Chapter 105: A New Way to Make Money

Since this Sweet Potato was meant to curry favor with those in power, it had to be treated like a product. Add in nine years of basic education¹, plus the three gloomy years of high school he’d rather forget.

Bai Tian began, “First, we need to select several plots of land that are the same size but differ in environment and location—ideally, the more different, the better. Then we plant the same Sweet Potato in each one…”

Jiang Dai listened quietly from the side. This sounded familiar, something she’d learned in school. Wasn’t this called the controlled variable method?

Good thing she hadn’t returned all her knowledge to the teachers.

See? School wasn’t entirely useless after all.

But Bai Tian wasn’t just talking about the controlled variable method. He also incorporated some market research techniques from the business world, presenting them in a way that was easier to understand and apply.

“Of course, for now, we don’t have a lot of Sweet Potatoes. It’s best to start with the current batch of seedlings. Follow the standard planting method Jiang Dai mentioned and ensure we grow a stable crop first. Then we can implement the method I just described.”

“Once we get accurate research data, we can present a satisfactory report to those above us!”

After finishing, Bai Tian picked up his teacup and took a couple of sips.

His first reaction was to glance at Jiang Dai, flashing her a smug little grin.

Aren’t I awesome?

Jiang Dai: …

Liang Tian’er, meanwhile, was still thinking about what Bai Tian had just said.

This method wasn’t limited to Sweet Potato farming. It could also be applied to the restaurant and clothing shop businesses.

With this kind of data collection, results would come quickly and be genuinely useful.

Her gaze toward Bai Tian had changed a bit.

Previously, she’d only thought Sister Jiang was impressive—smart, beautiful, and clearly not someone who’d fall for a guy who only had looks going for him.

But now, it seemed neither of them were simple.

She should trust Sister Jiang’s judgment.

Bai Tian gave Jiang Dai another smile, then turned to Liang Tian’er. “Miss Liang, we won’t take up more of your time. Thank you again for letting us borrow Dongqu and Chunlai.”

“No need to thank me. But I do have a question I’d like to ask Sister Jiang and Brother Bai, if that’s alright?”

At her request, Bai Tian looked to Jiang Dai.

Jiang Dai nodded. “Of course.”

“A few days ago, Zhenxiu Restaurant suddenly stole away more than half of Shiwei Restaurant’s customers.”

“The reason? Zhenxiu brought in a dancer from a foreign region. She’s stunningly beautiful and only performs once a day. A lot of wealthy lords and young masters in the county have been flocking there.”

“Even men from regular households are willing to spend a few coins just to have a meal and catch a glimpse.”

Bai Tian: …

Jiang Dai: …

They had to admit, this method of attracting customers and milking small profits felt awfully familiar!

But, well, it worked.

Especially in ancient times, when entertainment options were so limited.

Wait a minute!

Ancient entertainment…

Bai Tian’s gaze landed on Jiang Dai, who was deep in thought, trying to come up with a countermeasure.

“Um…” Bai Tian said, turning to Liang Tian’er, “It’s hard to find a dancer like that, but what if we use a similar method to draw people back?”

Liang Tian’er: ?

“Does Jingcheng have any storytellers?”

As soon as Bai Tian said that, Jiang Dai’s eyes lit up.

She instantly understood what he was thinking!

Money! Another way to make money!

Amazing! All those novels she’d read were finally coming in handy!

Even the scripts she’d memorized had a use now!

She read both male- and female-oriented genres, and even classic literature from East and West. That was her edge.

She might not remember every plot detail, but she knew the formulas!

From ancient times to the modern day, there were countless genres. Even though this was ancient times, wuxia² stories worked here!

So did melodrama!

And tales of immortals, demons, and monsters? Absolutely universal!

Liang Tian’er nodded. “Yes, but they’re usually in tea—”

“You mean bring the storyteller into Shiwei Restaurant?” she asked, catching on. “That could work. Worth a try. But Zhenxiu Restaurant could easily hire a storyteller too.”

It was true. Hiring a storyteller for Shiwei Restaurant was a viable plan.

But unlike a foreign dancer, storytellers weren’t hard to find. Ordinary folks could hear them in teahouses for cheap, sometimes even for free.

Bai Tian nodded.

“Exactly. Storytellers are easy to find, dancers aren’t. But what if someone could write a story that’s different?”

“A story told in half-hour segments each day, designed to keep people hooked?”

Liang Tian’er frowned. “But who’s going to write it? And it has to be addictive?”

Jiang Dai quietly raised her hand.

Liang Tian’er: Huh?

No way… she didn’t mean what I think she meant, right?

Jiang Dai said, “I can write it. But I can’t write characters.”

Liang Tian’er: …

Bai Tian sighed and rubbed his forehead.

Crap!

He’d forgotten they were both transmigrators. Jiang Dai didn’t even have the original host’s memories.

Sure, he had the host’s memories, but the host had never been to school or learned to read!

Jiang Dai, however, was completely unfazed. “I’ll dictate it. The storyteller can just read it out loud.”

“Don’t worry. These are stories no one here has ever heard before!”

Bai Tian said, “If there’s no better option, it’s worth a try. And we can throw in some dirty tricks too.”

Liang Tian’er and Jiang Dai: ?

“A dancer—who’s her target audience?” Bai Tian asked.

Jiang Dai: “Men!”

Liang Tian’er: ? What does ‘target audience’ mean?

“Right, men! That’s definitely it!”

Bai Tian held out his hand, and Jiang Dai matched him with a high-five.

In unison: Perfect!

“Now, what happens when there’s trouble at home? Those rich guys may not fear their wives, but what about the average folks you mentioned?”

“They’ve got wives at home too! And not much money. How can they afford to go out drinking at restaurants every day? Especially just to see some foreign dancer? What household can sustain that? What wife who controls the purse strings would allow it?”

Liang Tian’er wasn’t stupid. She was starting to get the picture.

The “wife” he was talking about—she figured it meant the man’s woman. But that wasn’t the point. The idea was what mattered.

“And if all else fails, we get a few aunties to spread some unflattering gossip about Zhenxiu Restaurant.”

“Do you know what I mean by ‘unflattering’?” Bai Tian asked the fifteen-year-old girl in front of him.

“I do.”

Bai Tian nodded. As expected of a precocious child of ancient times.

After all, fifteen here was old enough to marry.

That’s the age of a middle or high school student back home. Terrifying. Modern times really were better!

“This approach might seem a little underhanded, but it’s effective. At the very least, it’ll have some impact. Combine it with the storytelling idea, and we just might turn the tide.”

Bai Tian said it all in one breath.

Honestly, the marketing tricks he’d learned in the modern world were pretty useful here.

In cutthroat business battles, the most effective tactics were often the simplest.

Spreading rumors, smearing reputations, kicking someone when they’re down…

Or even more basic—killing off their money tree³, trolling their reviews, or using feng shui to secretly sabotage them!

Liang Tian’er mulled it over for a moment, growing more and more certain of her decision.

Translator’s Notes

• I can’t write characters: In the context of Chinese transmigration stories, this often refers specifically to the inability to write ‘traditional’ or ‘ancient’ brush calligraphy and complex characters, as modern Chinese people use Simplified Chinese and digital input.