Chapter 66 - 66. Business Proposal That Pays Peanuts

"What kind of proposal do you have in mind, my fellow tradesman?" I asked as we 4 sat on a bench while the empty bench in front of us was occupied by Nolan and Otis. The travelling merchant was neatly dressed and had a cool demeanour around them and they eyes the store and its contents through the glass window with a look like a wolf that's about to pounce on a lonely sheep.

The four children were sitting on the rock outcrop and were observing the adults discuss the business and wanted to learn a thing or two. At their age, they had become plant supervisors and be able to hand down instructions as well as lend a hand as and when they drop by the production plants.

"It seems that your business here is very good indeed. We wanted to approach you earlier but the crowd of ladies doesn't seem to thin out. In fact, the crowd grew every hour and at last, we had our dinner then supper and midnight snack before you had finally cleared off the frenzied crowd." explained Nolan as he peered and was rather intrigued by the fine porcelain wares inside the store.

"Ah... This is nothing really. It is like this when any store had newly opened. Everyone would scramble in order to lay their hands as though we do not have stocks to replenish and satisfy their needs." I explained as the thought of engaging these travelling merchants come to mind.

"This is the first store we found that beauty products for both ladies and gent. Furthermore, Ingmery is right smack in between of other satellite towns such as Oxborough, SummerFort and Bronzeminster."

"It would be an opportunity for both you and us as travelling merchants as we would be planning to ride in your product name and advertise as well as market your fine products."

"Furthermore, your products come in these fine porcelain pieces and I am sure that everyone would like to have them in their homes and reside the porcelain wares as decorative pieces."

Otis, the shorter travelling merchant spoke up and he began by his usual flattery, while Prius, Patricia and Rebecca were taken by it, I was not affected by it one bit. This is kind of the sales pitch one would use in order to gain favour from the other party. In other words, its called "C A R R Y B A L L S".

"Uh-huh... I used to put the products inside clay bottles and the results are the same. In fact, we had sent hundred of invitation letter before and the tradesmen themselves come over for a convention as they were shown the range of products before deciding to take a few back and test the market."

"When they came back the second time, they literally bought crates and crates of every single type of product that we had. Alas... Our town was overrun by marauding Orcs and what's left is a piece of desert." I talked too much and nearly exposed the truth and had to revert to its original bullshit story of Oddfish little town.

"Ah... I see. So right now you have decided to open a store and serve the local community, am I right?" asked Nolan as he reaches into his pocket and took out a packet of cigarettes and offered to us. The 3 of them took it but I refused as I have my own brand. I looked for the offscreen crew that had those wonderful clove cigarettes and he came over and offered one and lit it for me.

As soon as I took a long haul on it, it filled my lungs and the sudden rush of harmful carbon monoxide and toxins rushed to my head. It did leave me stars after a while.

"Alright, back to the proposal. You said you would be running our brand which means you would be designing your caravans as part of Beauty World as you would be seen as part of representatives of us, am I right? Who would bear the cost for the design of the caravan?" I asked and little did they knew, in my previous life I had a major in Business Administration and Business Management.

"Oh, if we ride on your branding, you would bear the cost, sir. Furthermore, not only we are the face for your products but also we would be taking care of your establishment and reputation." Otis spoke up since he knew about the aspects of Advertising, Marketing and Promotions during his college days.

"Uh-huh... How well do you know about beauty products? The children here take some weeks to learn about every single product that we have. What we have is just 3 products on display at the moment, another 3 more are being stockpiled in our production plants."

"Not really so much so in beauty products, but we are willing to understand about them. It's not really a big deal for us," explained Nolan as he spoke about our products that seem to a small deal to him and from his speech, his intentions started to rear its ugly head.

"Aahh...in that case, tomorrow morning you would be directly under these supervisors to learn about product knowledge. 8 am to 5 pm for 3 straight days. Would that be fine? At least you would learn about these products so it's easier for you to explain it to your customers." I explained with a slight hint of sarcasm.

There is a certain type of body language a smoker would display through how they exhale their smoke from their mouth and nose and from these two, it was a dead giveaway. They were blowing their smoke slightly at a downward angle which means they already have something in their minds. I responded by blowing mine upwards into the sky in a sign of sovereignty.

"Oh... How we wish to learn about these products in detail but as a travelling merchant, we won't be in this town for more than 24 hours. Once we had made some sales we would rotate in a clockwise direction around town and then ends up at Lightmore which would be at the furthest."

"That last town would be a mark before we travel to Ingmery here and start our trade once again. It had been our practice to do it in such manner." explained Nolan with a pained expression at the thought of being under the instruction of children and the idea of having 'Beauty World' etched across their caravan might hurt their image and stature.

Men of that time and era never realise that they were once children before. Furthermore, they should be proud that these children were given an opportunity to carve their own path in order to have a brighter future. Who knows these children would be their own bosses in the future and be entrepreneurs and leaders.

"So let's open the deal then, how much would you be offering for our products. Since you both are well-travelled merchants, you should realise how much a single piece is, not forgetting the exquisite products that were in them."

"Well, for a start, we would like to offer you an 80/20 offer for the products. We would like to have at least 500 per type per product. I learned from the ladies earlier that you have currently 3 type products under 30 subcategories. We would like to have 500 pieces each." offered Nolan as he began to produce his big pouch that contains credits in them.

Patricia and the two of them were excited since we got less profit but we are moving the items by bulk. 500 pieces of every kind mean we would sell 15,000 items at one go and it would be an approximately be a taking of more than 500k...!!

"Let us do it, Audemars..." said Patricia excitedly. "Yes, Audemars, at least these gentlemen would help us buy in bulk and then sell it off all around towns," Prius added as the thought of the bulk purchase would help to increase the sales. "Yes, Audemars... Its a damn pretty cool idea..." said Rebecca but only me was staring at the two fools in front of us with a crooked frown just like Hiko Seijuro.

"One question... Who is 80 and who is 20?" I asked and that's where their true colours are shown brightly. "Oh, we take 80 while you take 20. Since we are buying in bulk and selling them under your branding, we should take 80 for all the trouble. I was thinking of 85/15 earlier but we decided to give you some face and increase another 5 percent." explain Otis on the first part and followed by Nolan for the rest of their intent and explanation.

"DO YOU TAKE US LIKE A DUMB FUCK?" I roared at them and at the sheer of my voice, the glass window rattled and the children who were sitting on the rock display fell to the ground in shock.

"FOR A SHAMPOO WE ONLY GET 12 CREDITS?" I roared at them again and this time with my sheer voice and with the earlier points that I had allocated before at the City of Aermagh, the shock wave from my voice alone could move some grass on the ground...

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU BOTH THINKING? PAYING PEANUTS AND GET GORILLAS?" another roar came from me and this time the sputter of my saliva landed some in their faces as the travelling merchants took out an umbrella and shield themselves from the onslaught of my spewing saliva.

The two travelling merchants were staring blankly at me since they never knew a nerd like me could have such a commanding voice and splattering saliva that's seems deadly and filled with all kinds of bacteria. Actually saliva is clean and can be used as an emergency disinfectant for scratches out in the woods.