stingy landlady

Chapter 158 Growing Bean Sprouts Together (4)

Guizhi looked at the boy in the thin shirt and said:

"What's your name?"

The boy said, trembling:

"Miss! My name is Yu San! My surname is Yu, and I'm the third child in my family! My father calls me Yu San!"

"Alright! Yu San, go find Ji Xiang! Tell her to find an old cotton-padded jacket for your sister to wear later! Also, tell her to find Aunt Zhou and get some fever-reducing medicine for your sister to take home and drink!"

Tomorrow, when my mother buys the soybean vats, she'll have your brother take them and the soybeans to your house by oxcart! You can stay home and sprout the beans! I'll have Jixiang teach you how to sprout beans even better!

"That's all for now with the farmhands," Guizhi said, grasping Dazhu's hand.

"Dad! Your hands are so warm! It's so cold outside!"

Let's go, Dad! Let's sort through the wild vegetables and shepherd's purse today and check the quantity! We'll take them to the county town together tomorrow morning!

When we get to Huanghua Village, give my older sister a ride! Let's look around the county town!

Dazhu led Guizhi by the hand toward where Madam Zhou lived. There were wild mountain vegetables and dried shepherd's purse stored in the storeroom there.

Guizhi counted about a hundred jars. If each jar contained an average of thirty catties, that would be about three thousand catties of wild vegetables! There were also about two hundred and fifty or sixty catties of dried shepherd's purse!

I've decided to bring ten jars of wild mountain vegetables and fifty catties of dried shepherd's purse! I'll also bring thirty catties of bean sprouts, and stir-fry the bean sprouts every other day!

Guihong had already tidied up her own room and also cleaned Guixiang's room. Every room had a heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed), so it wasn't cold inside!

Guizhi locked the door and didn't go back inside. Guihong told Jinxiu to go heat the kang (a heated brick bed) for Guizhi later before she went back to her room to read! She didn't like needlework; now she liked to read whenever she had free time!

When Guizhi left home in the morning, she locked her room door from the outside as usual. Not locking the door? What a joke! Li Shi might not know what valuables were kept in her room, but she certainly did.

Guizhi arrived at Zhou Niangzi's place early to watch people load the cart! Guihong had already said goodbye to Li Shi and came to find Guizhi as well! Dazhu drove the carriage all the way to Huanghua Village, where he picked up Guixiang and headed to the county town!

Guizhi thought she should first go to Xiangmanlou and greet Qu Dongjia, and then ask where she could sell her wild mountain vegetables.

When Qu Dongjia saw Dazhu, he felt he looked familiar but couldn't place him. It wasn't until Guizhi, Guixiang, and Guihong got off the carriage that he recognized him!

"So it's Brother Dazhu! Guizhi! These are your two older sisters? Please come in!"

Dazhu, still honest and simple, called out:

"Master Qu! I've troubled you again!"

The sweet chirping of Guizhi drifted over:

"Uncle Qu! You just came from home? Well, we've arrived at the perfect time!"

Qu Dongjia breathed on his palms as he spoke:

"Haha! It's too cold! Most of the guests don't arrive until around noon! There's no need for me to come early every day and freeze! What, Guizhi, did you bring something good?"

Guizhi, like a lackey, came over and lifted the carriage curtain.

"Uncle Qu! This is definitely good stuff! This is dried shepherd's purse! This is wild mountain vegetable! We sell off-season wild vegetables from summer in winter!"

"Is this really a good product?"

Mr. Qu carefully examined the dried shepherd's purse, then lifted the jar and saw the neatly arranged pickled wild vegetables. He genuinely smiled.

"These are indeed good things! Waiter! Lead Brother Dazhu to the backyard! Weigh everything on the cart and put it into storage!"

Guizhi was dumbfounded. What kind of operation was this?

"Uncle Qu! There are quite a few of them! Why are you keeping them all in your warehouse? Will you be able to sell them all?"

Manager Qu smiled.

"Guizhi! Don't underestimate your Uncle Qu! Even if there were a few more, it wouldn't be a problem! Winter is long! Uncle Qu has to be careful with how much he sells!"

"Uncle Qu, don't worry about saving, we still have plenty at home! Oh! Right! We also have bean sprouts! I was planning to go and ask about the sales of bean sprouts!"

Everyone in the village has a hard life, so I was thinking of sprouting more bean sprouts to sell and earn some money to improve everyone's lives!

"Let's go inside first! Guizhi, tell your two older sisters to come inside and talk too! It's too cold outside!"

Qu Dongjia strode forward as he spoke!

Osmanthus branches led the way to the fragrance of osmanthus, with the red osmanthus branches following closely behind. Upon entering the main hall, the biting cold wind vanished. The room was warm and cozy.

Master Qu was already waiting in the side room, pouring tea! He said to Guizhi and the other two:

"Sit down! Everyone, sit down and warm up! Have some hot tea! Guizhi! Your two older sisters are both very refined!"

Gui Zhi formally introduced:

"Uncle Qu! Let me introduce you; this is my eldest sister, Wang Guixiang, gentle and generous! This is my second sister, Wang Guihong, cheerful and understanding! I am Wang Guizhi! Hehe!"

Mr. Qu continued with a smile:

"You! Wang Guizhi! You're so mischievous! Haha!"

Everyone laughed, and Gui Xiang and Gui Hong, no longer reserved, took their seats!

"Guizhi! How many wild vegetables and shepherd's purse do you have at home?"

Manager Qu, let's get back to the main topic.

"Uncle Qu, we still have about 2,700 jin of wild vegetables. There aren't many shepherd's purse left, only about 200 jin! We also run a fast food shop, but we haven't been able to afford to make shepherd's purse dumplings! We were just hoping to sell them in the county town for a good price!"

"Okay! Guizhi, how about those dried shepherd's purse for thirty coins a pound?"

Guizhi did the math in her head: fresh ones sold for five coins a pound, and it would take three pounds of fresh ones to dry into one pound. Thirty coins wasn't low, but it wasn't high either.

Guizhi smiled:

"Uncle Qu! It's quite a lot of work to dry fresh shepherd's purse! And a lot of it is wasted! Especially in this season!"

Mr. Qu laughed heartily.

"Guizhi has learned to speak more tactfully! Alright! After all, it's a new dish! Guizhi has also put in a lot of effort! Then it'll be fifty coins per catty!"

Guizhi suppressed her excitement and said:

"Thank you, Uncle Qu! Uncle Qu, those bracken and tender shoots were bought at a high price!"

Qu Dongjia looked at Guizhi with amusement.

"Did you add salt to the wild vegetables in the jar, so you could sell them to Uncle Qu at a high price?"

Guizhi blushed, but still forced herself to say:

"Uncle Qu! Buy high, sell high! You can sell it for one or two taels of silver a plate of food, or even more, and people will still eat it! Scarcity drives up prices! That's normal!"

Qu Dongjia tapped the table lightly with two fingers of his right hand, pondered for a moment, and then said:

"Guizhi says that things are valued for their scarcity! So you can't sell your wild vegetables and shepherd's purse to anyone else! As for how Uncle Qu sells them and to whom, don't worry about that!"

Those wild mountain vegetables, regardless of type, are all 100 coins a pound! And the cassia branches! They're already quite tall!

Guizhi felt a little helpless! She knew these wild mountain vegetables could fetch a higher price, but she didn't know anyone richer than her.

"Okay! Uncle Qu! Those jars were bought with money too!"

Qu Dongjia teased her:

"How about 100 coins a pound for the jars?"

Guizhi thought about it carefully. A single jar would weigh at least three or four jin (about 1.5-2 catties), and cost three or four hundred coins. That's fine!

"Uncle Qu! This batch of wild mountain vegetables and shepherd's purse will definitely boost the restaurant's business to new heights!"

"Hahaha! Guizhi! I appreciate your kind words! Next year you should store up more wild vegetables and shepherd's purse! I'll need them very much!"