Chapter 80 Bargaining
After leaving the vegetable market, the two went to the blacksmith shop and Gu Yan bought ten arrowheads.
My goodness, these arrows are really not cheap. Ten arrows cost twenty-five taels of silver.
"Such a small arrowhead costs two taels and five cents of silver? This boss is too ruthless." Li Wanqing said, looking at the small arrowhead.
"It's mainly because the imperial court controls ironware, especially bows and arrows. There are restrictions. They can't be sold casually." Gu Yan explained.
Li Wanqing didn't understand these things at all, but she didn't want to understand. She was just a small person at the bottom of society. She was like that before she traveled through time, and she is still like that now.
"Oh, since you are here, buy a kettle to boil water. Now that you have a stove, it will be convenient to boil water in winter with a kettle." Li Wanqing said.
"Boss, how much is a kettle? Hey, this one is made of copper, right? How much is this one?" Li Wanqing found that there was a yellow one next to it, which should be made of copper.
"Madam is right. It is indeed made of copper. A copper kettle costs seven taels of silver, and an iron kettle costs four taels of silver. Which one would you like, sir?" said the boss.
"I want one anyway, but boss, you have to give me a discount." Li Wanqing said.
"I'll definitely give you a discount. How about this, I'll charge you ten taels of silver for these two items?
This is already the lowest price. I made this kettle bigger than others so it can hold more water. "The boss didn't expect Li Wanqing to buy two.
This kettle is not cheap. Ordinary people would have to think for a long time before buying one. I didn’t expect that the ordinary-dressed couple were actually rich.
"Ten taels of silver? That's too expensive. Two kettles are eight taels of silver, and you need to give me two small hoes.
"These two items cost no more than four taels of silver. I'll give you eight taels, and you'll still make half the profit. Even if you give me two small hoes, you can still make a lot of money, boss." Li Wanqing said.
The boss didn't expect that the lady knew all this. The cost of these two kettles was indeed only more than four taels.
But that's not how it works. Even for a seasoned blacksmith like him, these two kettles would take several days to complete. It's extremely time-consuming.
“Although what the lady said is true, it takes a lot of effort to make this thing. An ordinary blacksmith can’t make such a good kettle.
Madam, feel free to use it when you buy it. If it leaks, I'll refund you." The boss didn't say whether eight taels of silver would be enough, but just kept praising the product.
"You can only know whether something is good or not after using it. I want to give you eight taels of silver for two kettles, and boss, you can also give me two hoes. Tell me if it's okay?" Li Wanqing asked directly.
"No, no, this is too little. Madam, give me nine taels of silver and I will give you an extra spoon." The boss shook his head like a rattle.
Li Wanqing knew that the boss would definitely make some money, and now it just depends on who can hold their ground.
"Forget it, husband, let's go and try other blacksmith shops. Maybe they're cheaper elsewhere than here." After saying this, Li Wanqing pretended to pull Gu Yan away.
The boss really did what Li Wanqing thought, he just wanted to make more money. Even if Li Wanqing didn't add a penny to his price, he would still sell it.
Seeing that Li Wanqing was about to go to another house, he quickly stopped them: "Wait, wait, I'll sell it to you. This lady really knows how to buy things."
"Eight taels of silver for two kettles, two hoes and a spoon." Li Wanqing took the opportunity to say.
"Okay, okay, I won't make any money this time. Just consider it as gaining a regular customer. You must come back to buy things in the future." The boss said seriously.
"Okay, okay, I think this grate is pretty good, boss, please build me another one.
If my family needs anything again in the future, I will definitely come to your house to buy it." Li Wanqing said with a turn of her eyes.
"No, no, a stove grate is more expensive than a hoe. I'm already not making any money, so if I build another one I'll lose money.
"At most I can give you a discount. I usually sell this grate for 800 wen, but I'll give you 600 wen," said the boss.
Li Wanqing also knew that the boss would definitely not agree to add another grate, so she was just joking.
"Five hundred wen, no more." Li Wanqing said.
"Okay, okay, I've never seen anyone so good at bargaining." The boss muttered as he brought the grate over.
"Here, eight taels and five hundred wen. I'd like to trouble the boss to ask the waiter to bring the things to the carriage for us." After buying the things, Li Wanqing asked Gu Yan to pay the bill.
After coming out of the blacksmith shop, Gu Yan was still in a daze.
"Wife, you are too good at bargaining. Every time I came here before, the boss never gave me such a good deal. At most, he would just round off the price.
But they've never given me such a big discount before." Gu Yan looked at Li Wanqing with admiration.
"Well, what's the big deal? The boss can still earn more than three taels from eight taels of silver, which is not a small amount." Li Wanqing said disapprovingly.
When she used to buy things at the market, she could always get the price down by half, but now it’s no big deal.
"What's the point of earning more than three taels? Wife, don't you know? A hoe costs seven or eight hundred coins, and these two are more than one tael.
"Besides, making a kettle is indeed troublesome and takes a lot of time. This little over one ounce of silver is just wages, so the boss really didn't make much." Gu Yan explained.
"What's the point of not earning more? Do you think I don't know the wages outside? Forget about others. Even the farmhands working on our farm only make 30 wen a day.
This is already considered a lot, some people only get a few dozen cents.
Even if forging iron is a bit tiring, earning two taels of silver in a few days is still a lot, isn't it? "Li Wanqing said.
Li Wanqing's reasons were so powerful that she easily convinced Gu Yan.
Well, who wants to spend more money when they can spend less? Money is not something that bites the hand.
"Wife, do you want to buy anything else?" Gu Yan asked after leaving the blacksmith shop.
"Let's go to the grocery store and buy some more sugar. We're running low on it. We also need to buy some more salt. I'm going to pickle some vegetables.
We also need to buy soy sauce and vinegar. Seasonings are essential this winter, so let's buy them all this time." Li Wanqing thought for a moment and said.
The mountains were covered with snow in winter and they couldn't get out easily.
So rice, flour, grain, oil and seasonings must be prepared.
They have rice and flour, but the seasonings we bought last time were not enough, so we need to buy more.
"Okay, let's go now." Gu Yan agreed.
The grocery store still had to be reached across another street, but since the two of them were not in a hurry, they just pulled the carriage and walked slowly over.
"Hey, who's making pancakes? They smell so good?" After walking for a while, the aroma of scallion pancakes came from somewhere. Li Wanqing had a good nose and smelled it immediately.
Gu Yan saw Li Wanqing's nose twitching and knew that she wanted to eat.
Since his wife wanted to eat it, he naturally had to go and ask: "Let's go and have a look. There should be a vendor selling flatbread."
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