In the afternoon, Yang Cui returned to Anjia Village and told the An family about the matter. The An family was so shocked that they couldn't close their mouths for a long time.
"We can't supply this many plums. We picked the last five trees today, and it only weighed a little over two hundred pounds, which is far from enough. If we had known plums would sell so well, we should have planted more plum trees." Mrs. Wen was heartbroken at the thought of so much money slipping through her fingers.
"With this, all the plums and peaches in our village will be sold this year. Manager Yu's business is really booming!" An Dafu exclaimed, his face beaming with joy.
“How could someone who runs such a big restaurant not have money?” Wen said. “But if we sell the plums and peaches and pick more perilla leaves, we can try to finalize Xiao Hai’s marriage proposal this winter.”
An Xiaohai blushed deeply when the topic of marriage came up.
"I need to talk to Youfu and the others and ask them to pick plums first thing tomorrow morning." With that, An Dafu got up and prepared to leave.
"Uncle, don't rush, let me finish."
"Is there anything else?"
"Uncle, you're not thinking of helping the villagers sell their peaches and plums for free, are you?"
An Dafu looked completely bewildered: "What else could we do?"
"Uncle, you're too honest. There's no such thing as a free lunch. I can help those uncles who stood up for me for free, but not the others."
"You want to charge money?" An Dafu looked shocked. "This is already one coin per pound, how else can you make a profit?"
"First, we need to find out how many fruit trees there are in the village and how much fruit they can produce. Once I get the fruit purchase contract tomorrow, we can buy plums from the villagers for 80 coins per 100 jin and then resell them to Manager Yu."
It's like being a middleman.
Upon hearing this, the An family was shocked once again!
Wen was the first to come to her senses, slapping her thigh: "That's a great idea! We'll give the village chief's donkey cart ten coins per trip. If we deliver five hundred catties of plums a day, we can make a profit after three trips..."
Wen started counting on his fingers.
Yang Cui replied, "If you can catch 500 catties a day, you can earn 100 wen. After deducting 30 wen for the transportation fee, you can still earn 70 wen."
"Xiao Cui, you're so good at math! Seventy coins! If we sell two more, each weighing five hundred catties, we'll have enough for Xiao Hai's wedding dowry." Madam Wen was overjoyed. The more she looked at Yang Cui, the more she liked her. After being stimulated, her niece had become decisive and quick-witted.
At first glance, An Dafu was happy to hear that he could earn seventy coins a day, but his happiness lasted only a couple of seconds before he looked distressed.
“Xiao Cui, I spoke too quickly today. I already told the villagers that I would sell it for one coin per pound. If I were to buy from them for eighty coins per hundred pounds, that... doesn’t seem right.”
Upon hearing this, Wen became furious and punched An Dafu, saying, "Why did you speak so quickly?"
"Aunt, please don't blame your uncle."
"How can I not blame him? He slapped me like that, how much money will that cost?" Wen felt pain in her heart, spleen, stomach and kidneys.
“Uncle, you can use my name to buy the plums and peaches. Don’t say anything else. With so many plums and peaches, it’s normal for the price to be a little low. If the villagers don’t want to sell, then forget it. We’ve been working so hard, we can’t let it go for nothing! And if we do a good job, it’ll be a long-term business, and we can continue next year. In addition, we need to maintain our relationship with Manager Yu and Manager Ma. Maintaining a relationship isn’t just about talking; it’s about doing something tangible. So it’s impossible to put in all this effort for nothing.”
Wen slapped his thigh: "It's settled then! If you ask me, Xiao Cui is quick-witted. An Dafu, you'd better keep your mouth shut when you go out."
Yang Cui then instructed, "Uncle, those cousins are charging one coin per pound. We won't make money off them this year. We need to make sure they give the same answer to the outside world."
"I understand, I'll go tell them right away."
“Don’t rush, there’s still the matter of perilla leaves that we haven’t talked about yet,” Yang Cui said. “With so many peaches and plums, the demand for perilla leaves will also be considerable. Tell the village chief and a few of your uncles that we will buy perilla leaves for four copper coins per ten catties. If others ask, we will say that we don’t need that many, otherwise the whole village will pick too many, and we won’t be able to control the quantity. As for the price, we will tell them not to tell anyone else.”
Perilla leaves only earn one cent for ten pounds, a truly low profit margin, barely enough to cover transportation costs.
"If you hadn't told me, I would have thought we could just pick the perilla leaves ourselves and earn the money ourselves!" Wen felt distressed when she heard that the business had to be shared.
"Aunt, we can't harvest that much in a day."
Perilla grows wild in the mountains, it's not cultivated, so you have to go up the mountain to find it! A few of them can't pick much.
"Alright, whatever you say, you're very clever." Madam Wen smiled. "Er Ya, San Ya, and Xiao Hu picked quite a lot today, I estimate it's over twenty catties. The two girls from Village Chief Zhou's family also brought over twenty catties. By the way, about the perilla, are you still going to involve the Zhou family in this business? Since you're moving anyway, I think we should stop letting the Zhou family pick perilla. You gave them a price of one coin for two catties before, and we sell it to Guanxinglou for the same price. If you don't lower the price for the Zhou family, you won't make any money. If you lower the price, the Zhou family will definitely have something to say about it."
"Let them continue picking; the price will remain unchanged."
Yang Cui's thoughts differed from Wen's. Although she was preparing to leave Ji'an Village, it didn't mean she wouldn't have dealings with the Zhou family in the future. The Zhou family and the Lin family were at odds, so earning less but making more friends would definitely be beneficial in the future.
Seeing that Yang Cui was determined to do so, Madam Wen didn't say anything more, since she was the one who made the business.
The next morning, the An brothers took Er Ya and San Ya up the mountain to pick perilla leaves, and Yang Cui went into town again.
"Xiao Cui, you've struck it rich! I've noticed you've been going to town a lot these past few days," Mei Ying asked from the mule cart.
When Mei Ying asked, the other women on the mule cart also pricked up their ears to listen carefully, all wanting to know if Yang Cui had really made a fortune.
"What kind of wealth could I possibly gain? I wouldn't dare to get rich!" After saying that, Yang Cui glanced at Lin Qiushi, who was in the same mule cart.
Mei Ying knew exactly what Yang Cui meant by those words. That day, Lin Mingcai had threatened and intimidated everyone in the village. The villagers weren't stupid; they all understood. She couldn't help, but she still felt a pang of sympathy for Yang Cui.
"Then why do you keep going into the city?"
"Er Ya and San Ya's medicine is almost finished, I'm going to buy some more."
"How badly is the child injured? What did the doctor in the city say?"
"He just needs to rest and recover; he can't do heavy work. There's no immediate danger to his life."
"That's good."
On the mule cart, Yang Cui and Mei Ying chatted idly. As they approached the city gate, they encountered a procession. Lin Qiu's daughter, Lin Chunmei, exclaimed, "Mother, it's the Xile Troupe! Mother, I heard that the Xile Troupe recently performed a play called 'The Talented Scholar and the Beautiful Woman,' and every performance is sold out. It's so wonderful! Mother, can you take me to see it?"
Performing opera?
A thought suddenly flashed through Yang Cui's mind: perhaps she could...
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