bookrebus Chapter 60 Selling Charcoal in the Snow
Chapter 60 Selling Charcoal in the Snow
Wen Yuxia leaned against the window, gazing at the swirling snowflakes outside, and muttered to herself, "It's snowing! Now our charcoal will definitely fetch a good price!"
Winters in the south are typically dry and cold, and snowfall is extremely rare. She had already planned to have Manager Du come and haul away the charcoal in a couple of days.
With today's auspicious snowfall, the price of charcoal is expected to rise again.
Overjoyed, Wen Yuxia eagerly pushed open the door and shouted loudly, "Grandpa—let's hurry to Zuixianlou to find Manager Du!"
After delivering the last truckload of charcoal yesterday, Wen Dashan stayed overnight in the city, planning to return to Xinghua Village after the charcoal was sold. He got up before dawn.
He had already seen the snowflakes falling from the sky, but in order not to disturb Wen Yuxia and her brother's rest, he suppressed his excitement, returned to bed, and closed his eyes to rest.
At that moment, hearing Wen Yuxia's call, he quickly responded, "Coming, coming!" Then, he opened the door and strode confidently towards Wen Yuxia.
The grandfather and grandson quickly ate breakfast and then drove their mule cart to Zuixianlou Restaurant. Manager Du of Zuixianlou had already arranged for the mule cart to carry the charcoal and was waiting for them at the entrance.
Upon seeing Wen Yuxia and her granddaughter, Manager Du said happily, "Miss Wen, I knew you would come today. Look, the mule cart is all ready, just waiting for you to lead the way."
Ever since Li Wancai learned that Wen Yuxia was going to sell charcoal to Zuixianlou, he told him not to stockpile charcoal in advance. He only stored enough for one day, waiting for the weather to get cold so he could buy charcoal from the Wen family.
Li Wancai specifically instructed him to buy all the charcoal produced by the Wen family, and to send any surplus to Zuixianlou restaurants in the surrounding counties if they couldn't use it all in Xinchuan County.
He only knew that Wen Yuxia lived in the south of the city, but he didn't know which street or alley she lived on. If he had known, he would have led the mule cart team to wait for Wen Yuxia at her door long ago.
Watching the charcoal being weighed and loaded onto the cart, and hearing Manager Du say there were a total of 10,000 jin of charcoal, Wen Dashan was eager to know how much silver he could get for it.
So he quietly patted Wen Yuxia on the shoulder. Wen Yuxia, who was checking accounts with Manager Du, turned around in confusion and asked, "Da Ya, how much can 10,000 catties of charcoal sell for?"
“Five hundred taels!” Wen Yuxia replied casually.
"Five hundred taels, hehe, that's wonderful!" Wen Dashan believed his granddaughter unconditionally. If Wen Yuxia said she could sell it for five hundred taels of silver, he had no doubt whatsoever.
Manager Du glanced at Wen Yuxia with surprise, then buried his head in the abacus. Looking at the bead on the hundreds place that represented 500, he stared in disbelief and said, "Miss Wen, how did you know it was 5 taels?"
The 5 that Wen Yuxia casually mentioned matched the number he calculated on his abacus. He was very curious about how Wen Yuxia had done it.
"Ten thousand catties, at 50 wen per catty, that's 5 taels of silver. It's very simple," Wen Yuxia said with a light laugh.
Manager Du could tell that Wen Yuxia didn't want to tell him how to calculate without an abacus, so he said with a smile, "Miss Wen, do you know how much silver 32,000 catties of charcoal can be sold for at 50 wen per catty?"
"One thousand six hundred taels," Wen Yuxia answered as soon as Manager Du finished speaking.
Shopkeeper Du quickly checked the abacus: 1600, not a penny more or less. Shopkeeper Du's greatest pride in his life was his speed and accuracy with the abacus, but now he was feeling defeated by Wen Yuxia.
Memorizing the multiplication table would allow for quick calculation of the answer, but Wen Yuxia didn't intend to tell Shopkeeper Du the multiplication table.
Firstly, she feared that the time traveler from the Zhang family might have revealed the multiplication table to them before his death. Secondly, she currently lacked power and influence, and feared that the leakage of the multiplication table would bring her trouble.
Seeing Manager Du's pale and pitiful appearance, Wen Yuxia felt a pang of sympathy and comforted him, "I have a natural talent for numbers, so I can know the answer without an abacus."
With a forced smile, Manager Du handed five silver notes to Wen Yuxia, then led the mule cartload of charcoal away.
"Grandpa, please give these silver notes to Aunt and the others to take back," Wen Yuxia said, leaving one silver note and handing the remaining four to Wen Dashan.
Settling in Xinghua Village, building new houses, buying land, burning charcoal, and now each family can receive 1 taels of silver—all of this is because of Daya. Wen Dashan accepted the silver notes and sincerely said, "Daya, on behalf of the whole family, thank you!"
Wen Yuxia waved her hand with a smile and said casually, "We're all family, there's no need to thank me. The vegetables in the greenhouse are ripe, Grandpa, would you like to go take a look?"
"Go, of course."
Wen Yuxia led Wen Dashan into the greenhouse to observe the growth of the vegetables up close. This was Wen Dashan's first time entering a greenhouse.
Cabbage, radish, lettuce, spinach, cucumber, and vibrant green chives dazzled Wen Dashan. Next, Wen Yuxia led him to cilantro and scallions.
When Wen Dashan left, Wen Yuxia asked Lu Xiaosong to pick a lot of vegetables for him to take back to Xinghua Village. After seeing Wen Dashan off, Wen Yuxia asked Lu Zhigang to hitch up the car.
"Manager Du, I'm here again!" Wen Yuxia greeted Manager Du, who was doing accounts, with a cheerful laugh as she entered Zuixianlou.
"Xiao Li, bring two plates of pastries to Miss Wen," Manager Du said, putting down his ledger and leading Wen Yuxia to a private room since it wasn't mealtime and the shop was empty.
While he was setting up the charcoal bins, he noticed several greenhouses in the Wen family's backyard. Through the oil paper, he could vaguely see vegetables growing inside, but out of politeness, he neither went closer nor asked any questions.
Wealthy families all have greenhouses where they keep precious flowers and plants during the winter. These greenhouses are made of glazed tiles on all sides and the roof, and they are quite expensive to build.
Wen Yuxia's greenhouse uses oil paper, which is much less effective at retaining heat than a traditional greenhouse. Vegetables in it probably wouldn't survive. It's a mystery how Wen Yuxia manages to keep them growing.
Manager Du guessed that Wen Yuxia had come for the vegetables in the greenhouse, so he took her directly to the private room.
Shopkeeper Du had seen the greenhouse that morning and knew it was filled with vegetables. Wen Yuxia didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "Shopkeeper Du, the vegetables at home are ripe. Could you help me find buyers?"
The greenhouse vegetables at home are just a front; the real reason is to deal with the mountain of vegetables piling up in the space. One restaurant like Zuixianlou can't handle that much, so they need to find more buyers.
During her time fleeing famine, to save money, she used all two acres of land in the backyard of her villa to grow vegetables. The kitchen, storage room, and any other space where food could be preserved were all filled with vegetables.
Manager Du laughed and said, "What we lack most in winter is fresh vegetables. Why look for other buyers? Zuixianlou is all over Nanzhou Prefecture. We'll take as many as you have."