More Risk Than Reward?

Without this, it would be very easy for the bookstore to cheat, since the two girls couldn't possibly have someone guarding the bookstore every day, counting how many stories they sold. Although the bookstore could cooperate with the printing workshop to deceive the two girls, it would be much more difficult to get a workshop involved to help them cheat.

The agreement was written into the contract. If the young girl had any doubts about the amount and took the contract to the yamen to file a lawsuit, then not only the bookstore would be punished, but also the workshop.

For a few taels or even tens of taels of silver, no printing workshop would agree to take such a risk unless they offered an extremely tempting price.

But wouldn't it be pointless to embezzle money to bribe printing workshops? They wouldn't gain anything, and they'd be taking a huge risk.

"Thank you for your kind words, shopkeeper." Seeing the shop assistant had finished grinding the ink, Zhao Ruxi volunteered, "I'll write the contract. We'll have to trouble you to find a middleman, shopkeeper."

The shopkeeper was surprised, but still gestured, "Please, young lady." He then instructed his assistant to go to the shop next door and fetch the shopkeeper from there.

Zhao Ruxi had signed contracts with the silver shop before and was familiar with the format of ancient contracts. She wrote it according to the ancient format, and then added the "liability for breach of contract" and the method and time of payment before stopping.

The shopkeeper looked at the contract, then looked up and glanced at Zhao Ruxi again.

When he saw Zhao Ruxi asking him to go next door to fetch a middleman, he once again felt that Zhao Ruxi, seemingly shrewd, was actually quite naive. After all, they had signed a white contract instead of a red one, which didn't need to be reported to the government for record-keeping. In case of a dispute, only the middleman would make the decision. And this middleman was someone he had invited, someone he knew. If he breached the contract, the middleman would side with him, and this young girl would have no chance of being in the right.

But seeing that the contract was written in such detail, without a single loophole, he began to doubt his own judgment.

Seeing him looking at her, Zhao Ruxi smiled and said, "Does the shopkeeper think I trust you too much? Actually, for me, this is just a matter of a few taels of silver, not even worth rewarding my servants. But since it shows the shopkeeper's character, then it's worth it."

She smiled and said, "After all, my sister is only thirteen years old. She has a long time to write stories. It's worth spending a few taels of silver to find a trustworthy person with whom we can work long-term."

These words made the shopkeeper break out in a cold sweat.

It turns out it wasn't the girl who was stupid, but him.

He cupped his hands in a sheepish smile and said, "No, no, our shop operates with integrity and has no intention of deceiving you two ladies." As he spoke, he secretly wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"However, you must add another clause to the contract: the next copy must be sold to this store and cannot be sold to anyone else."

Zhao Ruxi looked at him with a half-smile, "Shopkeeper Jiang, you really know how to play the game. Do you think I would add that clause to your terms? Are you trying to take advantage of our youth and ignorance and deceive us?"

Shopkeeper Jiang broke out in a sweat again. "No, no, no, it really isn't true. With ladies as shrewd as you, how could I dare to deceive you?"

"But this..." He looked at the contract and hesitated.

With Shopkeeper Jiang's discerning eye, if this storybook were sold to the ladies of the city, it would surely be very popular. The older women in their families would certainly want their daughters to read it. Therefore, even if the book doesn't become a huge hit, it will at least sell well. And with this kind of collaborative approach...

These female guests were literate, so they naturally read and wrote a lot, which meant they needed to buy writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. Just as this young lady said, storybooks could attract a large flow of people.

But if the next book isn't sold to him, won't this wave of customers go to other stores? It's a small matter if he earns less money, but watching his business become someone else's would probably make him feel terrible.

"How about I give you another two taels of silver?" He raised his head and looked at Zhao Ruxi.

Zhao Ruxi shook her head. "If you want the next book, my condition isn't money, but sales volume. If you can sell five hundred copies within Shopkeeper Jiang months, my sister's next storybook will definitely be sold to you, and we'll still cooperate in the same way we did today."

Shopkeeper Jiang frowned and fell into deep thought.

Because books were expensive, many people couldn't bear to buy the storybooks themselves and preferred to borrow others to copy. So his best-selling storybook sold eight hundred copies, but it took him at least half a year to reach that sales volume.

"No, no, five hundred copies is too many. If the timeframe were changed to a year, that might be possible. Selling five hundred copies in three months? Young lady, you overestimate our line of work. Let me tell you the truth, none of the bookstores in Beining can sell five hundred copies of a storybook in three months, not a single one."

"If not in Beining, then what about the capital?" Zhao Ruxi asked.

Shopkeeper Jiang: "..."

The ladies and noblewomen of the capital are certainly not short of money. It's entirely possible for them to sell five hundred copies of such a storybook within three months.

But his shop is in Beining, not in the capital...

"Shopkeeper Jiang, please don't make things difficult for yourself. Just sign it." Seeing him shake his head, Zhao Ruxi knew he lacked resolve, so she didn't want to delay any longer.

Their lunch break is so short, we can't let it go to waste like this.

Seeing that Shopkeeper Jiang was still hesitant, she advised, "Try one book first, and we'll see. If this one becomes a hit, you can just add this clause to your next book."

Shopkeeper Jiang's eyes lit up. "Yes, yes, that's the way to do it." He quickly signed and pressed his fingerprint on the contract.

After signing the contract, Zhao Ruxi and Xu Xue left behind the storybook and took their leave.

Once inside the carriage, Xu Xue asked, "Sister, if we use your method, can we earn more money?"

When Zhao Ruxi was writing the contract, she used her mathematical knowledge to do some calculations and found that she couldn't understand Zhao Ruxi's way of cooperating at all.

She needs to sell three hundred copies of her storybook to earn six taels of silver. But selling three hundred copies is extremely difficult. To achieve her goal, it would probably take a year, and even a year might not be enough. Perhaps after selling for a short time, no one will buy her storybook anymore.

Moreover, judging from the shopkeeper's expression, they could easily raise the price to eight or ten taels. Twenty taels was out of the question.

In Xu Xue's view, Zhao Ruxi's approach to cooperation was entirely detrimental to her interests.

But in her mind, her older sister was incredibly capable, even more so than her parents, and would never do anything that would lose money. So there must be something about this kind of cooperation that she hadn't considered.

"This is for our long-term benefit," Zhao Ruxi explained earnestly. "When you write your first storybook under this pen name, it might sell few copies. After all, you're not famous yet, and people who like storybooks don't know who you are. But once they've read your first book and feel that you've written it well, they won't need the bookstore clerks to recommend it; they'll come to you on their own initiative asking if you have any new books."