Chapter 370: The First Business

The people in the tavern were all frightened when they saw this. They quickly pulled the owner aside and said, "Hey, Boss Zheng! This matter... Oh! Forget it! I'm in a good mood today, so I won't bother to alert the government. Let's just settle it privately. But it's only five taels of silver... I really won't be able to explain it when I go back. Don't forget, I helped you out of your urgent need the other day. You can't just deny it when you meet another customer. How about this! Forget fifty taels of silver, just pay me twenty taels now, and we'll be done with this matter. How about that?"

The shopkeeper listened, his face still grimacing. Twenty taels of silver was enough to buy several acres of good farmland.

The silver he earned today was almost half of his fortune, which he would take home to buy land and property. Five taels of silver was already his limit.

"This... twenty taels..."

Chen Fenghe interrupted him and said:

"My dear, twenty taels is a bit of an exorbitant price, isn't it? Let me put it this way. This shop and the horses, cattle, mules, etc. in it were all bought by me on a whim. I feel bad that Boss Zheng has to pay for them. I'll pay the five taels of silver for him. As for your fear of not being able to explain yourself when you get back, that's easy to handle. Your restaurant bought these old horses and cattle simply because Youzhou City was hit by a major epidemic, and all the pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, and other meats in the surrounding villages and towns were gone. You couldn't buy more at the moment, so you had to use horse meat and beef to offset the loss, right? I have some ways to get these pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, etc., and I can sell them to you at a price that's a little 10% to 20% higher than the usual market price before the plague. Isn't that much better than the meat of old horses and cattle? And it won't ruin your restaurant's reputation."

When these words were spoken, the shopkeeper and the waiter in the restaurant couldn't help but widen their eyes.

Within a hundred miles of Youzhou City, all the available pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks had been bought up by Youzhou City's restaurants and wealthy families two weeks ago. Outer counties were still wary of the plague, so although some courageous merchants brought in some, it was a drop in the bucket for the entire city, and the supply was simply insufficient.

To put it bluntly, let alone pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks, I'm afraid I can't even catch a mouse.

Of course, the main reason why there was not a single rat was that during the lockdown of Youzhou City, the former Crown Princess who saved the people of the city ordered the extermination of rats throughout the city.

"You... you really have a way?" asked the restaurant waiter.

If he could procure pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks, he would have made a great contribution, and the shopkeeper would surely give him a generous reward! Moreover, he could also secretly swindle some of the purchase price, and with the five taels of silver as compensation, this deal would be a good one!

Boss Zheng couldn't help but whisper to Shen Fenghe, "My dear guest, do you... do you really have a connection? If not, please don't try to be so stubborn. At worst, I can compensate him with ten taels of silver..."

Chen Fenghe smiled and said, "Shopkeeper, don't worry. Since I dare to make such a promise, I must have a way. Speaking of this, I still need to trouble you with one thing."

Boss Zheng listened and nodded without thinking, saying, "Young guest, if there is anything you need me to do, please let me know."

Chen Fenghe smiled and said, "I do have a connection, but it's not near Youzhou City. I need to transport it from this town by carriage. I've just taken over this shop. Although I still plan to do the carriage business in the future, I don't have much experience with good carriage drivers, routes, and so on. Boss Zheng, you used to work in this business, so could you help me check it out this time?"

Boss Zheng said, "That's not difficult. I know a few skilled cart drivers, and there are also guys who used to be responsible for loading and unloading or escorting the carts. They have been idle at home since they have no work recently. They will definitely be willing to help. However, the reward..."

Chen Fenghe smiled and said, "Boss Zheng, don't worry about the reward. We will definitely not let you down."

Boss Zheng had seen Chen Fenghe's generosity and openness. Although he had bargained with him when buying the shop, that was also a basic business practice. Not bargaining would easily make people think he was a fool and look down on him. But after the price was agreed upon, he paid very quickly. Therefore, he nodded and said, "Okay. I'll go find someone right away."

After the matter was settled, Chen Fenghe turned to the waiter at the restaurant and said, "How many pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks does your store need? Please make a list. We can agree on the price. I will arrange for the transportation and deliver the goods immediately."

The waiter was still a little stunned. He didn't quite trust the handsome young man in front of him. Of course, he also had a bit of a difficult look on his face. He sneered and said, "Our restaurant will be out of stock tomorrow. How can we wait for you to prepare this and that? Tomorrow morning at four o'clock, you need to deliver the goods to the back door of our tavern! The content of the goods is not too much. Right now, we need ten fat pigs, ten fat sheep, fifty chickens, ducks and geese each, and two hundred eggs. They must be fresh. If any of them are sick, don't blame us for coming to your door and destroying your reputation!"

Chen Fenghe smiled and said, "That's easy. A fat pig originally costs two strings of cash, but I'll charge you two strings of cash, four hundred coins. Ten of them will be twenty-four strings of cash. A fat sheep originally costs one string of cash, five hundred coins. I'll charge you one string of cash, eight hundred coins. Ten of them will be eighteen strings of cash. Chickens and ducks originally cost seventy coins, eighty coins each. I'll charge you one hundred coins each. Fifty of each will be ten strings of cash. Goose originally cost one hundred and ten coins each, but I'll charge you one hundred and twenty coins each. Fifty of each will be six strings of cash. Eggs originally cost five coins each, but I'll charge you the original price. That's one string of cash. All together, I'll be fifty-nine strings of cash, or fifty-nine taels. I'd also like to ask you to pay a deposit of six taels of silver. I'll deliver it on time tomorrow morning at four o'clock."

The waiter at the restaurant and Boss Zheng were stunned for a long time after hearing what he said.

After a moment's silence, the waiter raised his hands and counted with his fingers to try to figure it out.

Boss Zheng also hurriedly took the abacus on the counter and started calculating.

The waiter naturally didn't understand the calculation, but Boss Zheng did. He said excitedly, "Young sir, I didn't expect you to have such a unique skill! So many samples, different prices, and yet you calculated it accurately!"

The clerk turned to look at Boss Zheng blankly and asked, "Are you sure? Is it accurate to the last detail?"

Boss Zheng pulled him aside and said with a smile, "If you don't believe me, let me calculate it for you one by one..."

The abacus beads clattered for a while, and Boss Zheng said, "Look, the total is fifty-nine taels, not a penny less."

The bartender couldn't help but be incredulous and said, "That's strange. How could he figure it out in such a short time?"

Chen Fenghe thought about it and realized that this was just simple multiplication, and the numbers were all integers. It wasn't that difficult. It was just that there were more categories, and it required some memory to remember each category. There was no need to be so surprised.

"If you have no objections, we can find an intermediary to sign the deed first."

The clerk thought for a moment and said, "We can sign the contract, but we also need to establish a rule. If you can't deliver the goods by four o'clock, you must compensate our tavern twice the price of the goods, which is one hundred..."

He thought for a moment before finally understanding and saying, "One hundred and eighteen taels, do you have any objection?"

Boss Zheng was the first to disagree after hearing this: "Double compensation? You're asking for too much..."

Chen Fenghe stopped him and said, "Boss Zheng, it's okay. No problem."

After both parties reached an agreement, they signed the contract.

Chen Fenghe asked Boss Zheng to immediately find the driver, the loaders and unloaders, and the escorts, and agreed to have them drive the cart to an abandoned house outside a village in the east of the town to pick up the goods at 3 p.m.

After the deal was settled, she drove the mule cart out of town and returned to Shili Village first. She asked Zhang Yuan to help unload the purchased tree seeds and other items at the back of the yard before returning home.

Seeing that she had bought so many saplings, Qin Mengyue couldn't help but ask curiously, "Feng He, why did you buy so many...saplings and some...what look like thorns for burning firewood?"

Chen Fenghe smiled and said, "Mother, those aren't thorns for burning, they're also saplings. They're drought-resistant and can survive and grow in sandy soil. I went to the fields around the village a few days ago and saw that the soil here is half desertified and half saline. If you just plant crops, it's easy to fail because of insufficient water and fertility. These saplings are meant to improve that."

Qin Mengyue had never farmed or seen desertification, so naturally she didn't know how to control desertification. She just heard it as a fairy tale.

"Does this kind of crop have to be so particular? I used to think all I had to do was plant the seeds and the land, and then wait for the harvest in the fall."

Chen Fenghe smiled and said, "I also found this out in an ancient book. Let's give it a try. Even if it doesn't work, with His Highness here, we won't starve."

After talking for a while, she said, "Mom, I'm a little tired. I'm going to sleep for a while."

Qin Mengyue smiled and said, "Go ahead. I'll wake you up when dinner is ready."

Chen Fenghe returned to the room, locked the doors and windows, and looked at the time. It was almost 3 p.m., so she went straight into the space, changed her appearance, and became a middle-aged shopkeeper in her forties. She then teleported to the agreed place. With a wave of her hand, she took out the goods to be sold to the tavern from the space, then got a pipe and sat aside pretending to smoke it.

After a while, Boss Zheng came with five or six people, driving a horse-drawn carriage, a mule-drawn cart, and an ox-drawn cart.

Chen Fenghe stood up, cleared her throat, and asked through a voice changer, "But is this Boss Zheng? My master asked me to deliver the goods here."

Boss Zheng had heard from Shen Fenghe beforehand that she would send her old friend to deliver the goods, so he naturally had no doubts and said, "That's right."

Chen Fenghe coughed twice again and said, "These are the goods that my master ordered to be delivered. You must deliver the goods before four o'clock tomorrow morning. This one tael of silver is for everyone to have a simple meal in the city after the goods are delivered. When we return to town tomorrow, my master will naturally settle the remuneration for you."

When everyone heard that he only gave one or two taels of silver for the tea, they were all very happy.

One tael of silver was equivalent to one guan (a Chinese coin), which could buy half a pig at the old price. There were six of them, so if they divided it equally, each person would get nearly two hundred wen (a Chinese coin), which was enough to cover their family's living expenses for eight to ten days. Even if the driver, Mr. Zheng, took a little more, the others would still get several dozen or even a hundred wen (a Chinese coin). How many wen did a cup of tea cost?

Boss Zheng quickly smiled and said, "Thank you very much, boss. Please tell your son that this trip will go smoothly!"

Chen Fenghe nodded, cleared her throat, and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Boss Zheng and everyone else."

After explaining all this, Chen Fenghe watched them drive the pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, etc. into the car. After the car drove away, they arrived at a secluded place and entered the space to return to their residence.

It was already Youshi, Qin Mengyue had prepared the meal and asked Shen Yichuan to knock on the door and wake her up to eat.

Chen Fenghe pretended to have just woken up, tidied herself up a bit, and then left the room.

Several dishes were already placed on the table, including a plate of fried tofu and spinach, a plate of stir-fried cured ham with dried bamboo shoots, a plate of pork with mashed garlic, a plate of scrambled eggs with chopped green onions, and a stewed wild pheasant soup. The kimchi that had been pickled a few days ago was also ready to be eaten and was also served on a small plate.

The staple foods are steamed buns and millet porridge.

Seeing the abundance of food on the table, Chen Fenghe couldn't help but smile and said, "Mom, your cooking skills are getting better and better."

Qin Mengyue smiled and said, "That's not the case. Try it and you'll know."

Chen Fenghe was stunned for a moment, picked up a piece of garlic pork with chopsticks, dipped it in the sauce and put it into his mouth, and he immediately understood.

The taste of this dish is not as good as the delicacies in the restaurant. It is indeed a skill that Qin Mengyue cannot make yet.

Therefore, it could only have been sent from Yun's house.

Speaking of which, after the secret passage between Yun's house and home was dug, Master Sun and the imperial edict summoned Qin Mengyue back to the palace, and then the plague broke out in Youzhou City. This secret passage was almost never used.

She almost forgot about it.

Qin Mengyue saw the deep affection in Chen Fenghe's eyes and knew that she must have guessed it. She smiled and said, "Because of the plague, it's hard to buy even a chicken within a hundred miles. How did he get these fresh vegetables?"

After hearing this, Xiao Yunhao couldn't help but ask, "Mom, who are you talking about him?"

Qin Mengyue glanced at him and said, "You are just a kid. Eat your food well and don't ask any nonsense questions."

Chen Fenghe lowered her head to eat, thinking of the night of 'Skyfire' when he held her on his lap and they almost had a gun go off. Her cheeks couldn't help but turn red all the way to her ears.

These days, 'Young Master Yun' has been recuperating at home claiming to be ill and has basically not shown up. However, Chen Fenghe knows that he has left Hejian Prefecture, probably to deal with some matters.

She was also happy to have some peace and quiet, not having to think about anything related to him for the time being.

But judging by the food delivered tonight, he must have returned.