Chapter 041
Author: Feast of Masks
Raws: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=3185016
Translated by Gumihou
Proofread by Pill Bug
With that reassurance, Manager Yao picked out some vegetables that would be needed for the day’s business.
The ‘some’ turned out to be quite a lot, weighing up to 10 catties. He also picked through the selection of mountain products that Zhao’er had brought, such as various mushrooms, wood ear fungus, as well as pheasants and rabbits caught by the Jiang Family just the day before. There were also the eggs that Zhao’er had accepted in place of money when selling clothes.
Manager Yao picked out 2 baskets of eggs on top of everything else.
In fact, Xue Qinghuai had been worrying about what to do with all the eggs that Zhao’er had collected earlier. He had been shocked to find out that Zhao’er had exchanged clothes for the eggs and had collected about a thousand of them. He had not expected them to be rid of a hundred eggs in just one visit.
“You have a good head for business, boy. Come back at the same time tomorrow.”
At that moment, the only person who knew the hidden meaning behind Manager Yao’s words was probably Zhao’er. She smiled and said, “Sure, don’t worry. We’ll definitely be back around this time tomorrow.”
She accepted the coins handed to her by the money-handling worker, bade Manager Yao goodbye, got on the mule cart and left.
Xue Qinghuai drove the cart forward with his head down. Zhao’er also kept her silence. It was not until they were quite far away from Immortal Guest House that both finally released a great sigh of relief.
“Fourth Uncle, let’s hurry over to Immortal Residence.”
“Sure.”
As the two hurried along, they chatted.
Xue Qinghuai sighed and said, “When you told me that we could make money selling vegetables, Fourth Uncle thought that we would be making a few coins selling vegetables that most villagers would not eat. To think that it could be sold for the price of half a catty of meat?”
Zhao’er laughed out loud, “Fourth Uncle, let me tell you. This is an advantageous time to sell vegetables. Just wait, once it gets warmer and there are more vegetables around, these things will not be worth much.”
It was no wonder that Xue Qinghuai would sigh over the prices of the vegetables. Just now, when they set their vegetables out to be inspected, Manager Yao was the one who quoted the price. Zhao’er did not say how much she was selling the vegetables for to avoid being accused of ripping people off.
As for Manager Yao, since the vegetables were delivered straight to the restaurant’s door, he also did not try to take advantage of the situation and gave a fair price for the ingredients, which was the market price, plus one extra coin for the delivery fee.
Zhao’er brought over 10 different kinds of vegetables, which earned them more than 800 coins in one go. Not only that, there were eggs and mountain products as well. Even discounting the pheasants and rabbits they helped the Jiang family sell, they still managed to earn over one tael from that single trip.
However, one should know that these vegetables were bought at a very low price at 2 coins, only to be sold at 8 coins per catty, which was a great profit no matter how one looked at it.
“That’s right, that Manager Yao said something really strange earlier. I thought it had been a long time since you sold vegetables?”
Zhao’er chuckled, “Fourth Uncle, it’s just a little trick to make it seem like we are close. Think about it. It’s not like we go to restaurants often or have any connection with the workers there, so how would we have sold our vegetables to the shop? I chatted with the workers first and found out Manager Yao’s name through him. After that, it was easier to make it look like we appear close. As for the rest, it was things that could be found out if you spend some time squatting at the marketplace.”
Xue Qinghuai sighed and praised, “Although Fourth Uncle have been doing business longer, I am not as good as you.”
“Uncle should know that I have been selling vegetables at the market for almost a year now. I already found out about the vegetable situation last spring, so this visit has nothing to do with luck.”
They soon arrived at the back door of Immortal Residence. Like before, Zhao’er sold another large batch of vegetables with barely any effort. At the end of it, the shop manager repeatedly entreated them to come by the next day, to which Zhao’er cheerfully agreed.
Then, they went to Drunken Immortal Tower next, and the same thing happened.
Xue Qinghuai was even more surprised and asked, “How is your timing so accurate? Are you not afraid of missing the managers? What if they decide to go to the market early?”
Zhao’er gave him a mysterious look in reply. When Xue Qinghuai asked her again, she finally explained, “Back when I used to hawk vegetables at the market, I paid attention to the movements of the people who bought the most vegetables. While they tend to go to the market at different times, they almost always come by at the same time. Furthermore, even if they had gone to the market today, they probably wouldn’t have been able to find any fresh vegetables.”
Xue Qinghuai was taken aback. “Why?”
Zhao’er glanced at the baskets of vegetables in the back of the cart. Suddenly, Xue Qinghuai felt as though he had just taken a drink of cold water in the middle of winter. With shock realisation dawning on him, he said, “When we collected the vegetables earlier, none of them made you wait. Everything was prepared. You did not even give them any money.”
Zhao’er nodded. She was also surprised by Xue Qinghuai’s observation. “I made arrangements with them last winter. Back when I sold clothes to the villagers, some could not pay with money, so I made arrangements to collect vegetables from them instead. Everything is traded at a fair price, and they agreed to provide me with fresh vegetables at the start of spring. For those who wanted to sell their vegetables, we can pay them tomorrow when we collect the next batch of vegetables.”
Xue Qinghuai was shocked.
He had not realised that Zhao’er had planned so far ahead. To think that she had been thinking of this business since the year before and had reserved so many families’ vegetables in advance…
The villagers who cooperated with Zhao’er probably had not thought much of Zhao’er’s request and were most likely quite happy to receive actual money in exchange for a bit of vegetables from their garden. The amount of vegetables each garden could yield was too little to warrant a trip to town.
Moreover, by targeting the individual households and going to them to collect vegetables, she had created an even greater lack of vegetables in town. After all, those who were aiming to make a little money could now do the same while sitting at home. Therefore, how many would be willing to brave the cold and spend money on cart rides to get to town just to sell some vegetables if they had the choice of saving both time and money by selling their goods directly to Zhao’er?
If that was the case, even if he was not involved with the partnership, wouldn’t Zhao’er have done quite well for herself? He had entered into the partnership because Zhao’er had told him that he was more familiar with the surrounding villagers, but… looking at the way Zhao’er worked, she already had good connections, perhaps even more than him. Perhaps… this partnership was really just a way to share some of the money they had earned with him?
When Xue Qinghuai revealed his concerns to Zhao’er, she smiled and said, “Fourth Uncle, why would you say that? It is true that I have some good ideas, but with only myself and Brother Jiang Wu, we really don’t have enough people, ah. If we want this business to expand and do well in the long run, we will need more hands. Uncle probably can’t see the details now, but you will understand it later.”
“This time, the restaurants offered such high prices for the vegetables because of the shortage, isn’t it?”
Zhao’er nodded; she had no plans to hide this matter from him. “Around this time last year, vegetables were being sold at about 5 coins per catty. It has increased quite a bit this year.”
Xue Qinghuai looked even more shocked.
Zhao’er smiled a little embarrassedly, “That price will most likely only hold for a few days. Vegetables are not something that can be kept for long, so I don’t plan to keep selling at that price. Instead, I want to use this opportunity to build a relationship with the restaurants and strike a long-term partnership with them. This way, we can sell a steady amount of vegetables every day at a significant price.”
Xue Qinghuai let out a long sigh and said, “Looks like your Fourth Uncle must learn how to do business from you in the future.”
Zhao’er laughed and said, “It’s nothing, I’m just taking advantage of the situation.”
“Where do we go after Drunken Immortal Tower?”
“Brother Jiang Wu will be trying his luck with the noble family mansions in the south. We have agreed to meet at Qingyuan Academy later.”
Xue Tingxiang was surprised at this unexpected detail, “Why would you want to meet with Gou’er at his school?”
“There’s something I wanted to ask Gou’er to help with. I want to ask him to help me write up some contracts. Since we’re all illiterate, it’s better to find a literate person to help.”
“A contract?”
Zhao’er nodded, “Before yesterday’s incident, I had always believed that country folk are honest and straightforward people. That, so long as we have a verbal agreement, all would be fine. After yesterday, however, I can no longer think that way. It’s better to have proper contracts with the families we collect vegetables from. Since we have an obligation to provide vegetables to people on a regular basis, we cannot allow them to casually sell their vegetables to others.”
In fact, Xue Qinghuai thought suddenly, since they had more or less monopolised the vegetables in the nearby villages, could it be that they could set the price of vegetables as they wished?
Because his mind was filled with thoughts about future business potential, Xue Qinghuai had completely forgotten about the unfortunate event from the day before. Hearing Zhao’er talk about contracts immediately brought the previous day’s unpleasantness to mind.
As though she had read his thoughts, Zhao’er said, “Fourth Uncle, there’s no need to overthink it. We have a limited number of people, and there are always things we have not taken into account. Don’t forget, the county town is not far from here. Once vegetable prices exceed a certain level, people may just buy vegetables from other towns and villages.
The reason why there are hawkers selling goods like rice, cloth, and other items is that the profit margin is higher compared to selling vegetables, which was already considered worthless to most people. Moreover, unlike other goods, vegetables cannot withstand long journeys and wilt quickly if left unsold for too long.
Still, you’re thinking in the right direction. After we have completed this business, if we could get more people, we could also visit the villagers we haven’t been to yet. It is also a good idea to visit the neighbouring Anyang Town. If possible, one day we should expand our business to the entire Xia County. When that time comes, we can implement Uncle’s idea.”
What idea? Naturally, it was the idea of setting the price of vegetables as they wished.
However, this was just a thought. It would be very difficult to get to that point, and Zhao’er understood this.
“While others become cloth sellers, tea sellers and rice sellers, we can become vegetable sellers from now on.”
The visit to Drunken Immortal Tower went smoothly.
After leaving the last restaurant, the two of them hurried the mule cart towards Qingyuan Academy.
It was a bright spring day, with the sun shining warmly down on them as they travelled down a street lined with Chinese parasol trees. The noise and bustle of the marketplace died down, and suddenly, their surroundings became very quiet.
Zhao’er jumped out of the cart and knocked on the door.
Soon, an elderly man came out and asked, “What is it?”
“Hello, Elder. My younger brother studies here. There is a situation at home, and I need to speak with him urgently. Could you please call him out for me?”
The elderly man recognised Zhao’er, as she had delivered things through this door before. At her request and the anxious look on her face, he did not refuse and only asked for her ‘younger brother’s name before going inside.
After a while, Xue Tingxiang came out.
He was frowning as he stepped quickly towards Zhao’er, “What happened?”
Zhao’er pulled him aside, “Nothing, don’t you worry. I just need your help with something. So, I made up an excuse to get you out.”
Xue Tingxiang could not help but sigh in relief. Then, he glanced at her and said, “Was it because you missed me?”
Uh…
Zhao’er was taken aback. However, she did not think much of the question as she said, “I want you to help me write something. It’s urgent, that’s why I came to find you.”
Xue Tingxiang fell silent. He thought: This Zhao’er really lacked sensitivity. Still, she had come looking for him, so “What do you need me to write? Just say it, I’ll write it for you.”
Suddenly, Zhao’er hesitated. She felt embarrassed because she needed a lot of things written, and the only literate person she knew was her little man. Therefore, she felt she had no choice but to look for him. [1]
Still, she explained the situation to Xue Tingxiang. She even mentioned the family quarrel that happened yesterday. At the mention of the main family taking advantage of the situation to cause trouble, Xue Tingxiang’s brow drew together unconsciously. However, when he heard how Zhao’er had resolved the situation so perfectly that the main family not only lost the chicken they had been planning to steal but also the rice they had been using to lure it, his ink-like eyebrows relaxed.
“In the end, you were right. That’s why I want you to help me write some contracts. I want those families to sign the contract to prevent future trouble,” said Zhao’er.
“Yes, this is a good move if you plan to continue this business long-term. It will also prevent people from trying to cut into your business by offering lower prices,” said Xue Tingxiang.
Zhao’er was surprised by this, “Ting’er? You also know about business matters?”
Xue Tingxiang cleared his throat and said mysteriously, “Studying helps with one’s understanding and improves one’s reasoning skills.”
“Looks like studying is a really good thing. Our Ting’er is becoming more and more accomplished,” Zhao’er sighed.
Each time Zhao’er sighed like this, Xue Tingxiang could hear a hint of ‘my child is so bright’ kind of pride and joy in her voice. He especially hated this, even in the past. The past him would always put on a cold face as an attempt to show ‘maturity’, but in this life, he decided not to go down that path.
Instead, he changed the subject. “What kind of conditions do you want in the contracts? Never mind, I will draft them out for you. How many do you need? I may not have enough paper at hand.”
Zhao’er immediately beamed, “I happened to pass by Uncle Chen’s place and bought you a cut of paper and a new ink stick.”
So saying, she went to the cart to get the stationery. Xue Tingxiang followed after her, stopping only to greet Xue Qinghuai.
“Will 100 pieces be enough? Maybe I should just write more.”
Zhao’er had not expected him to write so many for her. Still, after some thought, 100 contracts may not be enough, but… after some hesitation, she said, “Surely you can’t write so many on your own? How about writing a few first and leaving the rest for later? There is no hurry.”
“It’s fine. If you are busy, you should go first. Come back later this afternoon. I will have them ready for you,” said Xue Tingxiang.
The two of them exchanged a few more words before Xue Tingxiang returned to the Academy with his stack of papers. Meanwhile, Zhao’er and Xue Qinghuai stayed behind, waiting for Jiang Wu.
About half an hour later, Jiang Wu finally arrived with his mule cart.
They found that he managed to sell all his vegetables. However, because those rich noble house people had all kinds of rules and regulations, it caused him some delays. Still, nearly all of the households bade them to come by again the next day, which was a good start.
Please read this at kitchennovel dot com ~
At the same time, classes had just ended.
When Xue Tingxiang had been called out earlier, Mao Badou and the rest were wondering whether something had happened with his family. They waited anxiously until class was over before approaching him. Unexpectedly, before they could voice their concerns, Xue Tingxiang had captured them.
“Let us not talk about that yet. Do me a favour and make a few copies of this.”
[Gumihou: Lol, is he going to use his friends as free labour?]
[1] Lol, she completely forgot about Elder Uncle Xue and Xue Juncai…
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