“A good start”
On this morning, many people came to Cheng Yun’s house, carrying hundreds of catties of vegetables. They filled Cheng Yun’s front yard, and even by noon, there were still many people crowded in front of the gate.
Cheng Yun exchanged all the three taels of loose change he had left from selling the plum soup recipe, and he also added some money left over from the sour plum soup sales. In just one morning, he spent a few taels. Seeing that he was running out of cash and couldn’t accommodate so many vegetables in his house, he told the people who would come later that any extra vegetables could only be collected in two days because there was no space in the house. When the time comes, a big red banner will be posted at the doorstep, indicating that everyone can come to sell their goods.
Some people who arrived late became nervous upon hearing this. Earlier, they were still hesitant, but seeing everyone exchanging their goods for money, they realized that it was much more convenient than selling in the town. So they also picked some vegetables, but they didn’t expect to hear this news as soon as they arrived.
Among the people in the middle of the queue was Aunt Su.
In the morning, after hearing what others said, she also thought that Cheng Yun was going to take the vegetables to sell in the town and intentionally lowered the price. The price per catty didn’t seem like much, but ten catties would be ten yuan less, and a hundred catties would be one hundred yuan less. Cheng Yun could easily make double or triple the profit by selling them somewhere else. Thinking about this, she felt a bit resentful.
However, when she went home and told her family about it, not everyone took her side. Her eldest son simply said, “Even if Cheng Yun manages to collect everything, there’s no guarantee he can sell them in town. He might have to bring them back and keep them for himself.” After that, Aunt Su began to ponder over the matter.
At that moment, Chen Fang had already sold the first batch, and when others saw it, the news spread like wildfire. Aunt Luo, the neighbor next to Aunt Su, specialized in growing chili peppers. Chili peppers were difficult to sell in large quantities, and she had also stored some at home. Upon hearing that Cheng Yun still needed more, she quickly went home, gathered her chili peppers, and went to sell them.
Seeing Aunt Su still hesitating, Aunt Luo couldn’t bother with her anymore. Carrying her chili peppers, she left her house. Feeling itchy to join in, Aunt Su also picked up a basket and went to see the situation.
When she arrived at Cheng Yun’s doorstep, she was surprised to find that so many people had gathered there! And those who had told her not to sell in the morning were already standing at the front of the queue, happily counting their money!
Aunt Su suddenly felt deceived, but she thought about what the village chief had said, as well as what Aunt Luo had said about Cheng Yun taking all that was offered. She decided that once she finished selling this basket, she would bring the rest over. But at that moment, she heard Cheng Yun say that he wouldn’t collect any more for the time being, and she immediately regretted it, almost crying!
The person standing in front of Aunt Su was Lin Shi’an, a man from the Lin family who had discussed with her in the morning. He had said he wouldn’t sell and planned to go to town to sell his own produce. But now she saw him carrying two large baskets of mustard greens. Compared to her small basket of radishes, Aunt Su couldn’t help but feel angry.
“Lin Shi’an, didn’t you say you wouldn’t sell in the morning? How come you’ve brought so much now?!”
Lin Shi’an glanced at her and then at her small basket of radishes. There was no confusion for him, but as a man, he didn’t want to argue with a woman. He simply explained that his Ge’er knew about the situation and urged him to bring the goods. He had no choice.
Seeing that Aunt Su was still itching with anger, Lin Shi’an whispered to her, “Don’t worry, there’s no rush. Cheng-Ge’er said he would resume buying in a couple of days.”
Lin Shi’an continued, “You didn’t see the style earlier. Cheng-Ge’er had his husband stand at the door with his arms full of money. Every time someone came, he would give them a coin as if playing with children. He didn’t mind at all. Now it’s lunchtime, and he asked his neighbor, Aunt Wang, to take his husband to eat first. Then he will personally distribute the money. I think it’s because their house couldn’t accommodate everything, so they had to stop for now and resume buying in a couple of days.”
Aunt Su took a peek and indeed saw only Cheng-Ge’er busy in front. But as she pondered, she became even more angry. “So, you came twice as well?!”
Lin Shi’an, feeling guilty, shrugged his shoulders and didn’t dare to speak.
Not many people were like Aunt Su. In fact, a considerable number of them hadn’t even brought any goods. They wanted to wait and see how things would turn out before deciding. However, they only found out after the day ended that Cheng-Ge’er wouldn’t be buying for the next few days. On the other hand, those who brought goods and even brought their entire families to queue up had earned several hundred coins by the morning, clearing out all the remaining stock in their homes. In comparison, they deeply regretted their decision.
Chen Fang, in the midst of it all, became the biggest winner. He was the first to decide to sell, and he came two or three more times afterward. He had his son and Ge’er come along as well, picking and bringing all the radishes stored at home. In just one morning, he earned nearly three hundred yuan. In the past, it would have taken him a month or more to make such an amount.
With the money in hand, Chen Fang was delighted and went around telling others how generous Cheng-Ge’er was. When he heard people criticizing Cheng-Ge’er’s lack of integrity and selling at lower prices than in town, he would even scold them back, saying they should never go to Cheng-Ge’er’s place in their lifetime if they intended to disrespect his goodwill.
He asked Cheng-Ge’er what other crops he would need next and went to town with his family’s children to buy seeds. He also purchased new cloth strips, intending to make new clothes for his wife and children while he had some spare money.
Some people noticed his change and secretly pondered over it. As for those who had been hesitant, upon hearing his words, they immediately made up their minds to be the first ones to bring goods to Cheng-Ge’er’s house next time.
Cheng Yun couldn’t afford to care about the hidden thoughts of the villagers. He organized the goods at home, totaling nearly 700 catties of radishes, 450 catties of mustard greens, and close to 100 catties of chili peppers. It cost him a little over three taels of silver, plus the money spent on seasonings and utensils before, resulting in a total investment of about seven to eight taels.
He divided the harvested vegetables into several portions. First, he moved a small amount to the Wang family’s backyard. Then, when it was dark, he allowed Wang Liang and Yang Hongjin to help him transport the remaining portion to the Cheng family.
The process of pickling sour radishes was relatively quick compared to pickling Sauerkraut, which took two to three days. If they wanted a more flavorful taste, it would take about five to six days. However, sour radishes only required two hours.
The tedious part about sour radishes was that each one had to be cut into small pieces for easy consumption and placed into the clay jars. Overall, the time spent on both tasks was roughly the same.
Liu Wen was urging them eagerly. He wanted to take advantage of the popularity of sour plum soup and quickly push the jars of Sauerkraut into the market. The word was already out, and many loyal customers of Yueqiong Tower knew that they would soon have new products. Everyone was eagerly anticipating it, so Cheng Yun couldn’t afford to be idle.
He compressed the pickling time for the Sauerkraut to two days. Once all the mustard greens were prepared for pickling, they began working on the sour radishes.
The household was busy every day. Before officially launching the Sauerkraut jars at Yueqiong Tower, they had to ensure secrecy and avoid any leaks. However, because of the vegetable collection, there were quite a few people who came at various times throughout the day, just to see when Cheng Yun would start collecting vegetables. This caused Cheng Yun a headache. Eventually, he decided to close the doors and work in complete secrecy.
On the third night, while everyone was asleep and the entire village was quiet, a small convoy quietly entered Tie Village and ten donkey carts stopped in front of Cheng Yun’s house.
If anyone were awake at that moment, they would surely be startled by the grand scene. However, the group remained silent, efficiently moving jar after jar out of Cheng Yun’s house.
They moved more than a dozen large and small jars, filling all the donkey carts. The group departed as quietly as they had arrived.
Li Fan led the group and instructed them to deliver the goods while he stayed behind to settle the payment with Cheng Yun for the Sauerkraut jars.
“The boss said that you’ve been working tirelessly day and night, and he truly appreciates your hard work. In addition to the confirmed delivery of eighteen jars of Sauerkraut, the boss asked me to give you an extra tael to buy some delicious food for yourselves.” Li Fan finished counting the silver and handed it over to Cheng Yǔn.
Cheng Yun smiled as he accepted the money. He took out another hundred yuan and gave it to Li Fan, instructing him to distribute it among the people who had helped tonight. After a brief exchange, Cheng Yǔn asked Li Fan to bring some seasoning for Sauerkraut the next time he visited. Li Fan noted down the items he needed and then caught up with the rest of the group.
Cheng Yun counted the money. Currently, Yueqiong Tower had tentatively priced a jar of sour and crispy radishes at twenty yuan and a jar of Sauerkraut at thirty yuan. The cost of each jar of Sauerkraut, including the cabbage and the clay jar, was about less than five yuan. With this batch of Sauerkraut, they could make around a thousand jars of Sauerkraut.
Cheng Yun doesn’t want a share of the subsequent sales, and only receives the portion for the supplies. With each jar of Sauerkraut weighing about half a catty, and for every catty of pickled vegetables he sells, he can earn ten to fifteen yuan. This time, they sold a total of 1,200 catties, deducting the initial investment and adding the extra tael from Liu Wen, they earned a total of nine taels!
Compared to the money he earned from selling recipes, this amount may not seem like much, but selling recipes was a one-time transaction, while Sauerkraut can be made and sold continuously. Moreover, the jars purchased in the initial stage can be reused. Once everything is on track in the future, they will only earn more.
He set aside five taels for purchasing materials, and evenly distributed the remaining four taels between Cheng Bao’er and Wang Liang’s family, with each receiving a little over one tael. He didn’t keep any for himself.
When they were distributing the money, both of them were stunned. They didn’t expect to earn over one tael in just three to four days of hard work, which was even more than what they earned from selling sour plum soup before!
Cheng Yun didn’t tell them that he didn’t take any money for himself. He only said, “Boss Liu rewarded us because he saw how hard we worked. Also, this time the quantity of the first shipment was large, so the amount of money we received is also more. In the future, we will regularly supply Yueqiong Tower, and our household won’t be burdened with storing too much inventory. They will also send people regularly to collect the goods. We can continue to make money, but it won’t be as much as the first time. You should be mentally prepared for that.”
Fortunately, both of them were down-to-earth people. After hearing Cheng Yun’s words, they felt grateful to Boss Liu. Holding the money in their hands, they happily went home without any complaints. After all, they were earning much more money now compared to before, even if it would be slightly less in the future. It was still better than before.
After tidying up the things in the house, the sun was about to rise. Cheng Yun walked to the table and patted Yang Hongjin’s face. He gently said, “Idiot, I’m going to sleep.”
“Is wife okay?” Yang Hongjin rubbed his eyes, his eyelids were wrinkled from the rubbing, and when he looked at Cheng Yun, his eyes were both hazy and deep, which unexpectedly caused Cheng Yun’s heart to skip a beat.
He touched his pounding heart and the first ray of sunlight shone through the window. The previously dim hall was bathed in a soft light. Cheng Yun couldn’t help but lower his head and kissed Yang Hongjin’s forehead. His face turned red, and using the same tone he used in the past when coaxing, mixed with a hint of different emotions, he gently caressed his face and said, “Hmm, go to sleep.”
Yang Hongjin, still half asleep, couldn’t distinguish any difference in Cheng Yun’s actions from usual. He rubbed his face against Cheng Yun’s palm and sweetly repeated, “Hmm, go to sleep!”
Author’s note:
Have a good sleep~ Good night, sweet dreams to everyone Zzz… Thank you for voting for me or giving me nutrients, little angels~
Thanks to the little angel who voted for [grenade]: Suì suì píng’ān 1 person;
Thanks to the little angels who gave nutrients:
Xiǎo guǐ 30 bottles; 30290321 5 bottles; Yī kē shù 3 bottles; Tuō tuō tuō tuōbottle;
Thank you all for your support. I will continue to work hard!
