On August 19th, the day before the exhibition, many out-of-town merchants arrived at the inns in Ningdu County and stayed there.
Once they settled in, it was time to eat. The inns and restaurants in the county town were suddenly flooded with customers, much to the delight of the owners.
The most popular place was Qianwei Bar. Merchants from other places had never seen such mixed drinks before, let alone drunk them. Qianwei Bar was immediately packed, and even Master Liu had to go down to manage the place himself.
On August 20th, the Liuzhou County Specialty Products Exhibition officially kicked off. All four nearby counties participated in this exhibition, and each county brought out its best products.
As the crowds gradually increased on the wide streets of Ningdu County, after entering the venue for the specialty product exhibition, government officials patrolled back and forth. On both sides of the venue were rows of neat and uniform stalls, each with its own signboard.
Ningdu County's specialty Qingyun Tea... Heyang County's distinctive time-honored brand shortbread... Qi'an County's traditionally brewed soy sauce... Gaokai County... Linshui County...
The stalls were diverse and offered a wide variety of goods, with vendors constantly hawking samples and drinks... It was dazzling to browse through them all.
"Hey, I never expected that a local specialty fair held in such a small county would have so many great things. This trip was definitely worthwhile," said one merchant.
"Yes, I originally came here because I saw the white fungus and cloud ear fungus on the brochure, but I didn't expect to find so many good things."
"I originally planned to go to Jiangnan to see what good things there were, but it seems that seeing that brochure made me decide to change my route and come to Ningdu County. Haha."
"Even without these delicacies, I think it was worth the trip to Ningdu County's Qianwei Bar, the braised delicacies, and the rich and oily eggs. There's also a seasoning called what's it called chili pepper. I never expected that such a small county town would hide such delicious flavors. I'm definitely going to stay in Ningdu County for a few more days. I don't want to leave so soon."
"......"
The merchants who came all felt that their trip was worthwhile. The stalls at the specialty product exhibition were always packed with customers. Merchants who were interested in placing orders were invited into the small cubicles set up at the back to discuss their deals. The owners of each stall were all smiles.
Meanwhile, Song Anxin's stall was packed with people, as her products were divided into several smaller stalls.
She and Granny Wei were in charge of the white fungus stall. Rows of pure white dried white fungus were displayed on the stall, arranged in order of superior, medium, and inferior grades. Whether they were merchants or ordinary people who came to see what was going on, their eyes widened in surprise. They had never seen such a precious thing displayed in front of them before.
One merchant said impatiently, "Boss, I'll take all of your silver ear fungus, however much you have."
He was a merchant from Jiangnan who had come all this way specifically for the white fungus advertised on the brochure.
The merchants standing nearby were immediately dissatisfied.
"You want everything? We came here for the white fungus too. What will we do if you take it?"
"Exactly, exactly, how can you do this..."
Song Anxin quickly tried to smooth things over: "Everyone, calm down. Since we're here, we won't let you down." She looked at the merchant from before: "Sir, I have dozens of kilograms of white fungus here. You can't possibly eat it all by yourself."
The people around were immediately in an uproar. What?! They could take out dozens of kilograms of such precious white fungus all at once? They had never seen anything like it anywhere else.
Actually, this year, due to the limited mycelium growth, the yield was low. Only about a hundred logs were planted. The purpose of using broken wood for tremella is to pursue quality and reduce the yield. Therefore, after deducting the tremella used for mycelium cultivation and drying, there were only fifty kilograms left.
But there are enough bird's nests, which are so precious, that they are sold by the gram.
The businessman immediately looked embarrassed. He thought it would only weigh a few pounds at most; he would have to empty his pockets to eat dozens of pounds.
However, since white fungus is such a precious item, it will fetch a higher price if taken out, making it a sure-fire way to profit. Perhaps it's worth a try.
"However, I also have my own rules. Each person can only buy a maximum of three catties," Song Anxin continued.
She made this decision because she didn't want the white fungus to be monopolized by a few big merchants, and she needed a steady stream of merchants to come to Linjia Village to place orders with her. Only when people were moving around could Linjia Village in Ningdu County's economy improve.
Moreover, a single dried white fungus weighs only about 20 to 40 grams, so three catties is more than enough.
Upon hearing this, the merchant immediately abandoned the idea and said, "Then I'll take three catties."
Song Anxin maintained a polite smile and invited him to a small back room for a detailed discussion. She set the price at 900 wen per tael for ordinary quality, 1 tael and 600 wen per tael for medium quality, and 3 taels and 400 wen per tael for superior quality.
This price is cheaper than buying individually; she wants to make it a bulk purchase model.
The merchants emerged from the negotiation room all beaming with joy; they had made a fortune this time.
While Song Anxin's stall was constantly busy, the salted duck egg stall next door was also busy. Lin Fenghe, Shi Tou, and Xiao He were cutting salted duck eggs into pieces for the merchants to try. Some of the merchants had already eaten at the restaurant and were directly negotiating and placing orders.
Next door were Lin Fengnian's dried mushroom stall and Lin Fengshou's Quanqing liquor stall. Naturally, the Lin family village's collective industry also set up stalls, and the cloud ear fungus and persimmon cakes were very popular with the visiting merchants. Lin Lizheng and several clan elders, along with a few young men from the village, were extremely busy.
Even Brother Lin's family set up a small stall, mainly selling fans. Although it is already autumn, it is still mainly summer, and the heat has not yet dissipated. Further south, it is still hot, so the market is not bad.
Negotiations, orders, contract signings, and agreed-upon pickup times... The first day of the Liuzhou County Specialty Products Fair was packed with people, and the sounds of transactions were constant. The crowds only gradually dispersed as it was getting dark.
When Song Anxin and her group returned home that evening, everyone felt exhausted. Song Mei quickly asked the servants to prepare some tea and snacks for them. Because she was pregnant, she did not go to the county to participate.
Lin Fengshou took a sip of tea, and although he was tired, his eyes were full of excitement: "Mother, do you know how much wine I ordered today? Nearly ten thousand jars! And quite a few of them are first-grade wine. The winery made a fortune today."
Her family's wine jar weighs two jin (1 kg).
Lin Fenghe said, "The order volume for salted duck eggs is also quite good. More than 6,000 eggs were ordered today alone."
Lin Fengnian said, "My situation is also very good. A lot of the dried mushrooms in the mushroom house have been ordered."
"Things are going well on Mother's side too; most of the white fungus has already been ordered."
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