TATSD Chapter 31

The next day, Wen Xuan woke up very early.

He didn’t dare delay Ji Wei’s matters, fearing he might disappoint Ji Wei’s goodwill.

Thus, even before the appointed time, he had already wrapped the rolled-up promotional flyers in oil paper and set out.

Wen Xuan usually stayed at home reading, and rarely going out.

After dropping out of the county school, aside from going to South Street to sell paintings, he hardly ever went to West Street.

West Street had three alleys.

His father had taken him to West Alley years ago, but it had been so long that his memory was now quite vague.

“Why is it so lively today?” The crowd jostled around Wen Xuan and hurriedly moved along the side of the wall, trying to avoid bumping into others.

“Watch where you’re going!” A small, skinny woman scolded him fiercely. She was also pushed aside by the crowd.

“Sister, where are all these people rushing to?”

“Where else? Of course, they’re going to Ji’s house in West Alley! Aren’t you?” The woman gave Wen Xuan a skeptical look, and when she saw him nod, her expression darkened further. “Everyone’s going there, I’m not going to waste time talking to you. If you’re late, you’ll miss out!”

Then she left Wen Xuan behind and ran off.

Wen Xuan was left confused by the woman’s remarks, but luckily, there were still many people heading towards West Alley. He hurriedly followed them and soon arrived.

However, what he saw was quite the scene.

West Alley was some distance from the street and was not very lively.

But as soon as Wen Xuan entered the alley, he saw a crowd blocking the entrance to a house.

The door was not large, only enough for one person to pass through at a time.

Yet, a dozen people had gathered, all trying to squeeze in first, causing a blockage and making those behind anxious.

“Let me through!”

“If you don’t want to go, let us go first!”

“They’re fighting so fiercely inside! If I don’t get any, my son will cry all night!”

“Why did I come here so late? I should have left fifteen minutes earlier!”

Everyone wanted to come early to get their purchases, and with their thoughts aligned, the early morning was bustling with activity.

Wen Xuan stood at the back, stretching his neck to look.

Though he was slender, he was tall.

Over the heads of the crowd, he could see the even busier scene in the courtyard.

He was already too late.

Wen Xuan thought.

“Everyone, please—”

Wen Xuan cleared his throat and shouted. He managed to quiet the crowd’s noise momentarily, and everyone turned to look at him.

Seizing the moment of silence, he explained, “It would be better if everyone stepped aside and let one person in at a time. Otherwise, if everything sells out inside, you won’t be able to get in at all.”

“Why should we? I was here first!”

“Nonsense! I was here first!”

“If you say that again, I’ll hit you!”

“Go ahead, if you dare!”

Wen Xuan was distressed and called out Ji Wei’s name at the door, hoping Ji Wei might hear and come to his rescue.

Unfortunately, with a crowd in front of Ji Wei, who wasn’t blessed with exceptional hearing, he couldn’t hear Wen Xuan’s calls.

“Everyone, don’t rush. Form a line, and you’ll eventually get your turn,” Ji Wei raised his hand and shouted, instructing them to queue.

“Those who don’t queue and push should stand at the back and start from the beginning.” Ji Wei was collecting money in the front, Liu Yimian was packaging cookies in the back, and Zhao Hu stood aside maintaining order.

With Zhao Hu supervising, everyone was relatively well-behaved. But as they saw the dwindling number of cookies, they became anxious, urging those in front to hurry.

“What’s that noise?” Zhao Hu looked around, “Who is calling Ji Wei?”

The last man in the line turned to glance at the door, “It sounds like someone has been calling for quite a while.”

Zhao Hu quickly went to the door, seeing the crowd blocking the entrance and more people trying to get in, which made him furious.

“What are you three doing blocking the door?” Zhao Hu, who was burly, gave them a stern look. The noisy troublemakers immediately felt guilty and stepped back, leaving a small space.

“Who was calling Ji Wei earlier?”

“It was me.”

Wen Xuan had been calling for a long time and was hoarse. Seeing Zhao Hu come out, he felt a surge of emotion, raising his hand to signal.

“And you are?” Zhao Hu was suspicious.

“I’m the one Ji Wei sent with something!” Wen Xuan held up the rolled-up promotional flyers.

Zhao Hu squinted for a moment, suddenly recalling Ji Wei mentioning something earlier that morning. He quickly let Wen Xuan through.

“Why didn’t you say so earlier? Come in quickly, we’ve been waiting for you.”

Since Zhao Hu spoke, everyone else dared not say much.

Once Wen Xuan was inside, Zhao Hu pointed to the three troublemakers and told them to stand aside. They could only leave after everyone else had entered.

Inside the door was a long line, of at least twenty people.

Wen Xuan’s eyes widened in surprise. His admiration for Ji Wei grew even more.

Ji Wei, who was collecting money, looked up with a sudden realization and saw Wen Xuan waving at him. “Come over, we’ve been waiting for you.”

“I was blocked outside and couldn’t get in,” Wen Xuan explained in a low voice, feeling guilty.

“It’s fine, no rush.” Ji Wei called Zhao Hu over to help with the money and took Wen Xuan to a quieter room to explain things in detail.

“Since you mentioned you studied at the county school, you must have quite a few classmates and friends there?”

“Yes, a few,” Wen Xuan hesitated slightly. He was reserved by nature and had often been mocked as a bookworm. As for close classmates, he could count them on one hand, and they were at most superficial acquaintances.

But he didn’t want to say too much, fearing it might disappoint Ji Wei.

“Good. I need you to take a box of my freshly made cookies and the promotional flyers you prepared to the county school for me,” Ji Wei said.

He then detailed the promotional tasks, “If any students are interested, you can take down their names and the quantities they want. Bring this information back to me. In a few days, I might need you to deliver the cookies to their homes.”

This task wasn’t difficult; Ji Wei was just busy and hadn’t found someone suitable to run the errand to the county school.

Since Wen Xuan had studied there, he should have some connections.

After agreeing, Wen Xuan went to Liu Yimian to collect a beautifully packaged box of cookies.

The box contained a significant number of cookies, estimated to be about fifty to sixty pieces. These had been prepared the night before specifically for the students at the county school to sample.

“Mr. Ji, I’ll be on my way now?”

“Go early and return early.”

After sending Wen Xuan off, Ji Wei and Zhao Hu switched places.

The courtyard was busy with one group of people leaving after another, but there were always new arrivals.

Some might have genuinely been interested after tasting the cookies, but more were just attracted by the lively scene.

As a result, seeing the bustling atmosphere and hearing about it, many joined in the frenzy of buying.

By early morning, at least fifty to sixty people had come.

Some bought just to taste, while others returned to purchase more after sampling.

There were even those who, not short of money, bought a hundred or so cookies in one go, saying they wanted to share them with family and friends.

Ji Wei had not counted exactly how many cookies were made, but he knew he was handling money so much that his hands were tired and his voice was hoarse.

After selling out the first batch of cookies, Ji Wei immediately put up a sign on the door stating that they were sold out and closed the door for a brief moment of peace.

Despite the exhaustion, he was still excited.

“Ji Ge, business is doing great! Why aren’t you selling more?” Only Liu Yimian knew that there were still many cookies prepared and wrapped in oil paper at home, which had not yet been brought out.

She had thought Ji Wei was worried about not selling them, but seeing the enthusiasm of the crowd, it seemed there was no shortage of buyers.

Ji Wei had his considerations.

He knew very well that no matter the era, a new product’s acceptance by the public takes time.

Even if it’s something particularly delicious, it needs time for promotion and word-of-mouth to gain widespread acceptance.

Today’s sales exceeded expectations, partly because of the unique taste, and partly due to the excitement of the crowd.

But excitement alone cannot be sustained every day.

To truly establish a strong market presence, careful planning and gradual progress are necessary.

Cookies are prone to becoming stale easily.

In an era without vacuum sealing, they cannot be kept for long.

Even though Ji Wei used gauze and oil paper to seal them layer by layer, they couldn’t last more than a few days.

Thus, he planned to use the remaining batch to break into the upper-market segment.

The so-called upper-market segment, for Ji Wei, was not referring to a specific group of people but to those distinguished from ordinary folk—wealthy, educated, and influential individuals.

For example, students at the county school either come from affluent families or are diligent and ambitious.

If the former are impressed, they might place substantial orders. One household’s order could be worth several of the scattered sales.

Even if it’s the latter group, one never knows when they might achieve academic success.

In any case, the county school, where everything is possible, was worth investing in.