noffsinger Chapter 112 Acquisition
Chapter 112 Acquisition
The next morning, Qin Huiyin handed the shopping list she had made last night to Mr. Tang Sanye and asked him to take Tang Dafu to go shopping.
Tang Dafu wanted to learn how to drive from Mr. Tang San, so he practiced on the road. After they went back and forth in the town, he not only learned how to drive, but also bought some things.
Qin Huiyin still had a lot to do today. She contacted the brother who carried water and the brother who delivered firewood and told them that she needed mushrooms and small fish and shrimp. The two brothers were very straightforward and said they would leave it to them. They would immediately find someone to go to the mountains to pick mushrooms and find someone to use a fishing basket to catch small fish and shrimp.
"Brother Song, Brother Zhang, if you see this kind of crab, the one you wouldn't normally eat, with its hard shell and those claws that can pinch you, I'll buy it too. I buy small fish and shrimp by the pound, one cent per pound. As for the crab, the bigger it is, the higher the price."
"No one eats this thing. I don't know what it's good for, but I went to my uncle's house yesterday, and they suddenly had this mangling bug problem over there."
"Is it much?"
"There were so many, it was quite annoying. Some people picked them up and cooked them. They were delicious, but there wasn't much meat. Some of the meat was bitter, which was a bit disgusting."
Qin Huiyin guessed that the bitter part he was referring to was the inedible part. Crab meat is delicious, so of course it wouldn't be bitter. However, there really wasn't much meat. She wanted to make crab roe sauce, so of course she needed a lot of crabs. Since there were no aquaculture sites in ancient times, all she could do was find crabs from natural lakes.
"I don't have an ox cart now. If I had one, I would really like you to take me to see how big it is." Qin Huiyin said.
"The size of this stone..." Song Tieniu picked up a big stone.
"These big ones can be sold for five for one penny." Qin Huiyin originally wanted to say two for one penny, but she thought it better to lower the price.
After all, they don't raise the crabs themselves. If they can make so much money by picking up a few crabs, it will easily develop their greed.
The so-called simple folk customs were based on the premise that there were no temptations or the temptations were insufficient. She never dared to test people's hearts, because people's hearts could not withstand the test.
"How much do you charge?" Song Tieniu asked in surprise.
"The more the better. I'll take whatever you have. The price is five for one penny. I don't care how you get them from outside, and I won't tell anyone even if they ask. This is a deal between us, and it has nothing to do with anyone else. If you want to make money, use your brain!"
Song Tieniu and Zhang Jieba looked at each other, made an appointment with Qin Huiyin to deliver the goods in the afternoon, and left quickly.
The two walked out of the Tang family and found a place where no one was around to discuss the matter in a low voice.
Zhang Jieba has been a stutterer since he was a child, and only Song Tieniu is willing to play with him. The two have been playmates since childhood, and now they quickly reached a consensus when discussing this matter.
"I'll go to the next village and rent an oxcart. It'll cost about ten coins a day. Then we'll have the villagers on my uncle's side catch the mangling bugs and tie them up. That way they won't crawl around and can't get caught. We'll charge ten for a penny, and if they're smaller, twenty for a penny. What do you think of this idea?"
Zhang Jieba nodded repeatedly.
Song Tieniu said angrily, "Speak, why nod? There's no one else here, and you don't dare to speak to me? If you don't speak for a long time, you will not be a stutterer but a mute. Can you speak quickly?"
Zhang Jieba said shyly, "Okay."
"We have to go back to our wives and ask them to bring a few close friends up the mountain to pick mushrooms. The more the better," Song Tieniu said. "Tingyin girl said she doesn't like too many people crowding her house, so we'll be in charge of collecting the mushrooms and then send them to her to get the money."
"We can collect it from them at one penny per pound, or two pennies per pound."
"Yes, let's do it like this."
“What if the villagers find out the price?”
"No, Yin has made it very clear that she won't tell anyone the price."
The raw materials were almost ready, and the next step was to arrange the utensils. In order to better store the food, they had to order a batch of custom-made pottery jars.
"My daughter, if you use ceramic jars to hold the sauce, the cost will be higher," Li Taohua reminded.
"I know. But pottery jars are less likely to spill when stored, and they can be preserved better. Here's what I think: these pottery jars are to be recycled. We give the boss a certain number of bottles, and when they use them, they have to return them to us. If there are any damages, we have to pay twenty coins for each pottery jar."
"A ceramic jar shouldn't cost twenty wen, right?" Li Taohua asked. "That idiot Song has a good friend who's in the ceramics business. I'll buy some from him. Jars the size of something you usually hold sauces for can be had for five wen at most."
"If you sell a jar this big outside, it would cost twenty cents. If it's damaged, twenty cents in compensation is reasonable. Of course, it would be best if you can get the lowest price. But Uncle Song is gone. Will his brothers still give you face?"
"This is a piece of cake for him, he won't refuse it." Li Taohua was full of confidence.
"Does that man have a shop in town?"
"He runs a shop in town, but the kiln he manages is in the countryside. It's not far from here, only 15 minutes away."
"It's so close. I'll go with you to take a look. If you find something you like, we can book it right away."
"What about us?" Tang Luwu and Tang Yixiao had been listening nearby, wanting to hear what arrangements were being made for them, but they were never mentioned.
"They'll pick some mushrooms and send them over later. You guys stay home and wait. If they come over early, take them and sit for a while until we come back to weigh them."
Qin Huiyin arranged tasks for the brother and sister.
"Everyone is busy with the sauce today and has no time to prepare the food for the stall. However, our business cannot stop, so we have to continue making various preparations."
"Then let's stay and make noodles. I've been learning while Yinyin was making noodles, so I should have figured it out. Making noodles is a delicate job, and one person can't do it. My little brother can help me."
The whole family was busy and no one was idle. Because of this family, the whole village seemed much busier and more lively today.
As the mother and daughter passed by the river, they saw many adults and children fishing there. As they passed near the mountains, they saw Song Tieniu and Zhang Jieba's wives leading a group of young wives up the mountain to pick mushrooms. As for Song Tieniu and Zhang Jieba, they had already rented an oxcart from the next village and were heading to Song Tieniu's uncle's village to buy "man-clawing worms."
The villagers were polarized, some constantly busy, others with nothing to do. Those with nothing to do almost always had a grudge against Li Taohua and her daughter. Song Tieniu and Zhang Jieba were honest, but not stupid. They couldn't possibly make money with them, or they'd risk losing their jobs.