Chapter 195: Talking about business and making promises without asking for money
Three days ago, the Xu family's farmland officially began to be harvested. According to Sang Zhixia's idea, Xu Yu invited a total of 80 people from Luobei Village and several nearby villages to help harvest the rice.
The first place to start was the 30 acres of land that Sang Zhixia had specially marked out for improved rice planting, with a clear goal.
The harvested rice is sent to the threshing ground for threshing on the spot. With the threshing barrel driven by a waterwheel, the efficiency is extremely high.
The rice is weighed directly based on one acre of land.
The number displayed by the weight was exactly as Sang Zhixia had said before, which was surprising.
Just after three days, word of the Xu family's astonishing harvest had spread from Luobei Village, attracting many people to watch.
Xu Yu narrowed his eyes and looked at the people gathered at the edge of his field not far away. Thinking of what Sang Zhixia had said to him before, he raised his eyebrows and smiled lightly.
Zhizhi is right. With the actual production right in front of us, no one can resist being tempted.
Once all the rice is harvested, there will be no need to bother recruiting anyone. There will be many people who will come forward with their hoes and ask for help.
It can be seen that by next spring, Sang Zhixia's farm will probably be able to take shape.
Those who were talking noticed Xu Yu coming, and someone familiar with him excitedly waved, "Xu Yu!"
"I heard that your family harvested several thousand kilograms of rice from the few acres of land they harvested yesterday. Is this true or not? Come and tell us in detail!"
"Yeah, we're all planting in the same way, and the rice in the fields all seem to be growing in similar patterns. How come your harvest is so good? Do you have some secret recipe?"
"Hey, now that you're here, come over and tell us what's going on. And bring everyone along to learn more..."
The boiling voices of people on the edge of the field gradually drifted away along with the undulating golden rice waves.
At the same time, Sang Zhixia and Aunt Xu also arrived at the embroidery shop in the county town smoothly.
Chen Jing'an, probably instructed by Xu Yu, was waiting at the tea stall opposite the embroidery shop. When he saw someone coming, he stood up and greeted them with a smile.
Aunt Xu didn't know him and looked curious.
Xu Minghui introduced him vaguely: "Mom, this is a friend of Xu Yu's who also runs a shop in the county town. Most of the grain we harvest has to go through his hands. You can just call him Boss Chen."
Chen Jing'an was exceptionally reliable in front of her elders. She smiled gently, "Second Madam, you don't have to be polite. I'm Chen Jing'an, the junior. It's the same if you just call me by my name."
Second Aunt Xu was secretly puzzled in her heart. Without any prejudice, she couldn't help but turn her head and whisper to Sang Zhixia, "How can Xu Yu have such a decent friend?"
When in Kyoto, Xu Yu was surrounded by a bunch of real bad friends!
It seems that no one is a good person!
Sang Zhixia's mouth twitched, but she held back her laughter.
Chen Jing'an resisted the urge to slander Xu Yu and quickly explained the situation of the embroidery shop to Second Aunt Xu and Sang Zhixia. Finally, he smiled and said, "That's pretty much it. Second Madam and Sister-in-law have a rough idea of what's going on. There's no need to panic when we go in and discuss it with Boss Liu."
He winked at Xu Minghui.
Xu Minghui clenched his fists, struggled for a moment, and finally sat down.
In the future, it will be his mother who will be in charge of the embroidery shop. Now that they are sent here, they must go on their own.
Aunt Xu was inevitably nervous. She gritted her teeth, held Sang Zhixia's hand, and said with a serious face, "Xia Xia, let's go!"
Sang Zhixia nodded happily and followed him happily.
Xu Minghui looked back repeatedly with concern: "Eight hundred taels, can they negotiate it if they go there?"
"Why not?"
Chen Jing'an narrowed his eyes like a fox, fanned himself, and said lazily, "Don't underestimate women, especially those who dare to do what others dare not."
"I'm telling you, women are much more discerning and perceptive when it comes to manipulating prices. They're much better at this than men. I think eight hundred taels is an overestimation. Maybe they've agreed on something and there's a surprise in store."
"If you don't believe me, just wait and see."
In the embroidery shop, Boss Liu looked at Aunt Xu with a bitter expression and sighed, "It's not that I don't want to agree, but the price you offer is too low. Four hundred taels..."
"I really can't accept this."
He was anxious to get rid of this place, but no matter how anxious he was, he couldn't afford to lose everything.
Aunt Xu sat down and spoke. The previous panic and tension on her face were gone, and instead she looked calm and composed.
She said slowly, "I know this price puts Boss Liu in a difficult position, but when it comes down to it, it's not the kind of loss you'd say."
Before Boss Liu could object, Second Aunt Xu said, "I know the cost of raw silk, satin, and cotton and linen cloth. It's at least 20% lower than what you quoted. Am I right?"
Boss Liu's face froze.
Aunt Xu said softly, "If we really follow what Boss Liu said and calculate everything based on the base price, then four hundred taels is a lot more than what we paid. This number is not too harsh."
Faced with the knowledge that it is not easy to fool, Boss Liu gritted his teeth and smiled bitterly: "This price is really not acceptable."
"So what's the number you want?"
Boss Liu opened his mouth and said, "One thousand taels."
Sang Zhixia, who was drinking tea, nearly spit out the tea in her mouth. She coughed and laughed, "Boss Liu, we came here sincerely to buy, but you don't look like you really want to sell."
Sang Zhixia raised her chin at the now-empty shelves in the store and said delicately, "This store used to have a lot of valuable materials, but didn't you give all the expensive stuff away recently? All that's left are these coarse raw silk cloths and coarse satins of poor color. One thousand taels?"
Boss Liu didn't expect that they even noticed this detail, and now he couldn't hold back his smile.
Seeing that he was weak, Aunt Xu took advantage of the situation and continued, "One thousand taels is definitely not negotiable. With so much silver in hand, you can easily open a bigger one in the county."
"That's all."
Aunt Xu stood up with regret on her face: "Xia Xia, let's go."
"Ah, ah, ah."
Boss Liu stood up anxiously to stop them. "Buy, buy, sell. The buyer named the price and I negotiated the sale slowly. How can this be settled in a few words? Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"
Sang Zhixia looked at Boss Liu with a half-smile, and said playfully, "Then you can't just sit down and ask for a price at will."
"Boss Liu's words are so intimidating, how could we dare to stay any longer?"
Before Boss Liu could interrupt, Sang Zhixia said with a smile, "How about we be frank? Let's have someone move all the remaining fabrics and embroidery items out of the store and count them one by one. We can calculate the price based on the number we counted?"
That won't work.
If you count carefully, you will find that there is really no benefit from reselling it.
Boss Liu knew that he couldn't go any higher with this price today, so he sighed helplessly, "Never mind, we're all familiar with each other. Since you guys really want it, I won't be vague with you."
"There aren't many materials left in the shop, and they're not expensive, but the deed to this shop alone is worth three hundred taels. It's real hard goods!"
"Four hundred taels is definitely not enough, how about six hundred?"
Second Aunt Xu slowly shook her head: "Four hundred and fifty taels, no more."
Boss Liu almost cried out loud, and said with difficulty: "This is really too little, please add some more!"
"I can't do it any more."
Aunt Xu said earnestly, "These four hundred and fifty taels of silver were collected from everywhere I looked, and I can't even give you a penny more."
"If Boss Liu really doesn't want to, then forget it."
Boss Liu frowned and said nothing.
Sang Zhixia rolled her eyes and said slowly, "Actually, Boss Liu, there's no need to feel sad. Although you've sold the shop, the business model is still there, isn't it?"
"This place is remote and difficult for caravans to travel, and silk and satin materials are hard to come by. Isn't Mr. Liu a specialist in this area in the south? You've sold your shop to us today. From now on, all the material you need will come from you. With this back and forth, won't all the extra materials be in your possession?"
Boss Liu said with a puzzled look, "This embroidery shop is so small. How much material can you use?"
"That's hard to say."
Sang Zhixia glanced at Second Aunt Xu with an indescribable sense of pride and said complacently, "You know my Second Aunt's craftsmanship. With someone like her in charge of the embroidery shop, there's really no shortage of customers."
"The materials the shop might need in a day or two might not be much, but there's a long way to go, so who can say for sure?"
"Maybe in three or two years this embroidery shop will grow bigger and have more shops. By then, Boss Liu won't have to worry about selling less goods here."
The future described by Sang Zhixia is indeed exciting.
Boss Liu struggled, gritted his teeth and said, "Please sit here. I'll go in and discuss this with my wife."
Sang Zhixia nodded in agreement, and Boss Liu left with his fists clenched.
After the people left, Second Aunt Xu wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt and whispered to Sang Zhixia, her words filled with fear: "Xia Xia, how dare you say you'll buy more in the future? What if this isn't done well? Then wouldn't it be..."
"Shhh."
Sang Zhixia, who was also negotiating a price with someone for the first time, puffed out her cheeks and exhaled, trying to wipe away the nervousness in her heart. She tilted her head and whispered, "What's the big deal?"
"Chen Jing'an taught me that when negotiating a deal, it's best to make empty promises without asking for money. We'll just try our best to win the deal. Neither the buyer nor the seller is telling the truth anyway, so just open your mouth and make a fool of yourself. As long as someone believes it, that's all that matters!"
"Look, didn't Boss Liu believe it?"
Aunt Xu's face was blank and she was speechless: "..."
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