The last traces of sunset were swallowed by the western mountains, the sky rapidly shifting from orange-red to indigo.

The outline of Qingshi Town grew blurred behind them, with only a few scattered lights resembling beans accidentally spilled by distant households.

The dirt road back to the village was rugged and uneven, the ruts pressed into it by ox carts during the day appearing like deep scars in the twilight.

Zhao Rui walked somewhat awkwardly, holding the hibiscus cakes packaged in their exquisite paper box.

The box had sharp, defined edges, unlike Su Ming’s bundle wrapped in coarse cloth that could be casually slung over a shoulder. He alternated between tucking it under his arm and cradling it in his arms, finding no comfortable way to carry it, looking rather discomfited.

“Su Ming.” He finally couldn’t resist speaking, his voice sounding abrupt in the quiet wilderness.

“Hmm?” Su Ming responded, turning his head to look at him.

“You… you bought all those things, spent so much money.” Zhao Rui’s tone was complex as he looked at the bulging cloth bag on Su Ming’s shoulder. “Why didn’t you buy anything for yourself? Even just a candied hawthorn stick would have been something.”

In his simple understanding, going out should always involve bringing back something for oneself as a memento.

“What belongs to my family, belongs to me.” Su Ming’s reply was simple, almost blurted out.

Lin Yu snorted lightly in Su Ming’s mind, his internal monologue rich enough to stage an entire opera: “Well now, not bad, my disciple! Your awareness is quite high! Those words are spoken with such collectivist spirit! You’ve truly grasped the essence of my ‘Way of Survival’ principle of ‘shared risks, shared benefits’! By binding your family to your chariot, your safety factor increases exponentially!”

Zhao Rui was stumped by these words.

Holding the hibiscus cakes in his arms, the delicate aroma of the pastries now seemed somewhat bland and uninteresting.

He thought of his own father, that Village Chief who always wore a stern face. What would his father say when he brought back this box of the town’s most expensive pastries? Most likely, he would frown and say “wasting money,” and that would be the end of it.

What belongs to my family, belongs to me?

Zhao Rui chewed on this phrase, feeling as if something was stuck in his heart, making him feel stifled and uncomfortable.

“Disciple, ignore him.” Lin Yu’s voice sounded lazily. “This kid is going through a phase of worldview reconstruction, his mind is a complete mess like a pot of congee. He won’t comprehend anything you say to him right now. Let him ponder it himself. Let’s talk about some serious business.”

“What serious business?” Su Ming asked, slowing his pace to wait for Zhao Rui who had fallen behind.

“The papermaking matter.” Lin Yu’s tone turned serious. “You didn’t think that grand vision of ‘making the entire village prosperous’ I painted for you could be achieved just by shouting slogans, did you?”

“Of course not.”

“Good. For a plan to succeed, there are three key points: technology, production, and sales. Technology, we have me, no problem. Production, we’ll get the whole village involved, plenty of manpower. Now, the most crucial link has arrived – sales.”

Lin Yu patiently instructed: “Once we produce our paper, who do we sell it to?”

Su Ming thought for a moment and said, “The bookshops in town? Or general stores?”

“Foolish!” Lin Yu criticized without mercy. “That’s practically throwing a newly hatched chick directly into a weasel’s den! You, a poor kid from the village, go to those merchants who eat people without spitting out the bones with a brand new, low-cost product? What do you think they will do?”

Su Ming’s mind immediately conjured images of the shrewd or arrogant faces of the shop assistants in town.

“They would push our price to the absolute minimum, interrogate us about our papermaking formula, and even… might even send people to steal it!” Su Ming quickly grasped the key issues.

“The boy is teachable!” Lin Yu praised. “Correct! Before we have sufficient strength to protect our own interests, rashly contacting those major channels is seeking our own destruction! This violates the fundamental principle of our ‘Way of Survival’ – safety first!”

Lin Yu’s internal monologue became even more active: “Just kidding, if I let you, kid, go compete with those old foxes, what if you got tricked into revealing information, or simply got kidnapped? Where would I find another host as easy to use as you? Do I still want to sleep my five-hundred-year peaceful sleep or not!”

“Then… then what should we do?” Su Ming felt somewhat troubled.

He felt like he was guarding a gold mountain but couldn’t find a safe path to dig it out and sell it.

“That’s why your vision is still too narrow, kid.” Lin Yu’s tone carried a hint of strategic pride. “Who said selling things must involve finding merchants? What we need to find are ‘end users’! And specifically, the kind of end users who need us the most and won’t pose a threat to us.”

“End users?” Su Ming was unfamiliar with this term.

“The people who actually use the paper!” Lin Yu explained. “Think about it, who did we meet in town today?”

Instantly, a lean and stubborn figure flashed through Su Ming’s mind.

“Xu Qing!”

“Bingo!” Lin Yu seemed to snap his fingers. “Him! Think about his situation. He copies books himself, and his fellow County School students also copy books. What do they need the most?”

“Paper!” Su Ming’s eyes lit up.

“Exactly! Large quantities of cheap paper!” Lin Yu’s voice was excited. “The paper from Wenbao Zhai is ridiculously expensive. These poor students have to pinch every copper coin until it screams. The grass paper we produce, even if it’s rough, is a hundred times better than the repeatedly soaked, washed waste paper they use now where the characters almost blur into blobs! For them, our paper would be like sending charcoal in snowy weather!”

Su Ming’s heartbeat began to accelerate.

He seemed to see a clear path unfolding before his eyes.

“We sell the paper to Xu Qing, we can set the price much lower than the market rate. He can use it himself and also help us sell it to other poor students at the County School. This way, we get a stable and safe sales channel!”

“Most importantly,” Lin Yu added, “Xu Qing himself is a person of proud integrity, with high self-esteem. Doing business with him is an exchange between scholars; we don’t have to worry about being cheated or robbed. Behind him is a large group of poor students. This group is our perfect ‘seed users’!”

“This is called what? This is called ‘targeted marketing’! Selling the most suitable product, through the safest channel, to the people who need it most! We earn money, gain goodwill, and avoid attracting the greed of jackals and wolves. Three benefits with one action, perfect!”

Su Ming was completely ignited by the blueprint his master painted. He wished he could run home right now and immediately start cutting bamboo to make paper.

However, Lin Yu’s voice poured cold water over his head like a bucket.

“However…” he changed his tone, “don’t celebrate too early.”

“What’s wrong, Master?”

“Think about it, Xu Qing and the others are, ultimately, a group of poor students.” Lin Yu’s tone became calm and objective. “How much money can they possibly have? Even if our paper is cheap, how much can they afford to buy? Relying on them might earn your family some pocket money, but if you want to support the entire village’s papermaking workshop and let everyone get a taste of the meaty broth, their purchasing power is a mere drop in the bucket.”

The flame that had just risen was instantly suppressed by more than half.

Su Ming fell silent.

Indeed, Xu Qing hesitated even when buying a book. Those County School classmates relied on copying books to supplement their family income. How much spare money could they possibly have to buy paper?

“Then… then why are we going to such great lengths to get the whole village involved if…”

“Silly boy, you must eat rice one mouthful at a time, and walk the road one step at a time.” Lin Yu said with some annoyance. “The Xu Qing connection isn’t our only sales route, but it is our best ‘stepping stone’ and ‘safe harbor’!”

“Stepping stone?”

“Yes! Think about it, once our paper, through Xu Qing, spreads among the poor students of the County School, its reputation will be established. By then, naturally, real big buyers will come sniffing around. At that time, we will have mature technology, stable production capacity, and the word-of-mouth from our first batch of users. We will have the leverage to negotiate prices and terms with them!”

Lin Yu’s voice became profound: “Remember, disciple. ‘Surviving cautiously’ isn’t about not doing things; it’s about making every step steady and minimizing all foreseeable risks. Approaching Xu Qing first is the opening move in our grand plan. This move doesn’t seek profit, but stability!”

Su Ming let out a long sigh, the fog in his heart completely blown away.

He understood.

His master’s every plan placed “safety” as the top priority. Seek stability first, then victory.

Just then, Zhao Rui, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke: “Su Ming.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep