As we all know, donkeys are slower than horses.
It takes five days to travel from Anshui County to Xieyang County by horse-drawn carriage, and six days by donkey-drawn carriage.
Moreover, it was a donkey cart loaded with goods.
When Zheng Ruqian returned to Xieyang County with Pang Dashan and a cart full of cured meat, Zhu Zhi was already in the dungeon.
My second brother was so happy that his mouth was practically stretched to the back of his ears.
But before he could celebrate with everyone, he started busying himself with the tasks of receiving and delivering vegetables.
First is dried pickled mustard greens.
Before leaving, Zheng Ruqian had a premonition that he wouldn't be back so soon. Not wanting to interrupt the harvesting, he simply left ten taels of silver for Pang Dashan's younger brothers so they could continue harvesting snow vegetables.
More than a month has passed, and the cave where the younger brothers live is almost completely submerged in snow cabbage.
Zheng Ruqian quickly filled the two donkey carts.
Before leaving, he asked repeatedly, "Brother, has Zhu Zhi really been caught? We don't need me here anymore, right? I'm going to harvest the vegetables?"
Xu Mo took off his gray coat and put on a sky-blue robe, exuding the spirited air of a young scholar. "With the Prefect here, you can rest assured. But you, be careful on the road."
"The culprits have all been caught, so I'm not afraid of anything." Zheng Ruqian laughed twice and drove away with a car full of pickled vegetables.
There were also five catties of cured meat to be given to Magistrate Pang.
Zheng Ruqian had no other talents, except for remembering kindness.
Back then, the magistrate of Xiyang County and his wife were like a knife hanging over the heads of the brother and sister. It was Magistrate Pang who took in Pang Dashan, their fake nephew, and protected them with his actions. Zheng Ruqian wanted to repay their kindness.
Knowing that Magistrate Pang was honest and did not accept bribes, he used his nephew's name to send him meat, vegetables, rice, eggs, and local specialties.
Magistrate Pang initially refused, but after seeing Zheng Ruqian's sincere thanks, he gradually accepted.
Correspondingly, he also provided Zheng Ruqian with much protection.
Now everyone in Yunshui County knows that Zheng Ruqian frequently visits the Yunshui County Magistrate's residence, so when doing business, they don't dare to bully him because of his young age.
For example, when the dried vegetable shop selling pickled mustard greens saw Zheng Ruqian, although she complained that he hadn't delivered the goods for so long, causing the shop to run out of dried pickled mustard greens for a long time, she didn't get angry. She just told him, "If you don't come so often, just load up a few more truckloads. One trip can sell for two months."
Zheng Ruqian smiled and agreed, and presented two catties of cured pork.
The dried goods shop owner's complaints vanished instantly. He accepted the package with a beaming smile, saying, "Thank you, Brother Zheng, for remembering me even while you're away."
Zheng Ruqian walked out of the dried vegetable shop with a smile, then turned and headed towards the village.
The aunties and older women he used to know well complained even more, tugging at his clothes and grumbling, "You harvested vegetables every day in the winter when there were none, but now that it's finally spring and you can harvest vegetables again, you don't come. What, do you just like eating stale vegetables?"
Even Pang Dashan couldn't escape it, surrounded by the old ladies who nagged, "If you don't come soon, my vegetables will rot in the ground."
Early May is the season when all kinds of vegetables grow and are harvested.
The older women each carried a handful, and in no time, both cars were full.
But there were dozens of older women queuing behind them.
Seeing that the donkey was about to collapse under the weight, Zheng Ruqian quickly waved his hand to stop it, "Aunties, ladies, there's really no more room, no more room."
The women then angrily put the vegetables away and said loudly, "Little Zheng, next time you should bring more people and more trucks."
Zheng Ruqian readily agreed, and only then did he escape from Yunshui County back to Xieyang County.
On the road.
The two looked at each other in silence.
Pang Dashan looked at Zheng Ruqian thoughtfully for a long time before asking, "Do you want to take a few more people to Yunshui County? I think the younger brothers are capable of harvesting pickled mustard greens on their own."
His idea was that this way, more people in the family could earn money, and they could leave the damp and dark cave and rent a house in the county.
Zheng Ruqian was thinking that he could harvest more vegetables, but where should he send them?
Although Manager Bai boasted, Youranju was, after all, just a restaurant, and the amount of food it could serve was limited.
Unless it is the You Ran Ju in An Shui County.
Zheng Ruqian frowned. The image of Jiang Sheng's injured hand kept flashing through his mind, making him feel conflicted.
Rationally, he felt that cooperating with Youranju would be very beneficial, but emotionally, he didn't like Youranju in Anshui County. He was also worried that the manager of Anshui County was too obsequious to his superiors and bullying to his subordinates, and probably wouldn't look down on a small vegetable vendor like him.
"Let's send these dishes over first."
When Zheng Ruqian returned to Xieyang County, he first sent the vegetables to Youranju Restaurant, and then gave the five catties of cured meat that he had prepared in advance to Manager Bai.
"Good lad, is this a specialty of Sichuan?" Manager Bai, a seasoned businessman, recognized the origin of the cured meat at a glance. "You've been in Sichuan for over a month?"
Zheng Ruqian scratched his head shyly, "No, this meat was made by an aunt I met by chance along the way."
It was something I made myself, but after swirling around on the tip of my tongue, it became something else entirely.
Pang Dashan, standing to the side, stared wide-eyed, not understanding why Brother Zheng would lie.
"It's good that I was able to buy a specialty from Sichuan." Shopkeeper Bai nodded slowly, then asked, "What price did you pay for this cured meat?"
These words were so straightforward that even Pang Dashan understood that Manager Bai was interested in buying the cured meat, and he immediately became excited.
Zheng Ruqian coughed twice and recalled seriously, "It was about seventeen or eighteen coins a pound."
Although the meat is cheap and the sea salt used for curing is not expensive, it shrinks after curing. One pound of fresh meat only yields six ounces of dried meat. Adding the cost of smoking and drying, seventeen or eighteen coins is considered a small profit.
Besides, it would take several days to travel from Anshui County to Xieyang County.
Shopkeeper Bai pondered for a while, "I've heard about cured meat before, but I've never seen it. How about this, I'll take these five catties and sell them at Youranju. If they sell well, I'll buy them from you for twenty coins a catty. What do you think?"
What can I do? Of course, I'll nod.
Seventeen or eighteen coins already yields a profit, so twenty coins means even more profit; who wouldn't be happy?
Pang Dashan was overjoyed and wept tears of joy. He couldn't wait to rush out and make smoked bacon, making it every day, making it as much as he could.
Zheng Ruqian was also excited, but he still tried to appear calm and composed like his elder brother. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Then let's settle on this."
Manager Bai smiled and saw the two little ones off at Youranju.
As he was about to leave, Zheng Ruqian suddenly said sincerely, "Uncle Bai, the vegetables in various places are fresh and plentiful in early spring. I think the amount that Xiyang County can consume is limited. I wonder if Youranju in Anshui County also needs vegetables? If so, could I send two cartloads?"
After much deliberation, he ultimately decided not to fight against money.
Only by earning more money can I buy my younger sister embroidered shoes inlaid with pearls.
If that's the case, why bother about who you're collaborating with?
Manager Bai was even more surprised.
The timid boy who once wouldn't even sell mushrooms to himself has grown up and become ambitious, even wanting to expand his business to Anshui County.
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