mijobooks Chapter 8 Getting Rich Starts with Reselling
Chapter 8 Getting Rich Starts with Reselling
The evening breeze in March still carried a slight chill, making the persimmon trees beside the courtyard rustle.
Xu Chunsheng poured some tea for his father.
"Wild lilyturf is hard to dig up, and we don't have that much time."
As Xu Chunsheng listened to his father, he leaned back, the bamboo chair beneath him creaking and the backrest loose as if it were about to fall apart.
"So I'm going to collect Ophiopogon japonicus these next few days. Boss Li wants to buy a lot of Ophiopogon japonicus today, so I'll go around the brigade and collect as much as possible to resell to Boss Li."
The high price that the Ophiopogon japonicus fragrans fetched yesterday greatly exceeded Mr. Xu's expectations, so he felt that this was a worthwhile endeavor. "Yes, that's a good idea."
The next morning, as the family sat together eating sweet potato porridge with pickled vegetables, Xu Chunsheng reiterated his plans to them.
"Today I'm going to visit other villages in the brigade to collect some Ophiopogon japonicus. I'll trouble you to help me with the village errands for me."
"Okay! How much money do you want?" the older sister asked.
"Chennian homegrown dried Ophiopogon japonicus is priced at 1.5 yuan per jin; wild dried Ophiopogon japonicus is 3 yuan per jin; cleaned wild fresh Ophiopogon japonicus is 1.8 yuan per jin, and uncleaned wild Ophiopogon japonicus is 1.5 yuan per jin. You can decide the specific price based on the situation."
Xu Chunsheng rattled off a long list of prices, which he had considered yesterday: the prices were similar to what the villagers would pay if they sold their produce in town, and he would also buy small quantities, so many people should be willing to pay.
"Dried ones are 1.5 yuan, fresh ones are 1.8 yuan... No, no, that's not right."
The older sister silently repeated it twice in her mind, but the more she tried to understand, the more confused she became. Somewhat embarrassed, she said, "Say it again, I didn't remember clearly."
Just as Xu Chunsheng was about to speak, a crisp voice interrupted him.
Xu Yaomei rubbed her cheek a few times with her index finger and made a face at her older sister: "Big sister, you're so shy! Little sister has remembered everything!"
Xu Yaomei tilted her head back and uttered each word clearly: "Home-dried ones are 1.5 yuan each, while unprocessed ones from outside are 1.8 yuan each, and dried ones are 3 yuan each!"
Xu Yaomei nodded earnestly, "My third brother always praises my good memory!"
Although Xu Yaomei couldn't count to eighteen, her new brain worked well and she had a good memory.
Xu's parents and Xu Chunsheng, who were standing nearby, burst into laughter. The eldest sister reached out and pinched Xu Chunsheng's arm, saying to the youngest sister with a mix of anger and amusement, "Look at you, you're so humiliated. You think you're so smart."
Looking at the harmonious scene before him, Xu Chunsheng thought of his younger brother who didn't have to go hungry at school. He felt a surge of warmth coursing through his body, a tingling sensation. He clenched his fist, as if trying to grasp something.
Hearing this, Xu's mother smiled and said, "Since you've all made the arrangements, I'll take care of feeding the pigs and cooking."
"Okay, sure!"
Mr. Xu put down his chopsticks and said.
After the meal, everyone got busy. Father Xu prepared to continue digging ditches and turning the soil; Mother Xu prepared to feed the chickens and pigs; the eldest sister found a bag and put it in her backpack; even the youngest sister took a bag, not knowing what she was going to do with it.
"Erwa, I'm going to my uncle's house to borrow a steelyard. You can take the one from home later." The eldest sister said as she walked out of the house, carrying a bag on her back.
"Sister," Xu Chunsheng called out to his sister, "talk to Uncle and the others and ask them to plant some too."
While the two were talking, Xu Yaomei grabbed a bag and quietly went out.
Xu Chunsheng did see it, but he didn't ask. There were many children in the village who hadn't gone to primary school, so he guessed that they had made an appointment to go catch shrimp in the ditch.
After leaving home, Xu Chunsheng did not rush to leave, but went to the village chief's house first.
The village chief's house is one of the few "face-saving" two-story brick houses in the village, with white tiles on the front, making it the second most respectable house in the village.
Why isn't it the first one?
The first share was taken by Qian Junwei's family, who lived next to Liu Shubing's family at the end of the village.
The impressive two-story building has a front panel facing the wall, while the sides and courtyard are smoothed with cement, making it clean and bright.
There's just an eyesore on the rooftop with a big, black iron box that's supposedly called a "solar water heater." It can heat water all by itself, which has raised some questions and some envy among the villagers. They think it's just a waste of money to have a fire going on and then use a "solar" system.
Passing by his house, you could always see a rocking chair on the large second-floor balcony, where a woman with wavy hair and bright red lipstick would often lean against it, the fruit and peanuts in front of her seemingly endless... and the frequent arguments: "I told you, I'm going to live in the county. There's nowhere to even wash your hair in this remote mountain area, and I smell pig manure every day..."
Xu Chunsheng stood in front of the village chief's house, the white tiles gleaming in the sunlight.
"Grandpa, Grandpa, are you home?" Xu Chunsheng called from outside.
This "grandpa" is of course not Xu Chunsheng's biological grandfather. He calls him that because people with the same surname in a village are basically from the same clan. If you go back a few generations, they are all people on the same family tree. So there is no problem with calling him that, and it even makes it seem more intimate.
"Chunsheng, have you had breakfast? Come and sit down."
The village chief tapped his pipe on the wall, puzzled as to why Xu Chunsheng, who had just bought piglets on credit yesterday, was coming to him instead of feeding them.
Xu Chunsheng stepped forward and said, "I won't sit down. I came here to borrow your donkey. I'll pay you by the day."
Xu Chunsheng was a little apprehensive. After all, he hadn't been a reliable person in his previous life, and he didn't even know if the village chief would be willing to lend him the money.
"What are you going to do with it?"
Nowadays, most families with one or two able-bodied members will raise a horse or donkey. During busy farming seasons, they will lead the horse or donkey to help plow the fields, and during slack seasons, they will lead the horse or donkey to find work, such as carrying things for others, which can be a considerable income.
It wasn't that the village chief didn't want to lend it, but he was worried that Xu Chunsheng would tire the donkey out or that the donkey wouldn't get enough to eat.
Xu Chunsheng noticed the village chief's concerns and handed him two yuan. "I'll pay you five yuan a day. Here's a two-yuan deposit for you."
He then explained what he needed to do with the donkey he had borrowed: "I want to go to other villages to collect medicinal herbs, but it's inconvenient for me to do it alone. I'm borrowing your donkey to help carry some Ophiopogon japonicus."
Hearing Xu Chunsheng say this, the village chief had a better understanding of the situation. He also carefully looked at the young man in front of him and thought to himself: Xu Chunsheng has become more diligent. He performed a heroic act not long ago, and he hasn't been seen wandering around these past few days. Even Xu Hongjun and his wife have started praising him.
The village chief, with a touch of elder's concern, then said, "Chunsheng, are you preparing to start a business? It's just that medicinal herbs aren't selling well. Where do you plan to sell them? Have you contacted anyone to buy them?"
……
After some refusals from the two, the village chief finally accepted the two yuan deposit. Although his refusal was not very decisive, he also agreed to a daily rental fee of five yuan for the donkey, and Xu Chunsheng would be responsible for taking good care of the donkey.
As Xu Chunsheng was leaving with his donkey, he said to the village chief, "I'll be harvesting some Ophiopogon japonicus for the next two years. Could you please tell the villagers that anyone with Ophiopogon japonicus at home can come to me? It would be best if they also grow some themselves; I'll buy them all."
Upon hearing this, the village chief finally understood why the Xu family had gone to plant lilyturf seedlings early yesterday morning, and why Xu Hongjun had spent the whole day ridged the ditches. He also realized that Xu Chunsheng was not joking.
"I understand. I'll talk to the villagers about it later." As the village chief, he was actually happy to see the villagers benefit more.
When Xu Chunsheng saw that the village chief had agreed, he breathed a sigh of relief. He had said everything he could, and he hadn't hidden anything about what his family had been doing lately. Everyone in the village could see it. Now, it was just a matter of "doing his best and leaving the rest to fate."
Xu Chunsheng then led the donkey away, unaware that Xu Yaomei was about to do something important.