Christmas

1881 was a year of development; the emergence of department stores enriched the material lives of the citizens of Vienna.

Ferdinand, with his wild imagination, traveled further and further down the path of a cunning merchant, his various schemes leaving people breathless.

The products of the Shineway Food Group grew increasingly diverse, ranging from a wide variety of noodles and numerous brands of biscuits to chips of all different flavors.

Bakers officially moved into the supermarkets, and all kinds of pastries made their debut, catching the eyes of Viennese citizens and greatly facilitating people's daily lives.

Naturally, this also enriched Ferdinand's pockets. Volvo had already spread across the Austro-Hungarian Empire, its footprints covering every major city.

Of course, the Shineway Food Group, following the supermarkets, transformed from a shell company into a name that lived up to its reputation, becoming one of the few major companies in the food processing sector of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

With Christmas approaching, Volvo became even busier. Under Ferdinand's prodding, Franz, in a daze, began making preparations for the Christmas events.

Ferdinand could not afford to relax; several supermarkets were already being renovated in Vienna, their styles essentially plagiarized from Volvo.

There were, of course, those who tried to be unconventional, but Ferdinand automatically ignored them. Those who knew nothing yet insisted on innovating were simply courting death and posed no real threat.

It was foreseeable that a large crowd of supermarkets would inevitably spring up in Vienna in 1882. Ferdinand's era of monopoly was coming to an end, and a period of fierce competition was about to begin.

Ferdinand estimated that the next three to five years would be the golden age for supermarkets, as competitors were still in the learning and exploration phase; within five to ten years, it would gradually transition to a silver age, where competitors would increase and profit margins would begin to thin.

However, Volvo's dominant position was already secured, and it would be difficult for latecomers to challenge it in the short term. Ten years later, once his supporting industries were perfected, he would possess a complete industrial chain, maximizing profits and having no fear of competition!

Taking stock of the gains in 1881, Volvo had opened thirty-six new branches in the nearly six months since its opening on June 18, exceeding the planned targets.

At the same time, it contributed a net profit of thirty thousand pounds to Ferdinand, though most of the profit had been consumed by the opening of new stores.

The average monthly profit per supermarket remained around eight hundred pounds, and the profit of the earliest aristocratic supermarket even reached around two thousand pounds! It was terrifying, and it was currently Ferdinand's largest single source of personal income.

The Shineway Food Group Co., Ltd. also performed quite well. After the flour mill was restructured, thanks to the rapid expansion of sales channels, its monthly profit grew from the initial three hundred pounds to one thousand pounds now.

The newly established noodle factory had average sales. Although Ferdinand had created many brands, Europeans were not accustomed to using chopsticks, though the pasta sold quite well.

It had suffered slight losses at the beginning, and now the monthly profit was only around one hundred pounds, which greatly disappointed Ferdinand.

Fortunately, this was only a small factory with a dozen people, and he had not blindly expanded its scale, otherwise, it would not even be profitable now.

The snack processing plant, however, had good efficiency; items like popcorn, chips, and various biscuits all sold well.

From its establishment to the present, the snack processing plant had expanded twice and now employed over eight hundred people.

In terms of scale among Ferdinand's industries, it was second only to Volvo. Its monthly profit now reached as high as eight thousand pounds, and there was still plenty of room for improvement.

Throughout 1881, Ferdinand had founded an industry worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, yet the cash in his pocket had only increased by a mere ten thousand pounds.

Christmas arrived, and Volvo had exquisite Christmas trees placed in front of its doors, with a dazzling array of food displayed inside the counters.

Wearing a red pointed cap and a long crimson robe, a white-bearded Santa Claus held a gift bag, waving to the people and handing out bags of food to the children passing by.

The supermarket also launched a holiday promotion, with a wide variety of goods marked with discounted prices, attracting the passing crowds.

This was entirely arranged by Ferdinand according to the Christmas customs of later Austria. The effect looked quite good; many products were snapped up, leaving only rows of empty shelves and exhausted sales clerks in the supermarket.

Christmas is the most important holiday in the West, and Ferdinand's family was no exception. They were invited to Schönbrunn Palace to attend the Christmas dinner with a group of relatives in Vienna.

Afterward, the family sang and danced under the Christmas tree and exchanged Christmas gifts, the whole scene filled with a warm atmosphere.

As the clock struck midnight, Ferdinand and the others stood up, lit candles one by one, recited the Bible in unison, exchanged blessings, and then sang Christmas carols. The first Christmas carol to spread across the world originated in Oberndorf, Salzburg, Austria.

After singing the Christmas carols, Ferdinand left Schönbrunn Palace to attend mass at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna.

At this time, a tall Christmas tree stood inside the cathedral, with a shining star on top pointing the way for the "Three Kings" Caspar, Balthasar, and Melchior to Bethlehem.

The streets and alleys of Vienna were now filled with the figures of children singing Christmas carols and going from house to house to spread the good news.

The nobles and capitalists were uncharacteristically generous for once; all workers were given time off, and many even received Christmas gifts.

At least the workers under Ferdinand all received a Christmas gift, which consisted of snacks produced by the factories and some slow-moving products.

In any case, the factories Ferdinand owned produced food, which was a very valuable gift for the destitute workers.

If not for the timely reminder from Butler Karl, Ferdinand would have almost issued a year-end bonus. Fortunately, he reacted in time; one had to know that in this era, raising workers' wages without authorization would invite the hostility of other capitalists!

After a lively Christmas, the next morning, Ferdinand was woken up by Princess Clémentine.

Sleeping in was a bad habit Ferdinand had developed in his previous life, but Princess Clémentine detested it, believing it would erode a person's willpower.

Ferdinand resisted a few times to no avail, and in the end, he obediently listened. He had thought Christmas might be an exception, but reality told him otherwise.

Morning exercise was also a tradition of the Kohary Family; the life of a military noble was not as easy as people imagined.

Aside from a very few exceptions, most German nobles followed traditions and were strictly disciplined from a young age. They had to learn far more knowledge than ordinary people and had almost no happy childhoods.

The nobles of Vienna were beginning to decay, but most of them were nouveau riche, greedy for pleasure, which in turn tarnished the reputation of the entire aristocratic circle.

The strictness with which truly established great nobles demanded of their descendants was beyond what ordinary people could imagine!