Chapter 311 - 309: A Goal to Strive For

Chapter 311: Chapter 309: A Goal to Strive For

"In terms of effectiveness, this one is at least twice as good as the original. If it weren’t more effective, what would be the point of making it? As for any of the old stuff you haven’t finished, you can have your mom scoop it out and give it away. The boxes are the same as always—bring them back when you have a chance, and I can keep recycling them. Also, don’t tell anyone about this new green grass ointment. It hasn’t gone into production yet, and I don’t plan on selling it widely until I come up with something even better."

As she spoke, Gu Nuan Nuan went into a nearby dressing room, came back with a paper bag, and handed it to Lin Qiao. "This is for you guys."

"Don’t worry, we know the drill. Heh heh... Nuannuan, I’ve been meaning to ask you. These boxes are beautiful, but why are you so insistent on recycling them?" Lin Qiao took the paper bag without hesitation, unable to resist asking.

As she took the bag, she peeked inside at the three carved boxes that had the warm, gentle luster of white jade. Lin Qiao knew there was one for her, one for her mother, and one for her two younger sisters. The green grass ointment, true to its name, was made entirely from plants without a single chemical ingredient. Not only could her two little sisters use it, but even her younger brother could have it applied for dry winter skin. It was so safe that it wouldn’t matter if he accidentally ate a little.

These boxes were different from the small glass jars the green grass ointment was sold in. They were more exquisite and, more importantly, held a much larger amount, though they were rather inconvenient to carry. To solve this, Nuannuan had specially given them three small, empty bottles of the same material. She had specifically told them to use those bottles when they needed to take the ointment with them. For example, Lin Qiao would scoop some of the green grass ointment into a small bottle each week to take with her to school.

Although she had obediently followed Nuannuan’s strange insistence, she never quite understood it. Secretly, she thought the small glass jars sold to the public were also very nice and couldn’t figure out why Nuannuan insisted on using the boxes. ’Is it because the boxes hold more? Enough to last about three months even if you use it all over your body?’

Hmm, besides that, Lin Qiao couldn’t think of any other reason. She didn’t dwell on it and simply cast the small, unimportant question aside.

Faced with Lin Qiao’s question, Gu Nuan Nuan was briefly taken aback, then chuckled. "Oh, have I really never told you? These boxes and the small bottles I gave you are all made of jade. Using jade containers for the green grass ointment preserves its effects to the greatest extent."

"Huh? You mean these boxes and bottles are all made of jade?" Lin Qiao completely missed the point about the benefits of jade containers; all she could think about was how precious and fragile jade was. The more she thought about it, the more horrified she became. She let out a wail. "Oh my god, Nuannuan! You actually use jade to make boxes for this green grass ointment? Why didn’t you say so sooner? I’ve just been casually leaving them anywhere! It’s a good thing I haven’t dropped one, or the loss would have been huge, right?"

"..."

Gu Nuan Nuan stared at Lin Qiao, momentarily speechless. "Things are meant to be used. Don’t worry about breaking them. This type of jade isn’t that valuable. The reason I reuse them is that it’s a bit of a pain to craft them into boxes and bottles." ’The main reason is that I need Jade Boxes and Bottles for so many things,’ she thought. ’The Jade Mine I found doesn’t have that much jade. On top of that, the jewelry industry hasn’t recovered yet, so jade carvers are hard to find. Having to personally carve every single Jade Box and Jade Bottle is just too much trouble. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be so "frugal."’

"But even if it’s not valuable, it’s still jade!" Lin Qiao still felt her heart trembling. The hand holding the bag now felt as if it weighed a ton. Her sudden cautiousness was both funny and exasperating to Gu Nuan Nuan. "This jade really isn’t worth much. See, truly valuable jade is as transparent as possible. This kind has impurities; even if it were carved into ornaments, it wouldn’t sell for a high price."

In reality, the jade material used to make the Jade Boxes was not cheap at all. But at that moment, Gu Nuan Nuan was afraid that if she told the truth, Lin Qiao would become overly cautious with them, so she had no choice but to say this.

"Really?" Lin Qiao was skeptical. Only after seeing Gu Nuan Nuan nod very seriously did she relax a little. Then, a new question occurred to her. "Since this new green grass ointment is better than the old one, why not mass-produce it and replace the old one?"

"Compared to other similar products on the market, the old version is already far more effective than anything in its price range. It’s good enough to be our mass-market version. This new one is intended specifically for mid- to high-end customers."

Gu Nuan Nuan explained, then smiled when she saw Lin Qiao still looked confused. "To put it simply, this version is meant to be sold at a high price. Actually, the effects of this new green grass ointment still haven’t reached the level I’m truly satisfied with. Once I create one that does meet my standards, I plan to market it as a luxury item, specifically for high-end clients. I’ll package that one in Jade Bottles too, sell it in limited quantities each year, and make it so that people can’t easily get their hands on it even if they have the money. Scarcity creates value. That’s the only way to maintain its premium status."

She changed the subject to distract Lin Qiao. "Oh, right, we’ll also need to give them new, better-sounding names. You can start helping me think of some now. We’ll need two names, since calling them ’green grass ointment’ won’t be appropriate anymore."

"Nuannuan, you’re such a ruthless profiteer!" Lin Qiao looked at Gu Nuan Nuan in amazement.

"A ruthless profiteer? Ahem. Learning how to be a proper ruthless profiteer will be your goal from now on." Gu Nuan Nuan huffed and shot her a grin. "Work hard. I’m sure you can become the best ruthless profiteer too~"

"Oh, god, can I please not be a ruthless profiteer?" Lin Qiao lamented, covering her face.

"What do you think?" Gu Nuan Nuan pulled out Lin Qiao’s "indenture agreement," waving it with obvious schadenfreude. "You have no human rights anymore. From now on, what I say goes."

"You’re so mean! You use that to threaten me every time. Isn’t that a bit too blunt and brutal? Nuannuan, you know this is going to seriously damage our beautiful, pure friendship, right?" Lin Qiao covered her face again. "I so regret making friends with such a bad influence."

"Who cares if it’s blunt and brutal? As long as it works." Gu Nuan Nuan put away Lin Qiao’s "indenture agreement," teasing her with great satisfaction. "Didn’t you say you had no regrets? Don’t come crying to me when you get fat from eating your words."

"Can we at least use a nicer-sounding word? ’Ruthless profiteer’ makes me sound like some kind of evil capitalist," Lin Qiao pouted, her expression a mixture of disdain and grievance.

"We’re in the era of Reform and Opening-Up now. This isn’t being a capitalist, it’s striving for a better life," Gu Nuan Nuan laughed, unable to contain her amusement.

Though they were bickering, the two didn’t dare to slow down. In less than ten minutes, they appeared in the dining room of Zhang Dazhuang and Wen Xiu’s villa.

"Dad, what are you still doing here?" Lin Qiao was astonished to see Lin Fu sitting in the Zhang family’s dining room. She was a frequent guest at the Zhang family’s home, but her father had always been very formal and had never once stayed for a meal.

"We were just waiting for you two. Now, hurry up and wash your hands," Wen Xiu urged with a smile. "It took quite a bit of effort to convince your dad to stay for dinner today."

"Hello, Uncle Lin." Gu Nuan Nuan greeted Lin Fu. After he smiled and nodded back, she turned and explained to Wen Xiu, "No need, we already washed our hands before we came." With that, she pulled Lin Qiao to find a seat.