CHAPTER 465: CHAPTER 465: PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED

Cai Ming listened on the side, chuckling, because when he initially heard the kids talk about their business ideas, he thought they weren’t bad.

He had never imagined that housing in Beijing was so expensive. And that’s not even considering if he could find a place he liked. Even the price itself was more than he could afford with all his savings.

This made Cai Ming anxious. Was he supposed to buy a house without renovating it, and then get married without spending money? Even if the bride’s family wasn’t particularly money-minded, he couldn’t just let his future wife face hardship from the start.

Not to mention, after marriage, having children would require money as well. Cai Ming felt a headache coming on; it was something he had to solve.

Although Cai Meina had mentioned that if Cai Ming got married, as his sister, she couldn’t just not contribute at all. Even if her husband agreed, Cai Ming wouldn’t let them bear the cost.

After buying their house, his sister and brother-in-law probably didn’t have much money left either. Even if they did, it belonged to Meina and her husband.

However, Cai Ming saw himself as the uncle, so how could he let Gong Ruiwen and them pay for his wedding, especially since they had kids?

When he heard Gong Ruini mention selling quail eggs, he thought it was a good money-making idea. But earlier, the others seemed to imply that Zhao Guangran didn’t want to add Zhao Xuran or Gong Ruiwen to it.

Later, after much persuasion, he found out there were already twins wanting to join. You could almost hear Zhao Guangran fuming, which made Cai Ming hesitant. After all, the business wasn’t that hard, but adding more people meant less profit to share.

He hadn’t expected Gong Ruini not to think things through, leading to discontent. Just when Cai Ming was pondering how to solve this issue, Zhao Xuran came up with a solution.

"But transporting charcoal is an issue," Cai Ming walked in, pointing out that while they could have locals help produce charcoal, transporting it was a problem. You couldn’t stack much on top lest it breaks.

Sigh, Gong Ruini knew it was a problem. "But are we just going to make charcoal in Beijing?" she asked, bewildered by Beijing.

From what she knew, Beijing was overdeveloped, all built-up with few trees left for cutting even if there were hills.

"Why not?" Cai Ming didn’t understand why Gong Ruini thought you couldn’t use firewood in Beijing. "People in the city can use coal, but what about those in the suburbs? They don’t have rations."

"In winter they need to heat their beds too." While Beijing isn’t as far north as here, it still gets cold in winter. Didn’t her brother-in-law also say they used heated beds during his recent visit?

Heating beds worked regardless of the fuel used. Gong Ruini was only concerned about the charcoal issue. "Okay, so we take our stock over, but we still need to make new charcoal."

Driving an empty truck to Beijing would be wasteful, better to load it up. Furthermore, since the house was to be left for them, the items taken to Beijing were already minimized, so there was room for charcoal.

"I’ll tell Uncle Dazhu that we need some charcoal tomorrow," Gong Ruini thought it would be better to be well-prepared. "Then let Uncle Dazhu make more, so we’ll bring it all over during summer."

"Uh-huh," Zhao Guangran nodded continuously. Even if crushed, charcoal is still usable, just perhaps not as efficient. "By the way, Ni Zi, I was thinking our eggs aren’t plenty, we should purchase some quail eggs."

Zhao Guangran knew that as long as they got quails to Beijing, they would lay eggs in time. But the initial eggs needed to hatch chicks, so who knew when this business would take off? Hence, they should consider buying quail eggs now if possible.

This guy’s mind sure turns fast, Gong Ruini thought. Zhao Guangran really thinks quickly when it comes to money-making ideas. "Alright, tomorrow we’ll go find Uncle Dazhu and Sister Erya."

As for the rest of the villagers, Gong Ruini hadn’t thought about involving them. Though for medicinal herbs they needed cooperation, the business of charcoal and quail eggs was too good to share with those ingrates.

Zhao Guangran was quite pleased internally. "I wonder how much we can sell these quail eggs for."

"Ni Zi, we can’t sell them cheaply; folks in Beijing have money, but even they struggle with food."

"Plus, ours taste better. If we sell them cheaply, we’ll just lose out."

"You know, this stuff is only expensive at first. As more sellers emerge, prices will drop," Zhao Guangran knew well. So they should make a killing initially, then see if future business remains viable.

Zhao Guangran wasn’t naïve. While they had quails now, who’s to say people in Beijing wouldn’t have them too? The reason others hadn’t started this business? Either they hadn’t thought of it or they couldn’t swallow their pride.

But once they began, there would surely be competitors.

Take before when only the Red Flag Brigade collected and sold herbs; the surrounding villages got envious, leading to a premature end to the herb trade last year.

This was because they were herbs; even at a discount, no one would buy. If it were quail eggs, though, and someone could make a slight profit, they would no doubt suggest lowering selling prices.

Once suggested by one person, others would follow suit, and who knows where prices would fall.

This indeed was a problem, but Gong Ruini didn’t know what else she could do. Even if she had a money-making idea, it wasn’t suitable to flaunt now. Some ventures required capital, like pooling money for a future guaranteed win.

But where to get the money for land? Forget land, they didn’t even have the cash for buying a courtyard.

"More people are returning, and there must be many educated youths in Beijing, right? They’ll try to come back to the city, but jobs are limited. Even where jobs exist, they’re snatched by families with connections." This era might lack corruption, but it’s always been a society relying on favors. With equal qualifications, connections matter.

Once so many people return to Beijing, they can’t work or study. What would they do cooped up at home? Be a freeloader?

Not considering whether they’d accept, would their parents? What about those siblings left in Beijing? After marriage, everyone considered their own small family. Eventually, if they aren’t making enough for themselves, conflicts would arise unless they made enough on their own.

Gong Ruini suddenly felt that her small business idea would indeed have many imitators. Alas, this kind of business was really easy to copy. As long as they found some quail eggs, they could grab a share in no time.

Earning big was hard enough, but even with small earnings, it’s challenging. If it were for a large sum, harder might be better, sigh.

Gong Ruini started worrying, and so did Zhao Guangran. It was truly worrisome.