Chapter 412 Pricing
Old Zhou walked around the village with his hands behind his back, and even had lunch outside. He finally visited all the families who had exchanged seeds with his family last year, and reached an agreement with them. Then he went home with his hands behind his back, which were all red.
We are all helping to rub the wheat. You can't just squat and smoke while others are working, right?
And he didn't have that much tobacco to smoke all the time.
Old Zhou felt that he had never worked so hard even when rubbing his own wheat.
He walked all the way home with his hands behind his back. Manbao had also returned from school and was squatting in the yard teaching her nephews and nieces to read. When she saw her father come back, she immediately said, "Just recite this paragraph first. I'll explain the meaning to you later."
She followed her father into the main room and poured him some water. "Dad, are you all willing?"
"We're willing to trade, but we all feel that one catty for one catty is a bit of a loss," Old Zhou said. He didn't know that this business belonged to his daughter, so he felt justified in cheating her. "So we decided to go talk to Mr. Bai together and negotiate the price down to one catty and three ounces for one catty."
Manbao glared, "This is too expensive. We didn't ask for more when they exchanged it with our family last year."
"How can it be the same? We are all from the same village, and most of us are from the same clan," Old Zhou said confidently, "The Bai family is an outsider, and Master Bai is not short of money."
Manbao opened his mouth, thought for a while and said, "Dad, don't go to Mr. Bai to tell him about this. I'll go and tell him for you. Don't mention this to Mr. Bai."
Old Zhou waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright, I know, it's a surprise. Really, can the Bai family's young master and second young master make the decision? We've already agreed with the village, but they've reneged."
Manbao affirmed: "I can make the decision!"
Old Zhou still trusted his daughter and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Manbao felt that one catty and three ounces was a bit expensive, so she asked her father directly, "Dad, if there's not one catty and three ounces, will you exchange it? What's your minimum price?"
Old Zhou had no idea this was a spy. In his mind, he and his daughter were in cahoots, so he said, "We've discussed it, and the minimum is one pound and one ounce, but a little more would be even better."
Old Zhou said, "Everyone is having a hard time. Haven't you seen how many people are lining up at the mill these days to get flour? The wheat hasn't even been ground yet, but it's already being ground."
While the father and daughter were talking, a servant from the Bai family came over to invite Old Zhou, saying that Mr. Bai wanted to talk to Old Zhou about something.
Manbao immediately looked at Old Zhou and whispered, "Dad, Mr. Bai must be asking about farming. Just tell him, but don't mention changing the wheat seeds..."
"I know, I know," Old Zhou said, a little jealously. "You don't seem to care so much about family matters."
This is a family matter!
However, Manbao didn't dare tell Old Zhou. After sending him to the door, he waved goodbye and reminded him from behind, "Dad, you must remember this."
Old Zhou quickened his pace and didn't want to pay any attention to the girl.
Manbao went back to explain the meaning of the text to his nephews and nieces, and watched Santou, Sanya and Sitou write. Then he gave them their homework and ran out to find Bai Shanbao.
"One catty and three ounces for one catty?"
Manbao nodded. "My father said so. I got the lowest price from him. It's at least one catty and one ounce."
Bai Shanbao thought for a moment and said, "Then let's give them one catty and two ounces."
He said, "Grandmother has agreed to give us grain on credit, as long as we can pay her back within two months. I asked her to ship a lot more wheat here, so it will definitely be enough to exchange for it."
Manbao asked, "Isn't one jin and two liang too much? Don't you feel bad about it?"
Bai Shanbao smiled and said, "I don't feel bad because the wheat is really good. I thought about it last night and decided that if the wheat I exchanged for can't be sold as seeds, then I can keep it for my family and plant it later. I won't lose anything anyway."
He said, "I talked to my grandmother last night. She said that even if businessmen are driven by profit, they shouldn't let others suffer too much loss. We are supposed to study to help the world, not become profiteers."
Manbao thought about it and felt that what Grandma Liu said made sense, so he nodded vigorously and said, "Okay, then I'll exchange it for one catty and two ounces."
Bai Shanbao thought for a moment and said, "If you can't sell it, I'll buy it at cost price so you don't lose money."
But it didn't make them any money. However, Manbao thought about it and felt that it was no big deal. At least they had someone to protect them, right?
This is equivalent to a business that is sure to make money for them.
At least they made a profit from the wheat harvest this season.
Manbao became happy and asked, "Have you asked your grandmother?"
"No," Bai Shanbao said confidently, "This is all I can do."
Bai Shanbao is still very confident about this.
Man Bao understood after a quick thought that the situation of Bai Shanbao's family was different from that of Bai Er's family.
If Bai Er dared to use so much money privately or do such a big business for the family, not only would he be beaten by Mr. Bai, but even Old Lady Bai and Mrs. Bai would probably beat him up, and then they would use the excuse that "the child is still young and doesn't understand" to revoke all the decisions they had made before.
But Bai Shanbao's family is different. In their family, his words seem to be more effective than Aunt Zheng's, and Grandmother Liu also respects his decisions.
Manbao had seen this several times, and even if the decision he made was wrong, Grandmother Liu would not cancel it.
After figuring it out, Manbao became happy and went home that night and secretly shared the secret with Qian.
Looking at Manbao, whose face was practically glowing with joy, Mrs. Qian was also very happy. She smiled and said, "Our Manbao has always had good luck."
So Qian became more concerned about this matter. The next day, she drove Old Zhou out and asked him to count how much wheat each family had.
Old Zhou went out unwillingly and said, "Many people haven't even rubbed out their wheat yet. How should we calculate it?"
"Most of it has been rubbed out, right? Can't you count how many baskets and bags are available? We have to let Manbao and the others know the number so they can prepare the food, right?"
Old Zhou couldn't help but grumble, "Why are these kids joining in this fun instead of studying? Seriously, isn't this an adult's business?"
Qian glared at him, "Get out of here right now. What can you do at home? You didn't even help when the oil bottle fell over. What happened to Manbao? Is she still a child?"
Qian pushed him out the door while muttering, "She's almost eight years old. When Da Ya and Er Ya were her age, they were already working in the fields planting rice and harvesting wheat. But do you think your daughter is capable of doing this kind of work?"
She said, "If she can't do farm work, shouldn't she find some other way to support herself? I think it's best for her to get involved in this. You should stop holding her back and find out the wheat numbers of each family. Also, make them dry the wheat well. Don't mix it in when it's half-dried. If you try to fool my daughter, I'll make them look bad later."
The next chapter will be at 12 o'clock in the morning. Well, I will update it then, but it is already very late. Let's take a shower and have a good sleep first. We will read it tomorrow morning.
(End of this chapter)
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