Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 238 Making Promotional Paper

The two waited for a while before they saw the shopkeeper walk in from the small door of the shop with a stack of slightly yellowish papers in his hand and put the papers on the counter.

Shen Yu picked up one, held it in his hand and walked to the door of the store, and looked at it carefully in a place with good light.

This paper is really good, it is scratch-resistant and thick. Although you can see the texture of the paper and it doesn't feel smooth enough, it is not the kind of rough-textured hemp paper. The color is not white enough, it is a little darker than off-white.

The shopkeeper introduced: "This thick hemp paper is put in the wooden box of cakes to separate oil when wrapping cakes."

"It's thick and not easy to break. When packing cakes in a big box, we use this kind of paper to separate the cakes to prevent them from being squeezed or bumped against each other."

Shen Yu thought it was good, so he asked, "Will it smudge if I write on it?"

The shopkeeper said, "No, it is dense and heavy."

As he spoke, he flipped through the pages and pulled out a sample paper from the bottom. There were black ink words, red seals, and graphics on it. The handwriting was indeed clear and there was no smudges.

Shen Yu felt that this kind of paper was good for advertising. It was thick and not light and would not be thrown away casually.

Li had been silent the whole time, so she asked, "Boss, is this paper expensive? How much does a large sheet cost?"

The shopkeeper said, "One large bill is 100 wen, and 10 bills or more is 90 wen each."

Shen Yu measured it and found that if such a large sheet was cut into small sheets, one sheet could be cut into about fifteen sheets.

Including paint and other expenses, eight cents is enough to make a very good promotional paper, which is an acceptable price.

Li was also calculating silently in her mind, because compared with the price she had paid for books and paper for Yucheng and Dundun, the two of them did not think it was too expensive.

Shen Yu took out his purse and pulled out a small silver coin: "Then buy five first, go back and try them out, if they're good, come back and buy more."

The shopkeeper took the silver and rolled out five thick sheets of hemp paper. He then tied them up with a thin straw rope and handed them to Shen Yu.

When the two returned home, it was already closing time. Jiang and her friends were tidying up the tables and chairs in the shop and wiping the table tops. Everything was in order.

Shen Yu told Zhou Dalang to order a few more ingredients and quantities when the delivery guys came, and then he went back to his room with the hemp paper he had bought.

She untied the thin hemp rope, took out a piece of thick hemp paper and spread it flat on the table. After measuring and folding it, she cut it. The cut paper was almost the same size as the books Yucheng bought when he was in school.

Shen Yu took one and thought the size was okay, but how could he write or draw on it?

Write them one by one?

Shen Yu rejected this method after just a second of thinking about it. Even if there was no printing press now, this stupid method could not be used.

Shen Yu took his charcoal pencil and turned it in circles in his hand, and suddenly thought of the mold for making small reunion cakes.

Why not make some small stamps and carve the shape and name of each food, and then just stamp them on the paper when the time comes?

It is fast and convenient, and you can change the colors of paint to stamp. In this way, the originally single promotional paper becomes much more beautiful.

Shen Yu did what he said. He took a piece of rough paper that he usually used for practicing calligraphy, and wrote and drew on it with a charcoal pencil, erasing and revising it.

On the second day, Shen Yu gave instructions to Li, and went out early in the morning with the drawing he had worked on until late the previous night, and went straight to Master Song's Qiaozuoju.

Qiaozuoju was the same as usual, with only the foreman Fusheng in the front of the shop. Shen Yu went straight to the point, took out the finished drawing and asked if Master Song was there.

When Fusheng saw Shen Yu took the new drawing, he was happy but also sad, for he was afraid that the master would have to lose money to make a new mold for Miss Shen.

Shen Yu smiled and put the bag of honey cake in his hand on the counter, and said with a smile: "There is nothing special about the pattern this time. Master Song will not rush to make it."

"Is Master Song here? This is the honey cake that was just steamed this morning. It's still hot. Bring it to him for breakfast."

When Fusheng heard that the flower pattern was not special and there was delicious honey cake, he immediately smiled and nodded, saying, "The master is in the workshop at the back. I will go and call him."

After a moment, Master Song and Fusheng came in from the small door of the shop one after another.

Master Song was not wearing a work apron today. He was wearing a clean grey cloth suit, looking neat and tidy.

As soon as Master Song saw Shen Yu, he called out, "Girl, I heard you're going to make something new, come and show it to me."

Shen Yu smiled, squatted down and saluted, then handed over the drawing in his hand.

Master Song sat down at the table, took it and looked at it, and immediately felt a little disappointed like a child: "Isn't this just a large flat seal? I thought you were going to make a cake mold again."

Shen Yu was not angry, and smiled and said: "Yes, I need to make some price tags, and it is too troublesome to write them one by one, so I come to trouble Master Song again."

"These seals are simple. Master Song can just let his apprentices make them."

Master Song smiled and said, "Okay, come pick it up in two days. Girl, your business is good recently. When will you make a new mold?"

"After the Mid-Autumn Festival, it will be the New Year in a blink of an eye, and cakes and pastries will also sell well then."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Thanks to you, business has been good recently. I took over a store and opened a restaurant, so I have to make some price tags."

Master Song looked at Shen Yu and praised: "Not bad, not bad, I have always thought that you are a girl who can do great things and have a promising future."

"It's only been a few days, and the restaurant has already opened. What delicious food do you sell? Do you still sell cakes and pastries? When I have some free time, I'll take my wife over to try it."

Shen Yu hurriedly pushed the honey cake on the table to Master Song and said, "We have been selling various sweet cakes."

"I know you like sweet things. Here are some honey cakes that we just steamed this morning. I'll bring some for you to try."

"You are old, no matter how much you like to eat, you have to be moderate and not eat too much sweets, so I only packed a few pieces, please don't despise me."

Master Song smiled and said, "Thank you for remembering that I like sweet food. I won't be polite. I haven't had breakfast yet."

Shen Yu stood up and said goodbye, "The store is still busy, so I'll go back first. I'll come back the day after tomorrow to get it."

On the way back, Shen Yu passed by the bookstore he often visited in the market and bought some paint from it.

I bought some gamboge, cinnabar, indigo, and tri-green. Once the stamps are made, I can start making promotional letterheads.

Since we can't set up a stall by the canal, whether we can make our restaurant known to more merchants depends entirely on the effect of sending out these promotional letters.

On the way back to the store, Shen Yu kept thinking that it would be a bit difficult to pay back Lu Lang before the end of September.