Qin San Niang frowned. There were only fifteen or sixteen baskets of hawthorns on the cart, barely enough for the next two months, and still not enough! If that was the case, she would have to use her spatial storage!
Are all of these yours?
“Yes, madam! These are all from our family. As you can see, they are all of the same quality. We select them one by one to ensure there are no bad ones!” The man’s wife saw her frown and, fearing she might not buy them because she was disgusted, quickly explained.
"These red berries are a wild variety from the mountains. Although they look small, they taste better than those that are all big! They are sweet and sour, and they are very appetizing!"
The man behind him chuckled along, seemingly echoing his wife's words!
The young man next to him was also rubbing his large hands together. He was not good with words and could only look at Qin San Niang with hope, hoping that she would buy all the red fruits in their family.
With this money, his younger siblings can have a good New Year this year! Next year, his parents can also help him find a wife. He has his eye on a girl from the next village, but her parents are asking for a dowry of one tael of silver! He doesn't dare mention it to his parents at all. If he had this sum of money, he could try to win her over.
Seeing their expressions, Qin San Niang knew they were afraid she wouldn't buy it, so she quickly said...
"Sister-in-law, your hawthorns taste quite good. I already told this gentleman, and I mean what I say—if they're all good, I'll take them all! Could you weigh them? How many kilograms are they?"
Knowing that it wasn't easy for farming families to earn money, Qin San Niang didn't plan to haggle. She simply let them quote a price, figuring that this family was honest and straightforward and wouldn't cheat her on the weight.
Hearing that she was going to buy them all, the man's face broke into a deep smile, his cheeks flushed even in the cold wind, clearly showing his extreme excitement. His wife and eldest son had the same expression, their eyes practically brimming with light.
"Madam, these have all been weighed beforehand. Let me weigh them again for you. Each basket weighs 100 jin, and there are 12 baskets in total, which is 1200 jin!" The man said, while asking his son to borrow a scale from the market clerk, as their scale was too small to weigh this much.
"No need to borrow any more, a basket of 100 jin is enough, I trust you! If I need these red berries again next year, how should I find you?"
Qin San Niang's strength has increased a lot now. I don't know if it's because she often drinks the water in the space, but it's not necessarily the case. Why is it that others who drink that water only become stronger? Then I thought about it and it might be related to the fact that she consumes the dragon sunflower that grows from the soil in the backyard of the space. Could the dragon sunflower increase strength?
In short, she's feeling fine now, and because she's stronger, she finds working much easier! That's a good thing!
She lifted the 100-pound basket with ease, and after weighing it, she realized it definitely weighed more than 100 pounds. This family is truly honest.
The family was quite surprised to see that she could lift a 100-pound basket so easily. They hadn't expected that this woman, who looked so thin, was actually quite strong!
Borrowing the clerk's scales required paying a rental fee. Hearing this from Qin Sanniang, the man's wife happily thanked her.
"Thank you for your consideration, Madam. These hawthorns are all weighed exactly as they should be, so you can rest assured! If you would like to buy more hawthorns, you can go to Donglai Village, which is ten miles away, and ask for the name of the head of the household. His name is Feng Jinshan. My family has more than a dozen old trees, and the branches are laden with hawthorns. I just don't know if we can sell them this year, as many have fallen to the ground and rotted!"
At this point, the woman was very angry again. It was all her fault. If she had listened to her husband and picked all the red berries, wouldn't she have been able to sell them for much more money?
She's determined to take good care of this old fruit tree next year, because it's even better than growing fruit in the fields!
So, the Feng father and son put all the dozen or so baskets of hawthorns from the cart onto the horse-drawn carriage. Even though Qin San Niang wanted to help, the two refused, telling her to rest and that they were strong enough on their own.
The woman handed six taels of silver to the man, and quickly took a small piece from him, biting it with her teeth. She exclaimed with delight, "Husband, this is real silver!" Then she glanced shyly at Qin Sanniang.
"Don't laugh at me, Madam, but we didn't have many opportunities to handle silver in the past!"
Qin San Niang had no intention of making fun of others; she herself had only recently escaped poverty!
After bidding farewell to Feng Jinshan's family, Qin Sanniang drove the carriage to Siji. She left only a basket of hawthorns on the carriage, and put the rest into her spatial storage. Firstly, they took up too much space, and secondly, with so many hawthorns, she didn't want her horse to suffer!
"Brother Xiao Wu, where is my eldest son?" Xiao Wu was at the front, mainly responsible for welcoming and seeing off customers. This kid had a good tongue, although he was a bit impatient, but when business was good, his temper was really good!
Upon seeing the newcomer, Xiao Wu grinned widely and exclaimed with exaggerated laughter, "Oh my, Madam Qin, you've finally arrived! Little brother Da Wa is eating persimmons in the backyard!"
Persimmons? I didn't expect there to be persimmons at this time of year! Thinking about how persimmons can be made into dried persimmons, sweet and creamy with a delicate fragrance, sounds wonderful! They could probably sell for a good price!
"Persimmons can be made into dried persimmons. I wonder if they sell them in Jiangzhou?" Qin San Niang asked Xiao Wu, a shop assistant who knew all sorts of things.
"Persimmon cakes? Can they taste good? We probably won't be used to them here in Jiangzhou!" Thinking about how making cakes usually requires mixing the flour together, I realized that persimmons mixed with flour or dried before eating are not as delicious as the ones that are ripened now!
It seems there are no more dried persimmons in Jiangzhou. Looks like I have another way to make money! Well, I'll take it one step at a time, no rush.
Manager Si went to his family home in Lin'an these past few days, saying that his family needed him for some business and he wouldn't be back for about three days. This gives Tan San Niang a good opportunity to make hawthorn shortbread.
Knowing that the eldest child liked to eat persimmons, but was thinking of his younger siblings and grandmother and couldn't bear to eat too many, Xiao Wu packed up the remaining persimmons and gave them to Qin San Niang, saying that it was for the children to try!
Qin San Niang was naturally very grateful and gave him some more hawthorns so that he could make some candied hawthorns when he had nothing to do. It was a very cold day, and the candied hawthorns would keep for many days without spoiling if left outside.
Siji's shop also sells candied hawthorns, but not many people come to buy them, so although Hongguoer has some in stock, it's not much.
As for why sales were poor, Qin San Niang immediately understood the reason. Street vendors loved selling candied hawthorns, and besides, they didn't require much skill to make. People would buy a skewer on the street to sweeten their children's mouths, and no one would think of buying them from a pastry shop.
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