Seeing the atmosphere become tense, Fu Jin chuckled and said, "Old Gu, my little niece is the life of the family. Her grown-up manner has amused countless people."
Fu Jin would not reveal Yun Ling's plan to raise bees to Gu Chongwu. Although he did not believe it would succeed, it was always better to be cautious among colleagues.
Seeing Fu Jin's words, Gu Chongwu could no longer keep a straight face. Besides, what could they do with the old honeycomb they bought? They couldn't really attract bees to raise them. Humph, this little kid only knows how to eat, he doesn't know anything about beekeeping.
With that thought in mind, Gu Chongwu began to seriously calculate, "My honeycomb here was reserved a long time ago. After accounting for losses, there will be at most fifty catties left. As for this catty..."
Gu Chongwu's pause made Yun Shenghua's mind race. When he came, Yun Ling told him that the price of old honeycomb would be a bit high. He didn't know how high it was, so he just brought all the copper coins he had left at home. If it wasn't enough, he could just borrow from the landlord. Anyway, he had dried fish and meat at home, and if he ate sparingly, he would have enough for the New Year.
Yunling wasn't too worried about the price. She was doing the math. Generally, three jin and seven liang could yield five liang of wax, so she calculated that four jin would yield five liang of wax. One jin of wax could yield ten nest foundation sheets, so eight jin of old honeycomb would yield ten nest foundation sheets. Fifty jin would yield about sixty-two or sixty-three sheets, which would be enough!
"Uncle Gu, how much is one pound?"
"For Jin-ge'er's sake, it's three hundred coins a catty. If you can, pay up. If not, we'll sit down, have some honey water, and wish you a safe journey."
When he said 300 coins per catty, Yun Shenghua's brain was calculating rapidly. If he took all 50 catties, that would be 15 guan, which was still good enough to have money for the New Year.
"Yes, we want them all."
Yun Shenghua untied the belt around his waist and pulled out fifteen strings of copper coins from the side, suddenly feeling half the weight lifted from his waist.
Seeing that he was straightforward, Gu Chongwu did not delay. He took two jars, harvested fifty catties of honeycomb, sealed them, and sent the guest away.
Back at the trading company, Yun Shenghua repeatedly expressed his gratitude to Fu Jin, to the point that Fu Jin was almost tired of hearing it. So he quickly sent Yun Shenghua away and excused him from the rest of the work for the day.
"Thank you, boss."
But this time, Yun Shenghua's only response was a shoe and the words "Get out!"
Yun Shenghua still smiled as he picked up the shoes, put them back inside, and then got on the donkey cart.
But Yunling wasn't in a hurry to return to the village. She took out the honeycomb pattern she had hidden in her bosom and went to find a carpenter to make it. However, after asking three or four carpenters, they all said that the shape was tricky and each rhombus was too small, which would be too much work. In the end, it was a slovenly old man who took it on.
Yun Shenghua looked at his shop with some concern. It was a complete mess inside, with wooden boards scattered everywhere, sawdust flying all over the place, and even blades lying on the ground. How dangerous it would be if someone stepped on it.
Yunling liked it very much. First of all, she did not sense anything wrong with her father-in-law. Secondly, in novels, aren't the most inconspicuous people the most powerful?
"Come back in five days to pick it up, and we'll discuss the price then."
"Okay, thank you, Grandpa."
Seeing that Yunling agreed, Yun Shenghua said no more and drove the donkey cart back to the village.
Since she had five days, Yunling wasn't in a hurry to cook the honeycomb. The honey produced using this ancient method had a very long shelf life. She had heard from the old professor in the basement that honey over 3,000 years old had been unearthed in Egypt, and importantly, it hadn't spoiled.
Besides, it's winter now, and the temperature is low, so there's even less to worry about.
But Yunling wasn't idle either. Yun Chu had already learned the names of all the family members, and the next step was to learn to write the names of medicinal herbs. So Yunling was going to tell her father the names so that he could teach her.
Five days later,
Yunling and Yun Ruoxia got up in the middle of the night to pick mushrooms and then followed Yun Shenghua's donkey cart to the city. After Yun Shenghua got off at the merchant's shop, Yunling and Yun Ruoxia went to Shengfu Restaurant to sell the mushrooms and then went to the handicraft street.
Despite the crowds on the street, Yunling spotted the carpenter's shop immediately. The old man, upon seeing her, didn't waste any words and directly showed her the finished product.
Yunling's eyes lit up immediately. She hadn't expected the finished product to be so exquisite, even more beautiful than her drawing. It would definitely be feasible to use it to press down the foundation of a nest.
But such excellent craftsmanship must be expensive, and she didn't intend to let Yun Shenghua pay any more. So last night she counted all the copper coins she had saved. She always split the money from selling herbs and mushrooms with Yun Ruoxia, giving the lion's share to Zhang Shi, and keeping only a small amount for herself.
Don't underestimate this small amount; she's been selling them for over a year and has saved up several hundred coins. Combined with what she earned from selling mushrooms today, it should be enough.
However, this unexpected skill made Yunling a little uneasy, and even her confidence in asking the price weakened. "Old man, how many copper coins will this cost?"
"What are you used for?"
"For pressing things down."
"Is it okay to tell others and sell it to them, or is it not okay to let others know?"
Yun Ruoxia immediately realized what was going on and asked, "What are the prices?"
The father-in-law laughed and said, "What can be said is one string of cash, and what cannot be said is three strings of cash."
Yunling was already struggling to make ends meet, let alone three strings of cash, so she replied, "One string of cash will do."
"Ling-jie, are you silly?" Yun Ruoxia quickly grabbed Yun Ling's hand. She believed that such a skill should not be known to others so easily. If everyone knew this method, how could their honey be sold at a high price?
"Is it really a consistent success story?"
“No, old man, let me ask you, if we give you three strings of cash, how can you guarantee that others won't know? What if someone gives you five strings and you sell it? Where can we hold you accountable? And in these five days, we don't know if anyone has checked whether you made an extra batch…”
The father-in-law smiled and said, "Everything depends on sincerity; mutual trust is the key to a lasting relationship."
Yun Ruoxia didn't believe in empty promises. If you're not ruthless, how can you do business for long? "Grandpa, can you write us a guarantee? That way, you can take three strings of cash, and we'll feel at ease."
The father-in-law fell silent at this point.
Yun Ruoxia felt like she was hitting cotton, yet she couldn't trust this complete stranger.
So the scene froze for a moment, and it was Yunling who finally spoke up.
“Grandpa, let’s just buy one set, Auntie, listen to me.”
According to Yunling, everyone has hands and can hold a pen to write, but can everyone write beautifully and become a calligrapher?
Even if someone else takes these tools, will he really be able to keep bees? Does he know how to make beeswax? Does he know how to make foundation, and when to put it in and replace it?
Even if we were to assume we knew the exact method, would all the honey produced taste the same? It's like steaming rice; we use the same water, but some people make crispy rice while others make fragrant rice. Everyone has their own method, so there's no need to worry too much, otherwise it's just needless anxiety.
Yunling also thought about getting a patent or something, but is it even possible? Even before the apocalypse, your honeycomb diagram could still be overtaken by a honeycomb diagram.
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