Phoenix Revenge System-Chapter 108: PRS 11 Liona

In business, whatever it may be, if we are successful, there will always be people who are jealous and want to imitate our efforts.

Seeing how much money Lura made from selling boiled and grilled corn at school, some people who had previously considered corn to be useless and only good for feeding chickens began to compete to imitate her and sell it in larger areas, such as town squares, commercial areas and markets.

"Just look at Lura, she got rich overnight just by selling corn. I can do it too!" grumbled Marta as she prepared her cart.

"What’s so difficult about frying corn? Just roast or boil it, and it will definitely sell well!" added one of her neighbours who had also started selling corn.

Without them knowing, no matter how many people imitated them, what they sold would not taste the same as Lura’s because they did not have the spices that made it delicious.

"What is this! It tastes awful!" said one of the children who bought grilled corn from Marta, who was selling on the side of the road. His face grimaced in annoyance, feeling cheated by the corn’s tempting appearance, which turned out to be bland.

"Yes, this boiled corn is also very bland, not as sweet as the one I bought at school," said his friend, looking at the boiled corn in his hand with disappointment. "I spent 50 pence on it, you know!"

"Yuck! This is really bad! Bitter!" said another friend, spitting out the grilled corn she had taken from her friend to taste. Tears were welling up in her eyes because of the bitter taste on her tongue.

Several people who were initially interested in buying Marta’s goods because their children had told them about the delicious grilled and boiled corn they had seen in Marta’s cart slowly backed away and left, leaving Marta, who had lost her customers, gnashing her teeth in anger.

"Wait a minute, ma’am! I still have a lot of good corn!" Marta shouted, trying to stop the potential buyers who were starting to leave.

But no one paid any attention. They had all seen the reaction of the three boys and did not want to waste their money on food that tasted disappointing.

"You little bastards! You’ve made a lot of my customers leave! Get out of here!" Marta said, brandishing the wooden stick she had used to prop up the lid of her cart, causing the three young boys to run away in fear.

Feeling cheated, having lost 50 rupiah and bought food that tasted so bad it was inedible, the three boys shouted loudly as they ran. "All of you! Don’t buy corn from that woman! She’s a fraud! Her grilled and boiled corn tastes awful!"

"Yes, that’s right! You’ll waste your money if you buy here!" added the second boy loudly. "If you want to buy grilled and boiled corn, just come to my school. The corn sold in the canteen is very tasty, you won’t regret it. It’s sweet, savoury, and the seasoning is just right!"

"That’s right! Anyway, if you want delicious corn, look for the one sold by our school canteen lady. It’s sold by the Laus family. It’s guaranteed to be delicious!" exclaimed the third boy as he continued to run away from Marta, whose face was already red with anger.

The three boys continued to run away, shouting words that made Marta’s eyes bulge, her nose flare, and her chest heave as she tried to hold back her anger. Her hands trembled as she held onto the wooden support. She wanted to chase after the three boys, but she had already used up all her energy shouting.

Furthermore, because it didn’t taste good, people were reluctant to spend their money and preferred to buy other delicious foods that were more filling, such as meatballs or steamed buns.

"I’d rather spend my money on Mr Arman’s meatballs, they’re filling and delicious!" said one mother as she walked away from Marta’s cart.

"Yes, it’s better to buy ten steamed buns, enough for all the children at home," added another mother. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

The losses that Marta suffered on her first day of selling were also experienced by several other sellers who followed suit and sold goods like Lura. They all went home with gloomy faces, their carts still full of unsold goods.

Some people who had tasted Lura’s grilled and boiled corn, even though they tried very hard, were frustrated because the results they got were not satisfactory.

"I’ve tried using more salt, but the taste is still different!" complained one of the imitators while stirring the spices in his hand.

"They must be hiding a secret. It’s impossible for ordinary corn to taste that good," muttered another curiously.

Because the business was growing so rapidly, selling up to five hundred packets a day, Laus had to go to another village to buy corn.

"Sir, we don’t have enough corn in our village anymore. Tomorrow I have to go to the next village to buy more," Laus reported to his wife one evening.

"Is it really that much? Alhamdulillah, sir. Our fortune is indeed flowing smoothly," replied Lura with a relieved smile.

Before everyone could recover from the shock of the grilled and boiled corn that the Laus family had made so popular, the poor family made another breakthrough by launching cassava sticks and cassava chips flavoured with onion and chilli, causing everyone who tried to follow in their footsteps to stop immediately.

"Oh my God! Now they’re selling cassava chips too! How did they make them taste so good?" complained a trader who tried to imitate them.

If it was just a matter of frying cassava chips, they could do it. But the problem was, they didn’t have seasoning like Lura, so the cassava chips they produced tasted ordinary, only salty from the salt. Those who used nothing at all were even worse off; their chips tasted bland, making anyone who ate them reluctant to finish them.

Seeing her family’s business begin to grow, Liona felt happy. "Mother, with the growth of this business, you need to have someone to help you so you don’t get exhausted," she said with concern. "It would be a pity if you got sick from fatigue. Our business could be disrupted."

Hearing Liona’s words, Lura felt that she was right and she intended to discuss it with her husband, after first listening to the rough calculations made by Liona while the baby chattered away as she accompanied her in the kitchen.

"Listen first, dear. If we hire five people, how much should we pay them?" Lura asked her daughter.

Laus, who was invited by his wife to discuss the matter, felt that what Liona said made sense. With the increasing number of orders coming in, they would definitely struggle to fulfil the existing orders.

"Yes, Mom. Yesterday alone, I felt very sore. Especially you, who works from morning to night," said Laus as he massaged his wife’s shoulders.

"All right, I’ll try to contact our closest neighbours first to ask for help. If they can’t, then I’ll look for people further away," said Laus firmly. "Tomorrow morning, I’ll go to Mrs Yanti and Mrs asi’s houses first."

For him, the neighbours on the right, left, front, and back were people who could help them when disaster struck. And he had proven this several times. Close neighbours were more sincere in helping than family members with whom he had blood ties, so in good times like this, he prioritised them to participate.

Some people who were offered work by Laus were naturally delighted. Not only could they help support their families financially, but the work they had to do was not too difficult either. It involved peeling cassava and sweet potatoes, slicing and frying them, peeling corn and removing the annoying corn silk from the cobs.

"Wow, thank you, Mr. Laus, for hiring me. My husband is having a hard time finding work," said Mrs. Yanti emotionally.

"Yes, sir. This is a blessing for all of us. May your business continue to prosper," added Mrs. Asi with a big smile.

To be efficient, the people Laus recruited were divided, because he only employed five elderly women to help his wife, three of whom worked to peel, while the other two were in charge of slicing. Meanwhile, his wife only worked to fry because this job was not too heavy and she could leave it to do other work.

Lano also helped peel cassava with the neighbouring women who were helping his mother.

"Lano, don’t peel too hard or you’ll waste the flesh," advised Mrs Asi patiently.

"Yes, ma’am. Sorry, I’m still learning," replied Lano with a shy smile.

Meanwhile, his two older brothers would only help with the work after they finished school. Everything was done together in harmony and unity.

Several people who had been following the development of Lura’s business saw Laus bringing five women to work at his house today and felt very jealous.

"Look at that! Laus’ family even has employees now. They used to be the poorest in this village," whispered a neighbour sarcastically.

"Yes, now his house is always busy. He must have a lot of money," replied another with an envious look.

Unfortunately, they could not compete with the delicious taste of Lura’s chips, corn, and fried cassava. Even though they tried to tweak the recipe and even brought in several expert cooks, the taste was still not the same. Although tasty, they felt that something was missing, so what they sold was not as popular as Lura’s.

The canteen lady, who had been accepting goods from Leo and Lan since the beginning, was now officially their sole agent in the village of Satarara. All the products that Lura produced would be entrusted to the plump woman. Besides being honest, the canteen lady was also a sociable person, so she could sell just by opening her mouth and giving out samples that she had deliberately prepared to attract potential buyers.

"Come on, ma’am, try this free sample. It’s delicious, crispy and savoury. The kids will love it!" she offered to the mothers who were waiting for their children to come home from school.

"Wow, it really is delicious, ma’am. I’ll buy five packs!" said one of the mothers after trying it.

Liona, who heard how the canteen lady sold their merchandise, felt satisfied because she did not expect that in a remote village like this, they would find such talented marketing personnel.

If honed properly, the canteen lady could become a professional marketer with her talent.

Laus herself, after her snack business started running, left her job as a farm labourer and is now busy travelling around the village to get raw materials at low prices but with good quality. She also started going to the central market, surveying good and airtight packaging so that the cassava chips she made could last a long time, according to Liona’s description.

Although it was a little difficult to find, after searching more thoroughly in every corner of the central market, he finally found packaging similar to what Liona had described. Even though it wasn’t exactly what she wanted, at least the plastic packaging he found was better than the kilo plastic he was currently using.

"Sir, this plastic is thicker and has a clip. It’s suitable for crisps," explained the packaging seller at the central market.

"How much per kilo, sir?" asked Laus, feeling the thickness of the plastic.

Besides being thicker, it also had a clip. If the clip was sealed with hot wax, wouldn’t that make the cassava chips inside last longer, allowing him to stock up at home? It would be easier so that when there were large, sudden orders, he wouldn’t be overwhelmed.

Since the main market was very far from his house, he had to take a kol (a type of Mitsubishi Colt T120 that was popular as public transport in the 80s) and had to spend money, Laus did not waste his trip and immediately bought some ingredients for his business that he could only buy there at a cheap price, especially garlic, shallots and chillies, which were much cheaper than those in the village of Satarara.

"I’ll take five kilos of garlic, seven kilos of red onions, and ten kilos of chillies, please," Laus said to the vegetable seller while counting his money.

He also tried to find margarine, as Lani had mentioned. If it was expensive, he would buy a little to try at home. If the price was reasonable, he might buy a lot so that his trip today would not be in vain.

"Ma’am, where can I find margarine?" Laus asked a friendly-looking saleswoman.

"Oh, margarine? Try the grocery store to the north, sir. They have everything there," the shopkeeper replied, pointing in the direction.

With hopeful steps, Laus walked towards the store, hoping to find affordable margarine to support his family’s rapidly growing business.