All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

Liu Feng's words were very simple, just one sentence.

"Starting today, we will limit sales to 200 plasters per day, with a limit of two plasters per person per day, for a period of one month!"

These words stunned everyone!

How could I not be shocked?

It's been a month-long holiday. During this time, countless people have come to buy plasters, only to leave disappointed. And now that we've finally reopened, this is the first thing we do?

People of this era don't understand what Liu Feng is up to; they just think their boss has lost his mind.

Even Mao Chengcheng was utterly shocked and quickly stepped forward to speak.

"Company commander, why? Why aren't you making money?"

Liu Feng glanced at the others, then beckoned to him, signaling him to come out and talk.

Once outside, Mao Chengcheng wanted to ask more questions, but Liu Feng simply put his arm around his shoulder and said...

"Chengcheng, what do you think of the effectiveness of our medicated plasters?"

Mao Chengcheng was completely baffled and replied with a bewildered expression.

"Is there any need to say more? Company Commander, you don't know, our plasters are famous far and wide now. People have even cycled fifty kilometers just to find out about them and come here to buy them. They're so much more effective than any other plasters. Company Commander, I really don't understand why we're not making money when we have the chance?"

Liu Feng laughed heartily, then said with a smile.

"Do you think our medicated plasters are expensive at 98 cents?"

Mao Chengcheng hesitated for a moment, then spoke in a low voice.

"It's not expensive!"

Liu Feng patted his shoulder helplessly and said.

"Look, even you think it's expensive, so don't you think the other customers will think it's even more expensive?"

Mao Chengcheng hurriedly tried to explain, but Liu Feng waved his hand and continued.

"Chengcheng, since our plasters are so good, but everyone still thinks they're too expensive, and I don't want to lower the price, what do you think is the best way to increase sales?"

Mao Chengcheng was even more confused now, looking at Liu Feng with a puzzled expression, waiting for his answer.

Liu Feng didn't hide anything from Mao Chengcheng and said with a smile.

"Think about it, if I were to limit sales to two tickets per person per day, and only provide two hundred tickets, what do you think would happen?"

Upon hearing this question, Mao Chengcheng answered almost without hesitation.

"Of course, they're sold out by the early morning every day! But..."

Liu Feng interrupted him, saying with a smile.

"No buts, think about it again. If this situation continues for a month, will people still think this plaster is expensive?"

Mao Chengcheng was stunned. After thinking for a long time, he murmured.

“Since everyone else can’t buy it, they certainly won’t think it’s expensive, but Company Commander, I still don’t understand why you did this?”

Seeing that Mao Chengcheng had no modern shrewd businessman mentality whatsoever, Liu Feng burst into laughter and began to explain everything to him.

"Chengcheng, think about it. Our medicated plasters are unavailable in the market. Many people would rather cycle 50 kilometers to buy them than buy cheaper plasters nearby. This shows that our plasters are unique and exclusive; no one else can make them like ours because we have a secret formula. And now I'm limiting sales, so everyone will line up to buy them immediately. We've cultivated so many customers over the past few months; these sales will be snapped up in no time!"

If we allowed the sale of our plasters freely, we could sell an average of 500 plasters a day. But now that we've reduced it to 200, there's a shortage of 300 plasters per day. This means that several hundred people can't buy these plasters every day. They only have two choices: either choose other plasters or pay more to buy them from someone else. At this point, if they spend over a dollar per plaster from someone else, do you think ours is still expensive at 98 cents?

Mao Chengcheng nodded, still confused.

Liu Feng continued with a smile.

"A month from now, our medicated plasters will definitely be selling for over 1.2 or 1.3 yuan on the market, and they'll be in high demand and short supply. Many people who have never used our medicated plasters before will have heard of their miraculous effects. Those who have the plasters will actively promote their miraculous effects to sell them at a higher price, expanding our reputation and attracting a lot of attention. At that point, many of our regular customers, unable to bear the pain, will ultimately be willing to pay extra to buy them."

Then, when we announce that we'll increase sales by 100 sheets per day, reaching 300 sheets daily, still in limited supply, everyone—whether they've already tasted the benefits or genuinely need this plaster—will be scrambling to buy it. At that point, no one will think our plasters are expensive anymore; they'll be begging us to sell them to them for 98 cents!

Mao Chengcheng was stunned for a long time, then nodded in a daze, but the doubt between his brows was still very deep.

Liu Feng continued with a smile.

"Do you think I'm making money through dishonest means? Chengcheng, this is how business works. I've never been a kind person, but I'm definitely not a heartless businessman either. We're just operating on a small scale right now. Even at our limit, we can only make a thousand bills a day, earning ten or twenty thousand yuan a month. When will we ever be able to build a great business?"

Liu Feng continued with a solemn expression.

"A year from now, I want to sell our plasters throughout Guangzhou, and even the whole of Guangdong Province. I want to sell more than 10,000 plasters every day, and still have to keep up with demand. In business, you can't grow big without the right methods!"

Mao Chengcheng raised his head and looked at Liu Feng seriously for the first time, as if he were seeing Liu Feng for the first time.

Liu Feng was quite helpless, so he rolled his eyes and scolded him.

“When I have money, I can help more people like your second sister. Look at that mother and child. Without money, they will only face death in the end. There are millions of people like that in the world. Remember, the kindness of the poor is worthless, understand?”

Upon hearing Liu Feng's words, Mao Chengcheng immediately thought of his second sister's past appearance, and a sense of enlightenment dawned on him. His expression became solemn, and he nodded earnestly.

"Company commander, I understand!"

Seeing Mao Chengcheng's expression of sudden realization, Liu Feng nodded in satisfaction and said...

“Starting next month, you will no longer receive a base salary or bonuses, only profit sharing. I will give you 10% of the business, and you will receive profit sharing according to this ratio. Work hard and try to rebuild the family house next year. You are the only son in your family, and you are the eldest. If you don’t support this family, are you going to rely on your sisters?”

Upon hearing Liu Feng's words, Mao Chengcheng's face flushed red. He hurriedly tried to refuse, but Liu Feng slapped him on the shoulder and reprimanded him sternly.

"Mao Chengcheng, are you still my soldier? Since you call me company commander, then we are comrades-in-arms, we are brothers. I'm giving you shares in the hope that our relationship will take another step forward. From now on, in addition to being comrades-in-arms, brothers, and friends, we will also be business partners. I hope this relationship will last for the rest of my life. Do you understand?"

Mao Chengcheng was so moved that his eyes turned red. With red eyes, he looked at Liu Feng and finally nodded!

Watching Mao Chengcheng walk into the house with his head down and red eyes, Liu Feng nodded in satisfaction. This kid is still so naive. The kindness of the poor is worthless, but the kindness of the rich is mostly a disguise. Who knows which is real and which is fake?

Just as Liu Feng was about to leave after watching Mao Chengcheng walk into the house, he saw Mao Chengcheng hurriedly walk out the door and run up to him.

"Company Commander, I still feel something's not right. What if the villagers don't believe us and cause a commotion if we suddenly start limiting supplies?"

Looking at Mao Chengcheng's anxious face, Liu Feng shook his head speechlessly and scolded him without any restraint.

"Are you all brainless? Why don't you just say that because raw materials are so scarce, we can't buy any right now, so we're limiting the supply?"

Liu Chengcheng nodded as if he understood, thought it was a good idea, responded, and prepared to go back.

At this moment, Liu Feng suddenly thought about it and realized that Mao Chengcheng's words made sense. In a business that relies on reputation, if you limit the supply but are reluctant to sell, it may eventually backfire. People might think you are cheating and gradually give up buying your plaster. If you want to create hype, you have to take action.

The reason given earlier—that the medicinal herbs are too scarce—is quite valid, but it won't be able to be concealed for long. After all, everyone's production and sales are all in the village, and as more workers come along, more people will notice the problem. It seems this matter needs to be properly arranged.

Thinking of this, Liu Feng called out to Mao Chengcheng's retreating figure.

"Chengcheng, come here, I need to talk to you about something!"

Mao Chengcheng turned around and went to Liu Feng's side, waiting for his instructions.

Liu Feng stroked his chin and said.

"Rent a new house to store the medicinal herbs. Also, be careful with the ingredients for making the ointment in the future, so that others don't steal your techniques!"

Mao Chengcheng nodded, agreeing with Liu Feng's point, and then prepared to leave.

Liu Feng called him back again and continued speaking.

"Go to the village and recruit five young men!"

Mao Chengcheng asked with a puzzled look.

"Company commander, we have enough manpower now, everyone's idle, why are we recruiting more people?"

Liu Feng smiled mysteriously and said.

"You can make the arrangements. It's not about brewing the medicine. I have new plans for them!"

Mao Chengcheng could only nod helplessly and turn to leave.

Liu Feng looked at Mao Chengcheng's puzzled back, then smiled and muttered to himself.

"The real show is about to begin!"

Chapter Ten: Blocking my path to wealth? Dream on!

In this day and age, there are countless unemployed young people everywhere, not to mention that Liu Feng's salary and benefits are the envy of many.

Upon hearing that they needed to recruit five more people, Mao Chengcheng didn't even need to go out and advertise; his door was immediately overwhelmed with visitors. He quickly selected five energetic young men and brought them to Liu Feng.

When Liu Feng saw that the people had arrived, he nodded in satisfaction and then called a meeting for all employees!

Now, with the addition of the five newly recruited people and Mao Chengcheng, there are eleven people in total. There are just too many employees.

To be honest, this is only possible in the 1980s. If it were thirty years later, selling this much a month would probably make him lose so much money that even his grandmother wouldn't recognize him.

After everyone had arrived, Liu Feng addressed them with a serious expression.

"Many people ask me why I'm selling in limited quantities. Would I be a fool not to make money? This question was originally a trade secret that I didn't want to answer, but since you are all my employees, I won't keep it a secret anymore. I'll tell you the reason!"

Liu Feng coughed lightly, and seeing everyone's serious expressions, he continued.

Why are so many people buying our "Imperial Secret Recipe Plaster"? Because it's highly effective! But are you sure these effective medicinal herbs are all common, readily available varieties? Many of these herbs are precious; I visited several medicinal herb markets but couldn't find them. That's why I had no choice but to ultimately decide on limited sales.

Limited sales are better than selling out completely and then not being able to buy the herbs later. Although it's a limited sale, I don't plan to raise the price. People aren't wealthy yet, and 98 cents a plaster is already expensive enough. So I'd rather sell less than raise the price. It's not that I don't want to make money; it's that even if I did, I wouldn't be able to make it. Do you all understand?

Liu Feng's words made everyone suddenly realize that this was the case. No wonder the boss preferred to limit the sales rather than sell more.

Seeing the expressions of sudden realization on everyone's faces, Liu Feng smiled smugly. He exchanged a glance with Mao Chengcheng, whose expression was somewhat complicated, pretended not to have seen anything, and continued speaking.

"Today I asked Mao Chengcheng to hire five more employees, not to sell plasters. We have enough manpower now. I plan to have you go to nearby villages and towns, and even rural areas, to help me purchase some medicinal herbs. These herbs are very precious, and many medicinal herb markets don't have large quantities. In order to ensure that our plasters have enough raw materials in the future, we must send you to the countryside to purchase medicinal herbs. Do you understand?"

The five new young people nodded in unison, indicating their understanding.

After the meeting, Liu Feng took out some precious medicinal materials he had prepared in advance, such as ten-year-old fish maw, twenty-year-old aged tangerine peel, and several other particularly precious medicinal materials, and asked everyone to identify and learn from them.

His goal was simple: to teach everyone how to recognize these precious medicinal herbs, and then have them ride bicycles to the surrounding rural areas to hawk and buy them. Each person would receive a base salary of fifty yuan per month, plus a daily meal allowance of one yuan. In addition, there would be bonuses if they bought good items. This kind of treatment was enough to ignite everyone's enthusiasm.

Liu Feng's second step was that simple: first, he would hoard the product and limit purchases, then drive up the price of his plaster. Scarcity drives up value, and once the price was high enough, he would gradually develop the market, introduce other nearby distributors, and promote the plaster to Guangzhou, even the entire Guangdong province, and finally to the national market.

As for these young men who went to the countryside to buy precious medicinal herbs, Liu Feng didn't need them to actually buy any herbs. In fact, the countryside was extremely poor, so where could they find ten-year-old fish maw or other precious medicinal herbs? If they did, that would be even better, and Liu Feng would certainly choose to buy them.

Their real task is not to purchase medicinal herbs, but to act as mobile advertising signs, subconsciously making everyone believe that the precious medicinal herbs they purchase are for making medicinal plasters. Over time, people will form this mindset that such precious medicinal herbs are used to make medicinal plasters!

That's the way of thinking!

The raw materials for the "Imperial Secret Recipe Plaster" do seem to require many precious medicinal herbs. Given the abundance of these herbs, it seems reasonable that it would be more expensive. This further fueled the myth surrounding the plaster, and the speculation stemming from its limited availability drove the price even higher.

Although these energetic young men themselves were unaware that they had been tricked.

It's not about scheming; that's just how business works. Your job is to do your job well, and you don't need to think about anything else!