"Hey, Kitty, is this new stock?"
Tyrion, wrapped in a fur coat, held up a flat paper box and loudly asked his wife.
Tyrion owned a small magic supply shop, located on the second busiest street in the kingdom's second most prosperous city.
His business was thriving, thanks to his diligence and his capable wife, Kitty.
Kitty, busy at the shelves on the other side of the room, glanced back and said, "Yes, it's new stock from a channel distribution. Jonathan allocated a few items to us for trial sales." She then continued with her work.
"So what's this for? Let me see..." He flipped the box over and spelled out the letters:
"Calculation... Frame... What's this for?" (Note: Abacus)
Then he moved his gaze downward and saw two larger, bolder phrases:
[Make Your Calculations Fly!]
[A Great Helper for Problem-Solving and Accounting!]
"Looks like it's for calculations? Interesting. I suddenly want to try it." Tyrion said to his wife, who was walking toward him with a stack of packaging boxes.
"Go ahead. I remember it's not expensive. Let's just buy it." Kitty was always indulgent with her husband.
Tyrion hesitated, checked the price, and then opened the packaging: "Selling price is three silver coins each, cost price probably a bit over two... Well, let's open one to try. Otherwise, it's hard to explain to customers." He found a reason for himself.
After taking out the contents and removing the padding, Tyrion discovered a finely crafted wine-red wooden frame with many small rods neatly strung with beads. The frame was smoothly polished without burrs, and the corners were reinforced with L-shaped metal plates. At first glance, though strange, it was quite beautiful.
But the brightly colored manual first caught his attention.
So he opened it and read. The manual was illustrated with easy-to-understand line drawings.
While reading the manual, he began moving the beads on the abacus.
"Kitty!"
Kitty, who had just finished throwing away the trash, hurried in at the call. "What's wrong?"
"Come take a look at this. It's perfect for you!"
"?"
"I just opened one and tried it," he said, patting the abacus. "I studied it a bit, and this should solve your problem of miscalculations. Though it might be slow at first, you won't have to worry about it anymore. And I think we might consider ordering more."
"Really? Show me." Kitty was surprised but skeptical.
"Look, according to the instructions, first, we push the beads to the top and bottom..."
The next day.
"Hey, Tom, I've got new stock here. Once you get used to it, it can solve your slow accounting problems. Want to try?" "Hi, Jerry, we have a new product that calculates numbers quickly and accurately. Interested?" Early in the morning, Tyrion stood at the door eating breakfast, calling out to his early-rising neighbors.
The couple had a keen eye. On the bustling street, fellow shopkeepers had significant demand for such a product. Thus, their sales increased a bit more.
Similar events were happening in many places around the kingdom.
...............
"Haha, great! Finally seeing some returns."
After agreeing not to reinvest this time, Lanen received the dividend sent by young Abel. A full five gold coins—this was the earnings from his small venture over half a year.
Not only had he recouped his investment, but he'd also doubled it.
The abacus distribution was going well. So far, roughly three batches totaling 1,500 units had been sold (each production batch was 500).
Each abacus cost one silver coin to produce, with another silver coin left as profit for the channels and retailers, setting the final selling price at three silver coins. The one-silver-coin difference was Abel and Lanen's net profit.
The two initially invested five gold coins together, producing the first batch of 500. Subsequent profits were all reinvested into expanding production. By the time of this dividend, they had 20 gold coins worth of goods (at cost) and cash. They took out ten gold coins for dividends. The remaining ten were reinvested to ensure two more batches were in production and sales after the dividend.
Ten gold coins, split equally.
Lanen ultimately couldn't secure more shares. Instead, he contributed half the capital and technology for a 50% stake; Abel provided the channels and another two and a half gold coins for the other 50%. With the assistance and witness of lawyer Edgar, they founded a company named "Frieden Computing Technology Co., Ltd." to stamp their logo on product packaging.
This name was also used for tax purposes—there was no distinction between enterprises and individuals here, just the societal belief that "only taxes and death are unavoidable in life."
In reality, the dividend profit was lower than expected, but both Lanen and Abel were satisfied.
Because, purely in terms of production and sales, a 100% profit margin was well worth it. And for Abel, venturing into industry gave him the security of walking on two legs.
"Want to find a place to chat?" Seeing Lanen's joy at receiving the gold coins, Abel extended an invitation.
Sitting down in a quiet nearby tavern, Lanen ordered a honey drink while Abel opted for malt beer.
"Not having any alcohol? It's good stuff, a man's favorite."
"Sorry, I'd like to try, but 'alcohol is a mage's nemesis.' I've always remembered that creed," Lanen replied helplessly.
"Alright. I graduated from the College of Literature, never went to Arcane School, so I don't quite understand mages."
With the mood lightened, Abel discussed the current state of their small venture.
"The sales speed through my channels has started to decline."
"Expected."
"As a shareholder, what do you think we should do next? I agree with your initial view—the market is still vast." Abel actively sought opinions.
"Let me share my thoughts on the existing channels first. In my view, after sales exceed a certain amount, decline is inevitable. Because the current channels only have the capacity to distribute domestically. And the abacus is a durable good—one unit lasts a long time. It's a one-time fulfillment of personal needs, quite different from selling consumables."
Lanen took a sip of his honey drink, which had a tea-like flavor mixed with honey, very thirst-quenching. He continued, "So, when most people near the channels' reach who are most receptive to our product and have enough spare money to buy it have done so, sales will inevitably decline. But I suspect sales won't drop to zero or very low levels—they'll stabilize after a while."
Abel seemed concerned: "So we can still continue production?"
"Yes, production can certainly continue. We're not afraid of overstocking. Since we haven't signed long-term supply agreements, we just need to place orders with the processing and printing factories as needed. They must love our orders." Lanen spoke with relaxed confidence.
Abel nodded. "True. Thanks to recent orders, our company has become a premium client in the eyes of those factories."
"But in my opinion, we shouldn't just continue production—we should increase it."
"Why?"