The next morning, Yang Cui first spread out the dried plums she had pickled a few days earlier to dry, then locked the door and took the two children to the county clinic to see a doctor about their injuries. She also sent the dried plums she had at home to Manager Ma in advance. This was the first batch she had made. After drying, Yang Cui weighed them and found that they only weighed a little over eight jin. She had taken three jin with her yesterday, and her family had tasted some. Now, this jar only weighed five jin.
The An family went back to pick and wash the plums. In the afternoon, Yang Cui bought sugar to process them. However, they decided to make the An family's place the processing base, and the An family had to bring the empty cans with them.
Er Ya and San Ya were very excited as they boarded the mule cart heading into town; it was their first time in the city.
On the mule cart, Yang Cui saw Lin Mingcai again. Looking at Yang Cui, his eyes were scrutinizing, and there was a smile that didn't reach his eyes. Yang Cui felt like she was being stared at by a venomous snake.
The atmosphere on the mule cart was tense. Yang Cui was wary of Lin Mingcai, while at the same time thinking about how to kill the snake!
After arriving in the county town, Yang Cui and her children inquired their way to the clinic. The doctor examined the children's injuries and, fortunately, none of their internal organs were damaged. He spent another 300 coins to get some medicine for the two children, and then the mother and her two children left the clinic, preparing to go to Pinxiangzhai.
"Miss Yang, Miss Yang!" Manager Ma saw Yang Cui from afar, waved to her, and was very excited.
"Manager Ma."
"Miss Yang, weren't you supposed to come tomorrow? Why are you here today?"
"My daughter is injured. You brought them to see a doctor. Manager Ma called me. Is there something wrong with the dried plums?"
Manager Ma nodded: "This is not the place to talk. Please come inside. Bring me a pot of tea and two plates of snacks."
Yang Cui had a keen sense of smell and basically guessed what Manager Ma wanted to talk about.
Once inside, after tea and snacks were served, Manager Ma finally got down to business.
"To be honest, Miss Yang, our boss has taken a liking to the way this perilla-flavored dried plum is made and wants to buy it."
It turns out that their boss came over yesterday afternoon, and when Manager Ma was reporting on his work, he mentioned the dried plums. After tasting them, their boss immediately recognized their potential.
If they had suggested buying earlier, Yang Cui would have hesitated. But now, with the Lin family keeping a close watch, given her current situation, it would be better for her to take a sum of money and lie low. After all, she has other ways to make money.
"I wonder what price you can offer, Manager Ma?"
Manager Ma held out a hand, and Yang Cui looked surprised: "Fifty taels?"
“How could that be? Miss Yang, this method is not worth fifty taels. Fifty taels is enough to buy a house in this county town.”
"Manager Ma isn't trying to tell me that I'm only paying five taels of silver, is he?"
Manager Ma nodded.
Yang Cui smiled and said, "Manager Ma, your boss wants to buy this recipe, which means he sees the potential of these perilla-flavored dried plums. We're all in the food business, and we all know how big the profit margin is. If I find two or three more shops, and each of them buys from me, I can earn the amount you mentioned in less than two months. Besides, there are many candied fruits on the market, but they taste different from mine. Strictly speaking, my dried plums are unique in this city. So if you really want to buy them, I want twenty taels. And I will only make them for myself from now on. I will never sell perilla-flavored dried plums again, nor will I sell this recipe to a second person."
Twenty taels is really not expensive, but this thing doesn't require much technology. If you're willing to put in the effort, you can make it yourself after a few tries. It's just a matter of time. As long as Pinxiangzhai seizes this opportunity and gets ahead of the curve, making money won't be a problem.
"Twenty taels is a bit much. I need to ask my boss for permission. Why don't you wait here and have some tea and snacks first?"
"OK."
Yang Cui waited quietly with her child. Less than fifteen minutes later, Manager Ma returned, accompanied by Manager Yu, who seemed to be in a very good mood.
"Manager Yu," Yang Cui said, getting up to greet him.
"Miss Yang, please don't be so polite, please sit down!"
Manager Ma said, "Miss Yang, our boss has agreed, but you must also sell us the recipe for peach and ginger that you have."
“This…” Yang Cui looked troubled.
Shopkeeper Yu said, "Our boss said that the peach ginger recipe is simple and easy for others to figure out. So, we bought two recipes for twenty-five taels of silver. Miss Yang must also follow what we said before and not sell these two products to others or teach the recipes to others."
"Please rest assured, both managers. Business is all about trust. Although I am a woman, I am by no means a person who goes back on their word. However..."
"But what?"
"I have one more condition."
Manager Ma's expression darkened: "There are still conditions?"
Yang Cui smiled and said, "Manager Ma, please don't misunderstand. My condition is actually very simple. My uncle has a lot of peach and plum trees. I wanted to suggest that you purchase raw materials from my uncle. You also need perilla to make these two products. Since you're going to buy from either of them anyway, why not do me a favor? Next time I have something good, we can continue to cooperate."
"Is that all? That's easy. Just have your uncle bring the things over later."
"Then thank you very much, Manager Ma and Manager Yu."
The two parties reached an agreement and immediately signed a contract. To be on the safe side, Yang Cui requested that a clause be added to the contract stipulating that "plums and peaches from An Dafu's family must be purchased first." In this way, her uncle's family and the people from Anjia Village who had helped her would also benefit.
Yang Cui was quite excited to receive the huge sum of twenty-five taels of silver. With money, she felt more confident living here.
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