The wicked mother-in-law doesn't try to whitewash herself; she only abuses her awful children.

Chapter 495 Natural Blind Boxes

“Things are valued for their rarity, and only VIP customers of our pearl stall can obtain black pearls through reservations.”

Since black pearls are not common, we should use the principle of scarcity to increase value in our marketing.

Otherwise, if the Lian family's own pearl shop is so famous, why would people come to Jufulai to buy pearls?

Other daily necessities can win customers' favor with low prices, but pearls, which belong to spiritual needs, are not easy to compete with in price wars, so they naturally have to take an unconventional marketing approach.

Tong Huaqiong then taught Lian Hengruo what VIP and customized services are.

Lian Hengruo understood immediately and quickly proposed a limited sale, specifying how many ordinary pearls must be purchased to qualify for the purchase of black pearls.
Goodness, Lian Hengruo, under Tong Huaqiong's guidance, has surpassed his teacher and mastered the art of scarcity marketing.

Tong Huaqiong felt that this was not enough, as prolonged scarcity marketing could easily cause people to develop a rebellious mentality.

Other marketing methods are also needed to complement it.

Tong Huaqiong thought of blind boxes in later generations, which capitalized on people's gambling psychology and made people enjoy opening blind boxes.

Pearl oysters are the most natural blind boxes.

Normally, when customers buy pearls, they are ready-made pearls taken directly from oysters. Wouldn't it be much more engaging if customers could choose their own oysters and open them themselves?

If black pearl oysters were mixed in, making it like a blind box where everything depends on luck, wouldn't that make it even harder to stimulate people's desire to buy?

Tong Huaqiong explained the Black Pearl blind box to Lian Hengruo in simple terms, and Lian Hengruo's eyes lit up.

Lian Hengruo clapped his hands in admiration, saying that Aunt Tong was able to establish Jufulai in Pingchuan in such a short time because of her inexhaustible money-making ideas.

She was still too inexperienced; she couldn't think of a variety of business strategies.

Furthermore, Tong Huaqiong also suggested promoting weddings in Pingchuan, such as the idea that "a pearl represents a sincere heart," and that people should choose pearls for their weddings.

Lian Hengruo said, "I plan to open the pearl stall the day after tomorrow. I'll think about the business methods you mentioned, Aunt Tong, and come up with some regulations."

The pearl stall has been arranged according to Tong Huaqiong's requirements, highlighting the characteristics of Jufulai without losing the style that Lian Hengruo wanted.

Both parties were very satisfied, so opening in two days was not a problem at all.

After discussing business, Tong Huaqiong didn't forget to gossip, so she asked, "Has Gu Ruinian given you any trouble these past two days?"

Lian Hengruo sneered, "He's just a toad lusting after a swan. I've had people keeping an eye on him, and he hasn't done anything out of line while he's been circling around my house these past few days."

Tong Huaqiong said, "Even so, you must not let your guard down."

Tong Huaqiong always felt that Gu Ruinian had a backup plan, so she also asked Nie Xiaofeng to keep a close eye on him.

The reason for not alerting him was to make Gu Ruinian reveal all his tricks.

Lian Hengruo said, "I'll be careful. I don't know why he's targeting me. Does he think I'm some naive and easily fooled rich girl?"

Tong Huaqiong guessed correctly; even Hengruo probably forgot that she had discussed marriage with Gu Ruinian.

Tong Huaqiong couldn't understand why the Lian family's daughter, even if she was born out of wedlock, would arrange a marriage for a down-on-his-luck scholar from the countryside with an uncertain future.

Thinking of this, Tong Huaqiong wanted to know Lian Hengruo's thoughts, so she asked directly, "I heard that you and Gu Ruinian were engaged? You are the daughter of the Lian family, how could you be engaged to Gu Ruinian, who is penniless from the countryside?"

Lian Heng thought for a moment, a blush appearing on her face, and said, "To put it bluntly, my greatest contribution to the Lian family was paving the way for them through marriage. The men I liked disliked me because I was born out of wedlock, and the ones who didn't dislike me were the ones I looked down on. Later, I thought that if I married into a family of equal social standing, I would just be like the matriarch of the family, devoted to my husband and raising children, and I would have to be wary of my husband taking concubines. It would be meaningless to spend half my life toiling away in the inner quarters. It would be better to find a family of modest means, where I wouldn't have to serve my in-laws or be interfered with when I leave the inner quarters."

Similar to what Tong Huaqiong thought, Lian Hengruo's ambitions lay not in the inner quarters of the household, and she did not want to live a life of being a wife and mother. However, in this era, marriage was not an option. To break out of this predicament, the solution she came up with was to find a husband from a humble family.

Ideally, one should be a scholar, as scholars are more likely to understand reason.

"As for Gu Ruinian, to be honest, he was recruited by Wang the matchmaker from all over the place, not by me. So I had no impression of him before that."

Even now, she has no memory of Gu Ruinian.

In Pingchuan County, every scholar from a humble family who could be named was gathered together by Wang the Matchmaker.

After Gu Ruinian failed the imperial examination, Wang the matchmaker immediately killed him.

Gu Ruinian was unwilling to give up, so he asked Wang the matchmaker to pass a note to Lian Hengruo requesting a meeting. Wang the matchmaker, for the sake of money, did pass the note to Lian Hengruo.

However, Lian Hengruo simply threw it away without taking it seriously at all.

Tong Huaqiong said, "So that's how it is."

Lian Heng's idea of ​​marrying into a family of humble origins was beautiful, but reality often falls short of expectations.

Who says that women from humble backgrounds have to show their faces in public? In fact, the demands placed on women are even more stringent: they have to give birth to sons, serve their in-laws, and may even face beatings from their husbands.

Some people from humble backgrounds feel a mix of inferiority and arrogance when faced with a daughter-in-law from a higher social class, which makes them more prone to insidious scheming.

Tong Huaqiong then shared her understanding of small, humble households.

Furthermore, they cited the example of daughters-in-law being mistreated by their husbands' families in the Qinghewan area as evidence.

Lian Hengruo said, "Aunt Tong, I've been thinking about this for the past few days. Marrying into a humble family won't get me out of this predicament, so I'd better stick to my pearl business. Only by having the Lian family's money and business in my own hands can I make a name for myself."

She came to this conclusion after carefully considering it following Gu Ruinian's appearance.

Gu Ruinian did not harm her, but he reminded her that finding a husband from a humble background might not be a viable option.

What should she do if that person is someone like Gu Ruinian, who deliberately approaches her, uses her, schemes against her, and takes advantage of her weakness during childbirth to kill her and steal her dowry?
Isn't this just giving away a wedding dress for nothing? What's the difference between this and making wedding dresses for my brothers in the Lian family?
From then on, he gave up the idea of ​​getting married.

Women are expected to marry unless they become nuns, and Lian Hengruo is worried and wants to take things one step at a time.

Seeing that Lian Hengruo understood her marriage so clearly, Tong Huaqiong was gratified but also felt sorry for her. Under the pressure from the Lian family, the second young lady of the Lian family could not refuse to get married. Although she was now involved in the Lian family's pearl business, she was now facing enemies on all sides.

Such a life as a rich young lady is not as free and comfortable as the life of a widow in the countryside.

She used to lament why she hadn't transmigrated into the body of a young lady from a wealthy family. Even if she had, her freedom wouldn't necessarily be greater than that of a widow from the countryside.

Lian Hengruo suddenly smiled sheepishly, "The matchmaker mentioned your youngest son to me back then. She told me that you were a difficult mother-in-law to deal with, but your brother-in-law's son would be a good match."

Lian Heng couldn't help but laugh when he recalled this incident.

To outsiders, Aunt Tong's personality is indeed difficult to get along with; she is domineering, unreasonable, and hard to deal with. But if she didn't have such a personality, wouldn't she be taken advantage of in the business world?

Even the name of the second young lady was similar to that of Tong Dajiao in the minds of outsiders.

She didn't mind at all, and I suppose Aunt Tong didn't mind either, otherwise how could she and Aunt Tong get along so well and go into business together?

Tong Huaqiong never expected that Gu Jingzhe would also be on Lian Hengruo's marriage list.

It has to be said that this twist of fate eventually led to her and Miss Lian Er.