"Auntie, how much can this sell for?"
"Last year, the price of wild honey here was 180 yuan per catty. I don't know now. Wait for me to find a reliable seller to ask you."
Xia Wei took out her mobile phone and made several calls to big bosses. After a while, she came back and said, "They said they could give you 230 yuan per catty for this quality."
"I've already sent them over. Wait a moment. Are all those big barrels on the truck full of them?"
"Well, it's not much. Thank you, Auntie," Mingjing said.
Two hundred and thirty yuan a pound, she estimated there must be at least thirty pounds, which could sell for at least seven thousand yuan. He thought it would be five or six hundred yuan a pound, then he would really be rich.
With nothing else to do, Chen An inquired about Mingjing's family situation. Upon learning that Mingjing was a fisherwoman from a poor family, he immediately felt sympathy for her.
It's not easy for a girl to go out and support her whole family, especially since she's beautiful and polite. How could they not like her?
As lunchtime approached, Xia Wei suggested taking Mingjing to eat the most famous roast goose in Dongguan.
The roast goose restaurant is located in a department store in Dongguan. It's true that coastal areas are developed; people there have long since started to make money by imitating Westerners.
Therefore, people with brains can win even without lifting a finger.
Stepping into the roast goose restaurant, you'll find it's actually a chain store with the founder's name, Huang Jixian, hanging on the wall. It seems to be a century-old establishment that originated from Hong Kong.
The shop has a Hong Kong style, and the waitresses all have trendy perms, wear short skirts, and heavy makeup.
Mingjing remembered that she had just passed a jewelry store. She made an excuse to go to the restroom and went downstairs to the two-dollar store to pick out a jewelry box and a red thread. She then took out the white pearls she had prepared earlier and put them into the box.
Back in the private room, Xia Wei and Chen An invited her to sit down and handed her the menu, telling her to order whatever she wanted.
The menu had both English and Chinese versions, and Mingjing casually ordered a few dishes and desserts before stopping.
Before all the dishes were served, Mingjing took out a red gift box and placed it in front of Xia Wei. "Auntie, thank you for your trouble this time. I don't have much to give you, but these are pearls I found last time. They'll look beautiful on you."
Xia Wei was delighted, opened the box, and stared wide-eyed.
"Such beautiful pearls? Did you make them?"
"Hmm, worthless, just abalone pearls."
“Abalone isn’t worth much? Mingjing, it’s too expensive. I’m helping you because of Jun’an, but I don’t want it.”
Xia Wei returned Bao Zhu to Ming Jing.
"Auntie, please accept this. I'll need your help a lot more in the future. If you accept this, I won't bring any gifts next time. Consider it a bribe."
Seeing Mingjing's anxious expression, Xia Wei burst out laughing.
"Alright, consider it a gift from my niece-in-law. I'll accept it."
"Auntie, you've misunderstood. Jun'an and I..."
"I know, we're friends."
Which relationship doesn't start with being friends?
Xia Wei's ancestral home is in the north, and she is known for her ability to drink without getting drunk. Ming Jing is no less impressive in this regard.
She was extremely satisfied with this niece-in-law, who was exactly the same as her when she was young.
This girl is very generous and doesn't show her emotions easily; she's destined for great things.
At the dinner table, Mingjing and Xia Wei acted like best friends. Over drinks, Xia Wei even told Mingjing what day her period was.
After the meal, Xia Wei put her arm around Ming Jing's shoulder and said, "Girl, I like you. Be good to Jun An in the future. If you want to eat fruit, I have plenty."
"Sis, then I won't be polite. Will you give me as much durian as I want from now on?"
"You like durian, so when I get back I'll book a durian farm for you and you can have durian as much as you want. I'm rich."
Xia Wei was quite drunk, and she was especially happy to see Ming Jing.
"Sister, could you raise the price of that honey a bit? I'm heavily in debt, could you talk to them for me again?"
"Of course, 250 per jin is a low price, listen to your sister."
Chen An brought over the hangover medicine and smiled gently, "This is the first time your aunt has drunk like this. You've got some skills, little girl."
It was almost time, so Xia Wei took the hangover medicine and returned to the fruit shop. She hadn't been sitting for long when she saw a car parked in front of the shop.
"Old Chen, Old Xia, you two haven't contacted me in a while."
"Old Wang, I just thought of you because I have something good. This is your first time visiting. We're old friends, so take a look and see if this is any good."
Mr. Wang asked suspiciously, "What is it?"
"Nothing much. Just a little honey."
The wooden barrel was moved into the house, and Xia Wei tore off the cloth covering it, revealing the honey jar.
"Holy crap, so much honey? And it even has a honeycomb with it!"
Xia Wei brought over a jar of honey. "Mr. Wang, look at this honey. It's high in purity and wild. What do you think?"
Old Wang took a few bites with his chopsticks and put them in his mouth, then scooped up a spoonful and poured it down, his face solemn.
"Old Xia, how's our relationship usually?"
This stuff is so pure. When he went abroad to investigate, he never saw honey with such high purity. Even imported honey is rarely this good.
He was genuinely afraid that someone would try to take this thing from him.
"That must be good, otherwise I wouldn't have invited you."
"Is there anyone else?"
"You know I only know you and Lao Yang, the two honey bosses, and of course, him too. If you offer the highest price, it's definitely yours."
Old Wang nodded, "This thing is complete with the honeycomb, I'll give it 260 yuan per jin."
Upon hearing the amount, Xia Wei didn't hesitate and immediately said, "Okay, I'll give you half."
Old Wang isn't ignorant of social etiquette; he definitely needs to give Old Yang an explanation for keeping the other half, otherwise they can't be friends anymore.
"How about this, I'll add another ten dollars, and you give me two-thirds."
Old Wang was even more delighted upon hearing this, and immediately took out a scale and weighed it: 323 jin and 3 liang.
"The bucket weighs over twelve jin and eight liang," Xia Wei said.
She had asked about the weight of the mirror bucket early in the morning.
"Okay, I believe you."
Old Wang had been instructed to bring a large container, so he brought a large plastic bucket and took a close look at the honeycomb when he took it out.
As the manager of the honey factory, he can tell at a glance whether there is counterfeiting or not.
Once he was sure it was a good product, he took the check and leaned over the table to fill in the amount.
As he was filling in the amount, he caught a glimpse of the wooden bucket out of the corner of his eye, brought it close to his nose, and took a light sniff. "Old Xia, this wooden bucket of yours is quite interesting. Want to sell it?"
Xia Wei was taken aback by her question, then pretended to be mysterious, "Old Wang, aren't you buying honey? If you want this wooden bucket, that's a different story."
Seeing this, Chen An quietly went to the reception room to see Mingjing. "Mingjing, what's the story behind this wooden bucket?"
"Mr. Wang, do you want the wine vat that was passed down from my great-grandfather?"
"Hmm, he's into collecting antiques, so that thing must be something special. Would you sell it?"
Mingjing did the math and figured his great-grandfather must have been a merchant in the late Qing Dynasty. The wooden bucket would rot and become looser the longer it was stored, so it was better to sell it now, since it might not be worth much in the future.
"Sell it, starting at 150,000."
Of course, the more antiques you have, the better. If all else fails, you can always lower the price.
After whispering with Xia Wei for a while, Chen An said, "Old Wang, we'll sell this, but it'll be at least 150,000."
Upon hearing this, Old Wang stepped forward, carefully examined the wooden bucket, leaned over to smell it, and then lifted the bottom to take a look.
"Yes, it's an old item, made of mahogany, 150,000 isn't expensive."
Old Wang tore up the check he had just written halfway through, took out the check again and said, "The previous one was 206, 26 per jin, which is 53,727 in total. Add this one, and the total is 203,727."
Mingjing, who was listening from behind, almost fainted. So, the luck stat was that big wooden barrel?
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