Xiao Zili focused on eating, showing no interest in their conversation. The food was simply too delicious. Although he had eaten his fair share of banquets in the palace, nothing could compare to this. But he was currently living under someone else's roof and had even caused his aunt's injury, so he didn't dare ask what it was.
He was a prince, and although he couldn't compare to the other princes, he lived a good life. He had eaten all sorts of delicacies, but compared to these, they were nothing.
After they finished eating, the two of them took Xiao Qi back to their sleeping place. Zhao had already made up the bed. As for Xiao Zili, the eldest brother took him to settle in and made up a new bed for him. Although it was outside, everyone did the same.
Looking at her son beside her, An Shuyi asked, "Second son, how's it going with your search for customers?" She didn't want to ask, but her son had been wandering around aimlessly, and it was obvious he had something to say.
Upon hearing his mother's words, the second son hurriedly replied, "Mother, although this business is doing well and we've hauled away several thousand taels of goods, I don't want to run it anymore. I want to haul goods to sell."
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An Shuyi looked at him and asked, "Where do you plan to take the goods to sell? How many people will go? What kind of goods will you take? How much will you take? Also, how much silver will you pay to take the goods from the workshop and how much silver will you pay to sell them?"
“Mother,” the second son looked at her, “I have thought about all of this. There are fifteen of us, and they all agree. We will take braised meat and clothes to sell in the frontier. It is a harsh and cold place, inhabited by exiled people and herdsmen. These can be sold.”
"When we come back, we'll bring the leather back to sell. Those wealthy families love leather with beautiful colors, so it'll definitely sell well."
An Shuyi and Xia Hua exchanged a glance, then An Shuyi said, "Second brother, since you know that's the frontier, you should also know that there are Xiongnu there, and that wars break out there. If you go there, you might lose your life, let alone make money."
“If you really want to haul things to sell, then go to the capital. Take skincare products and clothes to sell, or take braised meat to the frontier to sell. Don’t you know that braised meat can only be stored for fifteen days? Before you even get to the frontier, the meat will have spoiled.”
"Each set of skincare products costs two hundred taels of silver. Just get them from the village at that price. Whatever you sell is yours. As for the clothes, whatever others buy, you get them. Take them to the capital, and you can get them for ten times the price. As long as you can sell them, they're all yours."
She even wants to go to the frontier? She's really courting death. She does want to expand her business to the frontier, but she doesn't know how to sell braised meat or anything like that. Fruits and grains are what she really wants to sell.
The second son didn't say anything. After listening to his mother, he realized that he had been thinking in vain. It was better for his mother to just say something casually. But would it be possible to go to the capital?
“Mother, anyone who comes out of the capital is a member of the royal family. If I go there, I’ll be devoured until there’s not even a bone left.”
Xia Hua smiled and said, "You're afraid of being devoured to the bone in the capital, so aren't you afraid of the frontier? It's no better than the capital there. Not to mention the Xiongnu, the refugees alone are enough to give you a hard time."
"If you're afraid to go to the capital, you might as well sell yourself in another prefecture first. It's unlikely that anyone from there will be a member of the imperial family. If you're still afraid, you can stay in the village. As long as you work every day, you won't starve."
The second son nodded, "Then I'll discuss it with them tomorrow. Mother and Aunt should get some rest." He then hurriedly left.
He suddenly realized that what his aunt said was a good idea: first go to other prefectures to sell, then go to the capital, and once he had sold enough, he still wanted to go to the frontier to sell, but not now, because he was not ambitious enough.
After watching him leave, An Shuyi and the other girl lay down to sleep. Xiao Qi was already asleep, but Xiao Liu was still at the academy and hadn't returned yet.
That night, the two slept very soundly. For the past month, although they had slept, they had not let their guard down, so they had not slept very comfortably.
When it was fully light and the sun was high in the sky, the two of them finally got up, washed up, and took a walk around the village. The fields were no longer overgrown with weeds, but were now full of crops.
Apart from the two sides of the workshop, there is no other open space. The places where they sleep now are just laid out randomly next to the workshop. During the day, they throw their things in the canteen or the brewing workshop. This place is used to park the horse-drawn carriages during the day.
The two went to check the house again, and after checking, they found that it didn't take five days as Village Chief Lin had said. After the doors and windows were installed, they could go in, clean it, and then put furniture in.
The houses inside weren't paved with cement, but with stone slabs, which had been ordered beforehand. The same was true for the floors outside. However, some floors were just paved with stone slabs, while the rest were dirt. These were used to grow flowers and grass.
Unfortunately, neither of them has any flower seeds now, and the ground is still bare.
"Huahua, I'll go up the mountain this afternoon and find some flowers and plants to sell." She wants to find as many as possible, and see if the trading system can provide some printed fabrics, mushroom spawn, and flower seeds—these are exactly what they need right now.
Xia Hua shook her head, "I'm not comfortable letting you go alone. Otherwise, we can go together so we can look after each other. You can search for me, and I'll check the situation for you. Or we can go together after my hand is healed."
Although they had been up the mountain once and hadn't found any danger, no one can say for sure. If Shushu went alone and encountered danger, what if she couldn't escape and lost her life?
An Shuyi knew that she was worried, so she didn't say anything more. "Then let's wait until your hand is better before we go. In the next few days, let's get the house cleaned up and buy all the other things."
“You don’t need to rush. It will be fixed in a few days anyway, so take your time. Once it’s built, we’ll spend one night cleaning it up. After that, we’ll go to Jinnan City to buy things.”
Xia Hua said, glancing around, "You still have some quilts there, take some out later. We don't need pots and pans, and we can buy whatever other furniture we need. We can buy it all at once so that it won't delay the workshop's work."
"Okay, I'll do as you say, but I can't just do nothing these next few days, that would be so boring!"
Seeing her like this, Xia Hua said, "Then go to Jinnan City and ask the brokers if there are any estates for sale around Jinnan City. They may still be growing crops now, so the prices are a bit high, but you can ask first, and we can buy them after the harvest."
Hearing her say that, An Shuyi thought it was a good idea. "Then I'll go to Jinnan City tomorrow and ask around. I'll visit several places. But how many farms do we need to buy? One for growing rice, one for growing potatoes and sweet potatoes, and one for growing corn."
"I'd like to buy another estate to grow morel mushrooms, but the availability of the mushroom strain depends on the trading system. It seems like that would cost quite a bit. Do we have enough silver?"
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