Selling for Money

Fang Zeng looked at so many dried persimmons and felt sad. He was still worried that his nephew would have a bad reputation and live a hard life. After all, reputation cannot be used to make a living, but no reputation can ruin a person’s job. In the countryside, the biggest harm of losing reputation is that others will avoid you like snakes and scorpions and pay attention to your behavior.

In this way, you can’t expect to get any benefits in the village. The countryside has few lands and many people. If you lose your reputation, everyone will shout and beat you, and naturally you can’t count on the harvest from the land. For a mud-legged man who depends on the weather for food and digs for food in the fields, this is the possibility of a good life.

Now Fang Zeng is not so worried. With his nephew’s skill in making dried persimmons, it is more than enough to support himself. If you have the ability, you don’t have to look at other people’s faces and you don’t have to be afraid of what others say. He will teach his nephew hunting skills, and his nephew will naturally live a better life than others.

When his nephew grows up, how much can everyone remember after a long time. His nephew has money in his hands and can support his family, so he will naturally be valued by others, and he will not worry about his lifelong affairs. Fang Zeng finally let go of the worries he had been holding back after seeing the persimmons, and he felt much better.

Fang Zhiyuan was happy that he could make money. In ancient times, he had no one to rely on except his uncle. Although he was very young, he was allowed to go to the Fang family by his uncle’s kindness. But he didn’t want to be a burden to his uncle. He had his own persistence and couldn’t let his uncle live a bad life because of him. Now that he has made money, Fang Zhiyuan can feel a little comforted in his heart, and can enjoy his uncle’s kindness to him more justifiably.

As for the persimmons, how to sell them and at what price are all problems. Fang Zeng went to the town to sell game these days and looked at the prices of persimmons from several stores. The town is not big, but there is no shortage of persimmons. The New Year is more than a month away, and the price of persimmons that originally sold for three cents has increased to four cents, but many merchants are still out of stock.

 The persimmons they make must be several thousand kilograms. The number must be 10,000 or 20,000, so the price becomes a problem. The grocery store owner he just met can sell some for him, but he made a lot of persimmons, and he doesn’t know if he can eat them all. If he can’t eat them all, who can he find to sell them to?

Fang Zhiyuan has a plan in mind. It may be difficult for one family to eat so many persimmons. Then divide it into several families, and the price will not be the same. Those who buy more will be given a lower price, and those who buy less will be given a higher price. Otherwise, if the wholesale and retail prices are the same, people will be unhappy.

The uncle and nephew discussed and decided to set two persimmons for three wen first, and if they can eat all their persimmons, they will give one wen for each. Although the money is less, it is easier, and they can also look for business next time. This persimmon forest is on the mountain, and they can do it every year. It’s not a one-year business.

 In the evening, Fang Zhiyuan specially cooked braised pork and stewed spareribs. He took out the wine hidden by his uncle, and made an exception to let his uncle drink a bowl. The uncle and nephew ate and drank, and they were happy. For a while, the gloom of the past few days disappeared.

The next day, Fang Zeng took Fang Zhiyuan and several baskets of dried persimmons to the town.

They went to Chen, the shopkeeper, first. Chen’s restaurant was called Liukeju, which was the largest restaurant in the town. Chen also knew Fang Zhiyuan. In the past, Fang Zeng often brought Fang Zhiyuan to the town to play, and brought him to the restaurant many times to listen to the storytelling here. Chen looked at his uncle’s face and treated him with love.

At this time, Chen was working at the counter and saw Fang Zeng carrying a basket in, with Fang Zhiyuan following him. He quickly stepped forward to greet Fang Zeng and said, “Brother Fang, what are you doing? What good things did you make to send to your elder brother?” As he said that, the clever waiter beside him had already come to help quickly.

Fang Zeng moved the basket in front of Chen, saying embarrassedly, “Brother Chen, you have taken care of me a lot over the years. Look, it’s almost the New Year. I don’t have anything good. This is my nephew’s recipe for making red cakes. We made some red cakes ourselves and sent some to you. You can’t despise it. Take it and let your ger and children taste it.”

Shopkeeper Chen, had a good impression of Fang Zeng. He had good character and did things in a proper manner. He was quite surprised to hear that Fang Zeng and his nephew had made red cakes. Red cakes are not expensive, but they are not cheap either. They are things from the south. They are cheap in the south, but they are expensive when they are sold here from thousands of miles away.

If you don’t buy some for people during festivals, people will blame you. The elderly especially like to eat red cakes, which means prosperity and are soft and can be eaten without teeth. He knew that Fang Zeng was always sure of success. He didn’t say anything, but opened the basket, revealing a basket of neatly arranged persimmon cakes. His eyes lit up, and he tasted it. It was sweeter than the ones shipped from the south. 

Shopkeeper Chen was a businessman, so he knew that if the persimmon cakes sold well, it would be a good business. So he said to Fang Zeng: “Brother Fang, I won’t lie to you. How many red cakes do you have at home? If there are more, leave some for me, and I will add a red cake snack in the store. Also, if you haven’t found a buyer yet, I want to help you. I don’t know what you think, but don’t worry, I will never let you down.” Fang Zeng was happy in his heart. It was really like someone gave him a pillow when he wanted to sleep.  

He was just thinking about finding a seller when Shopkeeper Chen spoke. He quickly replied, “Brother Chen, this is not the first time we have dealt with each other. I know who you are. To be honest, I am worried about the buyer of the red cakes. When I made them, I made too much at once, several thousand kilograms. If you can help me get in touch with someone, I will be very grateful.” 

Shopkeeper Chen was satisfied with Fang Zeng’s sincerity. He liked Fang Zeng’s honesty. He had been a shopkeeper for a long time and could see through people’s little thoughts. He was most pleased with Fang Zeng’s openness. He didn’t want to spend time and effort and be taken for granted.

At this time, Fang Zhiyuan was also stuffed with a roasted chicken leg by Shopkeeper Chen. Fang Zhiyuan did not refuse. In his memory, when he and Fang Zeng came here before, Shopkeeper Chen always gave him a chicken leg to eat. This is also one of the reasons why the original body likes to come to the town with him, there are delicious foods to eat.

While chewing the chicken leg, Fang Zhiyuan saw that his uncle had agreed with Shopkeeper Chen on the buyer of the persimmon cakes, and he had to admit that it was easy to do things when someone was around. Shopkeeper Chen saw that there were not many customers in the store, so he told the clerk to take Fang Zeng and Fang Zhiyuan to Chen’s Grocery Store.

This store was opened by Shopkeeper Chen’s cousin. It not only has two stores in the town, but also in other places. Third Chen from the grocery store was a little curious when he saw his cousin bringing one big and one small to his store. You know, his brother usually doesn’t come, and he always asks him to go to him instead.

Shopkeeper Chen and Third Chen grew up together, so they are very familiar with each other. Without any greetings, Shopkeeper Chen directly told Third Chen about Feng Zheng’s persimmon cakes. He also brought a few dried persimmons that Fang Zeng brought him as a sample for Third Chen to see.

Third Chen has been running a grocery store for more than ten years, and he also knows how popular dried persimmons are before and after the New Year. Unfortunately, he was not familiar with those people who went to the south in previous years, and he didn’t get in touch with them. He didn’t get many dried persimmons and the cost was high. He only made a living. There were not many dried persimmons shipped from the south, and they had no choice.

Now, Third Chen heard from Shopkeeper Chen that Fang Zeng knew how to make dried persimmons. That means this business is not a one-time deal. If it sells well, they can sell it every year. Such a good thing, he naturally knew that his cousin remembered him. He naturally couldn’t let his cousin lose face.

Third Chen and Fang Zeng exchanged a few polite words, and after learning that Fang Zeng’s family had thousands of kilograms of dried persimmons, he was even happier. He also has two grocery stores elsewhere, and these dried persimmons can be sold completely. So, he began to talk about the price that he cared about most. In the past, the cost of persimmons from the south was two wen, so he didn’t know how much Fang Zeng wanted.

Fang Zeng wanted to tell Fang Zhiyuan the price he had discussed with him yesterday, but Fang Zhiyuan pulled his sleeve from behind. He paused and didn’t say anything. Third Chen thought Fang Zeng was not satisfied with his quotation, so he thought about it and said, “Brother Fang, how about this? I’ll give you three wen for two, but you have to deliver them to my shop. And your red cakes can only be sold to me, not to other families.”

This price was above Fang Zeng’s expectations. After all, he and Fang Zhiyuan had agreed to sell each for one wen, and now he was happy to get half a cent more. As for delivery, his family had a mule cart, so it was just a matter of effort, and it was nothing big.

The two of them agreed. They also recognized Manager Chen as the middleman, and then signed the receipt. Fang Zeng received five taels of silver for the goods, and agreed to settle the remaining money after the goods were shipped.  Fang Zeng was in a good mood with the silver in his hand. He wanted to treat Manager Chen to a drink.

Manager Chen refused to do anything. Fang Zeng finally didn’t force it. He bought a piece of cloth and a jar of good wine worth one or two silver coins and gave it to Manager Chen. Fang Zhiyuan agreed with Fang Zeng’s attitude. He had to show his appreciation for helping his family. This was the long-term way to deal with things.

After leaving the things at Liukeju like a fight, Fang Zeng took Fang Zhiyuan home. From tomorrow, Fang Zeng will start delivering dried persimmons to Chen’s grocery store. Since the dried persimmons sold for a good price, Fang Zeng bought a lot of meat and food to reward his nephew.

Fang Zhiyuan is a standard carnivore. He loves meat. Fang Zeng is also a rough man who eats meat and drinks a lot. The two of them ate a big pot of stewed meat and bone soup. There were no vegetables on the table.

 After eating and drinking, Fang Zhiyuan helped Fang Zeng pack the dried persimmons in the big jar into baskets for delivery. One big jar filled six baskets. Fang Zeng planned to deliver twice a day, and looking at the baskets on the ground, he was somewhat glad that he had listened to his nephew and made a lot of big baskets when he was at home a few days ago, otherwise, there would not be enough dried persimmons. That’s it, one car can only load eight baskets.

Fang Zeng calculated that he would need three days to transport it. As for those two or three thousand on the ground because they were not as good-looking as those in the big jar, he and Third Chen agreed to sell him some of them for one wen each, and keep some at home to give away.

In this way, Fang Zeng was busy for four or five days before he finished delivering the dried persimmons. On the day he finished delivering, he specially bought snacks and roast chicken to add to his meal. At the dinner table, Fang Zeng held a money bag. He looked at the bulging bag, and could hear the sound of big coins colliding.

 Fang Zeng looked at the purse, smiled happily, and said to Fang Zhiyuan: “Huzi, this is the money from selling dried persimmons this time. A total of thirty strings of coins were sold, and fifteen taels of silver were exchanged. Uncle gave Manager Chen a gift of two taels of silver, and there were thirteen taels left. Uncle exchanged one tael of silver for a big coin, and one and a half strings were in the purse. There are also twelve taels of silver coins, you keep them.” Then he pushed the purse to Fang Zhiyuan.

Fang Zhiyuan looked at Fang Zeng in surprise, and he hurriedly said: “Uncle, how can I take this money. Not to mention that most of the dried persimmons are made by uncle, and uncle is the adult in the family, it should be uncle who manages the money. I am young and can’t keep the money, so uncle still keeps it. If uncle wants to give me a few big coins to use, I will take them, but if I am asked to manage so much silver, it will be difficult for me.” Then he looked at his uncle mischievously.

 Fang Zeng looked at his nephew, feeling warm in his heart, but he insisted: “Huzi, listen! Just keep this money. You will have to support your family in the future. How can you live without money? It doesn’t matter to us uncle and nephew, but if uncle marries a fulani in the future, the ger will be very calculative. If the friendship between us uncle and nephew is damaged for money, it will be worthless.”

Fang Zeng saw clearly that he and Fang Zhiyuan were close, and Fang Zhiyuan and he could start a family in the future. He could control his fulang, but if Fang Zhiyuan married a powerful ger, there would be a gap because of the money, so it would be better to separate from the beginning. Moreover, his brother was gone, and he should help his nephew save a part of the family property. In order to save his nephew from feeling uneasy in the future, he knew best that money was the courage and backbone of a man.

Fang Zhiyuan also understood Fang Zeng’s concerns, but he had no intention of taking the money.