The man pinched a piece of charcoal and said, "I'm familiar with this area. How come I haven't seen you before? Is this your first time selling charcoal here?"
Chun Xiao was cautious. "I've sold this before in other places. This is definitely my first time."
"Well, girl, this is the first time I've bought this charcoal from you, and I don't know how it works. Could you please offer a lower price, 55 wen per jin? If it's really as good as you say, I'll charge you 60 wen per jin when I buy from you again. There are many times in winter when we need charcoal, and all the people in my family will need it."
Chunxiao thought about it and realized that opening a business was all about building relationships, so 55 wen was already a lot. "Okay, uncle, I'll consider it a discount so you can try my charcoal. 55 wen is 55 wen."
The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Miss, you are also a straightforward person. Then please help me deliver the charcoal to my home and I will pay you." The middle-aged man led Chunxiao into an alley and stopped at the second-to-last gatehouse. He knocked on the door, and it opened from the inside. A servant came out and said, "Uncle Wei, you bought the charcoal so quickly."
"I bought it. I saw it when I went out. Go get a scale and help weigh this girl's carbon."
The man looked at Chunxiao again and said, "Girl, we bought the charcoal, but you have to keep the backpack, otherwise we won't have anywhere to put the charcoal."
"Uncle, I've already discounted the charcoal. I bought this backpack for 10 cents. If I give it to you, I'll have to buy more. How can this be?" Chunxiao was not stingy, but Zhou Shi could argue with others for a long time over a few cents. She couldn't be so generous.
"How about this? You can leave this backpack here first, and I'll give it to you when I buy another one."
Chunxiao knew that he was asking for the backpack in disguise, saying that he would exchange it for next time. Who knew if his family would still want it next time? But thinking that she had to leave a good impression in this first business, she happily agreed and decided to go to the bamboo craftsman's shop to buy another one later.
The boy quickly came over with a scale and weighed the weight of the backpack. The total weight of the charcoal was 46 catties. The man gave her 2 taels 5 cents and 30 copper coins and said, "Miss, if you sell charcoal early in the future, you can come and ask us first. If we use this charcoal today, we will definitely buy from you again if we need it later."
"Thank you very much, uncle." Chunxiao's hands were shaking as she held the money. She never dreamed that she could earn more than two taels of silver in one go.
She quickly put the money into her inner pocket and decided to burn more. She had to burn more. After this winter, this way of making money would be gone.
She had nothing but money, so she went to the bamboo shop in the town first. When she asked, she found out that a backpack in the town cost 14 cents. But she had to buy one. If she went back to the village to buy one, she would not be able to tell Zhou where her backpack was when she asked her.
There was no choice, so she bought a backpack from the bamboo shop.
Carrying the basket on her back, she went to the iron shop again and gave the receipt from last time to the proprietress, who then gave her the iron pot and kitchen knife.
"Do you have axes for sale?" Chunxiao put the knife into the backpack.
"We can make any ironware you need for daily life, including axes. It costs 1 tael and 2 qian to order, and you can pick it up in 8 days."
8 days was too long. “Is there anything ready-made?” She looked around but didn’t see any axe outside.
The woman glanced at her, then quietly went into the house and took an axe. "The ones we have are also ordered by others. If you need them urgently, you'll have to pay 1 tael and 5 qian of silver."
This iron shop is really good at business. They made 300 coins for nothing just by waiting for a few days. "How much is a hoe?"
"A hoe costs one ounce, and it'll take about eight days," the woman said, looking at her as if she knew what she was thinking. "If you want something ready-made, we have it, just like the pot. It costs one ounce and two cents of silver."
"Boss, how about this? I want to buy an axe and a hoe, ready-made. I'll give you two taels and five cents of silver in total."
The lady boss waved her hand and said, "How can that be? You charged me 200 coins right away. Your price is too low."
Chun Xiao wanted to roll her eyes but held back. "Look, if I get these two things in a few days, they'll only cost 2 taels and 2 cents. I just don't want to run to town for no reason. You'll still make a profit if you sell them to me. I won't buy tools from other iron shops anymore. I'll just come here, okay?"
The woman was a little shaken.
Chunxiao said a lot of nice things to her, and finally spent 2 taels and 5 cents to take away the two tools.
Although she had lost all her money from selling charcoal, her three taels of silver remained intact, which was a cause for celebration. She took her remaining 16 copper coins to the butcher's shop and bought a pound of meat. She also asked the butcher to give her a piece of pig skin, which she would use to start the pot, so she could cook. In her backpack were her axe and kitchen knife, with her iron pot tied to it, and she was holding the hoe. She felt very powerful.
I felt extremely happy all the way home.
When she arrived at the village around 10 o'clock in the morning, she went straight to the edge of the field.
"Chunxiao, where are you from? Why are you carrying a pot?" Someone working in the field asked curiously.
"My mother bought me a pot to take back home with me."
"You were really divorced by your husband. What happened that made her so stubborn to divorce you? Your mother wouldn't tell me when I asked her before." A woman asked.
Chunxiao ignored such questions and walked away.
"I think he has bad morals. Look at him, he doesn't even answer the questions. What's his attitude?" The woman who asked the question was a little angry.
"How can you expect someone to respond? You're just being stupid by asking that question. Just do your job well instead of worrying about other people's nonsense."
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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