Chapter 1310: Chapter 1307: Buying the Store

After securing the shop, Chu Lin hired someone to clean it and then wrote to Chu Xing back home to send the shopkeeper and the goods over.

Chu Xing arrived in the Prefectural City the day before the exam, accompanied by the shopkeeper fostered by the Chu family, one of Chu Heng’s subordinates. Chu Xing and the rest had no concerns about them, as their relationship was good on a daily basis.

“Brother Lin,” Chu Xing said cheerfully as he got off the carriage, looking at the shop in front of him, “Thank you for your hard work.”

“No problems on the road, I hope?” Chu Lin asked with concern.

Meanwhile, he called the servants to move the goods from the mule cart into the shop.

He had already had the cabinets custom-made for the shop, so now it was just a matter of stocking them.

The servants got busy.

Chu Lin discussed with Chu Xing while arranging the shop.

“Nothing major, I’m used to the travel, and Old Zhang is someone I know well. From now on, I’ll come over once a month to check in,” Chu Xing was now getting the hang of doing business and had gained quite a bit of experience.

Chu Lin nodded, “Although this shop isn’t located on the bustling main street, I have inquired around, and there are quite a few residences with many students living nearby.”

“So Brother Lin, have you thought about when you’ll open for business?” Chu Lin usually made the decisions regarding their family business, but sometimes he would consult with Chu Xing.

After all, at home, only the two of them had business acumen.

Chu Cai now was engrossed in woodworking and, due to his honest nature, really didn’t have the head for business.

“I’ve found a good date, the day after tomorrow. I was concerned you might not make it in time,” Chu Lin said and then explained, “Over the past half a month, I’ve had Chu Sheng’s kids use our ‘Oil Smoke Ink’ while talking with the students, and they’ve been advertising it quite a bit.”

“Unexpectedly, as soon as I mentioned it was used by Third Brother, the students flocked to it, often saying they wanted to buy it.”

“If it hadn’t been for the exams these last few days, I reckon I would have been too busy to manage.”

Chu Xing didn’t understand, “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Not exactly, Third Brother’s situation in the capital is also difficult, we need to be even more cautious, we don’t need to publicize Third Brother just for the sake of silver,” Chu Lin cautioned.

Chu Xing took his words to heart, “If that’s the case, we should adhere to the standard procedures without active promotion. After all, it’s the Chu family’s shop, and it wouldn’t be difficult for anyone who’s even slightly interested to find out. If asked, we need not deny it, and as time passes, the fervor should die down. Students who fancy using Oil Smoke Ink will naturally come back to buy it, and those who don’t like it won’t come again.”

“Yes, that’s what I meant.”

“As for what Third Brother’s Wife mentioned about the Oil Smoke Ink being thick and glossy, suitable for writing, we’ll hang some calligraphy works in the shop after a while,”

Having discussed and decided, the two brothers went to have a meal at a restaurant.

Since there was a small courtyard behind the shop where people could live, Chu Lin had long vacated the room at the inn and lived in the room behind the shop every day.

The side room was small, barely enough to live in.

That evening, Chu Xing and Chu Lin went to bed early, waiting to meet Chu Sheng and the others in the morning.

Thanks to a good night’s rest.

They both got up early in the morning, and by the time they arrived outside the exam site, not many people were there yet, so they managed to secure a very convenient spot.

There was still some time to go before the end of the exam, but gradually, the area outside the exam site was packed with people.

Eventually, the examinees began to come out.

One of the students barely made it out of the exam venue before his legs gave out and he sat down on the ground crying.