Chapter 5: Getting Rich
There have been several heavy rains in the village in recent days.
It was August, and the village was bustling with activity, picking peppercorns to sell. Perhaps because of the rain, no one had been able to get to the fields these past few days, so they all sat together, grumbling.
Tian Xin gave away a few "jujubes with walnuts" to the store Lin Zhou recommended, and made a lot of money. Finally, life at home was a little better!
My mother was so busy taking care of Xiaoxu that she couldn't work. She could only survive on the little harvest from the fields.
She didn't keep a penny of the money she earned from selling dates and walnuts, and gave it all to her mother for household expenses.
"Leave some pocket money for yourself!" Mom took out a few dozen yuan and handed it to her: "Girls are grown up, and they have their own places to spend money!"
"I don't need it!" She handed the money back: "Go buy Xiaoxu some new clothes later!"
When Aunt Zhang, a neighbor who came to visit, saw her, she immediately praised her: "Xinxin is so well-behaved. She knows how to earn money to support you. Unlike my daughter, she doesn't come back for years!"
Aunt Zhang lived across from hers, and the two families had a very good relationship. Whenever they made something delicious, they would send it to each other to try. Aunt Zhang's daughter married someone else, and she often talked about her. When she saw Tian Xin, she also loved her very much!
"She's going to college now, and there's no money at home for her. She has to earn it herself!" Mom said to Aunt Zhang with a smile, "It's really hard for her!"
As they were talking, Uncle Guo called out from outside: "Hurry, the merchants are coming!"
Aunt Zhang and my mother immediately stood up and went out: "Where is the person?"
"At the entrance of the village!"
After Uncle Guo finished speaking, he drove away on his tricycle.
Aunt Zhang and my mother went out immediately. Several families next door also came out upon hearing the noise and ran to the village entrance together.
What are you doing?
Tian Xin was curious and ran to the village entrance.
On the side of the road at the entrance of the village, a group of people surrounded an agricultural tricycle and shouted loudly. A man in his fifties or sixties was surrounded in the crowd.
"How can people sell their products if you lower the price so much? There was hail this year and the supply is not large. If you do this, how will people survive?" Uncle Guo shouted at the man in the car.
"That's right, your price is too low, how can we sell it?"
Tian Xin listened for a long time before she understood. It turned out that the merchants had lowered the price of Sichuan pepper because of the continuous rain in the past few days. The villagers were unwilling to do so, and that's when the argument started!
"If you don't want to sell it, then don't sell it. I'm not forcing you to sell it to me. I won't say anything else. I won't come to your village to buy it. The market is not good this year. Everyone's buying at a low price. You have to understand." The merchant shouted.
"How can I understand? I can't sell it at such a low price!"
"That's right!"
The merchant wanted to leave but was surrounded by a group of people and couldn't move.
"Surrounding me won't solve the problem, just let me go!"
"You can't leave. I have to raise the price a little bit so that everyone can get their capital back. This price is too low and we can't afford it!" Uncle Guo pulled the merchant to bargain and was afraid to let him go.
This is not going to work, we need to help everyone!
Tian Xin made up her mind, went straight up and stood on the agricultural tricycle, and shouted using the horn on the vehicle.
"Dear uncles, aunts, listen to me, we won't sell this peppercorn to him anymore!"
“…”
When she shouted, the surroundings suddenly became quiet! Everyone stared at her.
What's wrong with this kid?
Tian Xin's mother went forward and tried to pull her down, but failed.
"Everyone listen to me," Tian Xin picked up the loudspeaker, which made a harsh "hissing" sound.
She threw the horn aside and used her hand as a megaphone.
"Everyone, listen to me. We won't sell him this peppercorn anymore. Let him go."
"Xinxin, come down quickly. Don't let him go. If he leaves, we won't be able to sell the peppercorns!" Uncle Guo shouted at Tian Xin.
Tian Xin saw that she couldn't leave for a while, so she simply sat on the sack and slowly explained to everyone: "Since ancient times, when doing business, there has been no forced buying or selling.
Since he is unwilling to bid, why should we sell the pepper to him?
There are so many places to do business. It's useless to hold on to him. Even if we sell it to him today, what about the future? Won't it be the same? Won't it be sold at a good price?
Listen to me, sell it to him and let him go!"
She sat on a sack and talked, and the people below listened with their eyes wide open, with a look of disbelief on their faces.
"Hey kid, I dare not say that. It's raining and we can't sell it now. Everyone is in a hurry to use the money!"
“That’s right!”
"That's all I have to do if I sell it. It's better than keeping it at home!"
"Yeah yeah!"
The crowd made all kinds of noises. Tian Xin sat on the sack but had no intention of getting up.
The merchant saw her attitude and said, "Girl, please come down first and let me go. You can go back and discuss it slowly! How can a little girl like you understand the market situation of Sichuan pepper? You'd better not cause trouble for the adults! Go back!"
"Really?" Tian Xin laughed dryly and asked, "You said 10 yuan per pound, that's the market price. Then I'd like to ask, uncle, who sets this market price?"
"Which one?" The merchant was angry: "There is no one, the price is the same in the market!"
"Really?" Tian Xin said with a smile, "Then how do you explain why I sold it for 15 yuan per pound yesterday?"
"What, 15?"
The people below had the same expression as the merchants, full of disbelief, and immediately started chattering: "Are you serious?"
"How is that possible? I just went to the wholesale market yesterday, how could I get such a price?" The merchant looked unhappy and shouted at Tian Xin: "Get down, I won't talk to you anymore, don't waste my time!"
"Is it true? We'll have to sell it to tell you!" Tian Xin jumped out of the car, took out a receipt, and waved it in front of everyone: "Look everyone, this is what I just sold yesterday. The medium-quality ones are 15 yuan per pound, and the high-quality ones are 20 yuan per pound! The amount I sold is on it, this can't be fake!"
She really didn't tell a lie.
Since she came back, she found that the little peppercorns at home were sold very cheaply. Every time her mother saw the money given by the merchants, she sighed.
Yesterday, while delivering dates and walnuts, she went out to sell a small bag of peppercorns. Before she could tell her mother in detail, she came here!
Now that everyone is watching, I might as well explain it clearly.
"If you trust me, I'll sell the peppercorns for you! No matter what, it's definitely going to be much higher than what this merchant is paying!"
As soon as she finished speaking, her mother pulled her over and said, "Don't talk nonsense. Everyone here relies on peppercorns for a living. If you can't sell them, how are you going to explain it to everyone?"
"Don't worry, Mom, it'll sell!" She turned and said to everyone, "I know, words aren't enough. I understand if you don't believe me! This receipt was indeed issued yesterday after I sold it. Everyone, trust me. Bring your peppercorns to my house later. I'll sort and pack them for you, and we'll go to the county town to sell them tomorrow morning!"
After saying that, she pulled her mother along and said, "I'm going back first!"
When the people below heard this, they quickly grabbed her and asked, "Did you really sell it for 15 yuan per pound?"
"real!"
"Then tell me, how do you package it? If you can sell it for 15 yuan per pound, I'll trust you and sell it for me!"
The person who said this was Uncle Guo who had just called her.
When Tian Xin heard this, she turned around and said, "Uncle, you've got to think it over!"
"Oh, what's wrong with that?" Uncle Guo shouted, "I'm about to lose money. If you can help me sell more, then what else can I say? Sell! I believe in you. I have a car. I'll drive down tomorrow morning and I'll go with you!"
When they heard there was a car and someone was willing to help sell it for more money, they were all tempted by the good news.
"How about you go ahead!" The lady said to the merchant, "We won't sell it for now. We'll talk next time!"
"Yes, yes, you go first and we'll talk later! I won't sell it for now."
"I'm not selling it anymore! Go away!" Everyone waved their hands and surrounded Tian Xin as they walked back: "Come on, girl, let's take a look at my house first..."
The merchant shouted for a long time, but instead of receiving a pound of peppercorns, they were coaxed away. He was speechless. The crowd had already left. He shook his head and drove away.
After lunch, more and more people came to the house. They were all neighbors and villagers who wanted her to help sell peppercorns. Tian Xin sat in the yard and looked at the quality of the peppercorns everyone brought.
"Look, if you're here, it means you trust me, so I won't beat around the bush!" She arranged for everyone to sit together and said to them as if they were meeting: "If you want to get a good price, you have to work first."
"Work?" Everyone was puzzled.
"Yes, the place we want to sell is not a wholesale market, so we have to package it first. As long as the appearance is good, the price will definitely be higher than that of the merchants."
This was her experience from her previous life. To earn more money, she'd opened a specialty store, a hot pot restaurant, and even a clothing business—every possible profitable business she'd tried. She knew exactly where and how much Sichuan peppercorns could be sold.
"How do you package it?" asked Uncle Guo.
More and more people came into the yard, and the sun slowly set. Mom poured tea for everyone and listened to Tian Xin talk about packing and where they would go tomorrow.
"That's it, everyone, get moving. Finish packing today, and Uncle Guo and I will deliver the first batch tomorrow morning. We'll come one by one, so don't rush!"
————
The next day, Uncle Guo drove into the city with Tian Xin and a car full of peppercorns!
She classified everyone's peppercorns into three grades according to their quality: top, medium and low.
The best quality Sichuan peppercorns are red in color and have a strong flavor. They are packaged in baskets, with a standard basket weighing 2 kilograms.
The color is medium and the taste is pure. It is packed in small sacks, 50 kilograms per bag.
The color and taste of third-grade peppercorns are not as good, so they are directly packed in large sacks.
The first place we went to was a souvenir shop.
The peppercorns sold in specialty shops are very expensive, with a pound costing half the market price.
The purchase price from merchants is 10 yuan per catty, while the purchase price from specialty stores is 25-30 yuan per catty.
"This is a 2-jin package. If you want all of them, I'll give you a basket. One basket costs 45 yuan!" Tian Xin found a store and told the boss that the specialty store would make a profit at this price.
"40!" said the boss.
"45"
"Please let me earn some money!"
"42 can't be any lower! These are all top quality."
"I want all 40!"
After several rounds of haggling and bargaining, the high-quality peppercorns were sold for 40 yuan per jin.
The second place we went to was the snack street, which has many hot pot, barbecue and snack shops. Sichuan pepper is a common ingredient and is indispensable.
She asked Uncle Guo to carry the sack and sell the goods door to door.
Hotpot restaurants generally have direct suppliers, but most of them charge ridiculously high prices. They have requirements for the taste of Sichuan peppercorns. Tian Xin’s strategy is to give them a lower price than the supplier for medium-quality Sichuan peppercorns, and wholesale them at 15 yuan per pound.
These merchants like fresh goods, and they carry fresh seasonal peppercorns. A bag of 50 kilograms is just the amount that a store can afford, so it is very popular!
The last stop was the spice shop. She sold all the third-grade peppercorns to the spice shop wholesale and collected the cost.
“Sold out already?”
“Sold out!”
On the way back, Uncle Guo asked her: "Where did you learn this? Why didn't I think of it?"
"Well, what's the big deal? If it can help others and I can learn more, that's good!" she sighed.
There's still a long way to go! There's still so much time to come! This life will definitely be different. If I can do more for everyone, then this life will be worthwhile!
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