The shopkeeper was so excited that he could hardly speak, hastily asking, "Really!?"
Ji Xinhe replied, "I’ve already said it, so I’m naturally not joking. I just don’t know how much the shopkeeper plans to sell them for? Let me say it upfront; this deal today is actually as if I’m paying you to make up for the money you would have lost, so if you don’t know what’s good for you and still want to make a profit from me, I’m afraid I might hesitate."
Ji Xinhe’s words were light and casual, but her attitude was very decisive.
This shopkeeper was also an experienced businessman, and hearing her words, he guessed that this girl wouldn’t be easily taken advantage of. Gritting his teeth, he decided to be honest: "Since the girl is so sincere, I won’t hide anything. I bought these goods at the original price of one silver coin per pound. There are also transportation costs and expenses for hiring people to transport them, but I won’t charge for those. I’ll just sell them to you at the rate of one silver coin per pound, what do you think?"
If it weren’t for the fact that some of them had gone bad, he would have sold them at a high price of three silver coins per pound.
Ji Xinhe glanced at the cart of oranges and estimated that there were about more than a hundred pounds. If she bought them all at the price given by the shopkeeper, ten or so silver coins would be enough. As for the low-priced oranges, if she made them into canned food or orange juice, she could sell them at a price of three or even four silver coins per pound.
So calculated, it really was a great profit!
Seeing that Ji Xinhe was silent, the shopkeeper thought she was hesitating and quickly pleaded with a bitter face, "Girl, my little shop is a small business. I’m selling you this cart of oranges at their cost price, and I’m even paying for the transportation."
Ji Xinhe’s eyes sparkled, and the corner of her lips curled slightly, "Since the shopkeeper is so sincere, I’ll accept the deal."
The shopkeeper was overjoyed and quickly said, "Great, I’ll have someone take it to your house after you’ve paid!"
Ji Xinhe smiled, "Thank you, boss."
The shopkeeper hurriedly called a servant to weigh the oranges and calculate the cost. While waiting, he couldn’t help but ask, "I don’t know what the girl plans to do with such a large cart of oranges? Do you have a large family?"
Ji Xinhe didn’t intend to say much, casually saying, "I have my uses for them; the shopkeeper doesn’t need to ask more. In the future, if you have any fruit that’s past its prime and difficult to sell, you can find me. I will buy them at a low price. If the shopkeeper is sincere, our business can be long-lasting."
The shopkeeper was pleasantly surprised, "Can you buy any kind of fruit?"
The biggest challenge in the fruit business is that fruit can’t be stored for a long time. Once it’s no longer fresh, or the appearance is somewhat damaged, customers no longer want it. When the fruit is left over, it can only be thrown away. This wasted fruit also counts as part of the cost.
If someone could buy all these leftover fruits, the shop could save quite a bit of money on costs. The shopkeeper was naturally excited.
"I can accept any variety, but I have to inspect the goods. If you give me a bunch of rotten fruit, I won’t take it. So, if you have any fruit that is no longer fresh or has a poor appearance and is difficult to sell, you can come to me." Ji Xinhe smiled.
"Absolutely, absolutely!" The shopkeeper was extremely excited.
The servant came over and said, "We weighed the oranges in this cart just now. There are a total of one hundred and twenty-two pounds."
Ji Xinhe nodded, paid the money, and then had the shopkeeper send someone to take the cart of oranges to her house.
Today’s Chinese New Year shopping was almost done with, and with such a pile of oranges, they decided to go home first. On the way back, Ji Xinhe specifically bought ten pounds of white sugar.
Mu Houchu drove the bullock cart ahead, while Xiao Bei followed behind, driving the cart loaded with oranges.
When they returned home, Ji Dong saw the cart full of oranges and was stunned, "Xinhe, even if it’s Chinese New Year, we can’t eat so many oranges."
Ji Xinhe laughed, "Big brother, you think too much. I’m keeping these oranges to make money."
Upon hearing Ji Xinhe’s words, Ji Dong knew she must have come up with another way to make money and asked curiously, "These oranges don’t seem to be very fresh, some even have some bad spots. How can they make money?"
Ji Xinhe rolled up her sleeves and rushed into the kitchen excitedly, "They can make money! Big brother, you and Mu Chu peel the oranges first, throw away the bad parts, and remove the skin and fibrous material. I’ll need them in a while!"
Xiao Bei was also very excited, thinking that her sister must be making some new and delicious food. She couldn’t help but drool and naturally wanted to join in. She hurriedly ran into the kitchen as well, "Sister, sister, let me help you!"
Ji Dong smiled helplessly, "This girl always does things so energetically." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
Turning his head, he saw Mu Houchu already unloading goods from the bullock cart, and Ji Dong busied himself as well.
Xiao Bei stoked the fire and added wood to the stove, while Ji Xinhe quickly cleaned a large pot and put it on the stove to heat. She poured some of the purchased white sugar into the heated pot. The sugar began to melt quickly with a sizzling sound. Ji Xinhe slowly added water, not too much to avoid diluting the sweetness, and not too little to ensure sufficient thickness.
The strong smell of sugar water filled the kitchen, making Xiao Bei salivate. Her eyes widened, "Sister, how sweet will it be after all this sugar is melted?"
Ji Xinhe stuffed a maltose candy into his mouth, "You can’t drink this sugar water, sister needs it to make something delicious."
Xiao Bei enjoyed the maltose candy, his cheeks bulging contentedly, "Will the delicious things my sister makes taste better than maltose candy?"
"Of course." Ji Xinhe blinked her eyes and put the lid on the pot. "You go and help your brother peel the oranges. I’ll control the fire and add wood here. The sugar needs to melt slowly over a low heat. It’ll take a while."
"Okay! Alright!" Xiao Bei nodded excitedly.
When the sugar had completely melted, and Xiao Bei brought a basin of peeled and processed oranges. The damaged parts had been thrown away, leaving just the tender pulp.
Xiao Bei was a little embarrassed, "I couldn’t resist and sneaked a few."
Ji Xinhe laughed and patted Xiao Bei’s head, "If you want to eat, just take them. We have a whole cart, enough for you to eat."
As she spoke, she took the oranges and quickly made an incision around the waist of each orange with a pick to facilitate flavor penetration. Then she poured the small basin of orange segments into the melted sugar water.
"In another hour or so, it should be ready. The finished product is called candied oranges. They not only retain the refreshing sweetness of the oranges but also have the aromatic sweetness of sugar water. More importantly, these canned oranges can be preserved much better than ordinary oranges! Even if they are left for a while, they won’t go bad."
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