Chapter 16
Xu Kaicheng sniffled and gave a shy smile. "I don't really want to drift through life like this, but I never went to school growing up, only studied for a few years, and can barely read. So I don't even know what I'm capable of."
Zhao Guangming's hands, clasped behind his back, clenched tightly. The Second Young Master of a marquis household, who had barely studied for a few years and could hardly read. Xu Kaicheng hadn't mentioned anything about martial arts training, and Zhao Guangming understood the implication almost instantly.
Back then, Xu Gandang had only said he taught Xu Kaicheng spear techniques for a month. When he returned, Xu Kaicheng had forgotten everything completely. That "forgetting everything completely" was probably not natural either.
Slowly exhaling, not wanting his grim expression to frighten Xu Kaicheng, Zhao Guangming forced the corners of his mouth up into a smile. "Children of noble and marquis households can't take the imperial examinations anyway, so reading so many books is useless. Has the Second Young Master thought about anything else? Like doing business, or becoming a large landowner?"
Zhao Guangming only meant to change the subject, but unexpectedly, Xu Kaicheng's eyes lit up at his words. "Actually, I have thought about it. Even though I'm no good at academics or martial arts, I'm quite interested in handicrafts. I originally wanted to open a rouge shop... ahem, ahem. Uncle Zhao, am I talking too much?"
"Not at all. Having your own dreams is a good thing. If the Second Young Master doesn't mind, could you tell me about this rouge shop?"
Xu Kaicheng's face reddened several shades, and he squirmed in embarrassment. "Um, Uncle Zhao, don't you think a grown man wanting to open a rouge shop is a bit... improper?"
"Why would you think that?" Zhao Guangming looked genuinely puzzled. "Back when we were at the border, the ones cooking were men, and the ones making clothes were men too. There has never been anything in this world that must be divided between men and women. Even among the rouge shops, face powder shops, and tailor shops already in the capital, how many of their backers and owners aren't men?"
Xu Kaicheng's eyes shone brighter and brighter as he looked at Zhao Guangming. At this moment, Zhao Guangming seemed like a towering figure in his eyes. This admiration wasn't faked—it was completely genuine.
As someone with a modern soul, Xu Kaicheng understood better than anyone that if work really had to be divided by gender, it roughly came down to this: the big money-makers were all considered men's work, while the unprofitable or barely profitable work was tacitly assigned to women.
But Zhao Guangming, as an ancient person, actually had a similar understanding. That was simply amazing!
"Uncle Zhao, you're incredible!"
Zhao Guangming's smile grew gentler, and he raised a hand to pat Xu Kaicheng's shoulder. "Since you have a dream, then go do it. You're the Second Young Master of a marquis household, after all. Don't be afraid of failure!"
Xu Kaicheng's mouth opened and closed several times, but he could only helplessly shut it. Zhao Guangming hesitated for a moment, then directly addressed the issue. "Is it the First Madam who doesn't want you to do things?"
"Un-Uncle Zhao, you can't say things like that carelessly..."
"Then we'll avoid the First Madam and do it secretly." Zhao Guangming stood with one hand behind his back, gazing intently at the flustered man waving his hands. "Tell me what materials you need, and I'll help you sell what you make. We don't have a shop yet, but we can go door to door. If the Second Young Master truly has talent in this area, then once we make some money, we can set up a shop for you!"
Zhao Guangming spoke with complete seriousness, and Xu Kaicheng listened with flushed cheeks. His puppy-like eyes stared intently at Zhao Guangming, as if following the other's words into a vision of the future. "I... can I really do it?"
"Why ask instead of just doing it? Even if you fail, you won't regret it for the rest of your life, right?"
"..." Xu Kaicheng's eyes reddened, and he took a deep breath. He stepped back, straightened up, and bowed deeply to Zhao Guangming. "Thank you, Uncle Zhao."
Zhao Guangming stood where he was without moving, accepting the bow. But what Xu Kaicheng didn't see was a certain resolve that flickered through his eyes.
Xu Kaicheng returned to his courtyard in a daze. Originally, his plan to get rich was to take the industrial route. Running into Zhao Guangming just now, his words had been nothing but idle talk.
But unexpectedly, amid all that idle talk, a real path had emerged.
He had no doubts whatsoever about Zhao Guangming's gratitude and loyalty. Especially since his background had essentially been laid bare before Zhao Guangming, Xu Kaicheng wasn't the least bit worried about being cheated.
Most crucially, he urgently needed a trigger point to begin his grand money-making plan.
The hundred thousand taels of silver a year for buying his life—that money hadn't come in yet. At his current monthly allowance of twenty taels, even if he didn't eat or drink, he could only save a little over two hundred taels in a year.
Even if Song Yao was incredibly generous, giving him over a hundred and thirty taels a day (converted from Affection Points), in a year... good heavens, Xu Kaicheng exclaimed inwardly, at the rate Song Yao was throwing money at him, if this kept up for a year, Song Yao alone could cover half of his life-buying money.
Xu Kaicheng swallowed hard, feeling that he had underestimated Song Yao's importance.
For this little money god, it seemed he should pay even more attention.
Shaking his head, he set aside the long-term little money god for now. Better to think practically about earning a hundred thousand taels of silver as quickly as possible.
After all, Wei Cai'e had already developed murderous intentions toward him. The plot butterfly had woken the Old Marquis, but judging by how things looked, the old fellow had no intention of helping him. The Old Madam had been the first to fall, and without the Old Madam's restraint, Wei Cai'e seemed to be getting out of control.
He couldn't let the butterfly effect end up taking his own little life first. That would completely contradict his original intention of finding someone to save the old man.
Tsk tsk tsk, he couldn't help but marvel—the male lead's halo was really something. When the Old Madam was awake, she protected him. When the Old Marquis, who had been poisoned by the Old Madam, woke up, it still had no effect on the male lead whatsoever.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, since he'd already made big claims, using this as an opportunity to launch his money-making plan wasn't a bad idea.
He opened his golden finger panel and typed in [Rouge Making Methods]. Over a dozen entries popped up at once, and the deluxe bundle alone cost ten thousand Affection Points.
Xu Kaicheng blinked and glanced at his current Affection Points total—two thousand four hundred and seventy-three.
Fortunately, it could be bought separately. He excluded the methods for face powder, eyebrow powder, lip color, and a whole series of other items, finally keeping only a moisturizing cream. After all, he wasn't really trying to open a rouge shop — he needed to prepare for what came next.
A thousand Affection Points exchanged for the moisturizing cream recipe. Xu Kaicheng quickly found paper and brush and began writing down the needed raw materials.
He directly swapped the oil for lard, then beeswax and essential oil. He had water on hand, and he wrote down several tools for making it. After finishing, he secretly went out to find Zhao Guangming and handed him the note.
In less than half an hour, everything he needed was delivered. Although Zhao Guangming said that because of the rush he'd only sent a few things for him to practice with, the raw materials packed into an entire food box were more than enough for him to work with.
Originally, the oil should have been coconut oil, olive oil, or sweet almond oil and other plant-based oils. But first, these things weren't easy to find in this era, and second, Xu Kaicheng's main target was the soldiers at Liexi Pass. So he directly substituted the oil with lard.
The advantages of lard for moisturizing and skin care simply couldn't be explained in just a few words. After all, you never saw a butcher whose hands cracked in winter, did you?
The tools needed to make these things were also very simple. When making it secretly, a kerosene lamp and a small iron box were enough. Zhao Guangming had found him a small stove, already lit with coal and charcoal prepared.
The small iron box was about the size of the bottom of a food box, which made things much easier
First, melt the beeswax by heating it over water, then pour in some lard. Finally, add the essential oil and water and boil until the mixture becomes increasingly thick and fragrant. Then cool the formed paste-like mixture and put it into containers—completely done.
It was that simple.
He didn't add much essential oil. Xu Kaicheng hadn't originally paid attention to the essential oil matter. It was only when he saw a small bottle in the box with a note specifically stating the price of half a tael of silver that he realized.
Essential oils already existed in this era, but the extraction technology wasn't mature yet, so a tiny bottle of just over a hundred milliliters could sell for half a tael of silver.
Presumably, Zhao Guangming had told Xu Kaicheng, who wanted to do business, the cost of each raw material so he wouldn't lose money when pricing.
Lard was very cheap—a large jar of about two catties for sixty copper coins. Water cost nothing. About half a catty of beeswax for fifteen copper coins. Along with the delivery came two wooden boxes the size of soap dishes and two ceramic boxes of the same size.
He had to admit, Zhao Guangming was frighteningly thorough in everything he did.
But Zhao Guangming had still underestimated Xu Kaicheng's production capacity. He had directly made nearly two catties of moisturizing cream. Four boxes were filled, and there was still more than half left over.
Without a shop or reputation, even the best product wouldn't fetch a good price when it first came out.
Xu Kaicheng went out again and ordered two hundred ceramic boxes the size of a baby's palm at five copper coins each on Ciqi Street. They were called ceramic, but they were really just pottery. The shopkeeper wanted it to sound more upscale, and Xu Kaicheng didn't mind the little pottery boxes at all.
Things without any technical difficulty were completed by the next morning. When Xu Kaicheng handed the two hundred filled small boxes to Zhao Guangming, his eyes were shining with excitement.
One small box priced at twenty copper coins, two hundred sold would be four thousand copper coins. Material costs were one tael of silver, boxes were one tael of silver—a quick turnaround would earn back two taels. Xu Kaicheng gave one of the large ceramic boxes to Zhao Guangming, then ran off before the other could refuse.
Zhao Guangming looked at the box in his hand, his thoughts churning. Opening the box, he could smell a faint, fresh fragrance of essential oil. Since Xu Kaicheng had said he wanted to do a rouge business, Zhao Guangming had assumed it was meant to be sold to young girls and older women, so the essential oil chosen was a hundred-flowers essential oil. In this case, it turned out to be quite suitable.
He scooped out a small amount from the box and spread it on the back of his hand, slowly rubbing it in. The skin absorbed it quickly, and most importantly, the skin on the entire back of his hand was visibly more moisturized.
He waited a full quarter of an hour. The back of the hand with the moisturizing cream was still noticeably more moisturized than the other. Zhao Guangming's eyes flickered rapidly as he looked at the boxes on the table.
Originally, he had only wanted to repay General Xu Linran's life-saving grace. He hadn't expected the Second Young... no, the Young Master to actually have considerable ability.
If this thing...
Zhao Guangming acted quickly. First, he personally visited several mid-tier rouge and cosmetics shops, bringing the product to discuss cooperation. Xu Kaicheng had given a retail price of twenty copper coins, which became his floor price. He eventually struck deals with two of the shops, agreeing to supply five hundred boxes a month at thirty copper coins per small box.
He signed a one-month contract first. Once the follow-up effects came in, they could consider signing a longer agreement.
Two shops meant a thousand boxes. The two hundred boxes Xu Kaicheng had given him didn't even need to be sold retail.
When Zhao Guangming found Xu Kaicheng that afternoon with the deposit and contract, Xu Kaicheng was completely stunned.
Was this the power of the money-making genius from the original novel—the god of wealth who nearly turned Xu Kaixuan's assets into the greatest fortune of the Rong Dynasty?
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