Chapter 233: Finding Another Way Out
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
By the looks of things, if Qin Xiaoyao couldn’t close the deal tomorrow, she would have to look for the next grain store immediately.
“As for the firewood, Mrs. Song, I… I can only make it up to you in the future.”
“Or, if you convert it to money, I can pay you back! As of now, I still owe you eight loads of firewood,” Wang Dashan said.
It was also because he had more people working for him recently that he was able to pay back most of the firewood he owed the Song family in such a short time.
Qin Xiaoyao chuckled.
“Forget about converting to money. When the town gate opens in the future, you can just pay me back then.”
The firewood shed was already full, and there was also a lot of firewood in the storeroom. The firewood in her house was enough to last her family for a long time.
“Alright then! Thank you for your understanding, Mrs. Song!” Wang Dashan said hurriedly.
Qin Xiaoyao then asked Wang Dashan about the situation outside the town before leaving.
After Qin Xiaoyao left, Wang Dashan started to chat with Wang Xiaomei.
“If we can’t leave the town, Father, Uncle Liu, and Erniu will not be able to gather firewood to sell.
“In the current situation, I’m afraid Daniu and the rest won’t be able to go to the dock.
“But the Liu family has a good financial foundation. Also, Aunt Liu and the youngest daughter of the Liu family are still selling straw sandals and bean sprouts at a stall. Even if their days are a little hard, they should be able to survive.
“But for me and Father, there’s really nothing we can do.
“I came here to discuss with you to see if there’s any work that Father and I can do, or other means to earn money.”
Wang Xiaomei was silent.
“Mrs. Song’s bean sprout business is pretty good,” she said after some thought.
“She mentioned before that she wanted to try setting up a stall in the market on East Street. However, we’ve been unable to spare any manpower.”
As she spoke, Wang Xiaomei looked at her big brother.
“The market on East Street is quite far from the western district. It’s not very lively there, and we’re not familiar with the people and the place. If we go there, it won’t be easy to get the business going.”
Wang Dashan’s eyes lit up when he heard that.
“So what if it’s far away? I’m not afraid even if I’m not familiar with the place. After going there a few times, I’ll become familiar with it!”
“When I first started selling firewood, I didn’t know anyone either. At most, I’ll go door to door to sell the bean sprouts like I sell firewood!”
The Song family’s bean sprouts were really good.
Whether at the markets on West Street, South Street, or North Street, they all sold very well.
Even the Liu family and his own family would occasionally eat bean sprouts.
Of course, they didn’t have to pay for their bean sprouts. The youngest sisters of the two families deliberately left some unsold and gave them to their respective families.
Wang Xiaomei nodded her head.
“Alright then. I’ll go talk to Mrs. Song later. If she agrees, then you and Father can take some bean sprouts wholesale and go to the east of the town to try selling them.”
“Mm-hmm!” Wang Dashan quickly nodded.
The brother and sister chatted for a while longer.
After that, Wang Xiaomei went to retrieve 20 catties of grain and handed them to Wang Dashan before he left.
After sending her big brother off, Wang Xiaomei returned to her tasks.
She thought she would wait for Qin Xiaoyao to come out before asking her if she could allow Xiaomei’s big brother and father to sell some bean sprouts as well.
That was right. Qin Xiaoyao had gone back into the room again.
She was explaining the situation outside the town to Song Que.
“We do have to hurry up and get rid of the excess food at home,” Song Que said.
He suddenly thought of something and said, “There should still be a lot of soybeans left at home, right? Why don’t we sell them off as well?”
After all, the market would not be able to open once the bandits overran the town.
At that point, business would not be good.
Qin Xiaoyao was startled, and she hesitated.
“Didn’t you say that the bandit problem wouldn’t last long?” she asked.
“By the time the bandit trouble is over, it will be winter.”
“When the snow falls, we won’t be able to sell water.”
“In addition, when the weather is cold, it will not be easy to sell straw sandals and preserved eggs. Other than selling bean sprouts, we don’t have any other business to make money from.”
Qin Xiaoyao did have a lot of soybeans left, but she had never thought of disposing of them.
On one hand, it was used to grow bean sprouts. On the other hand, when soybeans were used to stew cured meat or simply stir-fried, they were very tasty.
Qin Xiaoyao was still waiting for winter to arrive so that she could have a few more good meals.
Song Que thought for a while and felt that Qin Xiaoyao’s words made sense.
In his previous life, not long after the bandits started rampaging, the future Emperor, who was still the Second Prince at the time, brought troops to suppress the bandits.
Not surprisingly, the unruly mob was no match for the military troops. It seemed that the Second Prince had only taken two days to take over Mountain Spring Town.
In this life, he was naturally not prepared to have anything to do with the mountain bandit leader, and he had no intention of currying favor with the Second Prince.
The present situation at home was very good.
Once the bandit trouble ended, Mountain Spring Town would return to peace.
Moreover, Song Que still wanted to have a child with his wife.
After that, he would educate his siblings and children well. When the mourning period was over, he would then take the Imperial Examinations.
He wanted to try and see how far he could go with his own abilities.
Thus, Song Que said, “If you’re going to keep them, then you’d better hide them well.”
It was a pity. If he had known this would happen, he would have asked his wife to dig a bigger cellar.
Or, they could have simply dug another cellar.
Then they wouldn’t have had to fret over how to hide the food now.
“Mm-hmm,” Qin Xiaoyao replied.
In the storage room, she was prepared to pile firewood on the outside and hid the food in the middle.
Even if the mountain bandits came to search their house and saw a pile of firewood, they probably wouldn’t rummage through the firewood to check in detail.
After all, when the bandits entered the town to rob, they moved fast and eyed multiple houses.
After discussing the arrangements with Song Que, Qin Xiaoyao left the room.
Thereafter, Wang Xiaomei came looking for her very soon and told her about Wang Dashan’s predicament.
“Market on the East Street?” Qin Xiaoyao was a little surprised.
The eastern part of the town was the wealthy district of Mountain Spring Town. Although there was also a market there, there were not many people who set up stalls and not many people bought things there.
After all, wealthy families usually have servants.
The family members rarely went to the market, but the servants were happy to walk further and pick up fresh and relatively cheaper things.
As a result, the market on East Street was not very lively, and there were very few people who set up stalls there.
Qin Xiaoyao had thought about expanding her bean sprout business to the market on East Street before.
After weighing the pros and cons, she still chose to give up eventually.
However, now…
“It’s not necessarily only in the market on East Street. Big Brother has been selling firewood for a while and has some experience. He wants to try to go to the town center district and the eastern district to sell bean sprouts door to door.”
Qin Xiaoyao began thinking seriously.
“How much does he intend to take wholesale?” she asked.
Qin Xiaoyao now had eight thatched sheds in her courtyard, and all of them were planted with bean sprouts.
Apart from those that were sent out wholesale every day, there were also many individual customers who came to her house to buy the bean sprouts.
After taking into account the above, there weren’t that many bean sprouts left.
If she wanted to expand her business to the market on East Street, she would have to build more sheds and expand the planting area.
Of course, this was dependent on Wang Dashan’s ability. He had to sell enough bean sprouts to make this plan viable.
Upon hearing this, Wang Xiaomei’s face lit up.
“Mrs. Song, you are agreeable?”
Qin Xiaoyao nodded with a smile.
“Mm-hmm.”
“But I have a condition,” she said after some thought.
“Mrs. Song, please go ahead!” Wang Xiaomei said hurriedly.
It was good that she had agreed.
Wang Xiaomei believed that with her big brother’s ability, and the fact that the bean sprouts were genuinely good products, this business would definitely be successful..