Chapter 412: Chapter 217: Discussion (Part 2)
Zhang Huai said, "But our village has a head start. Whether it’s making flour and sausages or selling them to outsiders, we started earlier than they did."
Juhua quickly said, "Don’t get careless. What if their village has a sharp person who seizes the opportunity before our business gets big and starts up their own operation? Wouldn’t all our work be for nothing? There are all kinds of people in this world. Some may not be great at farming, but they’re experts at reading people and seizing opportunities. Those are the types who are perfect for business—give them one chance and they’ll thrive. So, Brother Changyu, you need to be diligent. We can’t let anyone else snatch this business away; you have to be the main player no matter what. We also need to get our workshop planned, put more thought into the wood ear and other mushrooms, and tend to the wild chrysanthemums more carefully. We can’t just let them grow wild like we used to."
Li Changyu nodded gravely. "I understand. I’m planning to buy a plot of land in Xiatang Market to build a shop and get everything ready."
He carried himself with growing composure, looking utterly confident.
Juhua smiled at Jinxiang and the others. "What do you think? Once the market here gets busy, won’t we be able to sell all these things we’re making? When merchants come to stock up, how could they not buy our dried bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and wood ears? How could they not buy our assorted pickles? Even if other places sell them, they’ll still pick some up while they’re here. As for chicken and duck, others are good at preparing them, so we won’t copy them. We’ll just come up with something new—Guizhi and I are already experimenting. We shouldn’t bother with pastries, though. We definitely can’t make them better than the people in the city."
At this, the young women perked up again, chattering excitedly while they ate about the new snacks they were trying to create.
Qingmu then spoke with Li Changyu about delivering the rice thresher to the Lord County Magistrate. After a brief discussion, the men headed off to Xiatang Market.
As soon as they were gone, Meizi eagerly asked Juhua, "Juhua, how’s that new recipe you and Guizhi are working on? Can we try some? Oh! No, never mind. This isn’t like the other things; it would require you to kill a chicken!"
She had become very frugal and felt that killing a chicken was far too extravagant. ’It’s not a holiday, and we don’t have any guests. How could we possibly kill a chicken!’
Seeing her embarrassed look, Juhua laughed. "It’s alright! Our family may not be rich right now, but I work so hard raising these chickens, it’s fine to butcher one for a meal now and then. But let’s not do it today. With all this food, killing a chicken would be too wasteful. In a few days, we’ll go up the mountain to gather wild bamboo shoots, and we’ll cook the chicken then. Once it’s done, we can use the broth to braise the bamboo shoots and some peanuts. We can make several dishes out of it that way."
Everyone was thrilled to hear this, eagerly anticipating Juhua’s new chicken and duck recipes.
Juhua was thinking of making a spicy braised duck. ’It’s a bit easier to prepare than salt-baked chicken,’ she thought, ’and focuses on a fragrant, spicy flavor. Even if I can’t replicate the authentic taste, a modified version should still turn out well.’
Guizhi had listened to her description of the general flavor profile and requirements and had already helped her with one trial run. The resulting chicken tasted decent—it was fragrant and spicy, but it lacked a certain numbing quality. Juhua planned to ask Li Changyu to help her gather more spices so they could fine-tune the flavor.
A few days after Li Changyu left for Qinghui with a rice thresher, he returned, and this time, he brought Manager Song from the Hongfa Inn with him.
Apparently, when Li Changyu delivered the rice thresher to the county government, Fang Jingyu had gotten wind of it and immediately offered to finance its production. As it happened, County Magistrate Hu was concerned that a typical merchant would be solely profit-driven and wouldn’t effectively promote such a useful farm tool. He therefore suggested that Fang Jingyu purchase the blueprints for the rice thresher and then begin large-scale production.
This was County Magistrate Hu’s way of securing some compensation for the machine’s inventor. After all, they had presented it to the government office free of charge, and since he couldn’t offer a proper reward, he could only compensate them through a commercial arrangement.
When Fang Jingyu heard from Changyu that the machine was created by the same people who made the sausages, he took the matter even more seriously and sent Manager Song to negotiate in person.
Juhua and Qingmu were taken aback—they hadn’t intended to make money from the machine. They had given it away simply to avoid potential trouble.
Still, no one would turn down an extra sum of money, especially when it was earned legitimately. So, they began discussing a suitable price with Zhang Huai and Li Changyu.
Juhua mused for a moment before saying, "We can sell him the rights for a low price, on one condition. If he agrees, we can even sell him the secret sausage recipe cheaply."
Qingmu looked at his younger sister, knowing she had another idea. He listened intently, waiting for her to explain.
Juhua looked at the three men. "Get this Old Mr. Fang to build the rice thresher workshop right here in Xiatang Market!" ’If Qingnan Village weren’t already building a sausage workshop,’ she thought, ’I’d have him build that one here, too.’
The three men were stunned for only a split second. Then, their brows unfurrowed, and they exchanged knowing smiles.
Li Changyu clapped his hands, stood up, and laughed heartily. "Juhua, that’s a brilliant idea! If Old Mr. Fang agrees to come here, Xiatang Market is sure to boom. But will he be willing?"
Before Juhua could answer, Qingmu and Zhang Huai said in unison, "He’ll definitely be willing!" They both laughed after they spoke.
Qingmu explained, "He wants to buy our sausage recipe and the rights to the rice thresher. He’s probably hoping we’ll have more good things in the future. Asking him to build a workshop here isn’t a big deal for him, so why wouldn’t he agree?"
Zhang Huai nodded. "It won’t affect his business, and he can still build workshops elsewhere. A major merchant like him won’t build just one. He’ll set them up in every region—east, west, north, and south. Otherwise, if someone in the east wants to buy a rice thresher, is he going to ship it all the way from Qinghui? That would be a pointless hassle. He could just build another workshop in the east and solve the problem."
Li Changyu nodded. "You’re right. I just got carried away by my excitement. For him, building one more workshop in Xiatang Market is a trivial matter."
Juhua remained silent, watching the three young men discuss the plan with great enthusiasm. Their faces were alight with excitement, and she felt a deep sense of joy.
’If this step of attracting investment is successful,’ she thought, ’it will save us from so many potential setbacks. In the future, even if our products are available in Qinghui County, we won’t have to worry. We won’t need to transport anything to Qinghui; we can just sell it directly in Xiatang Market. The merchants here aren’t going to bypass a local supplier to travel all the way to Qinghui County to stock their goods.’ (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for recommendations and monthly passes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
