The ice jelly is refreshingly cool and perfect for cooling off in the summer. One sip and you feel cool all over. The brown sugar water and fermented rice wine are mixed together, making it sweet but not cloying.
It's simply a summer heat-relieving miracle!
Pei Yao felt that selling only ice jelly wasn't enough, and the lychee glutinous rice wine would be ready to ferment in the next couple of days, so she would take it with her to sell.
Pei Yao wasn't too worried about the sales of the ice jelly, but she wasn't sure how well the wine would sell...
After all, when she went to the tavern a couple of days ago, she didn't see any fruit wine for sale; most of the drinks were spirits.
"Yao girl, when I went to the dock to buy brown sugar today, I saw that there have been a lot more merchant ships coming to the dock recently. I heard that a lot of caravans have come to buy fish." Chen Fang recalled seeing a lot of people at the dock today, and she also heard the fishmonger next to her say that it was a caravan that had come recently.
Upon hearing this, Pei Yao immediately perked up: "A caravan? Are there many people?"
Chen Fang nodded: "Yes, when I went to the dock today, it was packed with people. The fishmongers said that these caravans had only arrived a few days ago and would stay here for about a month, mainly to buy fish. So everyone who had dried fish at home took it to the dock to sell to them."
Chen Fang told Pei Yao everything she had heard, and Pei Yao fell into deep thought after listening.
A caravan! A caravan with merchant ships, which means its strength is definitely not to be underestimated.
Pei Yao thought for a moment and then asked, "Auntie, did you see what those fishermen were selling?"
Chen Fang thought for a moment before answering, "I saw that most of the stalls had fish, and I had never seen many of those fish before. I had seen some of them before, though, because I had eaten them at a restaurant in Kyoto."
Pei Yao had never seen a caravan before and was quite curious about this one.
Although the lychee glutinous rice wine is not fully fermented yet, we can try using ice jelly first. If the other party is willing to buy our thunderbolt fruit seeds, a large caravan like this should be able to get a lot at once.
Pei Yao was overjoyed and shared her idea with everyone.
However, Pei Yao only told them about her idea of setting up a stall to sell ice jelly, without mentioning that she wanted to sell it to caravans. After all, nothing was certain yet, and Pei Yao didn't want to stir up any emotions at this time. If she didn't sell it later, wouldn't she be seen as someone who boasted?
Pei Yao could only secretly plan it out in her heart first.
However, Pei Yao needs to discuss the selling price of the ice jelly with her family, since the raw materials are quite expensive.
The brown sugar in the ice jelly is quite expensive, and the fermented rice is made from grains, so it's also expensive. However, the good thing is that only a small amount of fermented rice is added to each serving of ice jelly.
Making so much ice jelly is no small undertaking, so labor costs are also a factor.
However, they are just a small stall right now, and the customers at the dock are mostly low- to mid-range. If they sell at too high a price, they may not be able to sell anything.
However, if the price is set too low, I'm afraid I won't even be able to recoup my investment.
Pei Yao had no idea what to expect from this pricing.
After much deliberation, the family finally settled on a price: ten coins per bowl.
This price isn't low; a bowl of wontons at the town's wonton stalls only costs five coins.
If you're worried about not being able to sell them, make a smaller batch first, and then figure out a solution if you still can't sell them later.
Because making ice jelly is time-consuming, Pei Yao has to knead the ice jelly under the light the night before so that she can sell it directly the next day.
Pei Yao bought a small oil lamp when she went to town a few days ago, intending to use it as a precaution, and now it has come in handy.
……
At night, the moon quietly peeks out from behind the clouds, illuminating the silent village.
The villagers are used to going to bed early. It's only a little past ten o'clock at night, and almost everyone is asleep. Even those who aren't asleep have their lights off, as no one wants to waste oil to light the lamps.
Only the Pei family courtyard and the Niu family courtyard had a small oil lamp lit.
The Pei family was making ice jelly ahead of time, but as for why the Niu family's lights were still on and they weren't asleep...
"Da Niu, do you really want to fence off that mudflat again to raise snails and scallops?" Uncle Niu took a puff of his pipe, frowned, and looked at his grandson with a serious expression.
This was the first time Niu Qingshan had seen his grandfather with such a serious expression, and he became a little nervous. But thinking of his own thoughts, he nodded and said earnestly, "Grandpa, I've thought it through. Now, Yaomei's family delivers goods to Deyun Restaurant every day, and the daily order volume is also large. The villagers go to the beach to collect them, and there are still quite a few now, but if they keep collecting them like this, I'm afraid that in a year or two, all the snails on the beach will be gone."
Niu Qingshan has been delivering goods with Pei Yao's family every day recently. He's been traveling around town every day and has seen a lot, which is why he thought of these things.
In the past, he would never have thought so much; he would have simply done manual labor for others in exchange for money.
“What Da Niu said actually makes sense. If you only know how to collect without raising them, you won’t be able to collect them for long, no matter how big the bay is.”
Aunt Niu didn't understand business, but she knew the principle of "sitting idle and eating away one's fortune," so she still supported Niu Qingshan's idea.
Besides, it's already great that the child has ideas.
Uncle Niu didn't reply, but kept his head down and silently smoked the cigarette in his hand.
Seeing her like this, Niu Qingshan was also unsure of himself, since if that mudflat were to be fenced off, it would require reporting to the government.
Depending on the type of tidal flat, the government would require the lessee to pay a deposit of 500 cash per acre per year.
It's similar to leasing land, except that land is more expensive to rent, while mudflats are cheaper because the products raised on mudflats don't fetch a good price at the seaside, and they can't be transported far away. Big hotels have fixed supplies and won't take the products raised by these fishermen themselves.
That's why fishermen can't raise prices by raising their own fish; renting mudflats is less profitable than renting land to grow crops, so many people are unwilling to contract mudflats.
“If you really have this idea, then go for it. I’ll help you figure out how to lease the mudflats,” Uncle Niu said after a long pause. He was the acting village chief, so he was temporarily in charge of managing the village affairs, including matters like leasing the mudflats, which he would report to the local government.
However, since few people rent mudflats, it is very easy to rent them as long as the money is right. The government is eager for a sucker to come and rent them.
Niu Qingshan was initially feeling somewhat dejected, and he was momentarily stunned by what his grandfather had said.
Aunt Niu Er nudged him: "Da Niu, why are you standing there? Your grandpa has agreed to it."
Niu Qingshan then realized what was happening and looked at his grandfather with overjoyed delight, so excited that he wanted to hug him and spin him around three times immediately.
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