Chapter 77

Shuiqing paid 780 wen, less than one tael of silver. Considering their family had 177 taels saved, it wasn’t much, but for a single meal, it was quite high.

After leaving the restaurant, the five children murmured about how expensive it was, saying they wouldn’t come again and that it was better to eat at home. At the same time, they felt grateful to their parents for treating them to a meal at the best restaurant and even taking them to the second floor.

Next time they saw their grandparents and uncle, they would definitely tell them about it!

Shuiqing didn’t mind the cost of the meal much. After all, this trip was mainly for market research, and spending some money to show the five children the world was worth it. Additionally, it was an unexpected bonus to have embarrassed the three who had previously mocked Fan Jin.

The family wandered around the street, looking here and there, when they noticed that most of the passersby were hurriedly moving in one direction.

“Where are they going?” Shuiqing asked casually.

Fan He responded quickly, “Mother, I heard someone say they’re going to buy charcoal!”

Shuiqing realized that, given the cold winter, every household was stocking up on charcoal in advance.

She then turned to Fan Jin and asked, “Can we make and sell charcoal?”

After the division of the family property, they had three small hills. One hill with bamboo could be used to make bamboo charcoal, and the other two had a lot of scrubby trees and crooked little trees that could be used to make charcoal for sale. The tree roots could also be dug up and used as firewood. The holes left behind could be used to plant fruit trees and timber in the spring, with a new batch every year. In two or three years, they could have a decent rotation.

Hearing the possibility of making money, the five children immediately lost interest in the roadside snacks, eagerly waiting for their father’s response.

Fan Jin, seeing the expectant looks from his wife and children, smiled warmly but shook his head. “In our village, only Aunt Zhang’s family sells firewood and charcoal because carrying it from Shanshui Village to Niutou Town doesn’t bring in much money. Bringing it to the prefecture city is far, and there’s a two-wen city entry fee. If it doesn’t sell, bringing it back means a loss.”

Hearing about the entry fee, the light in Shuiqing and the children’s eyes dimmed a bit.

They had a cart, which made transportation easier than carrying or pulling by hand, but selling a cart of charcoal wouldn’t bring in much money, and the entry fee plus the risk of unsold goods made it unprofitable.

“Moreover, making charcoal is labor-intensive. First, you need to select trees the thickness of your arm, cut them, and transport them to the kiln. During the burning process, you have to stay up all night to monitor it. If it burns too long, it turns to ash. If it’s not fully burnt, it remains as wood, filling the house with smoke and ruining your reputation. From cutting the trees to burning and selling, it’s all hard work. Our family can’t earn money this way,” Fan Jin explained honestly.

However, charcoal is compact and long-lasting, so they could order more from Jinniu for the winter and save some for next year.

The five children, hearing this, had the light in their eyes completely extinguished.

Yes, they were too young. If only they were older!

Then they realized that even older boys in the village didn’t know how to burn kilns. They could pull carts, but with limited strength, they couldn’t carry much.

Shuiqing gave up the idea of selling charcoal and continued walking around, looking for business opportunities.

Among the five children, the fourth child, Fan He, was particularly sharp. He sensed that today wasn’t just about a trip to Guangning for fun; there was something more to it. He kept a close eye on his mother’s actions.

He saw her looking around intently, but what exactly was she looking at?

He suddenly saw a faint queue around the corner to the left front, pointed over there, and asked Ah Niang, “Quick, look over there, what are they doing?”

Shuiqing immediately looked up.

“Oh, they’re lining up!”

She became interested and waved, “Let’s go, let’s see what good thing it is! If it’s something delicious, Ah Niang will buy it for you to eat.”

Upon hearing “delicious,” everyone was very pleased.

Fan He confirmed his suspicions in his heart; Ah Niang was indeed not just here to play…

The seven of them arrived at the corner and discovered it wasn’t the starting point, but rather the end of the queue!

They continued along the line and only then did they discover the queue was surprisingly long.

Shuiqing: “… What could be so delicious? This is really making me curious!”

“It turns out they’re selling rice wine,” Fan Jiang said with disappointment in his tone.

The kids weren’t allowed to drink alcohol.

When Grandpa was alive, during the Lunar New Year, he would often get a couple of catties of rice wine. The kids couldn’t drink it; only Uncle and Aunt could have a light cup.

“This year it’s cold, and drinking alcohol can fend off the cold. Presumably, that’s the main reason it’s selling better than usual,” Fan Jin finished, then looked at the sign hanging outside the wine shop and quietly explained to Shuiqing, “Bring your own jar to fill, it’s 20 wen per jin, using the shop’s it’s 22 wen per jin, and there’s only one flavor.”

Shuiqing glanced at the endless queue and decisively spent 25 wen to get a jin from someone coming out.

Using the wine shop’s jar.

“I didn’t expect that bamboo tubes used everywhere on the mountain to store wine would still cost two wen,” Fan He sighed.

“That’s right, city life is like this; everything requires money,” Shuiqing, having lived in the city for many years, was more accepting than the children who had just arrived.

“A Niang, do you want to drink wine?” Yan Qiu asked.

“I wonder if it tastes good?” Fan Jiang swallowed his saliva and couldn’t help asking.

Shuiqing casually said, “Whether it’s good or not, you’ll only know after you’ve tried it. Do you want to taste it?” This is rice wine, similar to fermented wine; she often drank it in the countryside when she was young.

In the Jiangnan countryside, every household’s women could make it, and even the yeast was made by themselves, enough to last the whole year. The difference was whether it was made well or not.

“Can we?” all five children asked eagerly at the same time.

Fan Jin smiled knowingly and said softly, “You can, just taste the flavor, don’t drink too much.”

All five children nodded eagerly.

Without cups, Shuiqing drank two mouthfuls directly from the bamboo tube first. It wasn’t very sweet, slightly bitter, to be honest, a bit disappointing.

It should be because of the wine yeast.

The five children lined up from oldest to youngest, carefully sipping each.

Shuiqing led Fan Jin to a secluded place, keeping an eye on the five excited children tasting rice wine, and said, “What do you think about us making and selling rice wine?”

Fan Jin hadn’t expected Shuiqing to want to start a business herself and was stunned for a moment.

Shuiqing listed the advantages, “I know how to make rice wine, and mine tastes even better than theirs! The best time to make wine yeast is around the Dragon Boat Festival. Although we’ve missed the season, we can buy it in the market first and make our own wine yeast next year.

One jin of rice, after double fermentation, can produce two jin of rice wine. One jin of rice wine sells for 20 wen, which means a profit of three times the cost of nine wen of rice, with a net profit of thirty wen.”

An extra wen can be used as the cost of making our own wine yeast.

Even though the main ingredient for making wine yeast, the peppery weeds, are free, barley, wheat, rice, and other ingredients are still considered a cost.

“So, should we buy barrels or tanks?”