The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Chapter 205: Jinshi

Although Chen Cui has already made a sample of the perfume, she is still a long way from mass production and marketing.

First, we need to solve the problem of raw materials.

Nowadays, whether it is a sachet or an ointment, they are all extracted from plants. There is no such thing as chemical synthesis, and most of them are mainly floral scents. A large number of fresh flowers are required in the production process.

If you want to produce on a large scale, you must have your own planting base and unify the planting and harvesting so that you can do a good job of quality control. This cannot be achieved through sporadic purchases.

Even if we start buying land for planting this year, it will take until next year at the earliest to collect large quantities of flowers. Therefore, it is impossible for the perfume to be released this year.

However, although it cannot be mass-produced, it can be produced in small quantities and given as gifts to those nobles. This can not only deepen the relationship, but also pave the way for the future launch of products.

Especially Zhang Ruomei's cousin who was a concubine, now she has been named Shufei. It is said that she loves the scent of jasmine very much, so some jasmine perfume can be made just for her and sent to the palace through the Zhang family.

Of course, the jasmine perfume given to Concubine Shu cannot be the same as ordinary perfume. Sandalwood cannot be used as a fixative when making it. Instead, precious musk or ambergris must be used. As for which formula is most suitable, it depends on the final fragrance.

Zhang Ruomei and Chen Cui had a series of discussions on the raw materials, production, packaging, and sales of this new perfume business, so much so that it was already afternoon when Chen Cui left Wang's house.

The two discussed for the entire morning and talked for a while after lunch before Chen Cui went home.

Zhang Ruomei was so excited. She felt like she had discovered a treasure since she met Chen Cui. She didn't know why Sister Cui had so many good ideas, and they were all profitable.

Over the past few years, the profits from the canned food and hot pot businesses have exceeded the total of her original dowry assets, making her private treasury even more abundant.

Moreover, these businesses brought her and her cousin closer together, giving them common interests and making their relationship closer. The benefits this brought were simply too numerous to count.

Therefore, Zhang Ruomei ordered her servants to find and purchase the fresh flower raw materials for Chen Cui's subsequent experiments. Even the spices that came later were sent by her.

This is a business run by two people in partnership. Sister Cui has already made a start, passed the most difficult stage, and developed the product. Of course, she can no longer be a hands-off boss in the future, and she must always provide convenience for this matter as much as possible.

While Chen Cui was busy with the workshop and immersed in the perfume experiment, the news that Changping had passed the imperial examination and ranked third in the second class reached the provincial capital!

This time she was really surprised. She originally thought that Changping had just finished the provincial examination and had encountered such a disaster, which delayed him for several months and prevented him from concentrating on his studies. This imperial examination was probably just to gain some experience and there would not be any good results.

To be honest, when Changping set out for the capital, she had basically no hope for this exam, but she didn't show it for fear of discouraging her child.

She just hoped that he would be healthy and have no health problems, and come back quickly after the exam. Unexpectedly, he passed the exam unexpectedly, and ranked quite high!

Chen Cui was not the only one who was excited. The whole family was so happy that even Chang An, who was always mature and steady, couldn't help but cheer: "Brother is really great. He passed the imperial examination on his first try!"

Even Mrs. Mai and Mrs. Ding all said "Amitabha" and "God bless you". The eldest master in their family was a Jinshi, and they would be his servants in the future. It would be so glorious to tell others about it. How could they not be proud of it!

Sui Sui happily pulled Chen Cui's sleeve and said, "Mom, mom, let's go to the capital to find big brother. Otherwise, big brother will be so pitiful alone in the capital!"

The little girl knew that she would not be appointed as an official immediately after passing the imperial examination. For new imperial examination holders, they had no experience of being an official and would most likely observe government affairs in various departments in the capital, which could be considered as training and internship before officially entering officialdom.

The period of observing politics is usually more than half a year, after which a formal position will be granted based on the ranking in the palace examination and the results of the assessment.

Chen Cui learned all this from Zhang Ruomei. Although she felt that her son's chances of passing the exam were slim, it did not prevent her from knowing some of the procedures after passing the exam in advance.

When they were talking about these things, Sui Sui was right beside them, so she inevitably overheard them. She used this as an excuse to go to the capital.

Chen Cui knew that Sui Sui had heard from Zhang Ruomei how prosperous the capital was and that there were many delicious food and fun things to do, and she longed for it very much. That was why she used the excuse that her elder brother had no one to take care of him and urged Chen Cui to take her to the capital.

"Even if it's for care, you aren't needed. What can you do if you go? Aunt Ding is enough." Chen Cui teased her deliberately.

Sui Sui was a little anxious: "That won't do. Big brother will miss us, he will miss mom and me, and Aunt Ding can't replace us. Besides, Mr. Zou said that reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. We can also take this opportunity to go to the capital to see some of the sights!"

"Okay, you even know that reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. It shows that you have learned quite well!" Chang Fu rubbed Sui Sui's head and joked.

Sui Sui waved away her brother's hand and stamped her feet in anger, "You messed up my hair again. I had a hard time tying it up, and you messed up my hair..."

The brother and sister started their daily game of chasing each other again. They ran around the main room several times. Chen Cui couldn't help but smile and shook her head.

Changfu now looks much more stable than before, but when facing Suisui, he always can't help revealing his true nature. He always likes to tease her until he makes her angry, and then the two of them will chase and fight each other!

Although Chen Cui was happy that her eldest son passed the imperial examination, she was also worried about his life in the capital. However, it was impossible for her to really go to the capital to take care of him as Sui Sui had said.

After all, she has three other children around her, and it is impossible for her to ignore the other three for the sake of one.

The second and third sons have to continue their studies in Longnan, Suisui is also learning very well under Mr. Zou, and she also has to fulfill her responsibilities in the business with Zhang Ruomei. She cannot ignore all this for the sake of Changping alone.

Just like she said to Sui Sui, at most she could send Aunt Ding to take care of Chang Ping, help him with laundry and cooking, so that he would have no worries.

However, just when Chen Cui was busy making arrangements and planning to ask someone to send Aunt Ding to the capital, something unexpected happened, forcing her to change her original plan!