Chapter 148: Ordering Almond Oil
Su Chen was driving a carriage with four hundred bars of goat milk soap in it. The carriage was spacious enough that Su Wan and Su Yi could just sit inside without feeling crowded.
Su Wan carried two hundred-liang silver notes on him and several dozen liang of change.
The first stop is the He Family Manor. When you get close to their manor, you will find that there are apricot trees planted on the surrounding mountains.
A large farm stood in the valley, and their workshop was adjacent to the farm.
"Wanwan, this should be it!"
The carriage stopped, Su Chen called out from outside, and then Su Yi and Su Wan opened the door and got out.
Su Chen jumped down first, and when Su Wan was about to go down, he gave her his hand and asked her to help him down:
"Slow down, Wanwan!"
Su Wan grabbed his third brother's arm and landed steadily.
Looking at the big manor in front of him, Su Wan knocked on their door.
Soon, the door opened and a young man walked out.
"Who is it?"
The guy sounded a little impatient. When he saw that they were three young boys and girls dressed in ordinary clothes, he yawned and became even more impatient.
"You guys are here to ask for some water, right? Wait outside, I'll go get you some tea."
Perhaps because people often pass by and ask for water, the guy subconsciously thought that Su Wan and the others were asking for water.
"Hey bro, we don't want to drink water. We're here to order almond oil."
Su Wan was not angry and called him politely.
Hearing this, the young man turned around with a hint of embarrassment on his face. He had come here to order oil, but his attitude was so bad that he changed his expression quickly. He turned back and bowed to Su Wan:
"Ouch, I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Please come in quickly."
He quickly invited everyone in. Su Wan and Su Chen looked at each other. It seemed that as a boss, she should get herself some decent clothes so as not to be looked down upon by others.
The servant took them directly to find the manager. Except for the summer when the masters would come to stay in this manor for a while to escape the heat, the rest of the time it was the servants who guarded the manor.
The manager is in charge of the farm and the workshop.
At this time of year, apricots are not yet ripe, so no one is busy and there are not many orders.
The main reason is that the demand for almond oil among ordinary people is really not that great, and the first half of the year is their least busy time.
The steward met Su Wan, and the waiter also prepared tea for them.
The person in charge was a man in his fifties, tall and thin, but with a kind face. When he arrived, he asked Su Wan directly how much oil he wanted to order.
"Miss, a pound of almond oil here costs six cents. What's your order? The minimum order is 100 pounds."
"We want to order oil on a long-term basis and hope you can deliver the goods regularly." Su Wan replied.
When the manager heard this, he was a little confused. He never received many orders for almond oil. The grain and oil shops in various counties only ordered a few hundred kilograms at a time, and they could not sell them all even in a year.
But the girl said she wanted to place a long-term order, which was a big order.
"Miss, the almond oil here is made with a centuries-old craftsmanship, so it's safe to consume. But you said you want to place a long-term order. Could you please tell me in detail how to place an order?"
"We deliver once a month, about 300 to 500 kilograms each time. If there's a need later, we might need more. I wonder if your family can supply it?"
After Su Wan opened up the road to Xiangzhou Prefecture, he would develop towards other prefectures.
There are a total of eight counties in Xiangzhou Prefecture. If all of them are opened up, the monthly consumption of three hundred kilograms of almond oil is a maximum, and it may be even more.
Once the goat milk soap business has spread to three state capitals, they will be able to monopolize the entire almond oil supply of the He family workshop.
"Of course we can supply it. We have three apricot trees in our He family workshop, and we also have several more in Qingquan County. We produce tens of thousands of kilograms of almonds and tens of thousands of kilograms of almond oil annually. We have enough inventory in our warehouses, and we can supply more. However, almond oil doesn't sell as well as rapeseed oil in the market. I wonder what the girl is going to use so much almond oil for every month?"
The manager was very curious. Apart from some pastry shops using almond oil to make pastries, ordinary people rarely bought it and it was almost useless.
He was a little curious whether she wanted so much at once or every month.
"Uncle, I have a use for this almond oil. It's not for anything bad. Since you can supply it, let's sign a contract. Starting from next month, on the 15th of every month, you must deliver 300 kilograms of almond oil to my house on time."
Su Wan was rushing to the provincial capital, and wanted to settle the almond oil matter as soon as possible.
She knew that it was much more cost-effective to go directly to the source supplier than to order from the grain and oil shop, and it was two cents per pound cheaper.
The person in charge is simply curious, but if the other person doesn't want to talk, he won't keep asking.
Of course, business must be done. The almonds from the previous year are piled up in the warehouse, and I am worried about where to sell them.
Three hundred kilograms a month is eighteen taels of silver. According to the rules, if you place a long-term order, the workshop will prepare the stock for oil pressing. After signing the contract, you need to pay a deposit.
According to the order, Su Wan left a deposit of ten taels of silver. When the almond oil was delivered on the fifteenth of next month, he would pay the balance of eight taels, and then pay a deposit of ten taels for the next batch, and so on.
Once the written agreement is signed, the fingerprints are pressed, the address is left, and the deposit is paid, the order is considered done.
The supply of almond oil was solved, and the manager took Su Wan around their workshop and showed her the raw materials.
Since they were going to have long-term business dealings, Su Wan also wanted to see their quality.
After all, goat milk soap is used on human skin. If there is a problem with the raw materials and something goes wrong, the damage to reputation is secondary. The real concern is that something goes wrong with people and they cannot take responsibility.
The almonds that the He family collected last year were all fried and well preserved. When they opened the warehouse to show her the goods, there was a very fragrant smell of cooked almonds.
The person in charge said that these almonds can only be preserved for a long time after being fried, and they must be kept in a dry environment, otherwise they will easily get damp and infested with insects.
After Su Wan finished visiting the workshop, he did not stay any longer. He returned to the carriage with Su Chen and Su Yi and continued on his journey to Xiangzhou Prefecture.
Because we were delayed for an hour or so at the He family workshop, it was already late afternoon when we arrived at Xiangzhou Prefecture.
After the inspection, Su Wan entered the city and wanted to find an inn to stay. After thinking about it, he asked his third brother to drive the carriage to the street where Yue Man Xi Lou was.
After arriving, she did not stay at the Yueman West Tower, but stayed at an ordinary inn on the same street.
There is a room price formula board on the counter of Yueman West Building. The top-grade private rooms that Jiang Yu arranged for their family last time cost ten taels a night, and the most ordinary side rooms cost five taels a night.
I can’t afford to live there. I can’t afford to live there. Even though I have some assets now, Su Wan still can’t bear to build such a house.
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