allonlinenovel Chapter 39: Surprising Events
Chapter 39: Surprising Events
Fang Xiaoxiao walked to the stone table and sat down. It seemed that almost every household had a stone table. She had visited many families, and almost every family with a small courtyard had one.
However, the old man's stone table was much larger than his own, and it wasn't round but octagonal, which looked quite nice.
After praising him in her heart, she looked at the old man who walked into the main hall.
Just now.
The old man mistakenly thought she wanted to buy all his wine, so he became furious and insisted that he would not sell it.
Fortunately, Fang Xiaoxiao was quick-witted and realized that the other party must have misunderstood her to say such things.
After some tentative questioning, they finally understood that what the old man meant by not selling was the aged apricot wine in the five jars under the two large apricot trees next to him.
She would never drink such beverages, especially those that have been stored for a long time.
Based on my understanding, anything that has been stored for a long time will spoil, so it's completely pointless.
None of them are as good as freshly baked ones.
Zhang Xianren patted his chest with a sigh of relief, indicating that as long as Fang Xiaoxiao wasn't after his aged apricot blossom wine, he would be happy to sell her two jin of freshly brewed apricot blossom wine.
Fang Xiaoxiao was initially hesitant to refuse, since two catties of apricot blossom wine would cost three taels of silver.
She herself told the old man that she could add 500 coins to buy a pound of apricot blossom wine.
Now, five hundred coins plus another five hundred coins, that's a thousand coins, which adds up to one tael of silver.
You know, rice wine only costs 50 coins for three ounces, and 500 coins can buy you a full meal.
When I arrived, the fat chef mentioned that the apricot blossom wine cost one jin and one liang, and I also inquired with Li Ba to confirm the price.
Fang Xiaoxin secretly wanted to refuse him, but the old man changed his previous cold and serious expression to a slightly kind one, and she felt a little reluctant, thinking that the old man was getting old and it was only right for him to earn some money for his retirement.
Even if it costs an extra tael of silver, it still hurts to some extent.
Zhang Xianren was holding a small wine jar, which looked like it could hold three catties of wine.
He strode to the octagonal stone table, placed the wine jar on it, and said.
“I am not a stingy person. Since we have met once before, and you are dressed very simply, I have prepared three catties of newly brewed apricot blossom wine for you to sell and earn a little money.”
"?"
Three catties!
Fang Xiaoxiao didn't pay much attention to the old man's other words, but she was particularly concerned when she heard him say that he had filled her with an extra pound of wine.
You know, an extra pound of wine would cost an extra 500 coins, so three pounds would cost an extra 1,500 coins.
This situation made her inwardly groan. It was all her fault for being so talkative. Why did she have to be so presumptuous and say something about paying more? It's just wine, after all. If it really doesn't work out, she could just buy some cloudy wine, distill it herself, and purify it. Wouldn't that be better than this apricot blossom wine?
Should!
She inwardly cursed and regretted it, wishing she could slap herself in the face a few times.
When Zhang Xianren saw that he was stunned again, he thought that he was startled by his good intentions.
He had no choice but to pretend to cough, changing his previous cold tone and softening his smile.
"Young lady, please don't be too grateful to me. I am just an unknown person, so there's no need to be so polite."
"!"
I'm so grateful to you, you're still nobody, you old swindler...
She cursed him in her heart for what followed, mainly because she felt uncomfortable. She had worked day and night, earning only a few taels of silver each day, and now she was going to spend more than four taels of silver all at once. It was no different from cutting off her own flesh.
Fang Xiaoxiao thought to herself, but she had to keep a calm expression on her face, otherwise the other party would look down on her.
"Thank you so much for your kindness, sir. How much silver is it in total?"
"Oh, not much, just three taels of silver."
Hey, no need to pay an extra 1,500 coins!
Hearing the old man say that, she thought that she wouldn't have to pay much more money, and it was still acceptable.
Unexpectedly, the next second...
Zhang Xianren chuckled awkwardly.
"Just now, the young lady said she would add five hundred coins to every pound of apricot blossom wine I make. Of course, I disagree, but I would be impolite to refuse such a kind offer!"
"!"
Damn it, this old ditch.
Fang Xiao's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets from staring so hard. The lucky smile that had just appeared on her lips now looked incredibly ugly, like a clown's smile—strange and awkward.
As for her fair, jade-like hand, which had just taken three taels of silver from her purse, it also paused there.
Seeing how happy she was, Zhang Xianren naturally felt that this girl had a good character and was a partner worth keeping in touch with for the long term.
He said he didn't particularly care about money, but who wouldn't want to have more money on hand for a rainy day?
Moreover, he has been visiting the Yanxiang Pavilion more and more frequently these days, so he doesn't have enough money.
If one could develop the woman in front of him into selling apricot blossom wine on his behalf, why not?
The key point is that during his conversation with the woman, he overheard her saying that she had to support seven husbands, which shocked him greatly, as he thought it was impossible for her to do so.
But when the woman later said that she could support herself by manufacturing pills and selling them to others, Zhang Xianren already had a plan in mind.
Zhang Xianren was originally a renowned wine-making immortal in the capital, and could be said to be a figure that many high-ranking officials in the imperial city talked about with great interest.
With his apricot blossom wine, he directly controlled the nobility and royalty.
However, at the height of his success, the accident forced him to give up all fame and fortune, and hide in Xinghua Village, never wanting to have any connection with anyone in the court again.
At this moment, Fang Xiaoxiao reluctantly took out silver coins from her purse, totaling four taels of silver plus five hundred coins.
"Mr. Zhang, please keep this money."
She said that, but her hand holding the money didn't loosen; instead, she gripped it tightly, her brows furrowed into a deep frown.
Just as Zhang Xianren came to his senses and reached out to grab it, he found that it was being pulled too tightly.
Is this girl a miser?
He sighed with genuine admiration, but instead of blaming the other person, he laughed.
"Haha, what an interesting woman. Alright, look at you, so greedy for money. You say you want to pay more to buy my apricot blossom wine, but you're holding onto the silver coins tightly. You're just like me back in the day."
As he spoke, he immediately let go, stroked his white beard, and continued.
"How about this? If you can agree to one thing for me, not only will I not ask you for any money or drinks, but I will also provide you with apricot blossom wine for free on an ongoing basis. What do you think?"
Free of charge, no need to pay for the drinks?
These eight words were so intense they burned my head, completely imprinted in Fang Xiao's mind like a branding iron.
The saying "free is the most expensive" is true.
But she didn't care. Could there be anything more expensive?
Then, she said with a smile.
"Sir, what are you saying? Do you think I'm the kind of person who likes to take advantage of others?"
"Tell me what you want me to do."