Chapter 61 Buying Sweet Potatoes for Trial Planting
The shopkeeper asked curiously, "Miss, can you cook this dish?"
"Of course, it's not as good as the one made by your chef, but I just wanted my family to try this foreign dish. It's raw, so could you sell me some?"
The shopkeeper thought about it and realized that there were fewer cargo ships at the dock these past two days, so the number of wealthy local families coming to eat was limited. People from ordinary families thought it was too expensive. After all, a stir-fried vegetable dish alone cost more than 100 cents, and if it was left for too long, it would sprout once it got damp and would then be inedible.
It doesn't matter who you sell it to, so I agreed.
He said, "How about this, young lady, a dish in the restaurant weighs about one pound and costs one hundred and fifty coins. Since you want it raw, I'll charge you less.
As for the price, I'll give you 80 wen per pound of sweet potatoes and 50 wen per pound of yams, how about that?"
Li Wanyue was also shocked by the price for a moment. She calculated that 100 kilograms of potatoes would cost eight taels of silver, and 100 kilograms of sweet potatoes would cost five taels of silver. She only had 13 taels of silver in her hand, and she also wanted to buy cloth for her family to make clothes.
Finally, we decided to buy 70 kilograms of potatoes and 50 kilograms of sweet potatoes.
It hurts, but there's nothing I can do. Jingchao doesn't have these two foods right now. I finally came across them, so how can I not buy them? If I take them back and plant them, I can harvest a lot without any surprises.
Li Wanyue agreed immediately: "Please help me pack 70 kilograms of sweet potatoes and 50 kilograms of yams."
The shopkeeper originally thought that she was only buying two or three pounds, but he didn't expect her to buy so much, so he immediately became alert.
"Why did you buy so much?"
As soon as Li Wanyue saw the shopkeeper's reaction, she knew he was thinking wrongly.
She said, "Don't worry, boss. I'm not going to open a restaurant to steal your business. I just saw this vegetable in a book and wanted to buy it back and grow it to try."
"Oh?" The shopkeeper lowered his eyes. Ever since these sweet potatoes were bought into Jing Dynasty by some merchants two months ago, some officials have also paid attention to them. They will probably ask the relevant departments to try planting them. So they might as well sell them. If they can grow them in time, they won't have to purchase them from foreign countries at high prices.
The shopkeeper said nothing more and agreed.
After expressing her gratitude, Li Wanyue paid eight taels and one qian of silver and followed the waiter to the warehouse in the backyard to load things.
Li Sandong had also finished eating the noodles by then. When he heard her say that she had spent more than eight taels of silver to buy some vegetables, his heart ached. How much meat did she have to buy?
After loading two sacks, Li Wanyue asked Sandong to rent an ox cart and load the things onto the cart.
The two walked out of Baiweilou, and Li Sandong asked, "Sister, why did you buy this? We don't lack vegetables at home."
"Take it back and plant it. It's a good thing and it's high-yielding."
"Really?"
Li Wanyue nodded: "Yes, I read it in a book. We don't have it in Jing Dynasty. It came from foreign countries. If we can grow it and sell it to restaurants, we can make a lot of money."
Li Sandong was curious, thinking how high the yield must be to be worth his sister spending such a high price to buy it back.
Li Wanyue asked, "Have you told the shopkeeper about the shampoo?"
"The shopkeeper said he already had things for washing hair and I didn't need it, so I gave the things to the shop assistant and gave him two copper coins," he said weakly.
"It's OK for the guy. He can let more customers see his hair clearly. Good job."
Li Sandong suddenly regained his confidence.
The two men sat on the ox cart and talked as they walked.
"Besides restaurants, think about where else we can give away some products for people to try?" Li Wanyue continued to ask.
Seeing him lowering his head in thought, she reminded him, "Women also care about their image."
Li Sandong grew up in the village. All the men, women, young and old in the village were farmers. They wanted to make every penny count. Even if they wanted to care about their image, they didn't have the conditions and he couldn't think of that.
Hearing Li Wanyue's words, Li Sandong's eyes lit up: "Rouge shop."
Then he sighed, "The trial shampoo is gone."
"It's okay, we'll talk about it next time."
Passing by a cloth shop, Li Wanyue stopped the ox cart and the two walked in. They were dazzled by the colorful and varied cloths.
When the waiter saw the two men coming in, he came forward and greeted them: "What kind of cloth would you like to buy, gentlemen? Today's coarse cloth is all newly arrived."
Li Wanyue asked: "What is the price of this cloth?"
"Linen cloth costs 200 wen a piece, coarse cloth costs 350 wen a piece, and fine cotton cloth costs 600 wen a piece. Each piece of cloth can make about four or five sets of summer clothes for an average adult, and three sets of winter clothes. For a child of eight or nine years old, one piece of cloth can make five or six sets of clothes."
Li Wanyue touched the sample fabric placed on the counter. It was a kind of material next to the fine cotton cloth and was very soft.
"What kind of cloth is this?"
"This is velvet cotton, which is fine cotton. It costs three taels of silver per piece. There is also silk cotton, which is better than velvet cotton. It has a soft and smooth texture. Although it is not as good as silk, it looks like it and is very comfortable to wear. It costs seven taels of silver per piece. Cloud mist yarn, Tianxiang silk and the like cost ten taels of silver per piece."
Li Wanyue touched the silk cotton and found it was indeed very comfortable.
She looked at the shelf on the other side, which was filled with delicate and smooth silk materials, ranging from dozens to hundreds of taels.
The laws of the Jing Dynasty stipulated that people other than officials were not allowed to wear silk and satin. Even if ordinary people or wealthy families wanted to wear them, they dared not wear them outside or go out. The name "silk and cotton" was given only to improve the quality of the fabric. Silk and cotton were considered to be higher-grade fabrics that people other than officials could buy.
Then he asked Li Sandong: "Sandong, what color do you want?"
Li Sandong shook his head: "Sister, I have clothes to wear, you can buy two sets for yourself."
Li Wanyue sighed, she was afraid of being poor. Even though her family was not short of money now, she was still reluctant to spend it.
The clothes that the family members wear to work are all patched up. When they need to meet people in occasions, they don’t even have decent clothes. They have to buy two sets of clothes at least.
She thought about it and decided not to buy a whole piece of clothes. It would not be good for several people to wear the same color clothes.
He pointed at the shelf and said, "Rouge, dark orange, and pink coarse cloth, one zhang each; lilac, gouache, and light green fine cotton cloth, one zhang each; sky blue, azure, star blue, lake blue, two-color coarse cloth and two-color fine cotton cloth, one zhang each; dark coarse cloth and light fine cotton cloth.
Dark grey, dark green, dark blue coarse cloth, light green, dark blue, lake blue fine cotton, each 15 feet, pear brown, crimson, fat red, light green, lotus root, purple coarse cloth, each 12 feet, dark coarse cloth.
The more the clerk listened, the brighter his eyes became, and the shopkeeper's mouth grinned wider and wider. After listening to Li Wanyue's report, he went to cut the cloth with a smile on his face.
"Sister, this is too much. One for each person will be enough."
"Money is earned to be spent, and once you spend it you can earn more. In addition, you may go out more and more in the future, and you will need clothes that are suitable for meeting people. Dressing yourself neatly and appropriately is also a kind of respect for the people you meet."
"It's more economical to buy a whole piece of cloth. Buying individually would cost several dozen more than buying a whole piece of cloth."
"Do you think it's okay for everyone to wear the same color clothes?"
Li Sandong choked, and he asked unnecessary questions. He just had to support his sister in whatever she did in the future, because the money was earned by her after all.
Li Wanyue continued, "There are also one piece of white and one piece of apricot muslin."
Apricot color is used to make pajamas for girls in the family, and white is used to make menstrual belts.
She wanted to make some more convenient and hygienic menstrual belts, but the ones here were made of rags sewn together with wood ash, and they had to be used repeatedly, which she couldn't stand the thought of.
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