Chapter 161: A Costly Venture
Chapter 161: A Costly Venture
Jiang Xia glanced at Zhou Guohua as he entered the convenience store and then turned back to Marquis Hou, smiling, "The price is a bit high due to the cost of production."
Marquis Hou, munching on a piece of dried fish, replied, "It's fried, so it's normal for it to be a bit more expensive. The fish fry can be made in large quantities. With Mid-Autumn Festival approaching and the New Year just a few months away, these will sell like hotcakes! Make more, and I'll buy as much as you can produce. Make one batch spicier and another sweeter. Package them like this! Pack them in one-pound or two-pound bags."
Jiang Xia shook her head, "For now, I can't make too many. These are fried, so they use a lot of oil, and I need other seasonings like salt, sugar, and sesame seeds, which are all quite expensive. Plus, it's a lot of work! It's quite a hassle to make them."
Marquis Hou took another piece, "I'll find a way to get you some money so you can make more. How much do you sell these fish fry for?"
Jiang Xia replied, "They're a bit pricey because of the high production cost. I sell the fish fry for 5 yuan per pound, yellow croaker for 7 yuan per pound, and mixed fish fry for 3.5 yuan per pound."
Jiang Xia quoted a price 50 cents higher than her budget, leaving room for negotiation.
Marquis Hou considered that the cost of making dried fish was more than double that of fresh fish, and with the additional expenses of oil, sesame seeds, and other sauces, the price was reasonable, not too high.
He agreed, "Alright, make as much as you can, and I'll buy it all. Produce more."
Jiang Xia smiled, "I really can't make that much. I don't have oil or sesame oil coupons to buy the necessary supplies."
Everyone knew that larger volumes meant more profit in business, but current conditions limited their production capacity.
"I'll find a way to get you what you need!" Marquis Hou pointed at the plastic bags of dried fish, "Are these all barracuda fish jerky?"
Jiang Xia clarified, "No, there are several types of dried fish. I have 373 pounds of red fir fish jerky, 146 pounds of barracuda jerky, 225 pounds of scaleless fish jerky, 56 pounds of shrimp, 63 pounds of baby squid jerky, 56 pounds of baby octopus jerky, and 100 pounds of giant oysters."
The dried oysters she had prepared earlier were intended for the New Year, but with Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, Jiang Xia decided to sell a portion of them to test the market. If they sold well, she could collect more from the island and sell them during the New Year.
After all, they had already applied for the contract to manage that area of the ocean, including the island.
"Alright, I'll take them all. Let me examine these dried fish..."
In the end, Jiang Xia kept the dried fish and fish fry that were given to Zhang Fuyan and Jiang Dong, selling the rest to Marquis Hou.
Marquis Hou, satisfied with the well-dried and evenly sized red fir fish jerky without heads, agreed to a price of 2.7 yuan per pound. He also purchased the barracuda jerky for 1.35 yuan per pound, the scaleless fish jerky for 2 yuan per pound, the shrimp of various sizes for 3 yuan per pound, the baby squid jerky for 2.2 yuan per pound, the baby octopus jerky for 2.5 yuan per pound, and the giant oysters for 3.8 yuan per pound. In total, he bought all the dried fish for 2,480.8 yuan.
The six jars of fish fry, yellow croaker, and mixed fish, excluding the weight of the jars, totaled 168 pounds. The spicy yellow croaker weighed 57 pounds, the spicy mixed fish weighed 167 pounds, and all six jars were sold for 1,683.5 yuan.
The jars would be returned later.
The total earnings from this transaction were 4,164.3 yuan.
However, Jiang Xia had also spent a considerable amount to purchase the dried fish. After calculating her profits from reselling the dried fish, she estimated a gain of around 175 yuan, less than 200 yuan.
Jiang Xia had sorted the mixed fish jerky she bought, selling the larger and better-looking ones as dried fish. The smaller ones were made into spicy mixed fish jerky and spicy yellow croaker jerky, which were more profitable. The spicy mixed fish jerky could earn her about 2 yuan per pound after deducting costs, while the spicy yellow croaker jerky could bring in around 5 yuan per pound.
So, from this, she made a profit of 539 yuan, which she split evenly with He Xinghuan, earning 269.5 yuan each.
In other words, Jiang Xia personally earned over 400 yuan from this dried fish venture.
It was a bit of a hassle, having to collect and sort the dried fish, but it was still a decent extra income.
(End of Chapter 161)
Now, even when it came to collecting fish, both Great-Grandmother and He Xinghuan took the initiative to handle the tasks of sorting and drying the fish. They felt that receiving a four-part share of the profits for simply helping to dry and fry the fish was too generous.
So, Jiang Xia decided to let them handle the collection and sorting of the fish, giving them half of the profits, while she took charge of selling and preparing the fish fry in various flavors.
After finishing her sales, Jiang Xia contacted Marquis Hou as agreed and happily left the city dock with 4,000 silver dollars, heading straight for the train station.
Once Zhou Chenglei drove off on the tractor, Zhou Guohua emerged from the convenience store, quickly grabbing two packs of Dabaojian cigarettes and approaching Marquis Hou. He said, "Comrade, I also sell dried fish. Will you buy mine too? I'm from the same village as Ah Lei. His fish are also collected from the villagers, just like mine."
Marquis Hou glanced at the cigarettes he offered, waved his hand, and declined, saying, "Let me see your fish."
Zhou Guohua quickly led him to the bags of fish.
"My fish are all well-dried, just like Ah Lei's. If you buy them all, I can offer them a penny cheaper per pound than him. Take a look at my fish."
Marquis Hou took a look and didn't even bother to flip through them. He couldn't help but think to himself, "The same fish? They're not even close!"
Zhou Chenglei and Xia's fish had been sorted, and each one was of uniform size, making them very presentable.
In contrast, Zhou Guohua's mixed fish and red fir fish were of varying sizes and had not been sorted. Who knew how many small fish were mixed in?
Marquis Hou directly offered a price, "Red fir fish at 2.1 yuan per pound, and mixed fish at 1.3 yuan per pound."
Zhou Guohua was stunned. What? So cheap? Just the red fir fish alone would result in a loss of 52 cents per pound at this price! How could he sell at this rate? Zhou Chenglei and his group bought red fir fish at 2.5 yuan per pound and mixed fish at 1 yuan per pound. They wouldn't sell at a loss! They must be making a profit of at least 10 or 20 cents, right?
Zhou Guohua couldn't help but say, "2 yuan per pound for red fir fish is too cheap! How about 2.6 yuan for red fir fish and 1.1 yuan for mixed fish?"
Marquis Hou gave him a look as if he were an idiot, shook his head, and said, "I've bought enough fish. I won't buy any more."
Then he walked away.
Was he treating him like a fool?
Who would sell mixed fish at over 1 yuan per pound? Even 70 cents per pound was already a high price!
Zhou Guohua watched Marquis Hou leave, feeling helpless. He couldn't possibly sell at a loss!
The price he had offered was already very low, leaving him with little profit.
After all, he had to pay for his transportation by car, and the bags of fish took up space, for which he had also paid 1.5 yuan for transportation.
If he lowered the price further, he would be working for nothing!
The consequence of not lowering the price was that by 4 p.m., he hadn't sold a single pound.
At this moment, a middleman approached him and asked if he wanted to sell his fish, "Will you sell red fir fish at 2 yuan per pound and mixed fish at 55 cents per pound?"
Zhou Guohua asked, "Can I raise the price a bit?"
The middleman turned and left.
Zhou Guohua quickly called out to him, "Comrade, I'll sell!"
If he didn't sell, he couldn't take them back, could he? It was getting late, and he still had to pick up Wen Wan.
Moreover, taking them back would incur another transportation fee, and bringing them into the city again would mean another fee. It would be even more of a loss to keep going back and forth!
So, he ended up selling at a loss, losing 62 cents per pound for red fir fish and 47 cents per pound for mixed fish. It was a huge loss!
There were still several hundred pounds of fish back home, and they continued to collect more every day. What should he do?
On the other side, after leaving the city dock, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei arrived at the city train station.
Zhou Chenglei carried six large plastic bags, while Jiang Xia held a small basket, insisting on carrying it herself. Otherwise, Zhou Chenglei could have carried it with one hand. Instead, he held Jiang Xia's hand to prevent her from being jostled by the constant flow of people.
The train station was truly crowded, especially with the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching! The air was thick with people, each carrying a large bag or a bamboo pole with luggage.
Jiang Xia tightly clutched the 4,000 silver dollars in her pocket.
The two of them squeezed through the crowd and managed to find the station master.
Thank you to all the readers who voted and rewarded!
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
