Chapter 216 Overspending
"Would you mind leaving in a hurry? I have a particularly interesting place I want to show you."
While Xie Yuanfeng carefully put the rice paste into Xiao Shitou's mouth to prevent him from choking, he also did not forget to talk to Zhao Chunhua beside him.
"Today is the day when the town's big market opens, and there will be a bullock cart returning to the village in the afternoon. We can go back later, there is no rush."
Zhao Chunhua's eyes were full of curiosity and anticipation for this trip.
"What on earth is it that interests you so much? You specifically mentioned it, it must be very interesting!"
Faced with such a mysterious source of information, Zhao Chunhua couldn't help but become more interested.
"This is a secret, but I can tell you that several very important caravans have just arrived in the town, and they will probably have some precious goods that are hard to buy locally."
A hint of excitement flashed across Xie Yuanfeng's face.
At the end of the year, everyone is trying to get more income to better survive the winter.
It is precisely because of the existence of this demand that even if these business trips from afar do not usually tend to visit here, they will deliberately choose to visit at this time.
Although the items they carry are rich and varied, if everyone were to spend lavishly on shopping, there would likely be a shortage of supply.
therefore
The key is who can get the news first and take quick action.
In previous years, when dealing with such matters, Xie Yuanfeng and Shu Changqi would discuss and make decisions together; however, this year was different, the decision-making power was given to Zhao Chunhua, who was trying to act independently for the first time, in the hope of giving her a chance to demonstrate her talents.
This time, the trading team did not stay at the official post station to rest and reorganize as usual, but went directly to a larger house in the south of the town to set up camp.
When Xie Yuanfeng brought the curious Zhao Chunhua to knock on the heavy wooden door, they happened to meet people who had been busy all morning and had just finished tidying up the interior and restored everything to order.
Because the weather this year was exceptionally mild, the expected heavy snow that would block traffic did not occur, allowing these merchants who had traveled far away to arrive early and even welcome the first batch of customers before they set up their temporary stalls.
"Please choose what you need. All prices remain the same as last year."
The leader spoke a few words quickly to Xie Yuanfeng in a voice with a slight accent, while Zhao Chunhua, who was standing aside and confused, relied on her brother to patiently translate what had just been said for her.
This seemingly powerful and united caravan is likely to have traveled all the way south from the northern grasslands. Its members are all strong and muscular, making people feel both awe and respect.
After seeing the goods they brought, Zhao Chunhua became more certain of her guess.
Winter comes much earlier in the north than here, so these merchants brought large pieces of yak beef, all of which were frozen; in addition, there were also large quantities of cowhides, sheepskins and dried meat.
“Is there a purchase limit?”
Zhao Chunhua asked, she was actually very excited.
I've been here for a few months and finally saw the beef I hadn't seen for a long time.
In her hometown, yaks usually live in high altitude areas and are not suitable for farming, otherwise the court would not allow yaks to be slaughtered for their meat.
"Purchase restrictions? Is there a quantity limit? No."
The caravan's response was unexpected. Instead, they hoped that someone would buy all their goods, which would save them a lot of trouble.
However, language communication between the two parties was very difficult, which made a simple transaction much more complicated.
There are two reasons why Xie Yuanfeng was able to communicate with these businessmen: on the one hand, it was because he had been dealing with these businessmen for many years; on the other hand, he had worked in a bookstore, and when he had nothing to do during that time, he read books and learned some basic foreign language knowledge, which greatly facilitated his communication.
"I want two boxes of yak meat, two boxes of dried meat, and some cowhide and sheepskin."
Zhao Chunhua spoke directly, with an expression of surprise that was difficult to conceal in her tone.
Oh my God, she said that the imperial court did not allow the casual slaughter of working cattle, but now she found out that there is such a channel to obtain meat.
“Buying so much?”
The businessman asked with a little surprise, because he knew that the size of the boxes was standardized, and after removing the weight of the packaging, a box of meat would weigh about 50 kilograms.
"Do you think it's too much? If these things can be stored longer, I plan to buy more."
Zhao Chunhua explained.
Although she owns a warehouse to store food, this cannot be disclosed to the outside world.
Such a rare opportunity is right in front of her. If she doesn't stock up as much as possible, Zhao Chunhua feels that she will miss a great benefit.
After considering this, Xie Yuanfeng felt that what his sister said made sense, so he decided to buy two boxes of beef and two boxes of jerky for himself.
But in fact, these meats were not prepared for him alone; once they were distributed to his brothers, there would probably not be much left.
Zhao Chunhua bought two cowhide blankets and three sheepskin blankets.
These finely crafted, soft and comfortable fur blankets are quite expensive. If it were an ordinary day, even Zhao Chunhua, whose family is not poor, would feel that this is a considerable expense.
However, today, she unexpectedly earned a good amount of money, which allowed her to indulge in this little luxury.
If Zhao Chunhua hadn't made some money today, she probably wouldn't have been willing to spend so much money to buy these precious things.
"Please take this sheepskin mat to my father. The weather is getting colder. Tell him not to be reluctant to use it and to take good care of himself."
She whispered to her brother.
"Want to see something else?"
After checking the various goods he had just bought, Xie Yuanfeng turned to his sister and asked, his eyes full of care and curiosity.
"Anything else?"
Zhao Chunhua thought about it for a moment, but couldn't help feeling a little conflicted.
Just the fresh beef and processed dried meat she had just purchased had cost her a full ten taels of silver. You have to know that fresh beef costs forty cents per pound, while the dried meat, which is easier to store and carry, costs sixty cents per pound. Add to that a high-quality wool mattress costing two taels of silver and three high-quality cowhide cushions costing three taels and three silvers, and the total cost would be an extra twelve taels of silver.
In this way, plus some small items they bought while visiting the market, the brother and sister had spent a total of more than twenty taels of silver throughout the day.
The pocket money originally prepared for her by her father Xie Wenxing had long been used up, and in the end she had to take out an extra ounce of silver from her own private money to make up the shortfall.
At this moment, the shouts of merchants were heard not far away.
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