Chapter 96: Song is in trouble
County market.
Qin Huiyin sold the last portion of barbecue, turned around and saw that Tang Luwu had also sold the last portion, and said, "It's time to close the stall."
Tang Yi smiled and quickly collected the stools, saying, "We came a little late today. We sold out an hour and a half later than usual."
Uncle Tang San cleaned up the tables, put all the folding tables onto the ox cart, and then moved the mobile stall cart.
"Didn't you hear what the stall owners next to you said? Many old customers saw that we weren't here, so they thought we weren't coming anymore and left."
"Luckily we got here. Although we were a little late, we arrived in time and didn't let the remaining old customers leave. I just don't know how mom and dad are doing. Can they handle Aunt Wang and Tang Mingxiu?"
"Don't worry, mother won't suffer any loss."
Qin Huiyin comforted the worried Tang Luwu and packed her things quickly. When she looked up, she accidentally saw someone walking past in front of her and put down the things in her hands.
"You guys clean up first, I'll go over there."
Tang Luwu was puzzled and looked in the direction her gaze led her, and saw a familiar figure.
"Is that Song Ruize?"
Tang Yixiao heard Song Ruize's name, looked up, and said sourly: "Why does the second sister always care about his affairs?"
Qin Huiyin did see Song Ruize.
She felt strange. Song Ruize should be on the dam now, so why did he appear here? So she followed him to see what was going on.
She looked at the sign which read 'Zhang's Blacksmith Shop'.
"Young man, you do need a lot of goods. Logically, I should give you a discount, but I'm a small business, so I really can't give you the price you asked for."
"Brother Ze, Boss Zhang is a real man. The price can't be any lower. I think the higher-ups are just making things difficult for us. Otherwise, why would they give us this little money?"
"It's not the one above, it's Chen Zhe."
"Yang Baotou didn't make things difficult for you. He even arranged the easiest work for us. We finally had a few days of peace. Chen Zhe is the same as Song Tiegen. He deliberately made things difficult for you. Let's go back and find Yang Baotou directly. Make a big fuss about this matter and let everyone know that Chen Zhe embezzled the money for purchasing the equipment."
"Boss, we bought this batch of goods to repair the dam. We will come to you for a long time in the future. Can you sell us a batch at the price I mentioned?"
“This price is really…”
"Look, I think these tools could use some work. If I draw you a better blueprint, can you sell it to us?"
"Oh? What tools are you talking about?" the boss became interested.
"Many tools can be modified in a simple way. They will be easier to use and save a lot of effort. Give me a set of pens, ink, paper and inkstone, and I will draw it for you."
Jiang Qibin looked at Song Ruize with admiration: "Brother Ze, you have this ability. I thought you couldn't read a single word."
Song Ruize recalled the process of secretly learning to read.
When Li Taohua was teaching Qin Huiyin to read, he was in the yard. He chopped wood while secretly watching what they were doing, and almost chopped his hand several times. After Li Taohua and Qin Huiyin left, the papers in the yard were not collected, so he picked them up and read them, reviewing the knowledge in his mind according to his memory, and using branches to gesture when he went up the mountain to hunt.
Jiang Qibin looked at Song Ruize's crooked painting and burst out laughing.
Song Ruize turned around to look at him, and he immediately stopped laughing and acted as if he was going to shut up. That look was as ridiculous as it could be.
The boss was also speechless.
With this level of painting, even if he really has good ideas, it is not obvious.
"Okay, okay, stop making trouble..." The boss said impatiently. "I know you are working for the dam, but you can't let a civilian like me suffer, right? I have to support my family, and I really can't do a business that doesn't make money."
"Boss, who said you can't make money?" Qin Huiyin couldn't hide any longer and came over. "If you give him this price, no blacksmith shop in the whole county will be able to compete with you. You are the only blacksmith appointed by the court. Isn't that a great honor for the Zhang family? Tell others that you have done things for the court."
"Why are you here?" Song Ruize asked.
"Hello, sister." Jiang Qibin greeted politely.
"Hello." Qin Huiyin responded to Jiang Qibin first, then said to Song Ruize, "I'm doing business nearby. I just sold all my goods and was about to pack up and go back. I saw you when you passed by just now, so I came to see what you were going to do."
"Little girl, what you said sounds nice, but it's all just empty reputation." The boss didn't buy it.
"Who said it was just an empty reputation? You wrote on your sign 'The only ironware supplier for the imperial court to build a dam', and everyone knows that the imperial court uses your ironware, so how can you still lack business?"
"What does supplier mean?" the boss asked curiously.
"The supplier is the merchant who provides tools for the court. You are in charge of ironware, so you are the ironware supplier. In the future, when others mention repairing the dam, they will also praise your tools, which is why the dam was built so solid." Qin Huiyin flattered the boss, and the boss's honest face was full of smiles. "But we won't let you suffer. Didn't my brother say that he can help you modify these ironware to make them more useful. But in this case, my brother will have to get a commission!"
"Commission?" The boss was confused again. "What is that?"
"Commission means that after deducting the cost, you give a portion of the money you earn to people who have contributed to this matter. My brother helped you modify the tools, so it's not too much to give him a share of the profits, right?"
"Wait a minute, little girl, a dividend is..."
"For every ten cents of your net profit, give him one cent. Your interests are interlinked. The more you earn, the more my brother can get, so he won't harm you." Qin Huiyin said, "He can also bring you more orders. In this way, he can make money, and you can make money too. Isn't this a win-win situation!"
The boss was stunned when he heard this.
However, he was not stupid and still understood.
"However, the reform he mentioned..." The boss looked at Song Ruize's painting with disdain.
"It's okay, I'll help him draw it. My brother and I have a tacit understanding. I understand everything he says and will definitely draw it for you." Qin Huiyin picked up the paper, "But we have to find a quiet place and don't want to be disturbed. There are people coming and going here. If our new drawings are seen by others and the news is leaked, you won't make any money."
"If the blueprints you drew can really help me make better iron tools, I will agree to everything you said just now."
"Words are not enough, we need to sign a contract." Qin Huiyin said, "Is that okay?"
"Sign." The boss agreed readily.
"Brother Jiang, please go find the 'Smiling Restaurant' over there and tell the old man and a brother and sister there that I have something and will be delayed for a while before returning. Ask them to find a place to rest." Qin Huiyin said.
"Okay, I'll go right away." Jiang Qibin agreed.
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