After some haggling, they finally bought the mule cart for fifty taels of silver.
After leaving the car dealership, Zhao Cheng drove his mule cart behind the horse-drawn carriage. They first went to a sugar wholesale store and bought 500 catties of sugar.
The shopkeeper was overjoyed to have such a large customer and proactively lowered the wholesale price from 65 coins per catty to 60 coins, hoping to maintain a long-term cooperation with Zhao Xian.
As a result, Zhao Xian's cost of producing white sugar decreased by 40% at once.
All the sugar was loaded onto the mule cart. Mules are very strong and can pull more than a thousand pounds of goods without any problem, let alone sugar weighing only five hundred pounds.
Then the group went to the market, where Zhao Xian asked Qin Shiyu to buy some good fabric to make several sets of clothes for the family, including the three of them.
At this moment, Zhao Xian took out twenty taels of silver and handed it to Qin Shiyu. Qin Shiyu looked at Zhao Xian in surprise, not knowing what her master meant.
"Shiyu, this silver is for you two sisters. Buy some things you need. If you don't use it all, keep it. We'll give you some silver every month when we make money producing sugar."
"Master, we are your servants, how can we accept your money? This is unacceptable." Qin Shiyu was getting anxious.
"Who says you sisters are my servants? I bought you from the brokerage firm to help you."
Although your family is in dire straits, there is no hope for them to get ahead. Your family will surely meet again someday. If we are talking about our relationship, let's consider it as business partners. You help me do business and make money, so of course I have to pay you.
I will go to the government to terminate our contract later, but not now, for your protection.
Hearing Zhao Xian's words, Qin Shiyu's eyes reddened. She took the silver Zhao Xian handed her and sobbed softly.
Then Zhao Xian took out ten taels of silver and handed it to Zhao Cheng. Zhao Cheng didn't say anything. He silently accepted the silver, took a step back, and bowed deeply to Zhao Xian.
“Zhao Cheng, if you have family, you can reunite with them. Our contract can be terminated at any time,” Zhao Xian comforted him.
“I have had no family since I joined the army. From the moment I left the brokerage, I swore to serve my master to the death.” Zhao Cheng answered calmly with a firm gaze.
Zhao Xian looked at him, wanting to say something, but not knowing where to begin, so he gave up.
He said to Zhao Cheng and Qin Shiyu, "You two go to the market and buy what you need. If you don't have enough money, I have some here. I'll wait for you in the car. Once you've bought everything, we'll head back to the village immediately."
"Yes, patriarch." The two replied and went to the market.
Half an hour later, the two returned from shopping. Zhao Cheng bought a sword, which cost ten taels of silver. Zhao Cheng said that with this sword, he could better protect his master, which moved Zhao Xian deeply.
Qin Shiyu bought a basket full of things, including food, household items, clothes, and accessories. Some of these items were for Li Chun'e and Zhao Lingling, and they cost her a lot of money.
The bronze mirror alone cost more than ten taels of silver, leaving Qin Shiyu with very little silver left.
Seeing that all the business in the county town had been completed, Zhao Xian and Qin Shiyu got into the horse-drawn carriage, while Zhao Cheng drove the mule cart. The two carts, one in front of the other, left the county town.
Because the mule carts were carrying a lot of goods, the two carts did not travel very fast, and it took them two whole hours to get back to the village.
The family waited anxiously at the door, wondering how Zhao Xian and his companions fared in the county town and whether they had managed to sell the sugar.
It wasn't until dusk that two vehicles came towards the house; the one in front was a horse-drawn carriage, and the one behind was a mule cart.
The family was finally relieved; Zhao Xian must have returned.
Two carriages stopped at the gate. Zhao Xian and Qin Shiyu got off the horse-drawn carriage, and Zhao Cheng got off the mule cart.
It was already past the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), and according to the agreement, Zhao Xian needed to pay the coachman one tael of silver.
The driver took the silver, bowed to Zhao Xian, and then drove away.
"What kind of vehicle is this? It's huge, it doesn't look like a horse-drawn carriage," Zhao Xiaoshan asked.
Seeing the family staring at the mule cart with great curiosity, especially at the tall mule, they were somewhat bewildered.
“This is a mule cart, bought in the county town. It’s the most suitable for our family to deliver goods frequently,” Zhao Xian explained to his family.
"Zhao Xian, did you buy this cart? How much did it cost?" Li Chun'e was stunned. Her family had actually bought a mule cart.
“Yes, Mother, let’s unload the goods first. We’ll talk about the mule cart when we get home,” Zhao Xian instructed everyone to unload the goods.
The mule cart was loaded with a lot of things, including five sacks of sugar, each weighing a hundred jin (approximately 50 kg). Zhao Cheng carried two sacks in one trip with ease, which impressed the whole family with his strength.
The yard was large, and the gate was wide enough for a mule cart to come and go.
After closing the door, Zhao Xian began to recount the events that had occurred in the county town that day.
The sale of white sugar went very smoothly. The white sugar was sold at a price of seven taels of silver per catty. The sixty catties of white sugar that were brought over in the morning were sold for four hundred and twenty taels of silver.
"ah."
The family was stunned. White sugar was selling for seven taels of silver per catty, which was completely beyond their imagination. People in the city were too rich.
“Mother, here is a banknote for three hundred taels of silver. Please keep it safe. If you need money, you can exchange it for silver at the money exchange in town, or you can use it directly for payment.” Zhao Xian said, handing the banknote to Li Chun’e.
This was the first time Li Chun'e had ever seen a silver note. It was worth three hundred taels of silver, and her hand trembled slightly as she held it.
“We have already made an agreement with the sugar merchant in the county town that starting next month, we will provide him with 100 catties of white sugar every day.”
If we continue to make white sugar at home using this method, it will be too slow and certainly won't meet the needs of sugar merchants.
I plan to start building a workshop tomorrow, specifically for producing white sugar, and I'll try to have it completed by the end of the month.
The whole family was very excited when they heard that a workshop was going to be built to produce white sugar. Zhao Xian continued:
"I'll go to the village head tomorrow and ask him for help with building the workshop."
To ensure convenient delivery and procurement in the future, we bought a mule cart in the county town, which cost a total of fifty taels of silver.
"Mother, I bought some fabric in our county town, all kinds of colors, all of the finest materials. Could you make some new clothes for everyone in the family?"
“Okay, Mother will go to the tailor shop in the village tomorrow and have the tailor make clothes for the family,” Li Chun’e said happily.
At this moment, Qin Shiyu took the bamboo basket and began to take the things out of it.
"These are some things I bought from the county town; everyone gets a share."
Qin Shiyu was born into a wealthy family, and everything she bought was of the highest quality.
She handed the bronze mirror to Qin Yingying, who happily took it and looked at herself carefully. What she cared about most now was the healing progress of her scars.
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