"What do you want to ask me?" Mu Houchu walked in "coincidentally."
Ji Dong laughed awkwardly: "Well, I wanted to ask if you are interested in my little sister."
Mu Houchu nodded solemnly. "Yes."
Ji Xinhe’s eyes were wide open: "I’m not!"
Slightly frowning, Mu Houchu turned his head to her: "Hmm?"
Seeming to merely ask an extra question, while also carrying a hint of warning.
He was subtly asking, "Are you sure you want to break off relations with me?"
Ji Xinhe almost forgot, this man is a fugitive being hunted down by the government. They say that the government is still searching for him everywhere. If there is no relationship between them, then this man would indeed become the main target — a stranger from out of town.
If he were caught, she too would be in trouble.
Grinding her teeth, Ji Xinhe closed her mouth.
Mu Houchu then turned to Ji Dong and said with a smile: "Xin He is shy."
Ji Dong laughed in understanding, "Girls are like that. Now that you both have feelings for each other, how about... the marriage..."
Ji Xinhe quickly said: "With everything so busy right now, I think it’s better not to rush the wedding. After all, we’re just starting our business, and we don’t have the time, do we?"
Ji Dong pondered and thought it made sense. He looked at Mu Houchu, seemingly asking for his opinion.
Looking at Ji Xinhe glaring at him, Mu Houchu chuckled inwardly and obediently said: "If Xin He says there’s no hurry, then I’m willing to wait for her. After all...it’s just a matter of time."
The last sentence, he said it, looking at Ji Xinhe.
It was not a perfunctory argument to appease Ji Dong, but a sincere statement to her.
Ji Dong was delighted: "Great!"
It was then that Mu Houchu turned to Ji Xinhe who was still slightly dazed and said: "Well, you better go to bed early. We have to get up early tomorrow."
"Oh..." Ji Xinhe still hadn’t fully grasped the situation. Didn’t her words about delaying the wedding mean they wouldn’t get married? Why did it now seem like she had indirectly accepted the proposal?
Especially watching Mu Houchu’s smug smile, she felt more and more like she had been tricked again!
——
After a few days, Ji Xinhe tasted the grape wine in the courtyard. It had been brewed for two months, and it should be good by now.
"Indeed, not bad." After Ji Xinhe took a sip, she smacked her lips and said, "What do you think?"
Mu Houchu took a light sip and then nodded: "It is good."
Xiao Bei also snuck a taste, but his little face instantly crumpled: "Xiao Bei doesn’t like it."
Ji Xinhe smiled and scratched his head: "Serves you right, don’t sneak off to drink wine next time."
Ji Dong, however, couldn’t tell good from bad. He stared at the vats of grape wine in the courtyard, still in disbelief: "Can this wine really be sold for more than six silver taels per kilogram?"
How much money would all these vats of wine make?!
Ji Xinhe snorted: "Guilin Mansion buys it from us at this price, and they sell it for eight silver taels per kilogram."
Although he had known about this, he was still shocked upon hearing this reality again. He found it hard to accept.
Wouldn’t they become rich once these wines were sold?
No, they were already rich now...
Just as they were discussing, a horse carriage pulled up in front of their yard.
A man hurried down from the carriage. It was Wu Zhanggui.
"Oh, Wu Zhanggui is quite early." Ji Xinhe quickly emptied her bowl of grape wine and put down the bowl before going to greet him.
Looking at the courtyard full of wine vats and smelling the heavy aroma of wine, Wu Zhanggui was trembling with excitement: "Is... is this grape wine?"
Ji Xinhe fetched a bowl of wine and handed it over: "Whether it is or not, you’ll know after you have a taste."
Wu Zhanggui quickly gave the bowl of wine in his hand to the man behind him: "You are the connoisseur here, I’ll let you have a look."
After all Wu Zhanggui was just a shopkeeper in a small town, how could he have tasted such a rare wine before?
The man he brought was a famous wine tasting master known for serving officials and nobles in the capital city. It was only after his retirement that he came back here.
The man’s hair was white, but he was still vigorous. When he entered the courtyard, the rich aroma of the grape wine immediately caught his attention. He took a smell before eagerly tasting a mouthful, then nodded in delight: "Yes! This is it!"
"Really?!" Wu Zhanggui was so surprised and happy that he almost jumped up.
The old man nodded repeatedly: "When I was in the capital, I was fortunate enough to have a taste of the grape wine from Ning’an Royal Mansion. That taste lingered till now. I just didn’t think, I didn’t think I could drink it again here!"
Wu Zhanggui promptly told Ji Xinhe: "Let’s sign the contract right away! I want this wine!"
Ji Xinhe readily agreed: "Fine, but do you have a sufficient amount of silver notes with you?"
After glancing at the courtyard full of wine, Wu Zhanggui paused before saying: "Of course I brought enough silver notes. The question is, how much do you plan to give me? I see you have ten vats here, why not give me seven..."
But Ji Xinhe shook her head: "That would be difficult. It takes several months to brew these ten vats of grape wine. If I give most of them to you, I won’t have enough left to sell. At most, I can give you three vats."
Wu Zhanggui exclaimed: "Three vats?! How could it be enough with only three vats..."
Ji Xinhe smirked, lowering her voice: "Don’t worry, Wu Zhanggui, my shop isn’t open yet. For now, you can start selling first. As the saying goes, scarcity creates value. Some things cannot be too abundant, otherwise, they won’t be rare anymore. You should understand this principle as a businessman."
Upon hearing this, Wu Zhanggui’s eyes lit up and he clapped his hands: "Exactly!"
Rare items could fetch higher prices!
He had originally planned to charge eight taels of silver per kilogram, but now he could clearly charge ten taels. If he limited daily sales, it would attract town-wide discussion and demand.
This girl was really impressive.
Ji Xinhe lifted her lips in a smile: "Shall we sign the contract now?"
It didn’t matter how much Wu Zhanggui priced the wine. She made a profit either way because she took 80 percent of the profits. It’s just a matter of earning more or less.
"Naturally!"
They first weighed the vats. Each vat of grape wine weighed about 100 kilograms. Since they were selling three vats, they sold it at the price of eight taels of silver per kilogram, totaling over 2,000 taels of silver.
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