Chapter 117 Chapter 117 High-end talents are hard to find
Qi Yuanyang held his forehead and said, "Let me see it."
Forget it, this kid is probably not cut out for studying. He is neither good at literature nor martial arts. He has to rely on me for support for the rest of his life at home. He has accepted it.
After all, this is his youngest son and his fourth life.
The butler hurriedly handed over a box.
Inside the box, there was a letter on top and a layer of cotton cloth underneath. Qi Yuanyang was so busy reading the letter that he had no time to pay attention to the things in the box.
The brothers Qi Xiufu all knew what kind of personality their third brother had. Normally, he would never write back unless there was something wrong. Now that the letter came back, there must be something wrong.
Qi Xiuyuan hurriedly asked, "Dad, what did my third brother say in the letter? It seems the monthly allowance is insufficient, or Master Jiang was too harsh in his punishment. If he insists on coming back, then let him go!"
"Yes." Qi Xiufu thought about his third brother who only got fifty taels of silver a month. This amount of money was sometimes not enough for them to treat people to a meal at a restaurant. But this amount of money would cost their younger brother, who had been pampered since childhood, a whole month!
Qi Xiufu couldn't even imagine how his brother had gotten through the past six months. Perhaps he'd lost weight, or perhaps life had worn away his former spirited energy, turning him into a lifeless person. Or perhaps it was because he'd been away from his family, and under the notoriously strict discipline of Master Jiang, to the point where he'd burst into tears every night...
Whenever he thought of this, Qi Xiufu almost cried secretly in the middle of the night, just like his mother.
Qi Yuanyang read Qi Xiu Ze's letter over and over, unable to believe it. "Is this true or false? Is this kid trying to trick me into coming to Qingfeng Academy, and then asking me to come back when I see him?"
No one knows a son better than his father, and vice versa.
How could Qi Xiu Ze not know that Qi Yuanyang loved him? As long as he pretended a little and his eyes turned red, Qi Yuanyang would agree to everything he said.
If he wasn't of good character, he might have been spoiled by the Qi family.
Hearing Qi Yuanyang's words, Qi Xiufu's heart tightened and he quickly asked, "Father, what exactly did my third brother write?"
"Look for yourselves, this kid is really brave. Or has his skin become itchy after not washing for half a year at Qingfeng Academy? He actually dared to lie to his father about such a thing." Qi Yuanyang handed the letter to his two sons.
Qi Xiufu hurriedly took the letter and read it together with Qi Xiuyuan.
When they saw what Qi Xiu Ze wrote, asking them to sign a contract to cooperate with Xu Yunfan in the candle business, not only Qi Yuanyang didn't believe it, but even Qi Xiufu and his brothers were skeptical.
It’s simple. If there really were people in Dayan Dynasty who could make candles, why would they sell them at such a high price?
In the capital, where a brick could kill several sons of wealthy officials, candles were in short supply.
However, the imperial merchants did not concentrate the candles for sale in the capital, but distributed them to various places in the Dayan Dynasty. Even though the sales were not as good as in big places like the capital or the provincial capital, as long as the people needed them, they had to have something to sell.
Moreover, the production materials for candles have to be purchased from the Great Zhou Kingdom at high prices. Their Imperial Chamber of Commerce can make them, but they cannot achieve a balance between supply and demand.
Over the years, the Qi family and even the royal family have thought about conducting their own research and making their own raw materials, but they have never come up with anything.
In Xu Yunfan's words, the Qi family and even the Royal Merchants could not figure out how to make the raw materials for candles because their thinking was fixed. They believed that only paraffin wax could be used to make candles, so they never tried to use other things to replace paraffin wax.
Not to mention Qi Yuanyang's disbelief, it is also understandable that Qi Xiufu and the others don't believe what Qi Xiu Ze wrote.
Can……
"Dad, my third brother said that if we don't believe it, we should look at what's in the box." Qi Xiuyuan saw the box next to his father's hand and reached out to take it.
After picking up a layer of cloth from the box, Qi Xiufu's eyes widened and he almost fell into the box.
Qi Xiufu's left hand trembled slightly as he picked up the candle from the box. He looked left and right but couldn't figure out anything. Qi Yuanyang was quick to grab the candle.
Without looking closely, Qi Yuanyang knew that the candle in his hand was not made by their Qi family.
This candle looks rather "rough", the surface is not smooth enough and it is not good-looking, but what are these shortcomings?
In the era without electricity, good looks and aesthetics were not important; what was important was practicality.
Although candles made with pine oil will produce more smoke, which one made with animal oil or vegetable oil will not have smoke?
Qi Yuanyang hurriedly asked Qi Xiuyuan to take out his own candle and compare it with the candle in his hand.
Wow, after this comparison, the three of them discovered that the brightness of the candles Qi Xiu Ze sent back was not inferior to the candles they made at home.
It's not just that this thing is quite bright, Qi Xiu Ze also said that his good brother Xu Yunfan asked that these candles be sold at a price no more than three cents each, and that these candles are longer than the ones sold by their Qi family, almost twice as long as the Qi family's candles.
this……
Qi Yuanyang and the other two were shocked.
With such a low price, it can be seen that the production cost of this candle is not high.
If it can be mass-produced, wouldn't their Great Yan Dynasty be...
It’s incredible. The more I think about it, the more excited I get. The more I think about it, the better and brighter life seems to be.
Even though the Qi family is a royal merchant family, they have no shortage of silver, and naturally they have no shortage of food and drink.
Although they were rich, they would not squander their money, so they would only light a limited number of candles every night.
"Dad, what do you think about this?" Qi Xiufu asked hurriedly. In his opinion, someone from their Qi family must go and talk to Xu Yunfan to show their sincerity. Besides, this matter was of great importance, and they were not at ease sending anyone else.
If such an important matter is done well, it will benefit the people and must be taken seriously.
Qi Yuanyang thought for a moment and said, "My fellow cultivator Fu Houtian needs to go south to check the accounts. This matter cannot be delayed either. Xiuyuan, I'll leave this matter to you."
"Dad, leave this matter to me, don't worry." Qi Xiuyuan promised.
The three brothers in their family are all brothers from the same mother. There are so many shops in their family that they cannot manage them all. There is no such thing as fighting over the family property.
For rich people like them, money is important, but life is the most important thing, and making money is only a part of life, not the only one.
Since taking over some of the family shops, the Qi Xiuyuan brothers have been getting up earlier than chickens and sleeping later than dogs, and are exhausted. Unless they are crazy, they would not think of fighting for the family property.
As the ancients said, when brothers are united, they can accomplish anything. The brothers are already exhausted from protecting the family business, so how could they have the energy to think about those brain-consuming and scheming things?
Isn't that just because you have nothing better to do?
Before Xu Yunfan decided to cooperate with Qi Xiu Ze, he had asked Xie Baizhou and others about the Qi family. He learned that although the Qi family had many industries, there were no internal fighting teams or the like. That's why he decided to cooperate with the Qi family. After all, cooperating with such a family is worry-free.
After discussing the serious matters, Qi Xiuyuan realized belatedly, "No, why did Third Brother call Xu Yunfan? If I read correctly, he wrote in the letter that Xu Yunfan is his brother?"
Qi Yuanyang got angry when he heard this: "Doesn't he have enough brothers? Which one of Xie Baizhou's brothers isn't his brother? The four of them are all of the same character. Fortunately, they are not bad people. Second brother, when you get there, you must pay attention to this Xu Yunfan and see what kind of character he has. Our third brother can't be led astray by him."
Qi Xiuyuan disagreed with what his father said.
What kind of bad person could be the one who can price candles so low and is unwilling to sell them to ordinary people at a high price?
Xu Yunfan was unaware of what was happening in the Qi family in the capital. Right now, he was leaning against the door of the house in the backyard where the corn was stored, looking at the mountain of pumpkins piled up in the thatched house, feeling a slight headache.
When Qin Run was planting corn, he also planted pumpkin seedlings on several plots of land.
Pumpkin seedlings do not require much care to grow well, so some villagers will throw a few pumpkin seeds when planting corn.
When Hunter Fang led Fang Yi and his three children to harvest corn for his family, they collected all the pumpkins in the field without leaving a single one behind.
But Qin Run said that there were two plots of pumpkins at home that would ripen later and had not been harvested yet.
There is no place to put so many pumpkins. The sweet potato flour has dried up and there is probably no place to put it. It seems I need to deal with some of it.
The shed in the backyard where sweet potato noodles were dried in the past is now full of sweet potato noodles, and chili sauce, chili powder and other items are ready.
Xu Yunfan has no classes these two days. After all, the imperial examination content is extensive and complicated, so it is impossible for him to have classes every day.
When Xu Yunfan had some free time, he collected all the wild grapes that Sun Mu had picked for him and made wine.
Hunter Fang learned that Xu Yunfan's jelly fruit was useful, so he sent Xu Yunfan more than a dozen sacks in the past two days. Xu Yunfan almost went crazy digging for the seeds.
Later, it was the clan leader’s grandmother and several people from the Sun and Xu families who came to help, otherwise Xu Yunfan would have called Yaya long ago.
Sun Qingsong and Xu Fulang came to express their gratitude the day after Sun Xu fell into the water. Without exception, for Xu Yunfan, it was just a piece of cake, but he felt that collecting money was too much to handle.
There was no other way, Sun Qingsong could only take the silver back. However, Xu Fulang asked Li Hui and learned that Xu Yunfan collected wild grapes, but they didn’t have any wild grapes at home. What should they do?
Mr. Zhou, who was related to Sun Qingsong's family, said, "Xu Xiaozi won't accept your money, but one should never forget gratitude. Xu Xiaozi is very busy with his business now, and he needs help with many things. If you have time, you can go and help him."
Mr. Xu nodded to indicate that he understood. After returning home, he asked Sun Qingsong to go to Xiao Qin's house to see if there was anything he could help with.
When Sun Qingsong arrived outside the courtyard, he saw Xu Yunfan sitting in the yard cutting some fruits. After cutting a few, the young man sighed, turned his wrist, and then continued to cut a few before getting up to drink water. He came back and continued to cut a dozen and then ran into the house to do something. In short, Xu Yunfan had spent a quarter of an hour and had not yet cut half of the half sack of fruits. He was doing this and that, as if he was just joking.
Sun Qingsong was worried about Xu Yunfan.
When Xu Yunfan learned that Sun Qingsong came to help, he was so happy that he handed the kitchen knife to Sun Qingsong and taught him how to use it.
There were more than a dozen sacks of fruit that needed to be cut and the seeds dug out. Xu Yunfan had no choice but to go to Qin Lao again and hire a dozen temporary workers.
The previous plan was for Fang Er and Fang San to follow Hunter Fang to grind chili powder at home, and then go to pick tea oil fruits together. Now all the plans have been disrupted.
Chicken and duck feet sold better than he expected, and 200 kilograms a day were not enough.
Many students do eat it. After each meal, they will pack two or three pounds to take home as snacks.
The iced lemonade and cola that Qin Run specially made for Xu Yunfan were also very popular.
Ever since Fang Er and Fang San were called by Xu Yunfan to work in the cafeteria, they have never had the chance to go home to work.
After Mr. Fang Fulang started cooking in the cafeteria, Qin Run had some free time and quickly found a suitable shop.
Originally Xu Yunfan planned to find it himself, but unfortunately, he was either busy with classes or other things and had almost no time.
According to Xu Yunfan's requirements, the shop Qin Run found was not small. There were several rooms behind the shop, three of which were suitable for living, one was a woodshed, and the other was a small kitchen.
Xu Yunfan planned that after the shop opened, he would hire two workers to live there, and they would get up in the morning to steam the rice noodles and deliver them to the canteen.
The cafeteria now only sells lunch and dinner, but does not serve breakfast. Many students call Yaya and ask Xu Yunfan to sell breakfast.
It is obviously unrealistic to cook and fry food for hundreds of people early in the morning. Xu Yunfan has already reserved three large pots from the blacksmith shop. When the time comes, it should be enough to steam rice noodles in three large pots.
The shop that Qin Run rented cost eight taels of silver a month. For the villagers in the village, this amount of rent was something they could not even think about.
But for Xu Yunfan, it was just the income from selling food for half a morning.
They found a shop and it was easy to hire workers, but the difficulty lay in the fact that they still lacked a shopkeeper.
Xu Yunfan has to attend classes and do other things, so it is impossible for him to stay in the store all day long and use an abacus.
But this matter cannot be rushed. After all, high-end talents like the shopkeeper are not easy to come by. No two people on the street can do the job.
Xu Yunfan doesn't like to cause trouble for himself.
Xu Yunfan, who didn't have to go to class, basically stayed in the village and slept until he woke up naturally every day. In the morning, Qin Run got up early to prepare meals for him and kept them warm in the pot. When he got up, he took the meals out and the food was still warm.
These days, when I wake up and eat, and then wander around the village with Dadan and the others after I'm full, are quite leisurely, like picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence and leisurely gazing at the southern mountains.
Ever since Xu Yunfan helped Dadan and the others to get revenge, Dadan and Erdan learned that Xu Yunfan did not go to town, and they would come to play with Xu Yunfan almost every day.
The little man Sun Xu also made sure to send Xu Yunfan an egg every day without fail.
Xu Yunfan didn't like it very much, so he peeled the eggs, cut them into four parts with a knife, and gave some to the three eggs and Sun Xu.
Sun Xu quickly shook his head and waved his hands, "I don't want to eat, I've already eaten at home."
Dadan and Erdan hesitated. Although they had eaten a lot of Xu Yunfan's food, this egg was sent by Sun Xu to Brother Xu, and they felt embarrassed to eat it.
The ignorant Sandan took a small bite, but when he saw that his brothers didn't eat it, he was so scared that he didn't dare to eat anymore.
Xu Yunfan knew that an egg could be sold for one or two cents. Although many villagers raised hens, they kept them for eggs and sold them to save money. "It's okay, I just finished my meal. You guys can eat. But Xiao Sun Xu, you give me an egg every day. You bring so many eggs from your family? Don't you need to eat them at home?"
Dadan looked up at Xu Yunfan in surprise, "Brother Xu, don't you know that Sun Xu's grandmother raises a lot of hens? She sends a basket to Uncle Qingsong every few days."
"Yeah, grandma loves me," Sun Xu nodded, but there was a bit of loneliness in his eyes, "It's a pity that grandma can't sell her eggs."
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