After eating the watermelon, Manager Zhou was very satisfied; the quality was truly excellent.
"Mr. Jiang, how many watermelons do you have at home? How many of them will be ripe in the first batch?"
"Manager Zhou, my wife manages the watermelons at home, so I don't know much about them. Let her tell you."
"Thank you for your help, Madam Jiang."
Shopkeeper Zhou was surprised that the watermelon grower was a woman from the inner quarters of the house, but he didn't show it on his face. Such things happen in both wealthy and ordinary families, just less often, so there's nothing to be surprised about.
"Manager Zhou, my family has thirty acres of melon fields, which should yield about forty thousand watermelons. The first batch will be about ten percent, or about forty thousand."
"Really? That's wonderful. I won't hide it from you, our Fuyuan Trading Company's owner is a prominent family in the capital, and this branch in Fucheng is just a branch. We've bought watermelons in previous years, but to be honest, neither their size nor their taste can compare to yours."
Because of Mr. Mu's introduction from Fucheng, I won't say anything superficial. I'm also in a hurry to transport the first batch of melons to the capital.
Last year, watermelons sold for 30 coins per pound, and the cost price was 25 coins. But your watermelons are of better quality and came a few days earlier than last year, so I can offer 30 coins per pound.
In another ten days to two weeks, prices will likely drop further; that's the market trend.
Mu Yi'an thought about it for a moment and felt that Manager Zhou's proposed conditions were reasonable. She could also tell that Manager Zhou was in a hurry to transport the watermelons to the capital, so he decisively agreed on a price that was acceptable to both parties.
"Sure, once this batch of watermelons is harvested, the next batch will be ripe in about four or five days, and the last batch will be ripe within ten days. Manager Zhou, you need to come and transport the watermelons in time, otherwise, the taste will be affected if they are left to ripen for too long."
"That's for sure, we need to sign an agreement."
Manager Zhou hadn't expected that Mrs. Jiang would be so clear-headed and not to be underestimated.
The two parties agreed that the watermelons would be picked up at dawn the next day, as they were in a hurry to load them onto a ship and head to the capital. Their Fuyuan Trading Company had its own caravan and its own fleet of ships.
"Manager Zhou, have something to eat first. You've been busy for half the day."
"Alright, then I'll take the trouble."
Manager Zhou felt that Mr. and Mrs. Jiang, as well as the young master of the Mu family, were honest and easy to get along with. Otherwise, would he have just eaten food from strangers?
My aunt and uncle cooked simple, home-style meals without much fancy cooking, but they tasted like home.
Manager Zhou enjoyed his meal, thanked the Jiang couple, and left with his entourage.
Because they had agreed that he would come to pick up the watermelons tomorrow, Brother Mu didn't go home last night; he stayed to help pick the watermelons tomorrow morning.
To distinguish them, Mu Yi'an has tied red ribbons to the ripe watermelons, so they can be picked directly tomorrow morning.
The next day, Mu Yi'an and her friends got up early. They had already arranged with their uncle and cousin next door to come and help pick watermelons.
At the beginning of the day, a group of people went to the melon field carrying torches.
"Uncle, cousin, cut off the watermelon with the red ribbon on it; it's ripe."
"Shuyun, we've got it. Don't worry."
Uncle Wang Zhongshi agreed and then checked the style of the red ribbon again.
Holding torches, Mu Yi'an and her companions carefully cut off the marked watermelons and placed them in the designated spots.
Everyone handled the watermelon with care, afraid of accidentally dropping it. Although no one knew how much a watermelon cost, it certainly wasn't cheap.
Manager Zhou arrived just in time, and he brought a large scale with him.
"Manager Zhou, you can weigh it now."
"Okay, Mr. Jiang, please take notes too, so we can all be aware of this."
The two groups got busy. Manager Zhou, an expert, had made thorough preparations. He had his own set of procedures for how to transport the goods and what kind of carriages to use. Mu Yi'an felt that her sense of superiority had been completely shattered, and she became even more determined to be low-key in her future dealings with others.
Mu Yi'an and her group picked a total of 4,200 watermelons, weighing 31,000 jin (approximately 15,000 kg). At 30 wen (approximately 30 copper coins) per jin, the 30,000 jin of watermelons sold for 930 taels of silver.
Manager Zhou counted out the money and paid 930 taels of silver. There were nine 100-tael silver notes, and the remaining 30 taels were in cash.
"Manager Zhou, thank you for your hard work. Please take these two watermelons back and have a taste."
"Then I thank Mr. Jiang and Mrs. Jiang. I will come back at this time in five days."
"Alright, we'll be waiting for you here."
After seeing off Manager Zhou, Jiang Shuyun expressed her gratitude to the relatives and friends who had helped, and said that she would treat everyone to watermelons again in a few days when they were ripe in large quantities.
"Alright, Shuyun, why are you being so polite with us? This stuff is so precious, why are you eating it? We're saving it to sell. At the end, if there are any small ones left that people don't want, just cut one up and let everyone have a taste."
The uncle waved and spoke with his cousin for a while. The group extinguished their torches and walked home together.
Mu Yi'an and Jiang Shuyun made another round of inspections and told Jiang Shuhe and the others to be vigilant for the next few days, as Manager Zhou would be coming to transport watermelons in five days.
"Don't worry, there are four or five of us. We won't let them take advantage of us."
Mu Yi'an and Jiang Shuyun went home together; they still had a lot to do these next few days.
"Yi'an, here are the silver notes, please keep them."
Jiang Shuyun handed the silver notes and thirty taels of silver to Yi'an; this was what she had worked hard to earn.
"Shuyun, is this banknote real? Can I withdraw the money from it?"
"It's true. They have banks in the prefectural city and the county town as well."
Jiang Shuyun looked at Mu Yi'an with amusement; she was really cute at this moment.
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