Harry Potter: Charlie and the Candy Factory

At noon, it was still plain biscuits and jam, paired with a cup of steaming coffee, just like Charlie's every day in the past, without any changes.

The only special thing was that Russell was really busy today due to the candy vending machine. So for the first time, he didn't wait for Charlie to finish his meal.

After personally delivering the food to him, he left with Charlie's permission and went back to handle the related matters.

But fortunately, Charlie is not alone - there is also Vivien accompanying him.

Since returning from the American wizarding world, his life routine has returned to its original state. But he doesn't mind it at all, and instead enjoys it.

After all, only after experiencing a series of various events can we understand that the most inconspicuous and ordinary things are often the truly valuable ones.

There are no fights, no accidents, no intrigues, and no intrigues... There is just the leisure and comfort brought by the sunshine that is just right at noon.

On his table, Vivien was also sleeping soundly.

I don't know if it's his own quirks, but when he sleeps, he never stands on a small branch or other supportive place like other owls, closes his eyes and starts to rest. Instead, he shrinks his whole body into a

It formed a ball, then completely buried its head into the fluffy feathers, retracted its claws into it, and fell asleep like this.

Sometimes even when he was sleeping soundly, the "owl ball" made of feathers would rise and fall with his breathing, and at the same time make a continuous and weak unconscious sound similar to "coo coo coo".

Charlie was in a good mood and put down the half-eaten biscuit in his hand. His heart moved and he couldn't help but reach out and pat Vivien's retracted head.

"Gu——"

The little bird on the table poked its head out with some annoyance, half-opened one eye, glanced at Charlie, and called twice.

Then, as if a motor was suddenly started, he vigorously shook the feathers on his body, shook off the cookie crumbs on Charlie's hand, and then fell asleep again.

And when he looked at Charlie again, he looked like a child who had pulled off a prank and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Just when Charlie was about to tease Vivien again, suddenly, there was a familiar knock on the door outside the office, which made him stop the evil hand he was about to extend.

Almost without thinking, he knew who was coming.

"Come in, Russell."

He shouted casually, then withdrew his hand with some regret and wiped the corners of his mouth.

The door opened, and just as Charlie thought, Russell walked in first.

However, what he didn't expect was that behind Russell, a slightly shorter little guy also walked in. The person who came was none other than Dabu.

At this moment, after a period of practice, he can skillfully use the wooden leg that serves as a prosthetic limb. Except for the somewhat weird posture when walking, both speed and flexibility are almost the same as before.

No different.

Even if he didn't see it with his own eyes, Charlie could probably imagine how much effort this child put in in such a short period of time to achieve this point...

"Good afternoon, my great and noble Master Charlie."

Russell still spoke the same words every day, and he didn't feel the slightest bit uncomfortable because Dabu was now following him.

Even in front of others, he acted a little more serious. It was hard for people to find any fault.

Dabu's eyes were clear and shining. He raised his head, looked at Russell, and then at Charlie. It seemed that because it was the first time he came to this office, he was not as good as when Charlie saw him outside.

So lively and out-of-the-box, but with a kind of nervousness and shyness.

"Good afternoon, the great and noble Mr. Black."

After listening to Russell's greetings, he quickly imitated the other person's behavior and said good afternoon to Charlie.

Charlie couldn't help laughing for a moment when he saw Dabu's completely different appearance.

"Good afternoon, Russell. Good afternoon, Dabu."

After saying hello to the two elves one after another, he moved his gaze to Russell curiously and couldn't help but ask

"Dab has already taken up his post as your little assistant so soon? I thought you would ask him to rest for a while."

After hearing Charlie's words, Russell's expression was a little strange. He first looked back at Dabu who was timidly following behind him. After a moment of pause, he explained:

"Actually...I didn't ask little Dabu to come here."

"Didn't you call me here?" The curiosity in Charlie's eyes turned into surprise.

He raised his eyebrows and at the same time turned his attention back to Dabu.

At this moment, Dabu was lowering his head and stroking his hands intently, seemingly a little entangled.

"I just finished handling the matter at hand and was about to come over to report something to you. As a result... I met this little guy on the way here. He seemed to want to come and talk to you about something, but it turned out that he didn't know where your office is.

, I got stuck at the fork in the stairs and didn’t know which way to go.”

After saying this, even Russell couldn't help laughing. He raised his hand and rubbed Dabu's head lovingly.

Russell simply loved the child next to him. Because he had watched him grow up since he was a child, and because of the special characteristics of the elf tribe, in a sense, he treated Dabu as if he were his own child.

generally.

"Um...yes, Mr. Black." Dabu finally raised his head, scratched his head with some embarrassment, and then continued what Russell just said.

"Actually... I have some small things that I want to discuss with you." After finishing speaking, he raised his head and looked at Russell next to him. He seemed to have thought of something, and quickly added, "Of course... it's not anything."

It’s a very urgent matter. If you and Uncle Russell have something important to discuss, I can go out first and come back later.”

After hearing this, Russell and Charlie looked at each other, and then smiled at each other in a tacit understanding. Although they didn't say anything, the look of satisfaction in their eyes did not hide much.

"No need, we are all our own children, there is nothing we can't listen to."

Charlie smiled and shook his head, waved his hand, and rejected Dabu's proposal.

"Besides, you are about to become an adult and take charge of your own business...it would also be good to hear more about what is going on in the factory."

Seeing what he said, Dabu no longer insisted. After nodding obediently, he took two steps back and stood quietly at the door.

"alright………"

Ignoring Dabu anymore, Charlie breathed out, changed to a more comfortable sitting position, and then began his daily conversation with Russell.

"The most important thing in the factory recently is the candy vending machine."

Russell quickly entered the state, took out the notebook, held it in his hand, and reported the report to Charlie.

"How's it going? If I remember correctly, as of today, all the fifteen machines we are planning to test launch should have been installed in Hogwarts, right?"

Charlie understood, and nodded while sorting out the thoughts in his mind.

"Yes, that's right!" Russell's voice was a little excited.

"Dada just sent me a message not long ago, asking us to quickly replenish the goods for the second time! All the candies prepared by the factory at the beginning have been sold out!

Originally we calculated that each machine could sustain a week's supply. As a result, all the candies were sold out within half a day at the latest!!"

As he said that, Russell looked down at the notebook again, and took a deep breath with excitement. His eyes were blazing, as if he had already seen the future of the factory fifty years later just by relying on this candy vending machine plan.

"If we continue at this rate, after all the candy vending machines are installed, the factory's revenue will be doubled in less than half a year!!!"

Hearing Russell's words, even Dabu, who was originally acting as a little transparent, couldn't help but widen his eyes, and the expression on his face was full of surprise, as if he was already imagining what the concept of doubling would be like.

.

Although he has not directly participated in the actual operation of the factory, as Chavcha's son, he watches his father sitting in the office every day, helping Uncle Russell handle the capital flow of the factory.

Under the influence of his ears and eyes, he can naturally understand what kind of money-attracting monster the factory run by Mr. Black is.

Take the simplest example... Before Charlie founded the candy factory, most of the candy production and sales in the entire British wizarding world were self-produced and sold like family workshops, and there was never any further concept.

.

However, when he really succeeded and stood up in front of everyone, no matter how stubborn the candy and snack shop was, he could only lower his head and reform the original family workshop into a role like a retail merchant.

After all, scattered family workshops cannot face the behemoth of a factory. Whether it is price, taste, or even quantity, it can almost form a dimension-reducing crushing force, forcing them to compromise and surrender.

Only those who are as skilled in craftsmanship as Honeydukes and can indeed surpass the factory to some extent can barely keep their products alive in the world.

However, it is still necessary to create an extra shelf in addition to this, specifically to display Charlie brand candies.

It is such a leader that can almost unify the dessert market in the British wizarding world. Russell actually said that its revenue can double within half a year! From this, you can imagine how shocked Dabu was.

However, facing Russell's words, Charlie shook his head in disbelief.

"It's not that simple. The hot sales of candy at the moment is just because Hogwarts is a small market that is still semi-developed. In addition, the new model of the candy vending machine will make people curious in a short time.

sense, thereby promoting enthusiasm for consumption.”

Stretching out his hand, he gently stroked Vivien's head a few times and continued.

"Besides, the shelf life of those candies is not short. It will take a long time for the little wizards to eat them all after buying in large quantities, so it won't take long for the sales volume of the fifteen candy vending machines to

Return to the normal value - that is, the one-week supply volume we originally set."

After listening to Charlie's words, Russell also regained his composure from the excitement brought by the huge profits in front of him.

He nodded, then picked up the pen and started recording in his notebook. However, after all the records were completed, he couldn't help but sigh quietly and whispered "White" as if talking to himself.

So happy."

"Actually, I'm not happy for nothing... There will definitely be growth, but it's not as high as you think... After all, the factory has reached this point, and if you imagine it just started, it will double several times from time to time.

Impossible."

Charlie smiled and comforted Russell. Without wasting too much thought on this issue, he quickly asked Russell to continue talking about the following things.

"Except for the candy vending machines..."

Russell flipped through the notebook, scanning his eyes up and down. After quickly integrating the above data in his mind, he said with some hesitation.

"The other thing is that our manpower... seems to be somewhat insufficient."

Charlie listened, his eyes narrowed slightly. Then he raised his eyebrows, but he didn't say anything, but waited for what Russell would say next.

"The first is the new candies, snow lemon and violet candies, which will be put into production soon. As the main products of the new quarter, three to four more production lines will be needed on top of the production lines of ordinary products to specifically ensure their production.

Supply. Secondly, the preparations in the United States have been almost completed not long ago. The wine-based ice plum sweets are expected to take up a lot of manpower after they start selling. In addition, the candy vending machine side..."

Russell did not continue speaking, but looked at Charlie with a slight frown, and the meaning was naturally self-evident.

To be precise, this is actually a good thing. After all, everyone wants to sell their products better. The current situation of supply exceeding demand is proof of the popularity of Charlie's candy.

Charlie still didn't speak, seemed to be thinking about something, and his eyebrows were slightly frowned, with a slight hesitation.

"Perhaps we can reduce the production quantity of other candies first and consolidate a few production lines for other products?"

Russell looked at Charlie who lowered his eyebrows and said nothing, and carefully suggested:

"...No need." Charlie shook his head, as if he had made a decision, and his slightly frowned brows relaxed again.

In fact, he had considered this issue before doing this series of actions.

The number of elves in the factory is not endless. If you want to continue to develop, sooner or later the number of people will be exhausted. This becomes a fatal flaw that limits Charlie's candy.

Charlie's original idea was the same as Russell's, to give up part of the market share that originally belonged to other candies to individual candy brands, and then use new products to iterate on his own side.

Although it is a helpless move, it is actually the most feasible way to ensure quality and improve profits so far.

However, in just a few days in the American magic world, a new idea suddenly appeared in his mind...

"How much more stock do we have in our warehouse?" Charlie then asked

"Well... if we release them all, it will be enough to meet the supply of goods until Christmas." After a moment of pause, Russell quickly gave the answer.

"But after Christmas..."

"That's enough." Charlie raised his hand, interrupting what he was going to say next. The expression on his face was already as unfathomable as what Russell had seen before...

………………………………

Russell left. After reporting what needed to be reported to Charlie, he took the plate that Charlie had finished, left the office, and began to deal with the afternoon's affairs.

"Okay, Dabu."

At this point, Charlie relaxed. While smiling, he placed his eyes on Dabu and shouted softly.

"Russell's matter has been dealt with...it's your turn next. Do you need to see me for anything?"

After hearing the call, Dabu, who was concentrating on studying at the door, seemed to realize the purpose of his trip, and instantly returned to his original tension and entanglement.

He took small steps forward little by little and stopped at the spot where Russell was standing just now.

"………I"

Dabu raised his head, looked at Charlie in front of him, opened his mouth, but only said "I" and then nothing more happened.

Charlie was not in a hurry, just smiled and continued to wait patiently, while guessing why the child in front of him came.

Soon after, finally, Dabu took a deep breath and straightened his back.

Only then did he pluck up the courage to tell Charlie the purpose of his trip.

"Mr. Black! I...I want to apply for a transfer to Hogwarts to manage those candy vending machines!"