lin Wanrong. She stared at the small booklet in his hand with a gleam in her eye, clearly a person who knew the value of things.
The pale-faced scholar had no idea that this was a trap. When he saw someone else trying to snatch it from him, he panicked and hurriedly chased after Lin Wanrong, shouting, "I was here first, I was here first. Friend, I'll take that booklet. Here's ten taels of silver, please accept it."
Lin Wanrong and Dong Qiaoqiao exchanged a glance, both smiling. Lin Wanrong accepted the ten taels of silver and Dong Qiaoqiao secretly gave him a thumbs up.
Dong Qiaoqiao "regretfully" left, and a chubby scholar who had been watching Lin Wanrong and the pale-faced scholar for a long time hurriedly approached him. "Excuse me, friend, what was that valuable item you gave to Li just now?"
Lin Wanrong was puzzled and asked, "Who are you?"
The chubby scholar hastily said, "Li and I are classmates."
Lin Wanrong immediately understood. These two guys were classmates who had become competitors for Miss Xiao's favor. They wouldn't let the other one have an advantage.
Lin Wanrong repeated what he had said earlier, and the chubby scholar became interested. However, he was a tough bargainer and when Lin Wanrong offered ten taels of silver, he immediately slashed it to five.
Lin Wanrong didn't even bother negotiating with him and turned to leave. The guy hurriedly called out to him, "Friend--"
In the end, they settled on ten taels of silver.
Seeing that several other scholars had noticed the commotion, Lin Wanrong was secretly pleased. He wiped his sweat and said to Old Dong, "Damn, I underestimated the market's purchasing power. Old Dong, let's raise the price to ten taels of silver."