Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 379 Wholesale Steamed Buns and Frozen Dumplings

Li Bing said, "How about this, boss? There's another place over there that's also making things right now, so why don't we just make everything there? Steamed buns, twisted rolls, sugar triangles, dumplings, and we can even add some pancakes. That way, our students can learn a lot more. Then we can just focus on selling here, and these ladies can go over and train the students."

Xiao Wei said, "So you're going to sell them all cold? Besides, how many would you have to produce a day? And where would you sell them? Right now, all of us workers and trainees are eating these things every day as our staple food; we hardly ever cook rice anymore."

Li Bing said, "Just send them all here. If we stop operating here, we can free up space in the house and stock it up. We can sell and wholesale. It's too slow for us to find a place ourselves, so let's do wholesale. Let the people buy it and find a place to sell it themselves. Then we can slowly find a place to open our own shops. Isn't that enough?"

Xiao Wei asked, "How do we transport it? That stuff is sensitive to pressure, needs to be kept warm, and can't be kept overnight. What are we going to do?"

Li Bing said, "If you steam it here and sell it on the spot, people won't need to reheat it after buying it. It'll just be cold when they take it home anyway, and this stuff isn't afraid of getting cold. Besides, it's not so fragile when it's cold, as long as you don't put heavy things on top of it."

Xiao Wei frowned and thought for a long time before saying, "Is it feasible? Will anyone approve it?"

Li Bing said, "Yes, many places are not able to pay wages right now. Not everyone can open a shop. There are plenty of people who can't make money. As long as there is even a sliver of hope, someone will do it."

Sister Zhang said, "There are people here, don't worry. Xiao Bing has lost a lot of hair these days because of your steamed bun shop. Why don't you give it a try? Why are you so unhappy now?"

Xiao Wei scratched his head, looked into the steamed bun shop, and said, "So you're not going to do anything here?"

Li Bing said, "We won't work here anymore. We'll just clear out the inside, tidy up the storage space, and separate the boiler from the front. It'll be clean enough to build a small hut inside for people to sleep in."

Xiao Wei said, "Really? What if someone at the restaurant wants to eat dumplings or pancakes?"

Li Bing said, "Frozen! Wrap them up and freeze them. When you want to eat them, just take them out and cook them. Boss, we should be able to make a living selling frozen dumplings."

Xiao Wei asked, "Who are we selling to? How many people are out buying dumplings these days? I think it's not as good as pancakes; at least people buy those."

Li Bing said, "Restaurants, there are so many restaurants in the whole of Longcheng. If each restaurant needs five jin a day, that's several hundred jin. They can also sell it in shopping malls. They can put a freezer in the mall, and it can be frozen and kept for quite a long time."

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and said, "It can't dry out, can it?" Frozen food can stay frozen for a long time, but it will dry out and then it can't be eaten.

Li Bing said, "Just wrap it with plastic wrap. Why are you being so silly?"

Master Zhai said, "Making a packaging bag is fine too. Each bag can hold about half a kilogram, and then we can sell them by the bag so it's easier to calculate the bill."

Sister Zhang thought for a moment, then brandished the kitchen knife in her hand and said, "Hey, little boss, steamed buns can be frozen, and so can pancakes. Aren't your bread and cakes already packaged? Why don't you make some new packaging and put all your steamed buns, dumplings, and pancakes in packaging and freeze them for sale? And steamed rolls too."

Xiao Wei took a few steps to the side, away from the gleaming kitchen knife that was flashing in Zhang Jie's hand, and said, "So, how much does it cost to wholesale? How much is one steamed bun? What if people can't sell them all or don't sell them at all? Do you handle returns? What happens if they return them?"

Li Bing paused for a moment and looked at Sister Zhang. Sister Zhang blinked and thought for a moment. Master Zhai flicked his cigarette ash and said, "Well, that's simple. Sell the ones sold fresh that day, and freeze the rest when you get them back. If you calculate it carefully, it only takes half a day, so it won't affect anything. The only question is how to set the price. A steamed bun is currently selling for 25 cents. How much of a discount should we give them? If we give them too little, it's not worth it. If we give them too much, will we still make a profit? We need to calculate this carefully."

Li Bing said, "Can we give a 5-cent discount? One for 5 cents, ten for 50 cents, how come we can't sell a hundred or so a day? That's a hundred or two a month." These days, the only ready-to-eat foods sold wholesale were popsicles and ice cream. You couldn't even make a dollar with ten of those, and they were too seasonal, so sales were not guaranteed. But many people were still eager to do it.

Xiao Wei said, "How about this? We'll hire people to go out and sell them from street to street. We'll give them a fixed amount of 100 yuan a month, and then we'll set some standards. For example, if they sell 1,000 a month, they'll get an extra 50 yuan bonus. If they sell 2,000, they'll get 100 yuan, and if they sell 5,000, they'll get 300 yuan. It'll be like they're working for us. We don't need to invest any capital. All we need is a bicycle."

Sister Zhang turned her head and asked, "What if you sold several hundred in a month?"

Xiao Wei said, "Then forget it, just take the hundred yuan and leave."

Li Bing said, "What if they take the steamed buns and leave without coming back?"

Brother Zhai took a puff of his cigarette and said, "How about a deposit? I can't carry much at a time. I'll charge you 50 cents per steamed bun."

Sister Zhang pointed a knife at Brother Zhai and said, "I didn't realize you were so ruthless, you surnamed Zhai."

Li Bing said, "We'll buy it at the normal price; if it doesn't come back, we'll treat it as a sale."

Sister Zhang asked, "What should we use to pack it?"

Xiao Wei said, "How about like selling popsicles? Make a few cardboard boxes, cover them with a thin blanket, would that work?"

Brother Zhai nodded slowly and said, "That's fine. However, that thin blanket needs to be changed every day, otherwise it might not work. Once the weather gets warmer, it'll grow mold if it's not washed for a few days, won't it?"

Xiao Wei turned to look at Li Bing, who was taken aback and asked, "Why are you looking at me?"

Xiao Wei said, "We're only selling with ten people. We'll have to take apart and wash those thin blankets every day. Is that feasible?"

Li Bing said, "Just wash and dry it, why are you watching me? Why should I do it? Let whoever sells it do it, just make a rule, that's all."

Sister Zhang said, "If they could make money, they could probably make new quilts every day, let alone wash them every day. Every family has elderly people and young children to support. How can they not make a living? This world, tsk, I wonder what it will be like in the future."

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "That makes sense. Let's find people then. First, let's find people to sell the goods. We should be able to find thirty or fifty people from the whole of Longcheng to sell them, right?"

Brother Zhai nodded and said, "It's feasible. Thirty or fifty isn't much. Actually, it would be best to set up fixed locations. Ideally, we could deliver goods in the morning and collect them in the evening. If they're willing to sell in different locations, we wouldn't need to worry about them. Otherwise, it's impossible to manage. If they're close to us, it's fine, but if they're far away, they'll just be riding their bikes back and forth all day and won't be able to sell anything."

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and said, "Then we need to make a sign. I'm afraid there will be students learning it soon, so we need to differentiate ourselves from others."

Brother Zhai said, "Look at people from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, they all have names for their shops, like Baolilai. But you're just calling it a cake shop. If you ask me, you might as well just give it a name. If you make it big and famous in the future, it'll be a brand."

(End of this chapter)