Chapter 112: Acquisition
The next morning, Qin Huiyin handed the shopping list she had made last night to Mr. Tang Sanye, and asked him to take Tang Dafu to buy the things.
Tang Dafu wanted to learn how to drive from Master Tang San, so he practiced on the road. After they went back and forth in the town, he not only learned how to drive, but also bought some things.
Qin Huiyin still had a lot of things to do today. She contacted the elder brother who carried water and the elder brother who delivered firewood, and told them that she needed mushrooms and small fish and shrimps. The two elder brothers were very straightforward and said that they would leave the matter to them. They would immediately find someone to go to the mountain to pick mushrooms, and then find someone to use a fish basket to catch small fish and shrimps.
"Brother Song, Brother Zhang, if you see this kind of crab, which you normally don't eat, I will buy it too. I buy small fish and shrimp by the pound, one pound for one cent. As for the crab, the bigger it is, the higher the price."
"No one eats this thing, and I don't know what it's good for, but I went to my uncle's house yesterday, and they suddenly had this bug over there."
"A lot?"
"There were so many of them, it was quite annoying. Some people picked them up and cooked them. They tasted good, but there wasn't much meat. Some of the meat was bitter, which was a bit disgusting."
Qin Huiyin guessed that the bitter part he was talking about was the part that couldn't be eaten at all. Crab meat is delicious, of course it's not bitter. However, there really isn't much meat. She wanted to make crab sauce, so of course she needed a lot of crabs. There were no breeding grounds in ancient times, so all she could do was to find it from natural lakes.
"I don't have an ox cart now. If I had one, I would really like you to take me to see how big it is." Qin Huiyin said.
"The size of this stone..." Song Tieniu picked up a big stone.
"These big ones can be sold for five for one penny." Qin Huiyin originally wanted to say two for one penny, but she thought it better to lower the price.
After all, they don't raise the crabs themselves. If they can make so much money just by picking up a few crabs, it will easily develop their greed.
The so-called simple folk customs are also based on the premise that there is no temptation or the temptation is not enough. She never dared to test people's hearts, because people's hearts cannot stand the test.
"How much do you charge?" Song Tieniu asked in surprise.
"The more the better. I'll take whatever you have. The price I give you is five for one cent. I don't care how you get them from outside. I won't tell others no matter what they ask. This is a transaction between us and has nothing to do with others. If you want to make money, use your brains!"
Song Tieniu and Zhang Jieba looked at each other, made an appointment with Qin Huiyin to deliver the goods in the afternoon, and left quickly.
The two walked out of the Tang family and found a deserted place to discuss the matter in a low voice.
Zhang Jieba has been a stutterer since he was a child, and only Song Tieniu is willing to play with him. The two have been playmates since childhood, and now they quickly reached a consensus when discussing this matter.
"I'll go to the next village and rent an oxcart. It'll cost about ten coins a day. Then we'll ask the villagers on my uncle's side to catch the mangling bugs and tie them up. That way they won't crawl around and won't be able to get caught. We'll charge ten for one coin. If they're smaller, we'll charge twenty for one coin. What do you think of this idea?"
Zhang Jieba nodded repeatedly.
Song Tieniu said unhappily, "Speak, why nod? There's no one else here, why don't you dare to speak to me? If you don't speak for a long time, you will not be a stutterer but a mute. Can you speak quickly?"
Zhang stuttered shyly, "Okay."
"We have to go back to find our wives and ask them to bring a few people they are close to to the mountains to pick mushrooms. The more the better." Song Tieniu said, "Tingyin girl said that she doesn't like too many people crowding into her house, so we will be responsible for receiving the mushrooms and then send them to her to get the money."
"One pound is one penny. We can collect it from them. Two pounds is one penny."
"Yes, that's it."
“What if the villagers find out the price?”
"No, Yin has made it very clear just now that she won't tell anyone the price."
The raw materials were almost ready, and the next step was to arrange the utensils. In order to store the food better, they had to order a batch of pottery jars.
"My daughter, if you use ceramic jars to hold the sauce, the cost will be higher," Li Taohua reminded.
"I know. But pottery jars are less likely to spill when stored, and they can be preserved better. Here's what I think. These pottery jars are to be recycled. We give the boss a certain number of bottles, and they have to return them to us when they use them. If there is any damage, we have to pay twenty cents for each pottery jar."
"A ceramic jar shouldn't cost more than 20 wen, right?" Li Taohua asked. "That dead man surnamed Song has a good brother who is in the ceramic business. I'll buy a batch from him. A jar as big as the one you usually use to hold sauces can be had for at most 5 wen."
"If you sell a jar this big outside, it would cost twenty cents. If it's damaged, it's reasonable to pay twenty cents as compensation. Of course, it would be best if you can get the lowest price. But Uncle Song is gone. Will his brothers still give you face?"
"This is a piece of cake for him, he won't refuse it." Li Taohua said confidently.
"Does that man have a store in town?"
"He opened a shop in town, but the kiln he manages is in the countryside, not far from here, and can be reached in two quarters of an hour."
"It's so close. I'll go with you to have a look. If you find something you like, we can book it right away."
"What about us?" Tang Luwu and Tang Yixiao had been listening nearby, wanting to hear what arrangements had been made for them, but they were never mentioned.
"They will pick some mushrooms and send them over later. You guys stay at home. If they bring them over early, take them and sit for a while until we come back to weigh them."
Qin Huiyin arranged tasks for the siblings.
"Today everyone is busy with the sauce and has no time to prepare the food for the stall. However, the business at our stall cannot be stopped, so we have to continue to make various preparations."
"Then let's stay and make noodles. I've been learning while Yinyin was making them, so I should have figured it out. Making noodles is a delicate job, and one person can't do it. My little brother can help me."
The whole family performed their duties and no one was idle. Because of this family, the whole village seemed much noisier and busier today.
When the mother and daughter passed by the river, they saw many adults and children fishing for fish and shrimp there. When they passed by the mountains, they saw Song Tieniu and Zhang Jieba's wives taking a group of young wives to the mountains to pick mushrooms. As for Song Tieniu and Zhang Jieba, they had already rented a bullock cart in the next village, and then went to Song Tieniu's uncle's village to buy "man-clawing insects".
The people in the village were polarized, some were busy all the time, and some had nothing to do. Those who had nothing to do were almost all those who had grudges against Li Taohua and her daughter. Although Song Tieniu and Zhang Jieba were honest, they were not stupid. It was impossible for them to make money with this group of people, otherwise they might lose their jobs.
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