Chapter 40: Raising the price from the ground up
There wasn't much beer left in the warehouse after taking inventory in the morning. Shen Qingli thought about going to buy some with Xu Muchuan this time, and seeing if there were any other types of beer to give the customers more choices.

The county brewery is privately owned. When the boss sees customers coming, he cheerfully goes up to them and asks what they need.
"I want another 100 bottles of beer from last time. The price should be more favorable this time." Xu Muchuan said bluntly.

"Oh, yes, I remember now. It's the one that runs the nightclub, right?" The boss looked quite old, with the standard features of a middle-aged man: a bald head and a beer belly.

"Yeah," Xu Muchuan responded.

Wang Jianye rolled his eyes and laughed, "The price will definitely not be the same as last time. The prices of various raw materials have increased. This time it will be at least 5 yuan a bottle! Brother, if you don't believe me, you can go ask somewhere else. The price of my brewery is the lowest."

The purchase price is 50 cents a bottle, so if you want to make a profit, the selling price has to be around 70 or 80 cents. The price has skyrocketed just two days after opening, and customers will definitely not be able to accept it.

She didn't ask what prices other stores sold at, so Shen Qingli didn't know.

Xu Muchuan frowned, "It's only been less than half a month since I last bought it, and the price has increased so quickly?"

Wang Jianye spread his hands, "I can't help it. You guys are open for business, and so am I! My brewery is the largest in the county, and I dare say that the beer sold by other breweries is not as good as mine."

The beer sold by the brewery is of really good quality, with a light wheat aroma.

Shen Qingli and Xu Muchuan were considering whether to buy it, when another buyer came to the boss to ask for the price, "Boss Wang, let's stick to the 2 yuan per bottle as last time!"

It was too late for Wang Jianye to stop it, so he could only bite the bullet and agree, "Okay! Just go find our director and move it!"

"His is 2 cents a bottle, why is ours 5 cents a bottle?" Shen Qingli asked.

Wang Jianye answered casually, "They want a small bottle, which is different from you."

As soon as he finished speaking, the man who had asked the price started moving the goods with the brewery workers. The beer in the boxes was clearly the kind they needed.

The boss lied.

Shen Qingli asked again, "Boss, I think you don't want to sell it to us!"

"You are such an interesting woman. We are open for business and it doesn't matter who we sell to." Wang Jianye said impatiently, "The price I'm selling it to you is 50 cents a bottle. If you don't want it, don't waste my time here."

After that, he turned around and left.

So awesome!
Shen Qingli looked at Xu Muchuan in confusion, "What's going on?"

Xu Muchuan squeezed her palm comfortingly and said, "Let's go to another store and ask!"

Shen Qingli had no other choice but to go look for other small beer shops nearby.

As soon as the two of them walked out of the factory, they were immediately stopped by someone. "Do you two need beer? My store has the same beer as their brewery, and the quality of the beer is even better than theirs!"

This guy looked younger, with messy hair and a stubble on his chin that he didn't even bother to trim. He looked like a typical sharp-tongued guy.

"Let's go and take a look." Xu Muchuan took Shen Qingli's hand and followed him. The man's beer shop was not far from the brewery.

As soon as you enter the courtyard, the fragrant smell of wine hits your nose.

The man led them into the house and casually scooped a spoonful of beer from a jar at his feet and poured it into a bowl, "Here, try it!" Shen Qingli couldn't drink because she was pregnant. Xu Muchuan took a sip and found that it tasted better than the one from the brewery, but "Is your beer in bulk?"

There is no guarantee for the safety of draught beer, and it doesn’t even have an expiration date. If something goes wrong with the beer, who will be held responsible?
"Yes! If you want it in a bottle, I can refill it for you!" The man said enthusiastically, "My beer is cheap, a standard bottle is only 1 cents!"

"The price is quite cheap." Shen Qingli admitted, but there is an old saying that cheap goods are not good and the risk is relatively high!
Xu Muchuan looked around his house. "Do you usually brew beer here?"

"Yes." The man nodded. "Don't think my place is small. The beer I brew is cleaner than the one in their workshop! I'm just limited by the space."

"What do you mean?" Xu Muchuan's eyes darkened and he continued to ask.

"I'm telling you, the beer from the brewery is filthy!" The man lowered his voice and curled his lips in disdain. "The workers in their factory won't drink their beer. I brew beer in this room, and I have liquor in the room next to me. My family has been selling liquor for generations. If you don't believe me, you can ask the neighbors around! Everyone comes to buy my beer."

"The beer in our store is sold by the bottle. What do your bottles look like?" Shen Qingli didn't see any bottles here.

"Isn't it easy to bottle beer? Their factory uses automated machines, but we don't have that capability, so we can just bottle it ourselves. I'll bottle as much as you want!" Li Baoliang noticed the hesitation of Shen Qingli and Xu Muchuan and said, "Tsk, just tell me what you think!"

"Bottled beer has a shelf life. How long can the one you bottle yourself keep?" Shen Qingli felt that he was quite casual.

"As long as the beer is stored properly, it will be fine for more than ten days."

"The time is too short." Shen Qingli remembered that the beer bottle from the brewery she bought from had a number written on it saying "one or two years".

"The storage time of bulk beer is only about ten days. The kind you mentioned has additives. I disdain to use that stuff. It will ruin the original taste of the beer!" Li Baoliang said, "The liquor in the room next to me has no shelf life. The longer it is stored, the stronger the taste and the higher the alcohol content. Beer and liquor are different!"

Shen Qingli couldn't express her thoughts.

Do you think this guy is unreliable? Some of his words are quite true.

Is this person reliable? But he feels... weird.

"Hey? You went to the brewery to buy beer, but why didn't you buy any?" Li Baoliang wanted to ask them just now.

Xu Muchuan said truthfully, "The price I sold it at last time is different from the price I sold it at this time."

"He's really rude!" Li Baoliang understood instantly and muttered, "He actually just wants you to give him some bribes!"

"The brewery is his, why does he need to give him a kickback?" Shen Qingli didn't understand.

Li Baoliang shook his head and said, "The brewery is not his. To be more precise, it belongs to his father-in-law. The real boss is his wife, and he is just an employee!" He has no real power.

I finally understood. It turns out that what they just meant was "comprehending".

"Even if you gave him a bribe, the beer sold by the brewery is not that good at all. I am a person who believes that good is good and bad is bad!"

Li Baoliang frowned, "I'm going to tell you the truth again. A few years ago, I worked in a brewery. It was totally chaotic! Some workers even urinated in the beer..."

(End of this chapter)