Chapter 142 Chapter 142 Update.
On this day, at the beginning of winter, the scoundrel Zhang Er came to my house and said:
"I've contacted three companies and settled on the amount the girl wants. All we have to do is sign the lead contract and pay for the goods."
Nowadays, one dan of wool costs one tael and two qian of silver. With the cash given by the Song family and the remaining money after paying off the loans, the family's capital is now two hundred and twenty taels.
Ji Xu planned to store one hundred dan of wool, which is one hundred and twenty taels.
The remaining one hundred taels were used to stockpile tent mats. Tent mats were mats woven with wool and ox hair, with intricate patterns. They were from the frontier, unlike the reed mats used by ordinary people. One tent mat cost two taels of silver and was used by wealthy families in the Five Tombs. Therefore, Ji Xu planned to stockpile fifty of them.
Zhang Er was asked to inquire about the wool and the mats, and soon the results came out. Ji Xu heard it and said:
"Okay, then let's arrange for those three companies to come to the teahouse tomorrow afternoon to sign the trading agreement."
Zhang Er was so busy that he didn't even have time to drink a cup of tea. He got up and left.
"I need to tell the shopkeepers. If it works, I'll get some money for the wine."
At night, Ji Xu showed Tian the samples that Zhang Er brought during the day. There was no need to say much about the wool.
The mat was ochre red and dark black, with a diamond-shaped geometric pattern. It was so exquisite that Tian touched it again and again.
"This mat is so soft! It must be that rich people use fine stuff."
I put it away in the box, and then thought:
"When will the goods be shipped back home?"
This was exactly what Ji Xu was thinking about. Those sellers were all wealthy merchants in the West Market of the city who had large warehouses to store goods.
Their family didn't have much in stock, so there was no need to rent a shop. They had discussed it with Mrs. Tian before and decided to put the goods in the empty room at home, the one that Mrs. Song had lived in before.
"I'm not afraid of thieves stealing, but I'm afraid of thieves eyeing my belongings. Wool is fine, but these tent mats are worth two taels of silver each. We have fifty of them in stock. There are still many idle people in Anling who like to steal money and rob goods. We don't want them to target our things."
Tian said that she had no intention of making a fuss about stockpiling wool and mats at home, and that she should just make a fortune quietly. As a country woman, she also understood that it would not be too late to go out and gossip after making money.
Now that it has been revealed, and it takes a lot of effort to explain, people will start hoarding it. If they make money, they will greet it with a smile, but if they lose money, it's hard to say, as they will inevitably blame themselves. Tian is not going to do something that will cause them to complain.
When others asked her why Zhang Er came to her house so frequently, she lied and said that it was to repay the loan from Wuyan. Her family bought the house with a loan, and the whole neighborhood knew it clearly.
Yin confided to his daughter, "It would be best if we could bring it back home without anyone knowing. If we make money, it would be best if we do, but if we lose money, we won't let anyone else know."
Ji Xu thought about it,
"Those fifty mats don't take up much space when rolled up, but they only weigh a hundred dan of wool. It would take at least ten ox carts to transport them back, and we'd have to go through Hengmen Street and out of the city all the way to our Anling."
It would be unrealistic to use ten cars to get home from the bustling West Market in the city without being noticed.
She recalled the time when she and the Chen family had to walk on mountain roads at night to transport rice in the countryside. Now, in the big cities of the world, there was no mountain road to avoid the hustle and bustle of traffic.
Furthermore, transportation at night was not realistic. The curfew in Chang'an was very strict. The market and the city gates would be closed at a certain time, and no one was allowed to enter or leave. Therefore, the goods had to be transported to the home during the day.
But what Tian said made sense, and Ji Xu thought of a way.
The next afternoon, she talked with the three shopkeepers. The goods would be temporarily stored with them for ten days. She would drive her own ox cart to bring back a load every day and pile some firewood outside to keep a low profile and not attract attention.
In this way, they transported the goods once a day, and in ten days, they had transported back fifty mats and one hundred stones of wool.
Because her goods were just a drop in the bucket for the big merchants in the West Market, paying some money and keeping them for ten more days would not take up much space. The shopkeepers who met her one after another all agreed and signed sales contracts with Ji Xu.
After hearing this idea, Tian also thought it was appropriate.
Because there was only one ox cart at home, and Tian, Feng and Zhu had to travel back and forth to Huai City, it would be too late to drive into the city if they waited for them to come back.
Therefore, Ji Xu rented an ox cart from a renter, sold braised food at Jiaomen Market for half a day, and then drove into the city. When he arrived at the West Market, he tied the wool in the sack on the cart, and then went to the old man who brought firewood into the city to sell, bought two loads of firewood from him, and tied a circle outside.
The old man was also kind-hearted and helped her tie it up. From the outside, it looked like a full cart of firewood.
Ji Xu told the old man that he would come to him every day to buy two loads of firewood for the next ten days. The old man made a living by collecting firewood from the suburbs, and he was happy to hear this, as he hoped he could sell more firewood and earn some money for the winter.
It was winter, and every household was heating their kangs, which required a lot of firewood every day. Not only Ji Xu, but there were also many carts loaded with firewood driving on the streets.
There was a firewood shed next to the cattle and horse stable at home. Diaohu was lying on the warm pine needles. When he heard the sound of the wheels, he jumped down and rubbed the hem of Ji Xu's skirt.
At this time, Tian also came back and bought some miscellaneous items at Jiaodaoting Market. She came here without stopping to move firewood.
"Mom, come here. It's so tiring to carry all this stuff with your arms and legs. Why don't you take a break? You must be exhausted."
Tian Shih brushed off the sawdust on the remaining wool and carried the wool into the empty house in the west with two bags in each hand.
Ji Xu did this every day, and the neighbors just thought she was buying firewood. Her family ran a cooked food business, so they used more firewood, so it was not surprising.
This day,
Wu Dou, the son-in-law of Liu Laogu's family, came back from the West Market with a big rooster in his arms after fighting with someone. He lost the money that Liu Laogu asked him to buy rice. He hunched his neck in the alley to get out of the cold wind and didn't dare to go in.
"Wu Dou,
Is Wu Dou outside?"
Aunt Liu in the yard heard the crowing of a rooster and asked outside.
"There's no rice left at home. I gave you half a guan to buy food, and you dared to lose it!"
Wu Dou came into the house reluctantly. When Aunt Liu saw that he came back empty-handed, she chased him around the yard with a firewood stick and wanted to beat him, demanding that Chunniang divorce him as a lazy man.
The big rooster flew out of his arms. Wu Dou was busy trying to catch the rooster, but was hit a few times by Liu Laogu, making him cry out in pain.
"Why learn something else? Why imitate those Wuling kids fighting cocks and dogs? They don't even know their own strengths. The neighbors have already bought several carts of firewood. Look at the few rotten woods we have at home. How many days can they burn?"
Aunt Liu caught the big rooster that was running around and wanted to kill it to eat, so she went to the kitchen to get a knife.
Wu Dou was extremely anxious. He remembered something that happened in the house next door. In a moment of desperation, he suddenly had an idea and said:
"Don't kill my chicken, I know what the neighbors are doing lately!
Yesterday I saw the girl from the opposite door in the West Market. She was transporting a large cart of wool to a wealthy merchant.
"wool?"
"It's wool."
At that time, Wu Dou was holding a big rooster and was going to fight with someone. She didn't have the heart to look much. She only saw two boys piling up the goods for her, and Ji Xu was guarding on the side.
After he lost the cockfight, he wandered around the West Market and ran into Ji Xu pulling a cart of firewood passing by Hengmen Street. He thought he was seeing things. How could he have seen wool just now and now it was firewood?
"The wool must be bundled inside, with firewood surrounding it to hide it from view. Yes, that must be it! No wonder Zhang Er has been coming here so often lately."
The more Wu Dou thought about it, the more he felt it was right, and he said affirmatively.
Aunt Liu was confused. "Why would she buy such a large cart of wool? She's only going to make felt hats and clothes. The whole family doesn't need them."
She suspected that the lazy Wu Dou was just trying to trick her old sister-in-law into saving the chicken, but Wu Dou seemed to have figured it out and became more and more excited as he spoke:
"I often hear those Wuling scions say that when the harvest is good, they buy; when the harvest is poor, they sell. They buy low and sell high, even for grains, livestock, and other things. This girl must be hoarding this wool and selling it when the price goes up!"
"The price of wool is high? Can it be sky-high? This doesn't happen every year. Even if the price goes up, I can buy wool to make clothes and quilts to sleep in, and I won't freeze to death."
Wu Dou was speechless at this. He felt that this was not the case, but he could not figure out why. He just said:
"I envy the neighbor next door who lives in a big courtyard. I always say that the girl is more capable than my son. Since I say she is capable, why don't we quietly follow her and buy some wool to keep? It won't go bad. If the price goes up, we can sell it and make money."
"How foolish! You have money, but instead of buying rice and cloth to eat and wear, you buy wool to store. I don't have such spare money. If you do, go ahead and buy it."
Wu Dou was a man who had no bread left in the doghouse. How could he have any money? He said:
"Don't you think Chunniang still has..."
Aunt Liu was about to hit him again, cursing:
"If you dare to covet Chunniang's hard-earned money, forget it!"
Aunt Liu didn't believe Wu Dou's nonsense, and she was reluctant to take money from her family. If he lost money, the whole family would be left with nothing. So she warned Chunniang in advance so that her daughter would not be instigated by Wu Dou and really go to buy wool.
He also warned Wu Dou a few words:
"Since the neighbor doesn't want others to know, I'm afraid this is a dangerous thing. She's afraid that others will follow her and blame her later. So don't make it public."
In the West Market, people and vehicles could not turn around, it was extremely prosperous. Ji Xu did not know about the conversation between Liu's uncle and son-in-law. In the end, he pulled a cart of wool, went out of Hengmen Street, bought two loads of firewood, and went out of the city.
The streets were crowded with people, so she drove slower than usual. However, the Wuling children were always unbridled and reckless. She only heard a series of shouts from the other side of the street:
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"
A group of young men in fancy clothes were riding horses through the city, their speed not slowing down, scaring the passers-by on the road and making them run and curse.
Ji Xu was at the intersection when he saw the troops rushing towards him from the other side of the street. He whipped his horse to dodge.
I could only feel the sound of horse hooves passing by my ears. If I had been a moment slower, I would have been stepped on by the horse's hooves.
"These idle young men from Wuling are always galloping through the streets, and yet the Sili Commandant doesn't arrest them!"
The people in the city who were also busy dodging complained.
"Girl, are you okay?"
The passerby asked Ji Xu, Ji Xu was just about to pass the intersection, and in order to avoid it, he had no choice but to bump into the catalpa tree beside the road.
Fortunately, both the people and the vehicle were safe, except that the firewood was a little tilted. Ji Xu straightened it, tied it up again, and continued on his way home.
When Jin came back from closing her stall, she caught up with them just in time. She saw that it was another cart of firewood that blocked the way for everyone.
But when she looked carefully, she saw a white object falling to the ground.
This was the place where the firewood had just hit the tree. A corner of the firewood was loose. Ji Xu had tied it himself, but he was not strong enough and not as solid as the old man. The wool at the mouth of the bag fell off a little.
Jin waited for Ji Xu to enter the yard, stopped the carriage, and asked Ji Zhi to pick it up and take a look. He found that it was wool.
She had originally become lazy because of the unknown whereabouts of Ji Huhai, but now she became as excited as if she had been injected with chicken blood. She closed the door and climbed up a mulberry tree in the yard.
However, the wall of the neighboring courtyard was built high, and the mulberry tree in her own house was not very tall, so she could only see the height of the window of the neighboring east kitchen. She stretched her neck and saw Tian coming out of the kitchen and going towards the firewood shed, but was soon blocked by the wall of the east room.
"Mother, what are you doing?"
There was a person climbing on the tree, and Ji Yuan was startled when he came out.
Ji Zhi said: "The things that can make my mother care are naturally the good things next door."
Jin hugged the tree and waited, and finally there was some movement, but it turned out to be Tian who picked up a bamboo pole used for drying clothes in the yard and came to hit her.
"You thief, you're hiding in that tree. Don't think I'm not watching you! I'll knock this peeping thief down!"
The bamboo pole was long enough that it knocked down a lot of mulberry leaves. Fortunately, Jin climbed down in time.
"Who's peeking? This mulberry tree is infested with insects. I'm going up to take a look."
Jin argued for a few words, brushed off the fallen leaves on her body, went in, and muttered to her daughter:
"This is not a simple matter. The year before last, grain prices in our hometown went up, and every family couldn't afford to eat. They had to tighten their belts to make ends meet. Yet, the three sisters next door looked rosy-cheeked, and we could smell the aroma of meat every now and then. I guessed then that their family must have been secretly hiding some grain, so it's no wonder they were living so well."
Ji Yuan also remembered that the two families were close at that time. Whenever the neighbor prepared a meal, his family would smell it and become very greedy. Ji Huhai would make a fuss and ask for meat several times.
"Ji Feng is a cunning girl. She doesn't even recognize the smell of meat from her home when she's outside. But I think it's from her home." Ji Yuan said.
Jin nodded. "Now the neighbors are doing something behind our backs again. Carts and carts of firewood. Look what this is, wool!"
Ji Yuan wondered, "Hoarding grain is understandable, but why is all this wool being hoarded? Wool is like grain, so will its price go up in the future?"
Ji Zhi said: "In this case, let's stock up on some wool."
"Why rush? At least ask around. Have your son-in-law ask his colleagues about the wool market and whether it will increase in value. If we just follow the crowd and stockpile, and our neighbors suffer, won't we suffer too?"
Jin felt that she had learned her lesson this time and had plans to stockpile goods, unlike the previous year when she lost money.
Although her son-in-law Du Xian felt that the neighbors were busy with nothing, since his aunt asked him to do it, he took the time to ask people about it. In the afternoon, he came home and said:
"I said there's nothing going on next door, and there's no word in the cities of Chang'an that wool prices are going to go up. Yesterday, there was a large shipload of wool from the border market at the dock. If we keep it for another two or three years, it won't become a rare commodity."
Jin hesitated and asked again:
"Who did you ask?"
"The clerks working in the East and West Markets see all the goods circulating in the world. Aren't they more informed than this girl? Auntie, don't be fooled by your neighbors and learn to hoard these things. You'll lose money and wait for them to make a loss."
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