At this moment, Yang Cui already had an idea in mind, but she still needed to carefully consider how to implement it.
She went to the Star Gazing Tower and met Manager Yu. Her uncle, An Dafu, had just weighed and delivered several hundred catties of goods. An Dafu was an honest man and felt that Manager Yu was of a very high status, so he did not dare to talk to him much.
An Dafu then told Yang Cui that he had found out that, apart from his family, there were a total of 158 peach trees and 206 plum trees in Anjia Village. He couldn't calculate exactly how many kilograms of fruit each tree could produce, but he knew that each peach tree could produce about 180 kilograms of fruit and each plum tree could produce about 50 kilograms of plums.
With these known conditions, Yang Cui quickly calculated the result.
As expected, Manager Yu signed a contract with Yang Cui, ordering 8,000 catties of plums, which must all be delivered to the back door of Pinxiangzhai within ten days. As for the peaches, no contract was signed because it was uncertain how much would be ordered, since perilla, peaches, and ginger do not keep as well as dried plums.
Yang Cui was initially worried that the shopkeeper wouldn't agree to a contract! But things went so smoothly that she was overjoyed.
After leaving the Star Gazing Tower, Yang Cui bought a fish and some tofu before returning to Anjia Village.
Back in Anjia Village, the news that Yang Cui was buying 100 jin of plums for 80 wen caused an uproar in the village!
"Da Fu's niece, are you really accepting plums?"
Why did you buy so many plums?
"Eighty coins for one hundred catties is such a cheap price!"
"Didn't Dafu say yesterday that it was one coin per pound?"
"Yes, how come it's 100 catties and 80 coins today? Twenty coins are missing out for no reason."
...
The villagers were talking about it.
Standing on high ground, Yang Cui said loudly, "Dear uncles and aunts, please listen to me. We are buying in bulk, so the price is a little lower. We only earn a small fee for the hard work of transporting the goods. If you are willing to sell, please pick the fruit and bring it to my uncle's place. We will weigh it on the spot and pay on the spot. We will not delay payment. Moreover, I only need 8,000 catties. If you don't sell, I will have to go to other places to buy. Once I have collected this amount, I will stop buying, no matter how cheap it is."
As soon as he finished speaking, another uproar erupted!
"That niece of the An family is really rich! How many plums must there be in the village? If she pays for them all on the spot, how much money will that be?"
"It's probably An's money. I heard she was bullied terribly by the Lin family after being abandoned. Where would she get any money?"
"So, are you going to sell it or not?"
“Sell! She’ll buy them all. The price is acceptable. We lost two or three hundred pounds of plums last year.”
...
Then, starting the next day, the An family was extremely busy, weighing, paying, and counting money without a moment's rest.
Anjia Village only had one donkey cart belonging to the village chief, which wasn't enough for delivering goods. So An Dafu rented Zhou Daniu's mule cart and paid him ten coins for each delivery.
The bustling scene of An Dafu making money quickly spread to Ji'an Village. Yang Cui stayed at An's house with her two children, leaving early and returning late. When she came back at night, some people wanted to ask her anything, but they didn't have a chance.
The Lin family also sent people to Anjia Village to investigate, but this time Yang Cui and the An family were on guard, and the Lin family had no way to get information out of Er Ya and San Ya.
——
On the evening of the fourth day after purchasing plums, just as Yang Cui was about to go home, Wang Dachun arrived.
"Dafu, your family is so busy, you must have made a lot of money."
"If we made money, would my family still be living like this?" An Dafu laughed. "What brings you here today? Hey, why is your face pale?"
Wang Dachun didn't respond, but went straight to the point and asked Yang Cui, "Niece, do you still want that homestead?"
Yang Cui had already guessed Wang Dachun's intentions, so she was not surprised. She said, "Uncle Wang, I can only offer two or three ounces."
“Two and a half ounces it is, just tell me the truth.” Wang Dachun was extremely happy this time. Then he asked An Dafu, “Dafu, now that you’re making a lot of money, don’t you want to buy some land and build houses or something? Your sons are all grown up now, and they need to get married. They can’t do without houses!”
An Dafu and Yang Cui were both surprised to hear this.
An Dafu asked incredulously, "You don't mean you're thinking of selling the land and the house, do you?"
"I've had such a damn bad run of luck lately!" Wang Dachun sighed. "My family owns four mu of land, one mu of which is paddy field. We also have six plum trees and eight peach trees. Our house was renovated a couple of years ago, and there's a vegetable garden in the back. I'll sell it all to you for thirty-five taels of silver. How about it?"
“Dachun, you need to think this through. This is no small matter. The land is the lifeblood of us farmers. If you sell the land, what will your wife and children eat? Don’t be impulsive. Think it over carefully.” An Dafu earnestly advised.
"I've thought it all out. I'll sell it all to you, Dafu. Just buy it!" Wang Dachun said, his voice tinged with pleading.
“Thirty-five taels, not thirty-five coins. I’m just a farmer, where would I get that much money? Da Chun, listen to my advice, stop gambling! Before, everyone in the village envied you. You had a virtuous wife, sensible children, and you could make money. Look at you now. Listen to me, stop gambling. That stuff ruins people!”
Wang Dachun looked displeased and said, "Since you're not going to buy it, I'll go ask someone else."
An Dafu hurriedly grabbed Wang Dachun: "Dachun, houses and land are the foundation of a stable life. Don't do anything foolish!"
“Dafu, to tell you the truth, I owe thirty taels of silver. I can’t pay it back without selling my house or land. If I don’t pay it back, I’ll lose my hands. I’m still young, I can’t live without my hands.”
"Three...thirty taels?"
Thirty taels of silver was more money than they could earn in a lifetime of farming. Upon hearing this number, An Dafu couldn't help but gasp.
“You only owe thirty taels, there’s no need to sell all your property,” Yang Cui said. “I’m very interested in your homestead, four mu of land, and fruit trees. Could you take me to see them?”
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