As they were going to bed that night, Old Man Chen suddenly asked, "My dear son, do you want to go to school? If you do, in a few years, when you're a little older, your parents will send you to school."
Chen Kai asked, "Dad, are you just going to let me go to school by myself?" Chen Kai thought that his fifth brother must have told his parents what happened today.
Mrs. Zhou said, "Yes, our baby is so smart. If he goes to school for a few more years, he will definitely be successful in the future."
Chen Kai pleaded, "Dad, Mom, can I think about it? I've heard that studying is very hard, and the teacher might even hit your hands."
Old Man Chen said, "Alright, my good son, think it over again. Anyway, it'll be a few more years before you're old enough to go to school. Let's go to sleep now!"
Chen Kai thought that the family's current money was enough for all the younger children to go to school for a few years, and he didn't know why his parents only let him go to school.
Over the next few days, the Chen family continued collecting flower baskets in the village and then selling dried flowers in town. Seeing that Chen Kai and Xiao Tian's dried flower business was doing well, with about one tael of silver left over after buying things that day, Chen Lao Si and Chen Lao Wu also invested in Chen Kai and Xiao Tian's dried flower business.
Chen Kai gave his fourth and fifth brothers 10% of the profits, to be settled at the end of each month. If they helped prune the flowers and plants or dye the dried flowers, that would be paid separately at five coins per person per day, to be settled at the end of the month.
Chen Kai's nephews and nieces invested relatively little money, and together they would take 10% of the profits. The specific distribution would be decided among the children themselves. Additional work such as dyeing flowers and grass would earn them five coins per person per day, settled at the end of the month.
The adults in the Chen family are usually quite busy, and they only have free time in the evenings to help prune the flowers and plants. They are paid two or three coins a day based on the amount of work each person does, and the settlement is made at the end of the month.
Now the villagers know that they made a lot of money selling dried flowers, so Chen Kai and Xiao Tian discussed it with Old Man Chen and Zhou Shi and decided that in addition to continuing to exchange for candy, each child would receive an extra penny per day for their work, and if they performed well, they could receive some additional benefits.
The rest of the money belonged to Chen Kai and Xiao Tian. Their expenses were all covered by this money. In addition to the wages for their family and children, the money for buying flower baskets from the villagers, and the extra benefits for the children, all of these expenses were paid by Chen Kai and Xiao Tian.
As for how to calculate which day each person did work, Chen Kai kept a record of who did it and which day they didn't.
Whether the village children did any work each day was recorded by Daya, with Xiaotian assisting. Sometimes not all of them were needed, so the children took turns picking flowers and cutting grass, and it was important to keep a clear record of their activities.
That day, Chen Kai wanted to go to the county town to sell dried flowers, so he divided his family into two groups.
Chen Laosi, Chen Shi, Er Ya, and San Ya went to town to sell dried flowers. Chen Laowu, Chen Kai, Da Ya, Xiao Tian, and Chen Nong went to the county town to sell dried flowers and miniature bonsai.
This time, Chen Kai also brought along the miniature bonsai he made from the saplings he dug up in the mountains last time. After a period of care and maintenance, he believes that they will definitely fetch a good price in the county town this time.
Chen Kai and Xiao Tian discussed their strategy to see how to sell these miniature bonsai for a good price.
Chen Kai and Xiao Tian mainly wanted to go to the county town to see how things were going. If sales were good, they could bring in the children from their uncles' families and their eldest sister's family to earn money together. In the future, selling flowers would mainly be handled by their family members, who would occasionally oversee the business and direct things from home.
Upon arriving in the county town, Er Ya exclaimed, "There are so many people here!"
The county town does have a large flow of people, but you have to pay two coins to set up a stall here.
Before long, Chen Laowu found a stall, paid the money, and they began to pack up, taking out the flower baskets and dried flowers and arranging them.
They had just arranged the dried flowers when several little girls came over and asked about the price.
Having learned from their previous experience selling flowers, Daya and her friends started talking confidently this time, and soon they had convinced several young girls who wanted to buy flowers.
Chen Nong laughed and said, "They sell better in the county town. In just a short while, we've sold dozens of flowers."
Chen Kai said, "That's right, there are many wealthy people in the county town."
After a while, a group of scholars came to their stall. Chen Kai tugged at Xiao Tian's clothes and gave him a wink. It seemed a large group of fat sheep had arrived, so we quickly sold the miniature bonsai to them.
Chen Kai spoke first: "Gentlemen, would you like to buy some flowers for your family and friends?"
One of the leading scholars pointed to several miniature bonsai trees and said, "Little friends, we'd like to buy these small trees. How much are they?"
Chen Kai said with a smile, "You have such a good eye! These miniature bonsai were hard-won; they're all naturally formed! This is art; how can it be measured in money!"
Xiao Tian continued, "However, if you really want to buy it, it's five taels of silver per pot."
A thin scholar said, "This is too expensive! I could buy several big trees and it wouldn't cost this much!"
Xiao Tian stood up, holding a miniature bonsai in his hand, and said, "This is called a miniature bonsai. Don't underestimate it because of its small size. Look at these ornaments, they all grew naturally. They grew tenaciously amidst many difficulties, just like you scholars. You are resilient and can rise to the challenge and break through the encirclement."
The leading scholar smiled and said, "Pack up all these miniature bonsai for me, I'll take them all." He then gestured to a page behind him to pay.
Chen Kai immediately had his fifth brother pack the miniature bonsai trees into a basket, and then said, "Fifty-six is thirty, that's thirty taels of silver in total."
The page paid the money, took the basket, and followed the leader.
The leading scholar was thinking that his mother's birthday was in a few days, and he was worried about what to give her. He thought it would be perfect to give her these miniature bonsai. His mother usually enjoyed tending to flowers and plants, and she would definitely like these miniature bonsai.
After the group left, Da Ya and the others stared at Chen Kai and Xiao Tian with admiration. Chen Laowu said, "Little brothers, you guys are amazing! You sold so much money from just a few small potted plants."
A few days ago, when he saw Chen Kai and the others tending to these bonsai trees, he didn't think much of it, assuming they were just growing them for fun. This morning, when Chen Kai asked him to load the bonsai trees onto the car, he realized they were going to be sold.
Chen Kai said with a smile, "It's nothing. I just planted a few pots to test the waters. In the future, we can find the tools ourselves to grow them like this."
"You guys keep selling for now! I'll tell you what to do tomorrow."
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