allonlinenovel Chapter 294 Goodness, how rich must they be?
Chapter 294 Goodness, how rich must they be?
The village head blushed and said, "As the village head, how could I take advantage of you like this? Although you have made money from your business and have suddenly become the richest family in the village, your money did not come from thin air. It was not easy for you."
Lin Qingchuan waved his hand, "Uncle Village Head, the most important thing in doing business is integrity. When I advised you to plant turmeric, I said I would waive the land rent for one season, so I won't charge you. No matter whether you make money this season or not, I won't charge you. I can't be jealous just because you have a good harvest and make money, right?"
The village head was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then immediately gave a thumbs up and praised, "As expected of Qingchuan, his character is truly impeccable! Since you insist on not accepting it, then I won't stand on ceremony. Next season, when the harvest is good, we'll do whatever we want. Whether you and Shuisheng want silver or grain, it's fine with us."
"Let's get some grain, then we won't have to buy any more to eat."
The grain store sells grain at a higher price than the villagers sell it for. Furthermore, the grain store in Dushui County sells grain at a higher price than the grain store in Qinghe Town. Rather than letting the grain store make money, it's better to get fresh grain harvested by the village head, who will definitely provide a larger quantity.
The village head happily nodded in agreement, "Alright, it's settled then. I really feel bad that you don't want any grain or money this season. When the next harvest comes, I'll make sure the eldest and second eldest brothers pack clean food for you so you can eat with peace of mind."
Just then, Li Liangtian and Shen Gou Dan ran over together. When they saw Lin Qingchuan, their eyes lit up as if they had seen a god of wealth.
The two ran to Lin Qingchuan's side, greeted the village head casually and perfunctorily, "Village head."
Shen Gou Dan grabbed Lin Qingchuan's arm and said excitedly, "Brother Qingchuan, I've been waiting for you! You have to harvest our turmeric today, no matter what. We heard you were back to harvest turmeric, so to support you, I went to the fields to pick some without saying a word. Who knew you left so early yesterday? By the time we came looking for you, you had already gone back. Sigh!"
Lin Qingchuan's lips twitched. Although they all grew up in the same village, they only greeted each other when they met. When did they become so familiar that she was actually holding his arm?
He smiled and said, "Don't worry, as long as the turmeric grown in our Guihua Village is worth selling to me, I'll buy it, as much as you can get. But if you want to grow it again next season, it's better to keep some seeds for yourselves."
Shen Gou Dan nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, yes, I've already reserved them. The rest are just waiting to be sold to you."
Yesterday, he and Li Liangtian went to Lizhengtian's field to look for Lin Qingchuan, only to find that he was gone. They went back and quickly finished harvesting the turmeric. They didn't dare go home to sleep at night, fearing that it would be stolen if left in the field. They started picking turmeric before dawn today, and finally finished harvesting all the turmeric before Qingchuan returned. They are now just waiting to weigh and sell it.
Lin Qingchuan came back to collect turmeric, and he certainly wouldn't refuse to collect it just because Shen Gou Dan and Li Liang Tian weren't very good people. He smiled and said, "Alright, you're all ready, then I'll collect yours first. Come on, take me to see it."
Li Liangtian quickly pushed Shen Gou Dan aside and said in a seemingly straightforward manner, "Come on, Qingchuan, let's take a look at my family's first, then Gou Dan's. Our two families live close by, so it doesn't matter whose family we look at first."
Shen Gou Dan: "..."
It doesn't matter whose you look at first, so why push him aside and insist that Lin Qingchuan go with him first?
Honestly, I should have come out to find Lin Qingchuan myself. Li Liangtian is really dishonest. We agreed to go together, but he's keeping an eye on his own place. I wonder if Lin Qingchuan has enough money to buy Li Liangtian's house and then buy his own.
Yesterday, the village head alone sold four mu of turmeric, which is estimated to be worth several dozen taels of silver. Lin Qingchuan has come back to buy turmeric again today, and he seems to be very confident.
Goodness, how rich must someone be?
Now, when Li Liangtian wants to sell turmeric, he pulls Lin Qingchuan along like two buddies, completely unlike his former arrogant and disdainful self.
Along the way, Li Liangtian kept asking, "Brother Qingchuan, where in town do you live? I wonder if I can ask you for a bowl of water when I go to the market in town. Your business is getting bigger and bigger, you must need a lot of manpower. If you ever need more manpower, just call me when you come back. I have plenty of strength to work. I'll do any dirty or hard work."
Lin Qingchuan gave an awkward smile, offering no direct response.
Not to mention that they have already moved to Dushui County and have enough manpower now, even if they hadn't moved to the county, they still wouldn't have enough manpower. Given Li Liangtian's temperament, he would never reveal his residence and business to him.
Shen Gou Dan was already unhappy when Li Liangtian pushed Shen Gou Dan aside and let Lin Qingchuan buy his family's turmeric first. Now, seeing Li Liangtian actually trying to curry favor with Lin Qingchuan, he scoffed inwardly.
“When Qingchuan was having a hard time, Shuisheng was always there to help him. Now that the business is doing well, he immediately pulled Shuisheng along to do it too. If you wanted to join in, why didn’t you help Qingchuan more back then?”
Li Liangtian's face flushed red and then turned pale. His lips twitched, and he didn't know how to reply. He cursed Shen Gou Dan, that son of a bitch, for deliberately sabotaging him.
Seeing that Li Liangtian was furious but couldn't vent his anger in front of Lin Qingchuan, Shen Gou Dan felt extremely relieved.
That's just how people are; if I'm doing well, you're not, and if I'm not doing well, you can't be either!
Lin Qingchuan was led by the two men to Li Liangtian's field. After weighing it, it weighed 600 jin and 12 taels of silver. He readily counted the silver and handed it over to Li Liangtian.
Looking at the silver in his hand, Li Liangtian felt like he was dreaming. He sighed, "Wow, it's all true! Growing turmeric is much more profitable than growing rice!"
He suddenly frowned in annoyance, "Why was I so stubborn back then? Why didn't I think more carefully and buy more seeds to plant turmeric in all these fields? Wouldn't I have made a lot more money that way?"
Shen Gou Dan was even more annoyed than Li Liang Tian. He was filled with regret because he had been reluctant to spend money to buy seeds and had only bought seeds for less than half an acre of land. He planted the seeds sparsely on the half acre, and the harvest he made was less than half of what Li Liang Tian had harvested.
Lin Qingchuan then went to Shen Gou Dan's field. After weighing it, it was less than 300 jin. Shen Gou Dan gritted his teeth and kept 100 jin of seeds for the next season. He only sold 200 jin for four taels of silver.
Looking at the four taels of silver in his hand, which was only a third of Li Liangtian's, Shen Gou Dan pouted, looking unhappy.
He got conjunctivitis and secretly vowed in his heart that if he had a good opportunity to make money in the future, he must be bolder and seize it before Li Liangtian. Otherwise, Li Liangtian's family would become better off than his, and that bastard Li Liangtian would definitely look down on him even less in the future.
After Lin Qingchuan loaded the turmeric into the cart, before he could even lead the cart out of the field, other villagers came to call him. Seeing that the cart was almost full, he immediately led the cart back to his brick house at the west end of the village after he finished buying the turmeric and unloaded it.
When the villagers heard that he had returned, they came one after another carrying sacks to his small brick house to sell things to him.
Lin Qingchuan was busy all by himself, collecting turmeric, weighing it, and counting the money. He was as busy as a spinning top.
……
Lin Xiaotang and Uncle Shuisheng rented a horse-drawn carriage early in the morning and went to Pingding County to find channels to sell turmeric.
The reason for renting a carriage was that her father had driven one to deliver pig trotters to Yunlai Restaurant and then went straight back to Guihua Village. Uncle Wu Yu had driven another carriage to Wucheng to supply pig trotters. As for Xiao Jiu, although he was going to Pingding County to supply pig trotters to Fuqing Restaurant, his carriage was already full of pig trotters, so he couldn't carry much else.
She and Uncle Shuisheng rented a large carriage, but even so, it took a lot of effort to only fill it with more than half of the turmeric. The rest was stuffed into Xiao Jiu's carriage.
The two horse-drawn carriages traveled together to Pingding County in a grand procession.
They first unloaded the braised pig's trotters at Wanhe Restaurant, and then drove together in a carriage to Baicaotang Pharmacy.
Last year, they inquired in Pingding County and learned that Baicaotang was the largest and most famous pharmacy in the county, with fair prices.
After Shuisheng and Xiaojiu parked the carriage, they took out a few turmeric roots and the three of them went into the Baicaotang Pharmacy.
As for why they didn't bring a sack of turmeric into the pharmacy to inquire about prices, it was because they felt it wouldn't be good to let the pharmacy staff know they had brought a large amount of turmeric before agreeing on a price. After all, what if the pharmacy staff took the opportunity to lower the price, and they would earn less?
The pharmacy had just opened, and it was still breakfast time. There were few pedestrians on the road, and those who came early were all in a hurry, so there wasn't a single customer in the pharmacy yet.
The shop assistant was busy packing up when he heard footsteps and immediately looked up. He saw a big man leading two children into the pharmacy. The shop assistant casually asked, "Are you here to get medicine or to treat an illness?"
He naturally assumed that Shui Sheng was someone who had come to the pharmacy to see a doctor and get medicine; a man with two children didn't look like someone doing business at all.
But the three of them happened to be in business, selling not only braised pig's trotters but also medicinal herbs!
The shop assistant asked Shuisheng whether he wanted to get medicine or treat his illness. Shuisheng wasn't angry. Over the years, he had made many trips to the pharmacy to treat his mother's illness.
"I don't need medicine or treatment, but I'd like to trouble you, brother, to help me see what price you can offer for this turmeric."
What?
turmeric?
The shopkeeper paused, holding the herbs. He carefully put them down, casually wiped them on his sides, and looked at Shuisheng with surprise.
"What did you say? You know what turmeric is?"
"That's right, I brought it with me. Take a look at its condition and tell me what price you'd offer."
Last year, Lin Xiaotang and her father came to Baicaotang to inquire about prices, but the pharmacy was crowded and the clerk was busy. When she asked, the clerk didn't even look up and just gave her a few casual replies. Now, the clerk naturally wouldn't recognize her.
Shuisheng handed the turmeric to the waiter so he could see it.
The waiter took the turmeric, glanced at it, and his eyes widened in surprise.
"My God, where did you get this? How come it's so big?"
This turmeric is yellowish-red, golden in color, large and fresh, and it was dug out intact. It's valuable, definitely valuable!
Shui Sheng smiled but didn't answer. He continued, "Since you also think this turmeric is of good quality and large in size, what price can you offer?"
The shopkeeper thought for a moment and said, "Normally, turmeric costs two and a half coins per ounce, and we can negotiate if you have a large quantity. Although your turmeric is of good quality and large size, there are only a few pieces. It won't be easy to raise the price."
"What if we really have a large volume?"
The guy was shocked again!
He exclaimed excitedly, "What? You can get such a large quantity of turmeric?"
This is incredible!
These medicinal herbs can only be found in the mountains, as everyone knows. The mountains are infested with large insects, venomous snakes, and poisonous insects. Even a strong young man would risk his life if he went up the mountain. A trip into the mountains doesn't guarantee that you'll find anything. If you manage to find something, you might only find a ginseng root or a few decent medicinal herbs. If you're unlucky, you might only find a few worthless herbs. Finding turmeric isn't a big deal, but finding a large amount of turmeric is quite remarkable.
The man asked, "How much did you dig up? You can bring it here, and we can talk to our manager when he arrives."
Lin Qingchuan pointed to the carriage road outside the pharmacy, "The carriage is full of turmeric. If you offer a fair price and can pay in cash, we have even more!"
Good heavens, this can't be a joke, right?
This is turmeric, not sesame seeds, millet, or rice. You can't just get as much as you want. Is this guy just bragging?
The shopkeeper looked incredulous. "Tsk tsk tsk, I know you went through a lot of trouble to get the medicinal herbs and wanted to sell them for a good price, but turmeric is a rare medicinal herb, not like radishes or cabbages. Getting three or five catties is already difficult, and two carriages are already full of it. You can have as much as you want. Did I just get lucky today, or are you just bragging and making fun of me?"
Seeing that the waiter didn't believe him, Xiao Jiu became anxious and denied it, saying, "No, no, we're not playing a trick on you. Our turmeric is all in the carriage outside. If you don't believe me, you can see for yourself. We can verify the truth right here and now, so why would we lie to you?"
The shopkeeper nodded. "That's true. I'll see if you're lying to me by watching you."
However, both carriages were loaded with turmeric; how many kilograms must that be? It's truly unbelievable.
"Come on, take me to see this place. Let me broaden my horizons today. If you're going to make fun of me, I won't accept it."
Shui Sheng laughed and said, "Let's make this clear first. If we're not lying, you'll have to put in a good word for us with the manager in your household and give us a higher price."
The man patted his chest and readily agreed, "No problem. These turmerics are so plump, large, and of such good quality. As long as you buy in large quantities, we can raise the price for them from our manager."
The group left the pharmacy and walked towards the carriage. Shui Sheng lifted the carriage curtain to show the shop assistant.
The man was dumbfounded. He closed his eyes and rubbed them, then suddenly opened them wide. The cart was still full of turmeric, all packed in burlap sacks. The turmeric peeking out from where the sacks were tied with straw ropes was the same as the one Shui Sheng had shown him.
OMG!
Is he dreaming?
Having worked in the pharmacy for so many years, he had seen all kinds of medicinal herbs, but he had never seen such a large quantity of herbs before!
"Wow...this...this...where did you get all this turmeric?" He was so excited he could barely speak.