Chapter 56: A Few Small Gains from Domestic Affairs
"How much silver was settled last night?"
After listening to the two little ones chattering away, Jiang Ji looked up at Ye Li.
Ye Li didn't keep them in suspense. He swallowed the soft, fragrant steamed noodles in his mouth, held up three fingers and shook them: "Two strings and seven qian, which rounds up to three strings!"
This number is indeed not small.
Jiang Ji raised an eyebrow: "So many?"
"That's right! The second batch of eggs included 2,800 from Aunt Lü's family alone, 3,000 from Uncle Jiang's family, and 13,000 from the remaining five households. So, the second batch of eggs totaled 19,000."
The production of the second batch of preserved eggs coincided with Gong Lisheng's visit to raise the price and finalize the contract.
Spurred on by Gong Lisheng, the villagers, who were originally content with earning a thousand coins a month, put in all their effort and were willing to spend most of their savings to buy eggs.
If there aren't enough eggs in the county town, we'll buy them from nearby villages.
They even went to the town to buy it.
Therefore, even the smallest household had about 2,100 eggs in this second batch.
The seven households together make a total of 19,000.
Adding the first batch of three thousand, the two batches together bring the total to about 23,000.
Originally, a thousand eggs could only earn a little over eight hundred coins.
Gong Lisheng raised the price by 250 coins, so the profit from 1,000 eggs became about 1,100 coins.
At 1,100 coins, the profit from 23,000 eggs would be 25,300 coins.
He takes 10%, and the total profit he received yesterday was 2,530 coins.
However, this is only a rough estimate; in reality, he received a total of 2,700 coins yesterday.
With so much money coming in in one day, how could he not be happy?
Only seven households were settled yesterday; there are still twelve households remaining.
The number of preserved eggs in these twelve households is about the same as that in these seven households.
At that time, his earnings will almost double or triple.
Overjoyed, he rewarded Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya with 100 coins, saying that the two little ones had collected a lot of firewood that day. He also promised that when Jiang Ji returned from the imperial examination and the family of four went shopping, the two of them could spend the money they had saved as they pleased.
That's why these two little ones are so excited today.
After all, Jiang Ya didn't have much of a concept of spending money before.
The remaining families didn't cash out as quickly, but they weren't slow either.
Previously, Jiang Fu was carrying a few preserved eggs to find a market. Although the preserved eggs tasted good, the owners of those small restaurants were very cautious and did not buy thousands of them like Gong Lisheng did.
These small business owners only promised that once the eggs improved, they would buy a few dozen to test the waters.
At that time, in order to avoid the area of the Gong brothers, Jiang Fu went to Dongsanheng Street in the county town to sell his products.
The entire Beiyang County is shaped like the Chinese character "丰" (Feng). Gong Family Cold Noodle Shop is located at the end of the middle cross street on the west side. The three Gong brothers sell cold mixed preserved eggs, mainly within the area of the three cross streets on the west side.
In this region, preserved eggs have become very popular and have gained considerable fame.
But the three horizontal streets to the east are completely unknown.
The owners of those small restaurants lacked confidence in the preserved eggs, so Jiang Fuzheng suggested that they go to the Third Horizontal Street in the west to inquire about the reputation of the preserved eggs.
Of course, the most important thing is to go to Gong's Liangfen Shop and see the long queues that form every day.
Some of these small business owners are content to just keep running their own small restaurants and have little ambition to expand.
However, most of the small business owners listened to Jiang Fuzheng's advice and took the time to visit Gong's Liangfen Shop for on-site inspection.
The main reason was that the numbers Jiang Fuzheng mentioned were too tempting.
If you sell hundreds of servings a day, wouldn't you be able to earn a tael of silver just from this one dish?
incredible!
When they arrived at the jelly shop and saw the line of customers, the small business owners had to admit that it was really thriving.
Although the Gong family's daily sales of several hundred portions came from the three brothers selling both at their stall and shop, even disregarding the stall sales, the two hundred or so portions sold at the shop alone amounted to four or five hundred coins a day.
Half a string of cash!
Half a slam!
seeing is believing.
So these small business owners were tempted.
The quantity purchased has increased significantly, with the smallest purchase being a hundred and the largest being over a thousand.
Once the first batch of preserved eggs was ready for the remaining households, Jiang Fuzheng led everyone to deliver them to each and every one of them.
These small restaurants have been doing quite well since they started selling cold preserved eggs, thanks to the delicious taste of the preserved eggs.
In summer, everyone loves refreshing snacks to go with drinks, and the timing of the appearance of preserved eggs is just right.
Thanks to these small business owners, the remaining households also sold their preserved eggs quite quickly.
However, some people choose to set up stalls in the county town to sell cold preserved eggs.
For example, the Zhang family.
However, he gave up after only three days of selling.
This job is so tiring!
In the sweltering summer heat, pushing a heavy cart through the streets and alleys, sales were still poor.
The three horizontal streets to the west were occupied by the three Gong brothers.
On the east side of Sanheng Street, many small restaurants sell preserved eggs.
The fixed stalls on the main street all had owners, while mobile stalls were easily driven away by the officials.
At this point, there's no issue of affecting the city's appearance; rather, the main street is prone to traffic jams due to the increased number of cars.
In Beiyang County, a small town, the main street can only accommodate four cars side by side, and traffic jams can easily occur if you are not careful.
Therefore, after three days of hard work, Zhang Shi gave up.
Instead of going through all that trouble, let's just buy more eggs so we can make more preserved eggs.
If the sales volume is high enough, it will be enough to recoup the price difference that Gong Lisheng earned.
In short, the preserved egg business is booming right now, and as long as you can make it, you won't have to worry about not being able to sell it.
The situation is very promising.
While Ye Li was explaining, Jiang Ji kept his head down and ate silently.
Today, Ye Li brought me steamed noodles with green beans and pork. There was a lot of pork in the noodles, and they were fragrant and soft.
In addition, Ye Li also prepared a drink—watermelon iced jasmine.
Ye Li brought four bamboo cups, and the family turned the basket upside down to use as a dining table, happily sharing a bite.
However, Ye Li had been the one talking the whole time. Now, seeing Ye Li pause, Jiang Ji picked up a bamboo cup and handed it to Ye Li: "Warm your mouth."
Ye Li took the cup and drank it all in one gulp.
The watermelon and jasmine drink had lost its coolness, but its sweet taste was enough to quench his thirst. After finishing it, he smiled and said, "I'm not finished yet, there's still my older brother to tell you."
"Brother Yu went to town to sell cold preserved eggs, and business was pretty good, about 50/50 compared to people who bought preserved eggs directly."
"The difference of three coins is something that most families really wouldn't be willing to spend."
Actually, Ye Liang didn't initially plan to continue selling preserved eggs.
He plans to only sell cold-dressed preserved eggs.
But this would hurt the feelings of regular customers, and no one wants to be forced to buy or sell, especially since the price difference is three coins.
The profit margin on preserved eggs is very high, but the business of tofu puffs is equally important. It is rare for caravans to monopolize the business, and half of the tofu puff business relies on regular customers in the town.
Regular customers can afford to eat pancakes with fillings, so they can also afford preserved eggs. In fact, a large portion of them love preserved eggs. If we only sell them cold preserved eggs now, who would be happy about that?
They might continue to buy for the sake of food, but the family certainly can't force them to buy, otherwise their reputation will be ruined.
How can someone who wants to do business long-term do things like this?
Furthermore, if some people get angry and refuse to buy even the vegetable-filled pancakes, the losses would be enormous.
Therefore, after much discussion, the Ye family decided to continue selling preserved eggs.
However, there is a purchase limit; each person can only buy two per day.
There's no other way. Judging from the past, if there were no purchase restrictions, a thousand eggs could be sold out in two or three days. If it were merchants from other places, they could be sold out in one go.
Therefore, if sold in small quantities, purchase limits must be imposed.
This reason is reasonable and true. Everyone has seen how well the preserved eggs sold before. In addition, when Ye Liang, Liu Yi, and Tang Yu set up their stalls, they explained to their regular customers in a gentle and patient manner. Therefore, the regular customers did not have any complaints.
If you really crave this and want to eat your fill, you can bring several family members over; you can buy quite a lot at once.
However, his cold-dressed preserved eggs are really delicious, so customers with the money are more willing to buy them.
A group of people were buying cold preserved eggs from a stall, and even passersby who were not initially interested would be attracted and come over to see what was being sold.
As a result, business at the stall became increasingly prosperous.
Of course, there are still discerning out-of-town merchants who want to buy preserved eggs in large quantities.
“A businessman from out of town wanted to buy the whole batch and even tried to lower the price, but my brother naturally refused to sell to him. Later, the businessman raised the price, and the profit was about the same as selling it retail, so my brother sold him a batch of preserved eggs.”
"Judging from the situation these days, it's still more profitable than selling directly to Brother Sheng."
"That's good." Jiang Ji nodded.
Ye Liang initially refused to sell the preserved eggs to Gong Lisheng, but as it turned out, he did indeed earn more from retail sales.
"That's right. He originally thought he could earn two hundred coins a day, but the income exceeded his expectations. He could earn three or four hundred or even five hundred coins a day. When autumn comes, he will definitely buy an oxcart."
Ye Li was quite happy.
"Ox carts are good; they can carry a lot of goods."
As Jiang Ji spoke, she poured him another glass of watermelon jasmine.
Ye Li picked up the bowl, took a couple of sips, and then picked up her chopsticks to start eating the noodles in the jar.
After talking for so long, he was hungry.
Seeing him eating with gusto, Jiang Ji couldn't help but pick up a few bites as well.
But Jiang Ji had already eaten quite a bit, so he quickly put down his chopsticks and picked up the watermelon jasmine tea to drink.
The two little ones were full and were sipping watermelon and jasmine tea.
Jiang Ji looked at their chubby cheeks and couldn't help but reach out and pinch them: "You've gotten fat. Have you been helping your brother Li with chores at home?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ya's big eyes widened immediately, and she said, "I work every day. I got fat because I eat a lot."
He eats a lot of food every day!
Li Ge's cooking and snacks are so delicious!
"Those two haven't been slacking off; the firewood piled up at home is really high now."
Ye Li swallowed the noodles in her mouth and clarified things for the two of them.
“That’s right.” Jiang Ya nodded her little head: “Brother Li doesn’t need to spend money to buy firewood anymore. Brother Li praised us for saving him a lot of money.”
Jiang Mai nodded; he wouldn't slack off.
With his older brother away, he'll have to do a lot more work.
Jiang Ji was satisfied and patted their little heads: "Good boy/girl."
At this moment, Ye Li added, "There are also some tender corn cobs in the other basket. You can eat them tonight. However, the corn will be too old by the time you come home next time. How about I ask my older brother to bring you a few more in the next couple of days?"
Jiang Ji shook his head: "There's no need for my older brother to come over. He's so heavy. It's only a few days before I go home to pack my bags. I'll just have to rely on my parents then."
He has good teeth.
It's edible.
Upon hearing this, Ye Li did not persist.
Indeed, it takes quite a long way to get around from the city gate.
Ultimately, it's because they don't have a car.
If he had a car, he would deliver meals to Jiang Ji every day.
The family of four chatted for a while longer. Jiang Tong's new house is now half-built.
Once Jiang Ji returns home, the main structure will be completed.
Besides the five main rooms, the kitchen and storeroom were also built of blue bricks, making it as grand as Jiang Fuzheng's house.
These days, not only Ye Li goes to check on the progress every day, but other families in the village can't help but go and watch.
In the past, no one dared to dream of such a house, but now that there are "Changing Eggs," everyone dares to dream and plan. As long as the Changing Egg business goes smoothly, by this time next year, every household will probably have built a new house.
With a new house, naturally you need new furniture.
Jiang Tong himself was a carpenter, so he planned to make large cabinets and chests himself.
Since it's for our own use anyway, I'll just treat it as practice.
To make such a large item, you need to buy wood. Freshly cut wood is too wet to make furniture.
He had collected some wood specifically for making wind chimes, but since wind chimes are only so big, there was no need to be too particular. At the time, he collected whatever wood was cheap, without caring about the length or size.
Therefore, he now has to buy more timber.
But he doesn't have time to go to the countryside right now.
So he came up with a good idea: the old carpenters in the county town had plenty of good wood at home, and he was willing to pay more money to buy wood from them.
He came to the city today for this very reason, so Ye Li took the two little ones and hitched a ride with him.
As for going home later, Ye Liang will come and meet them.
But today Ye Liang came in a mule cart.
The villagers' enthusiasm for buying eggs remains undiminished, but Ye Li can't compete with them. He doesn't have the time or the car, so he can only ask Ye Liang to buy some for him in town and deliver them to him.
After hearing this, Jiang Ji said, "Why bother with all that? Just wait for the commission from now on."
“No trouble at all. Brother, bring all the eggs, sawdust, and lime. Brother, you can fry tofu puffs later, and I'll make preserved eggs. It can be done in an afternoon.”
Ye Licai was reluctant to give up this profit.
If he makes a thousand, he can earn 1,100 coins.
All it took was an afternoon.
He's now planning to build a heated pavilion; 1,100 coins can buy a lot of bricks.
Of course, this matter cannot be mentioned to Jiang Ji.
Jiang Ji is currently only spending money and not earning any, and I feel guilty towards him. If Jiang Ji can't contribute to such a big project as building a house, I'm sure he'll feel a lot of internal conflict.
With the provincial examination just around the corner, we can't let Jiang Ji get distracted.
Actually, the reason Jiang Ji said that was more because he didn't want to trouble Ye Liang.
With that kind of skill, Ye Liang could easily make his own preserved eggs.
But Ye Li, his younger brother, was so assertive that he stopped talking.
Just then, the sound of hooves rang out, and the group looked toward the corner of the private school. Sure enough, Ye Liang was driving a mule cart.
So Ye Li cleared away the dishes and soon got into the mule cart with Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya.
He glanced at Jiang Ji, said nothing more, and simply waved to Jiang Ji.
In eight more days, her beloved husband will be back.
It'll be soon!
Jiang Ji carried a large bundle of boiled corn until the mule cart disappeared from sight. Only then did he take a deep breath, suppress his longing, and turn back to the private school.
Get back on track!
The days when I could study peacefully at the private school were numbered.
The mule cart soon reached the main street, passed through the county town, and entered Yezaopo along the path.
During this season, the jujube trees throughout the village are laden with jujubes, the green jujubes hanging from the branches, a sight that brings joy to the eyes.
However, it will take quite some time before it matures.
Ye Liang opened the door and unloaded the eggs, sawdust, and lime from the mule cart.
Ye Li went straight to the backyard.
He asked Jiang Liu to help him feed the pigs and chickens, so he could check if the two piglets and the chickens were full.
In the backyard, there was still some leftover grass shredded with tofu residue in the pig trough; Jiang Liu had fed it too much.
The chicken trough was clean, with no leftover chicken feed.
It's hot, so the roosters and hens all huddle in the shade.
He went back to the front yard, fetched some water, and carried it to the back yard.
He poured water into the pig and chicken troughs, called out a few times, and saw the two piglets and the rooster and hen walking towards the troughs. Reassured, he carried the wooden bucket back to the front yard.
In the front yard, two little ones were carrying hemp ropes, ready to go out and collect firewood.
They had just told Jiang Ji that they hadn't been slacking off, and both of them were filled with determination, determined to gather a lot of firewood today!
The two little ones went out the door, and Ye Liang went into the kitchen to cut tofu, preparing to fry tofu puffs and large skewers.
Ye Li makes preserved eggs.
After Ye Liang finished cutting the tofu, he took out the oil basin from the cupboard, left the kitchen, and prepared to fry it.
There are two sheds in the Jiang family courtyard. One is built over the well to protect it from rain and dust.
One of them was next to a well, with a stove built under the shed. After summer arrived, Ye Li would fry tofu puffs on this stove.
At this moment, Ye Li is sitting by the well making preserved eggs.
Ye Liang stood in front of the stove, pouring soybean oil into the large iron pot while glancing at Ye Li, whose face showed hesitation.
But this is something that definitely needs to be said.
So he put the empty oil basin on the stove and said to Ye Li, "Brother Li, your brother Yi's elder brother Liu Fan came to him and said that he also wanted to learn how to make preserved eggs. Liu Fan is willing to give you a cut and has sworn never to tell anyone."
"Liu Fan insisted on asking you, so your brother Yi made me ask you to."
Seeing Ye Li look up, he quickly added, "Your brother Yi just asked me to ask. If you don't agree, he won't be angry. He already knew you wouldn't agree."
Ye Li put down the egg tray in his hand and said patiently, "Brother, this isn't about taking a cut. The key is that when the villagers learned how to make preserved eggs, they made a promise never to tell anyone. If they spread the recipe, they will be driven out of the village."
"It was Uncle Jiang who said they would be driven out of the village. It's very powerful, and the villagers don't dare to make that mistake lightly."
"But Uncle Jiang can't control Yi Ge's family. If word gets out, it will harm the interests of the whole village."
"Don't be fooled by the current popularity of preserved eggs. Sales will drop in winter. If there are too many preserved eggs, the villagers may not be able to sell them."
"Moreover, what if the wives and husbands of Yi Ge's brothers also want to teach their brothers? If this goes on, it could go on forever."
These words made perfect sense, and Ye Liang nodded: "I know, your brother Yi thinks so too, but Liu Fan is not giving up. He had no choice but to ask me to ask you."
"Since you really disagree, he'll just push it back and pretend the matter was never mentioned."
Ye Li smiled and said, "Alright, I have a bad memory anyway, just pretend I didn't hear it."
Ye Liang smiled when she saw this, and at the same time she was glad in her heart that Yi Ge'er was a reasonable person and would not side with his mother's family.
In fact, thanks to tofu puffs, Liu's pancake stall business has increased several times over compared to before.
Now his parents-in-law sell and make pancakes in town, and Liu Fan and his wife also make pancakes at their home and deliver them to town after they are made.
However, the eggs were so eye-catching, profitable, and effortless that Liu Fan was tempted to try them.
But Jiang Fuzheng really couldn't control Liu Fan, and there was nothing that could be done about it.
He pondered for a while, wondering if he could help Liu Fan in other ways.
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