stingy landlady

Chapter 52 The Vegetable Selling Scandal 3

Early in the morning, the old lady, Zhao, Sun, and Da Bao were already busy. They went to pick vegetables, wash them, and bundle them up! They didn't need anyone to tell them what to do; they were all very skilled at the process.

Seeing the bustling scene, Guizhi went back and said to Aunt Zhou, "Aunt Zhou! Pick a little less vegetables today, only about thirty or forty catties! Everything else is the same as usual!"

When Dazhu saw the old man, he quickly said, "Dad! Yesterday, my mother and the others..."

The old man looked at him with a disgruntled gaze, "You're a man! Do your job properly! Why do you care about those women all day long! They can argue endlessly over the smallest things! They can't even read a single word, but they're all experts at arguing and fighting! Go on! Get back to what you were doing!"

Dazhu nodded in agreement. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief; it would save him trouble if the old man didn't pursue the matter, and he wouldn't interfere with the vegetable selling either. The two of them went to the western depression to watch the people work.

Lin Xiaoyun drove the carriage to the back kitchen of the restaurant. Zhao Shi and Da Bao took the money from selling vegetables and walked out with empty baskets on their backs.

Li Caiban smiled and came forward: "Guihong! This is your second aunt! Why don't you two take the same carriage? It would save you from making two trips!"

Gui Hong was young, and her expression was written all over her face. She glanced at Zhao Shi sideways and said, "Uncle Li! We've separated the family business. We'll each sell our own vegetables!"

Li Caiban pretended not to know: "Oh! Uncle Li didn't know, he thought you were family! She delivered a lot of vegetables today! Now that the greens are here, they're much cheaper!"

Gui Hong paused her hand as she unloaded the vegetables and asked, "Uncle Li! Are you still buying vegetables today?"

Li Cai made a pretext to create a difficult situation:

“Look at this mess! It turns out there are two families involved! You’ve already brought all this from so far away! It’s not good to take it all back now! Move it down! Uncle Li will take the liberty of buying more vegetables! But the price…”

As they were talking, Li, the purchasing agent, helped unload the vegetables from the carriage.

Guizhi pressed down on Li Caiban's hand as he was carrying vegetables down the hill, and smiled:

"Uncle Li! Don't rush! We can't put Uncle Li in a difficult position! We won't move the vegetables any further! I wonder if Uncle Li doesn't want the other vegetables either?"

Gui Hong became somewhat anxious upon hearing this.

"Cassia branch!"

Guizhi stopped Guihong from speaking and said softly:

"Second sister! No rush! If Uncle Li doesn't want any of this, we'll just take it. It'll be transported by carriage anyway, so we won't get any trouble!"

Li Caiban was a little anxious: "Everything else! Guizhi! The other vegetables are the same as usual! Even the green vegetables, you know, we agreed to adjust the price according to the market!"

Guizhi thought for a moment and said, "Okay! Then I'll give you the other items! But we won't be bringing the vegetables down today! We won't be delivering vegetables here anymore! You can take the cheaper ones for now! It's business! We can't let you lose money!"

Li Caiban saw that Guizhi refused to lower the price but did not force it. The group took the bean sprouts, shepherd's purse, and wild garlic off the carriage, weighed them, and settled the bill later.

Li, the purchasing manager, was still somewhat unwilling:

"Guihong, Guizhi! You two are too young to understand! Unlike other vegetables, these greens can't be kept for a day or two! They won't last long, they'll all rot overnight!"

Guizhi smiled and said, "Thank you, Uncle Li! Don't worry! There won't be any left!"

Lin Xiaoyun urged the carriage towards the academy. Today, the students hadn't finished class yet, and Gui Hong couldn't help but ask Gui Zhi, "Third Sister! Why aren't you selling Xiangmanlou anymore?"

Guizhi said in a serious tone, "Second sister! It sounds nice to say that business is business, but there's also a saying that there's no business without guile."

The restaurant thinks that because we have a family feud, they can take advantage of us! Grandma and Second Aunt are worried about not being able to sell the food, but we aren't!

I sell perfectly good green vegetables for 20 cents a pound, why should I give them a discount?

In other words, the quantity is too small. If we had more land, we could grow more vegetables and take a horse-drawn cart to the county town to sell them! That's where the rich people live!

Gui Hong felt her heart warm up as well.

"Third Sister! We've never been to the county town before! Next year, let's order more dishes and go to the county town for a visit!"

I heard the streets there are cleaner than our house! Those rich young ladies are dressed in fine silks and satins, adorned with gold and silver jewelry, and even the maids are dressed exceptionally beautifully!

Gui Hong was still dreaming about where to go in the county town and what to see!

A voice interrupted him: "Wow! Brother Liu, so many fresh vegetables!"

"Hey! Little girl! Is this yours? Did you grow it yourself? You're already eating vegetables so early!"

Guizhi's voice came from outside: "Young Master Zheng! Young Master Liu! These are from my family's garden. We couldn't bear to eat them, so we brought them here to try our luck!"

The young master surnamed Zheng said, "My grandmother hasn't had much of an appetite these past few days! I'd like you to send some wild garlic tomorrow to whet her appetite! I don't want any green vegetables, so just sell them all to me!"

The young master surnamed Liu said, "The usual rule! Half for each of us! Everyone wants some fresh vegetables at this time of year!"

The young master Zheng waved his hand, and a servant came over. "Young master! You didn't bring a basket!"

"Then take the basket with you! Return it tomorrow! Remember to bring some garlic chives and greens tomorrow too! You don't just grow these vegetables, do you?"

Young Master Zheng asked Guizhi with concern.

Wang Zhi smiled at the two young masters: "Young masters! How could that be! There aren't many green vegetables, but we still get thirty or forty catties every day."

Young Master Liu immediately chimed in, "Send it over every day! My dear brother, let's split it in half! There are many people in the family, so if everyone gets a share, it won't be much!"

Young Master Zheng nodded, and thus Guizhi's vegetables were secured.

Gui Hong secretly breathed a sigh of relief and weighed it. "Two young masters, thirty-six catties and seven hundred and twenty coins!"

Young Master Zheng handed over one tael of silver, "Keep the change, take all dumplings! Shepherd's purse dumplings, please?"

Guizhi agreed, and then added, "Starting tomorrow, we'll be adding celery and pork dumplings and shepherd's purse dumplings!"

Young Master Liu said, "Make more celery and pork dumplings, and order twenty boxes as well. Do you want some, my dear brother?"

Young Master Zheng: "Yes! Absolutely! Little sister! Your family is willing to use such expensive vegetables for the filling! That costs twenty coins a pound!"

Gui Zhi smiled sweetly and said, "Hehe! You two young masters! How can you only think about making money and not think about our bread and butter! There are few green vegetables now, so it feels fresh. After a while, when there are more vegetables, it won't be so rare!"

Looking at the little girl's adorable smile, Young Master Zheng teased, "Little sister! Your family certainly knows how to do business! You even know to plant vegetables early. Since we've been so supportive of your business, if you have any rare or unusual items, you must bring them out for us to see first."

Gui Hong had already started selling dumplings, and a student wearing a blue robe came over and saw the green vegetables, eager to try them.

"Young shopkeeper, your vegetables have grown so big already? Do you have any more? I'd like to buy some to take home for my family to try!"

"Excuse me, sir! We're out of vegetables! Although we started early, we don't have that much land, so we didn't plant many!"

"What about tomorrow?"

"Oh! Young master! All the vegetables for the next few days have been ordered! But we're planning to make celery and pork dumplings tomorrow! If you'd like some, come early!"