sjar Chapter 34, First Big Deal
Chapter 34, First Big Deal
Three thousand catties of beans?!
"real or fake?"
"Zhao Jinhua, did you hear me correctly?"
Why buy so many beans?
"Their business is related to beans."
Zhao Jinhua, holding a bowl of porridge, sat in the crowd. "I heard it clearly, it was three thousand jin."
"There were 500 jin on that oxcart at the time."
"The business they're doing must be related to beans."
"It's that thing hanging at their door."
Someone said, "I've seen the one you mentioned; it was hanging all over Liu San Niang and Lu Shi's courtyard."
"That's the thing that makes money, isn't it?"
"What exactly is that thing?"
"How did you do that?"
How did you make the money?
"Zhao Jinhua, didn't you see what Liu Sanniang did?"
Zhao Jinhua scoffed, "How could I possibly look? That Liu Sanniang... she practically wants to eat me alive if I just walk past her door, how could I dare to look at her?"
"Liu San Niang is indeed shrewish, but that Lu Shi is gentle."
There's no man in the house.
Whether the speaker meant it or not is hard to say, but some listeners... did indeed have some thoughts about it.
*
Tian Tian, carrying a shoulder pole, coincidentally met Zhang Fusheng at the fork in the road leading out of Qingliu Village.
"Miss Tian, come up here."
Only three women were sitting in his oxcart.
When the three women saw Tian Tian carrying a bamboo basket, they all moved aside to make room for her.
Along the way, Zhang Fusheng chatted with the three women, occasionally bringing Tian Tian along as well.
"Autumn has arrived, and winter will come soon."
"As the weather gets colder, your oxcart business will slow down."
Zhang Fusheng nodded and said, "That's right. Once the weather gets cold, it's hard to do any business, and there are far fewer traveling merchants in the county."
The women sighed, "Oh, when winter comes, it's freezing cold, there's no pay, no wild vegetables, it's so hard to get through."
Zhang Fusheng: "Gather more firewood."
"Hey, Miss Tian, have you gathered firewood yet?"
Tian Tian shook her head. "Not yet."
Actually, I go to collect firewood every day, but the firewood I collect is only enough to make bean curd sheets.
"We need to pick them up early, otherwise it will be difficult once everyone else has gone to pick them up," a woman said.
“Every year there are arguments over firewood.”
Tian Tian recalled for a moment.
Before Tian Zhiyuan died, Lu Tao and he had already started gathering firewood.
The Tian family didn't have to worry about firewood all winter long.
As for other families... there have indeed been arguments over firewood.
Upon arriving in the county town, Tian Tian said to Zhang Fusheng, "Uncle Zhang, I'll ride in your oxcart again next time."
*
At the entrance of Fulai Restaurant, Qian Fulai stood at the door and waved to Tian Tian when he saw her.
"Young Master." Tian Tian carried the shoulder pole up to him.
The young owner of Chuxing Restaurant is named Chuxing, the young owner of Fulai Restaurant is named Qian Fulai, and the young owner of Baiwei Restaurant is named Chang Baiwei.
Qian Fulai pulled Tian Tian directly into the restaurant, and then looked out while muttering curses.
“Miss Tian, it’s settled then, your bean curd skin will only be supplied to our Fulai Restaurant.” Qian Fulai turned around and looked at Tian Tian with a sincere expression.
Tian Tian nodded, "Yes, it's only for you."
Qian Fulai curled his lip, "Those two guys, Chu Wang and Chang Baiwei, have been keeping watch outside my restaurant since early this morning."
"I guess they just want to see who supplies us."
“Miss Tian, if they come to you, you can’t supply them with goods.”
Tian Tian nodded again, "Don't worry, I said I'd only supply you, and I'll only supply you."
Qian Fulai nodded in satisfaction, "Then it wasn't for nothing that I introduced you to such a great business opportunity."
"Come on, come upstairs with me."
"We are going to meet a merchant from Anzhou Prefecture in a moment."
“It’s already very cold where they are, and they usually drink hot soup to warm themselves up. He ate bean curd sheets here a few times and felt that this dish was especially suitable for their area.”
"So I want to take a batch of goods back to Anzhou to sell."
"Hey, are you able to supply goods right now?"
"It depends on how much goods he wants and how long he needs to wait," Tian Tian said honestly.
“You two can discuss the specifics yourselves. I’m just making the connection for you,” Qian Fulai said, turning around.
"Okay, thank you, young master."
Qian Fulai led Tian Tian into a side room. "Manager Dong, this is the girl who makes bean curd sheets. Her surname is Tian."
"Miss Tian." Manager Dong stood up and bowed before even seeing who it was.
"Manager Dong."
Manager Dong recognized the voice and thought it was a young woman. He put his hand down and his eyes widened in surprise.
She was a young girl, but I didn't expect her to be this young.
"Miss Tian, you..."
"Don't worry, Manager Dong, I can make the decisions about my family's business." Tian Tian directly dispelled his concerns.
"How much bean curd skin does Manager Dong want?"
Dong Xiangyang was stunned for a moment before he came to his senses. "Yes, bean curd skin... I want a thousand catties."
Tian Tian was startled; a thousand jin...
It's not that they're surprised by the quantity, but rather... they can't produce that many items in such a short time.
When does Manager Dong need it?
Dong Xiangyang said, "I'm going to transport a batch of wine to Yanzhou tomorrow. On the way back, I'll go through Baishi County and then return to Anzhou."
"If you calculate it that way, it will take at least a month."
In a month... I made an average of more than 30 kilograms more per day. If I add a few more pots, it seems like it wouldn't be impossible.
"no problem."
Tian Tian glanced at Qian Fulai beside her and said, "Manager Dong, you want so much goods at once, I'll give you ninety coins per catty."
Manager Dong was delighted, "Then I'll write a contract."
A contract is essentially a written agreement.
Qian Fulai checked Tian Tian's face and nodded when he found no problems.
Tian Tian took it and carefully read it from the beginning.
Qian Fulai was surprised, "Miss Tian, you can read?"
Tian Tian smiled and said, "My great-grandfather was a scholar, my great-uncle was a graduate of the imperial examination, and my third uncle was also a graduate of the imperial examination, so naturally I can read."
Great-grandfather, eldest grandfather, first three uncles...
Qian Fulai was somewhat puzzled. What on earth was this "third uncle"?
There are no problems with the contract. It costs 90 cash per catty, and the total price for 1,000 catties of goods is 90 taels. The deposit is 20%, which is 18 taels.
Manager Dong paid the deposit, saying, "I'm going to Yanzhou, and my return date is uncertain, but you must reserve this batch of goods for me, young lady."
"no problem."
This was her first big deal, and Tian Tian took it very seriously.
After leaving the Fulai Restaurant, she went to the blacksmith shop and ordered twelve square pots again, agreeing to pick them up in five days.
Tian Tian walked from the blacksmith shop toward the city gate.
She was pondering a problem... there weren't enough people in the family, so she needed to hire more.
Unfortunately, there were very few people in Qingliu Village whom she could trust.
I looked up at the sky; it was almost lunchtime.
Tian Tian hurried to the city gate...
"Miss Tian, we've been waiting for you." Zhang Fusheng waved to her.
Tian Tian looked up and saw that the three women who had ridden in the oxcart with her that morning were already sitting in the oxcart.
It seems we've really been waiting for her.