And I must say, Yingzi's wild mushroom sauce isn't expensive at all.
Two bottles of wild mushroom sauce, with free shipping to most parts of the country, are only 28 yuan.
Compare that to the movie ticket price for the Best Actor winner; it's only a quarter of the price of a regular movie ticket!
I wouldn't mind buying two extra portions.
Lang Ying was still worrying about how to write the script for her next live broadcast when she received a call from Jiang Yu.
"Sister Yingzi! Quick, go check backstage! Your sales have exploded!"
What?!
Lang Ying quickly opened the online store's backend and saw that the 9999 inventory she had casually written had become zero. She was completely stunned.
Her first thought was that the website had crashed.
My second thought was that she simply didn't have 9,999 portions of wild mushroom sauce to ship out right now!
One serving of wild mushroom sauce contains two bottles, so 9999 servings would be nearly 20,000 bottles!
After a moment of stunned silence, Lang Ying quickly called the website's customer service. Upon learning that the website hadn't crashed, but that she had indeed sold that many items, her legs went weak, and she almost collapsed to the ground.
What's going on? Did Xiaoman and Xiaoyu help her sell so many?
"We don't have that kind of ability. It was the movie star who recorded a promotional video for you. I reckon the vast majority of these videos were filmed by the movie star's fans," Jiang Xiaoman said, revealing the truth.
"Then, what do we do now? We don't have that much stock in our warehouse." Lang Ying was on the verge of tears.
"Even if we don't have the goods, we have to find a way to get them out! This opportunity is too rare. Sister Yingzi, do you know how much appearance fee Jiang Yuan has to pay to promote our products? At least eight figures! Even if we sold all three of our accounts together, it wouldn't be worth as much as one of his videos!" Jiang Xiaoman yelled on the other end of the phone.
Immediately afterwards, the entire village was mobilized.
"This is a decisive battle that will determine whether our Langshan Village can become the number one e-commerce village in the township!"
"Fellow villagers, the time for us to be tested has come! Whether we can win this battle and whether we can make the reputation of our Langshan Village's local specialties go far depends entirely on you!"
At the impromptu village meeting, Jiang Xiaoman enthusiastically motivated the villagers, and took the opportunity to use the successful case of the neighboring Banligou as an example—
“Look at Banligou. It used to be similar to our village, right? A few years ago, they became famous for rural e-commerce. Now, every household in their village lives in a big villa and drives a car. The average annual income per family has exceeded 200,000 yuan!”
"Just imagine, if we could also make e-commerce in the village a success, and every household could earn 200,000 yuan a year, wouldn't that be wonderful?"
“Even if not for yourself, you should at least think about the children, right? Just look at me. I graduated from a top university, and I still can’t find a job. How difficult it is for people from rural areas to get into university. What about those who can’t get in?”
"Everyone who has worked in a factory knows how tough it is. If there were jobs available near home, who would want to send their child to work in a factory, screwing screws or operating a sewing machine?"
“If we work hard now to lay a good foundation for our children, they will suffer less in the future. Even if they can’t find good jobs in the city, they can find work at the cooperative back home. It’s close to home, the income is not bad, and we can see them every day. Isn’t that great!”
Jiang Xiaoman's words made the villagers eager to try it out.
Everyone in the village knows how wealthy Banligou is now. After all, it's close by, and many people on both sides used to be related. I heard that every family there now owns a big villa, and during holidays, the family that runs a farmhouse can earn several thousand yuan a day. It's so enviable!
Although they didn't understand what Jiang Xiaoman's idea of sending them into the mountains to pick mushrooms had to do with developing rural e-commerce, everyone could see how big Jiang Xiaoman's business had become. Even Lang Ying, who had worked with him, had now started her own factory. This showed that following Xiaoman meant there was good fortune to be had!
It doesn't matter if they don't understand, as long as Xiaoman does.
If they don't know where to go, then they should just follow Xiaoman.
Follow Xiaoman and you can't go wrong!!!
Thinking of this, the villagers all expressed their determination to do everything they could to support Lang Ying in getting through this inventory crisis.
Moreover, Lang Ying didn't let them work for nothing. They went into the mountains to pick mushrooms and sold them to a pickle factory. Although the price wasn't as high as selling them at a stall in town, they weren't worried about not being able to sell them all and having them go to waste. In the end, they earned more than if they had sold them themselves.
With the participation of all the villagers in Langshan Village, and with the help of Qingshan's family in Laoshan'aozi, both sides put in a lot of effort and searched the mountain for a week before finally managing to deliver the goods.
After finishing the task, everyone was exhausted.
However, the performance was truly outstanding. Just from this batch of goods being shipped out, including the losses and return costs along the way, Lang Ying earned back the operating costs of the pickle factory for the next six months.
In other words, whatever Lang Ying sells each month for the next six months will be pure profit.
Not only did Lang Ying, the boss, make a fortune, but the villagers who helped her pick mushrooms in the mountains also made a small fortune.
This is the season when wild mushrooms from Langshan are in season. In previous years, everyone would go into the mountains to pick more to sell when they first came on the market and the prices were at their highest. However, the price of these mushrooms fluctuates too much. The first batch of wild mushrooms came on the market in less than ten days, and the price plummeted from the sky to the mud. So, in the past, villagers would pick them when they were initially expensive, and once the price dropped, only a few diligent people would go into the mountains to pick some for themselves.
But this year is different. Lang Ying is buying without limit. No matter how many you pick, even if you take away an entire mountain of wild mushrooms, she can eat them all.
Now, the villagers are once again relieved that none of the able-bodied men in their families went out to work this year.
When it comes to making money, even the laziest men will be yelled at and beaten by their parents to go up the mountain. I heard that in just the past half month, some families with more members have made more than 20,000 yuan just from picking mushrooms!
Wow~ You earned over 20,000 in just half a month?!
Now, the villagers were truly convinced by Jiang Xiaoman's words.
That's why people say they're destined for university; their vision is far ahead of others!
However, the biggest earners this time were not from Langshan Village, but from Laoshan'aozi.
The deep mountains and forests have always been the places with the most wild mushrooms. In the past, at this time of year, Shan Yan and his team would run all over the mountains and fields, and they would ignore the cheap wild mushrooms and pick out the expensive ones.
Now it's different; we can take them all at once!
Rare and expensive wild mushrooms are sorted out and sold to Shanyan, while the cheaper, common ones are not wasted and are sold to Qingshan's eldest sister.
Qingshan has been running around helping his wife collect wild mushrooms lately, so he can't stay in the village to collect them like before. The couple discussed it and decided to leave the job to their eldest sister, Qingmei, since they don't want the good stuff to go to outsiders.
Not wanting her elder sister to have worked for nothing, Lang Ying gave her a subsidy equal to the price difference of five cents per pound of mushrooms.
Don't underestimate the small amount of 50 cents per pound; the villages and towns around Laoshan Aozi can sell at least several thousand pounds of mushrooms every day!
In addition, making this sauce also requires adding diced bamboo shoots. Qingmei also buys freshly cut spring bamboo shoots, earning two cents per pound. So, in just half a month, Qingmei has earned tens of thousands of yuan just by sitting at home buying and selling bamboo shoots...
Previously, some gossipy old women in the village would talk behind their backs, laughing at them for giving Qingshan away to become someone else's son-in-law, thus losing a son for nothing.
Now look what's happened, the slap in the face came so quickly.
Who says that sons who marry into the family are useless?
Qingshan from their family is truly blessed!
He found a beautiful and capable wife, and now not only does he run his own factory and make money, but he also helps half of the people in Langshan Town get rich.
Even their family benefited from their daughter-in-law's success. In the past, during this season, if the family members went into the mountains to pick mushrooms, they would be considered very lucky to earn two or three thousand yuan a month.
This year? Qingmei and her two children harvested mushrooms and bamboo shoots at home, and she earned more than 50,000 yuan all by herself!
Her mother went into the mountains with other villagers to pick mushrooms and earned more than 10,000 yuan.
The mushrooms in the mountains cost absolutely nothing; you can make pure profit no matter how many you pick.
After making money with her sister-in-law, Qingmei wasn't the kind of heartless sister-in-law. Seeing that Langying was so busy, she asked her brother to bring her two daughters to the mountains on the weekend.
Anyway, she'd be looking after two kids or four, and having more kids makes her meals taste better.
Da Niu and Er Niu also really enjoy playing with Qing Mei's Da Bao and Xiao Bao. Qing Mei even arranged "part-time jobs" for them to earn pocket money—helping to sort mushrooms at home. After sorting a basket, she would give them one yuan.
The children were having a blast making money, and when Qingshan came to pick them up, they didn't want to go back...
The two families got along so well that they were like one big family. Nowadays, when people in the village talk about Lang Ying, they rarely mention her previous marriage anymore.
It was as if all the hardships she had endured in the past were for the sake of waiting for Qingshan.
Everyone says she has finally reaped the rewards of her hard work, but only Lang Ying herself knows that her success today is not because she married the right person, but because she followed the right person...
At the end of the month, after reviewing the accounts with the accountant hired by the factory, Lang Ying was stunned by the sales figures on the books, even though she had been mentally prepared.
"No wonder Xiaoman has always encouraged me to create my own brand!"
Based on this sales volume, even if only half of this volume is achieved in subsequent sales, roughly calculated, her family's pickle factory would still have a gross profit of over a million yuan a year...
Lang Ying never imagined that one day she would actually become a business owner with an annual income of millions, just like the character she played in the movie.
"We should thank Actor Jiang properly," Qing Shan exclaimed.
"And Xiaoman and Xiaoyu too." Lang Ying's eyes were slightly red.
How could she, a rural woman who didn't even finish junior high school, have managed such a large business without Jiang Xiaoman's careful guidance and Jiang Yu and Shan Yan's righteous help?
The villagers were very grateful. Lang Ying asked Qing Shan to find a butcher in town and buy two local black pigs to slaughter. Each family gave her twenty catties of pork, two large black carp, and some cakes and pastries.
It wasn't that she was being lazy and didn't want to treat them to a meal; it was just that it was currently the busy farming season, and even if she invited them, many families might not have time to come. So she decided to send them some meat, vegetables, and snacks that everyone could use. Once this busy period was over, she would cook a couple of nice meals, buy a few bottles of good wine, and treat these guys to a meal.
The villagers are very grateful, but how should they thank the movie star Jiang Yuan, who is thousands of miles away?
Food definitely can't be sent out casually. Lang Ying knew this taboo when the film crew was shooting in the village before, especially for big stars like Jiang Yuan. Even the crew's boxed lunches had to be prepared separately. It wasn't that she was being arrogant, but she was afraid that someone with malicious intent would put something strange in the food...
Just then, Lang Ying saw the one-piece pen holder with the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea pattern that Jiang Youliang had carved for Jiang Xiaoman, and it even had a phone stand next to it... This thing is pretty good!
Chapter 211
Since his video account became a hit online, Jiang Youliang is no longer the unknown old man he used to be.
He is now known as Teacher Jiang, who has over 200,000 followers – this is the respectful title his fans have for him.
Fans especially enjoy watching him do bamboo carving; it's not only educational but also helps with sleep, cough~
However, over time, some fans have suggested that while Mr. Jiang is passing on intangible cultural heritage, he should also take into account the practical needs of modern people.
For example, in modern society, every household has air conditioning, so there is no longer a demand for intricately carved bamboo beds.
But those who work overtime all day in front of computers and phones have a huge demand for handmade wrist rests, phone stands, and tablet stands!
Fans strongly urged Mr. Jiang to develop more new products suitable for the daily use of modern young people.
Otherwise, they would feel a little embarrassed to come to Teacher Jiang's live stream every day to watch for free.
Jiang Xiaoman also felt that what the fans said made a lot of sense. Although the bamboo carvings made by her father looked very exquisite, the audience for pure art pieces was indeed too narrow.
But if we change our approach, as some netizens have suggested, we can produce more simple yet practical daily necessities. This would not only broaden the audience for bamboo carving art but also generate income for those working in the industry. Wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone?
Thus, Jiang Youliang changed his creative approach and, with the support of his son and fans, launched a series of bamboo-carved mobile phone stands, wrist rests, multi-functional pen holders, dressing boxes, picnic baskets, tea canisters, and the like.
Jiang Youliang now has a product showcase under his video account. Although his handmade bamboo carvings are more expensive than machine-made ones, they sell well. The multi-functional pen holder on Jiang Xiaoman's desk was made by Jiang Youliang for his son.
Lang Ying was observant and noticed that Jiang Yuan sometimes couldn't resist smoking while filming night scenes. So she decided to ask Jiang Youliang to help carve a set of bamboo cigarette cases, tea canisters, phone stands, wrist rests, and the like. These were all everyday items that weren't particularly expensive, but they were exquisite and practical.
These little things are quick to make.
A month later, Jiang Yuan's agent received a huge package from Langshan!
In addition to a complete set of bamboo carving supplies, Lang Ying also gave Jiang Yuan a whole homemade ham, a large bag of dried wild mushrooms, a large bag of dried bamboo shoots, and many other items such as dried potato chips, dried sweet potatoes, and dried wild vegetables.