Chapter 584 - 583: Farm Woman 12
Tan You did some quick mental math. "Proprietor Xue, how much soap will you need each month?"
Xue Guanglin’s demand was audacious. "I’ll need at least ten thousand bars every month."
Tan You smiled. "Does Proprietor Xue have his own trade caravan? The prefectural city alone can’t handle this volume."
A peculiar look entered Xue Guanglin’s eyes. "Yes, the Xue family has its own caravan. We can certainly sell the goods far and wide."
Tan You tapped her finger on the table. "Proprietor Xue, ten thousand bars is too many. I can’t supply that much."
Xue Guanglin raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Is it a matter of raw materials...?"
Tan You just gave a light, silent smile. Xue Guanglin fell silent, looking abashed. ’Prying into someone’s secret formula is bad form.’ He didn’t press the matter, instead turning to Tan You. "I was wondering, Lady Wang, how many finished products do you have on hand?"
Tan You glanced at Chen Xi, who immediately rattled off the numbers. "We currently have eight hundred bars of basic soap and five hundred bars of wormwood mint soap." Based on today’s prices, the total came to seventeen taels of Silver.
"I’ll take them all," Xue Guanglin said with a wave of his hand. "Lady Wang, when can you provide the next batch of soap?"
Chen Xi replied crisply, "Twenty days."
The onlooking aunts from the clan hadn’t left, and they watched as little Chen Xi accepted the Silver from Manager Fan.
"Seventeen taels of Silver? Just how much money is that?"
"We can’t even save a single tael of Silver in a whole year."
"What is this ’soap’ anyway?"
"How can it be so profitable?"
Xue Guanglin turned to Tan You. "Lady Wang, shall we sign a contract?"
Tan You waved her hand. "You can take today’s batch. As for the contract, Proprietor Xue, please allow me to discuss it with the clan elders first."
Xue Guanglin’s gaze swept over the faces of the many Chen clansmen. "Very well. Manager Fan and I will wait outside."
Tan You smiled. Only after the merchant and his men had left did she turn to Chen Tianshui and the other Chen clan elders. "I developed this formula through great personal effort. It has nothing to do with the Chen family or the Wang family. Now, I’d like to propose a partnership with our clan. What do our Clan Leader and the elders think?"
The eldest of them, the Third Grand-uncle, stroked his beard. "What is it you want?"
’The clan elders are no fools.’ Tan You got straight to the point. "I need the clan’s protection. I need to ensure my children and An Wen will not be subject to gossip and scorn from our fellow clansmen."
"Is that all?" Chen Tianshui was taken aback. "Even if you didn’t ask, the clan would still protect you."
Tan You said, "It’s not the same."
Tan You didn’t explain how it was different, but a few of the elders seemed to understand. They said nothing, merely looking at her. "How do you propose we cooperate with the clan?"
Tan You said, "Here’s what I’m thinking..."
Chen Xi and An Wen listened as Tan You negotiated with the clan elders—a perfect lesson in leading by example.
In the end, they agreed that the clan would establish a workshop. The soap-making process would be divided into separate stages, assigned to different people, to ensure the complete formula could not be leaked. By the time they finished their discussion, well over an hour had passed.
Outside, Xue Guanglin and Manager Fan showed no signs of impatience. Doing business required patience, after all.
When they came back inside, Xue Guanglin signed the contract with Tan You, witnessed by Chen Tianshui and the clan elders. The contract stipulated that the Chen Clan would supply Four Seas General Store with a fixed two thousand bars of soap per month.
The supply volume could be increased later, once the workshop expanded.
To be honest, the contract was quite vague, but Tan You was satisfied. ’You can’t get fat in one bite. Slow and steady is the way to go.’
After the soap contract was signed, Tan You led the clansmen into the processing room. It was really just the place where the liquid soap was left to air-dry. Large shelves lined the walls, all stacked with neat piles of regular and scented soap.
The Clan Leader took a look around the small room. "This batch is your own stock," he said. "It has nothing to do with the clan’s business."
Tan You understood his unstated meaning. "Of course," she replied. "From now on, I won’t be making these myself. This business belongs to the clan."
The young men Manager Fan had brought with him quickly emptied the small storeroom, though Tan You kept a few bars for herself. Since this would now be the clan’s business, she needed everyone to understand exactly what this "soap" and "scented soap" really were.
While Tan You and Chen Xi were taking inventory, the Clan Leader’s wife was already busy in the kitchen with a few of the other women. Those who had stayed behind were mostly relatives of the Clan Leader and the elders. They now understood that the clan was getting into the soap business.
With Tan You busy with official matters, they took it upon themselves to start preparing a meal in the kitchen. But when they looked around, they were all stunned. The kitchen was well-stocked with rice, flour, grains, and oil—it wanted for nothing.
’Did the soap business bring all this?’
They had their own thoughts as well. ’If the clan makes a success of this business, will our lives get a little easier? Will our families receive a larger share of the Silver Coin?’
The more they thought about it, the more excited they became.
In the main house, Tan You was discussing matters with the clan elders. "The most important raw material for making soap is pork lard," she explained. "If we can’t secure a steady supply of lard, this business will fail."
"Pork lard?" The elders exchanged glances. None of them had expected that.
Tan You gave An Wen a meaningful look. An Wen immediately stepped forward. "It is indeed pork lard. These small boxes all contain liquid soap. This one has been curing for seven days, this one for ten, and this one for fifteen."
An Wen opened the boxes one by one for everyone to inspect.
Chen Tianshui thought for a long moment. "So, the clan will need to send people out to buy pork lard."
"We should take a two-pronged approach," Tan You offered her opinion. "On one hand, we can send people to the butcher stalls to buy it. On the other, the clan should start raising its own pigs."
"Vegetable oil can also be used, actually, but that would require more experimentation to get the ratios right."
Chen Tianshui nodded. "Then we’ll do as you say—a two-pronged approach. We’ll get started today. I’ll arrange for a few able-bodied young men to go out and purchase pork lard."
"As for the workshop, we can temporarily set it up in the house behind the ancestral hall. Once the business is stable, we can consider building a proper large one."
Tan You didn’t interfere in these arrangements. "The Clan Leader is most thorough."
With the business handed over to the clan, Tan You would take a ten-percent share of the profits each month. The rest would be distributed by the clan as they saw fit. Even just making 2,000 bars of basic soap a month would bring in twenty taels of Silver.
In other words, Tan You could do nothing from now on and still have an income of two taels of Silver per month. It might not seem like much, but she had no intention of being idle. ’I have other ways to make money.’
At this thought, Tan You tapped the table. "Since the clan is taking on this business, you must keep the clansmen in line. Don’t let them pick up any bad habits."
"If word gets out that the clan is in the scented soap business, outsiders with ill intent could lure our people into gambling or debauchery, leading them into debt. What would the clan do then?"
Tan You’s words put everyone in the main hall on high alert. The Third Grand-uncle thumped his cane on the floor. "She’s right! We must have a serious talk with all the clansmen about this. We’re folk who scrape our living from the dirt; an opportunity to earn a little extra Silver is rare indeed."