Chapter 4 Home Alone
Three days later.
The backyard of the rice shop has been almost dug out, and cement is currently being laid at the bottom of the large and small pools. Zhu Hao has not yet revealed how the salt will be extracted.
Zhu Hao understood that he could not tell Zhong Shu, Yu San and others the details of the beach-drying salt-making method.
At noon, after he finished supervising the work in the backyard and waited for a few laborers to go for lunch, he came to the main hall and saw Zhu Niang talking to a mysterious and sloppy man. Then the man left cautiously, looking like a guilty thief.
Accountant Sun was arrested by the government. The Zhu family was certain that the shop was at the end of its rope and no one was sent to look after the accounts. For the past three days, Zhu Niang had been taking care of the counter herself.
"Mom, do you have business in the morning?" Zhu Hao asked.
Zhu Niang nodded: "Aunt Wang from next door came this morning and bought three pounds of red beans..."
Zhu Hao asked again: "What did that person do just now?"
"he……"
Zhu Niang hesitated for a moment, and seemed to feel that her son had grown a lot recently, so she said bluntly, "The private salt seller said that they could supply salt to the shop at a low price. We don't need to buy too much at one time, and we can even settle with them after selling the salt."
Compared with official salt, even though private salt is of poor quality, it is still accepted by the general public because it is cheap.
I can’t eat salt, I feel weak, and my hair turns gray…
Zhu Hao said, "Mom, don't buy smuggled salt. We are being watched now. If we sell smuggled salt, we will be easily reported and it will be even harder to explain."
Zhu Niang smiled and stroked her son's head, with a look of relief on her face: "Xiaohao has grown up, and mother is sensible. Even if we are at the end of our rope, we can't do anything that will damage your father's reputation and the reputation of the Zhu family... When mother has money, I will definitely find a way to let you study, so that you can have more knowledge and a bright future..."
That afternoon.
The shop is still deserted.
At night, when the porters in the backyard had left and the door of the shop was closed, Zhu Hao called Zhu Niang and Aunt Li over.
"Xiaohao, what are you going to do?"
Zhu Niang looked puzzled. She saw her son light the tung oil lamp and take out a bundle from the side.
When the bundle was opened, Zhu Niang and Aunt Li were surprised to find that there was salt inside!
"Where did you get this?"
Zhu Niang asked curiously.
Zhu Hao said, "This is a small sample I dried myself... I took the brine out of the pond and used the salt drying method that we are about to implement on a large scale in the backyard. I dried it on a small scale in the pond of the abandoned West Wing... Mom, do you think the quality of this salt is good?"
Zhu Niang gently picked up the salt grains and rubbed them between her thumb and index finger. The salt grains were snow-white and fine. Even under the dim light of the tung oil lamp, one could tell that it was top-quality refined salt.
Aunt Li was surprised and asked, "Madam, could this be the legendary snowflake salt?"
Zhu Niang did not answer. She loosened her hands and the salt grains fell back into the bag. She tilted her head and asked in a low voice: "Xiao Hao, this... is this really salt from the sun?"
"Yes, mother, if we can produce this kind of salt, I wonder if it can be sold?" Even though Zhu Hao understood the beach drying method, he still didn't know much about the salt market.
Aunt Li almost cried with joy, "Madam, isn't it said that snowflake salt is a tribute? Even dignitaries can't easily see it? How is this possible?"
Zhu Niang said seriously, "If we can really make salt of this quality, it will sell well. But Xiaohao...is this really the salt we made?"
Zhu Niang still couldn't believe it.
It feels like a dream.
Before today, the future was still bleak, but I didn’t expect to see light in the blink of an eye.
"Um."
Zhu Hao nodded firmly again: "Mom, if our salt sells well, where will we get salt from after this batch is dried?"
"you……"
Zhu Niang didn't expect that the current crisis had not yet been resolved, and her son was already preparing for the future.
Aunt Li smiled and said, "If the salt sells well, there will be no problem buying more salt. There is a lot of salt shipped from Dajiang to Anlu, and the owners are all famous salt merchants."
"Um."
Zhu Niang nodded and agreed with Aunt Li's opinion.
Zhu Hao suggested: "If we want to import official salt in the future, we don't necessarily have to look for the best quality salt. Instead, we should buy relatively rough but cheap salt from salt merchants with strong backgrounds. We need salt merchants that cannot be shaken by the government of Changshou County or even Anlu Prefecture, and will not be controlled by the Zhu family. Only in this way can we ensure the supply of brine."
"Xiaohao, where did you learn this method? Why doesn't mother know it?"
Zhu Niang asked.
"Mom, don't ask me anymore. I will explain it to you in detail later. Now we have to keep the news secret. We must not let outsiders know how we purify the salt, not even Uncle Zhong and his men... I will keep some of the key steps in salt drying, and we will know them ourselves when the time comes."
You should not have the intention to harm others, but you must be on guard against others.
Aunt Li wiped the tears from her eyes because of surprise, and said with relief: "Madam, this time we are lucky to have Master Hao. Otherwise, I will go out and buy some pork to improve our life. Speaking of which... we haven't had meat for a long time."
Zhu Niang nodded and said, "Then I'll trouble you, sister."
As he said this, he took out a small string of copper coins from his purse and asked Aunt Li to prepare dinner.
…
…
Dumplings stuffed with cabbage and pork.
There was about one pound of pork, which was chopped into stuffing and mixed with about three or four pounds of cabbage, cracked an egg, and then added with salt, pepper powder, thirteen spices and other seasonings. It was mixed evenly, wrapped in dough, and cooked in a big pot. Thirty or forty dumplings were scooped into each person's bowl and dipped in a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar. It was the most delicious thing Zhu Hao had eaten since he came to this world, and it simply aroused every glutton in his stomach.
The dumplings were made by Aunt Li and Zhu Ting. Zhu Ting was only five years old, but she was already a good helper in the kitchen.
In the evening, the family had a nice meal of dumplings together, and then discussed their plans under the tung oil lamp.
"Mom, we will start selling salt tomorrow." Zhu Hao made an opening remark.
"We can't sell to the locals right now. Even if we're selling snowflake salt, no one will come to our store because of the bad reputation we've had. For now, we can only sell to inns and restaurants in the city."
"From what I have learned in the past two days, the official salt trade in the city is basically monopolized by a few merchants. Those inns and restaurants will not buy hundreds of stones of salt at a time like we do. They can only buy high-priced salt in small quantities. We can provide low-priced and high-quality official salt. Even if the government investigates, we can provide salt permits without any trouble."
"That's called a win-win situation, mom."
Zhu Hao has done market research before.
This round of trouble in the shop was related to the fact that several big salt merchants in the city joined forces to monopolize the market and raise the threshold of wholesale prices. Otherwise, Zhu Niang would not have taken out two or three hundred taels of silver to purchase goods at a time, and thus fell into the trap of the Zhu family.
In the past, whether it was a shop or a restaurant in the city, they could buy official salt wholesale in units of a large bundle, which was four hundred kilograms.
Zhu Niang was unable to make a decision for a moment.
Aunt Li reminded: "Madam, why don't you listen to Master Hao and give it a try."
Zhu Niang said nothing, just nodded.
…
…
The next day.
The shop was open as usual, but still had few customers, and was run by Aunt Li.
Zhu Hao and Zhu Niang went to teahouses, wine shops, inns and other shops in the city that were interested in purchasing official salt to promote their products.
But when the shop owners learned about Zhu Niang's identity and the purpose of her visit, none of them looked at her in a good light and some even kicked her out directly.
By noon, not even a single company was willing to sit down and talk, let alone make a deal.
Back at the shop, Zhu Niang felt a little discouraged.
Zhu Hao smiled and encouraged: "Mom, don't be discouraged. Let's go to the north of the city this afternoon. That's Wangfu Street, where there are many rich people. Maybe the shops there will buy our refined salt?"
Aunt Li suddenly thought of something and looked at Zhu Niang: "Madam, isn't Shopkeeper Song of the Yuelai Pavilion Restaurant in the west of the city an old friend of our master? His business is so big, why don't we go and ask him?"
Zhu Niang was a little apprehensive: "This man does business by any means, selling inferior goods as good ones. His reputation is not very good. We have no contact with him since the passing of the master."
"Mom, no matter if this person is kind or not, the most important thing is that we sell the salt. At worst, we won't cooperate with him in the future, as long as we can talk to him now."
At a critical moment of life and death, why bother to care how others do business?
…
…
Sure enough, my father's old friend was still very respectful. At least this was the first person who was willing to sit down and talk to Zhu Niang and her son after running around for half a day.
Just as Zhu Niang described, Song Yu, the owner of Yuelai Pavilion, did not look like a good person at first glance. He was short and stocky, with triangular eyes, a hooked nose, and thin lips. He spoke with a coldness that kept people at a distance. He was less than 30 years old, but looked like an old man who was about to die.
"... Madam, I'm not being polite, but Brother Zhongyan passed away this year. If he were still alive, I'm sure he wouldn't want a widow like you to show up in public, right? You actually brought your child with you to discuss business. What... is this?"
Zhu Niang didn't want to get too entangled with Song Yu.
Hearing this, he wanted to get up and leave.
Zhu Hao pulled Zhu Niang's sleeve and said with a smile, "Uncle Song, I heard that you had a very close relationship with my late father. We are here to give you a great deal."
"Nephew, this doesn't seem like a place for a little kid like you to talk, right?" Boss Song actually taught Zhu Hao a lesson with a stern face. This Boss Song really thinks of himself as an elder.
Zhu Hao took out a small bundle from his arms, opened it, and revealed the refined salt inside: "We are not here to borrow money, nor are we here to cause trouble to Uncle Song. We have the best official salt in our hands. Look, it's as white as snowflakes, and one pound is only sixteen cents, which is a few cents lower than the price of official salt on the market... Don't you think it would be a pity not to buy a batch of such good salt and store it?"
Song Yu was very resistant at first, probably because he had heard about the plight of the orphan and widow of the Zhu family and thought that the mother and son came to his house to borrow money .
When he looked at the salt provided by Zhu Hao, he immediately frowned.
"Madam, where does this salt come from?"
"us……"
Zhu Niang was about to explain.
Zhu Hao pulled her sleeve again, stood up and said, "Uncle Song, this is the official salt we brought back... You don't think the private salt is of such a good quality? Or maybe Uncle Song thinks our salt is not from a legitimate source? We have salt permits, and now the salt merchants in the city only sell wholesale and not retail. Could it be that Uncle Song wants to buy the official salt of poor quality from others at a high price of more than 20 wen?"
If Zhu Hao wants to make this deal, he can only explain the "profit".
Aren’t you unscrupulous in running your restaurant?
We sell you good salt at a low price, you won't be stupid enough not to accept it, right?
Song Yu immediately put on a smiling face: "Since we are talking about business, it is easy to talk and negotiate. Who made me and Brother Zhongyan close friends? We have been together since we were young and can talk about anything... Hehe, but the problem is, didn't the salt in your shop just have problems? Who would dare to buy your salt? The price of sixteen cents..."
When Zhu Niang heard that there was some hope, she felt that it could be discussed and was about to say something.
Zhu Hao acted very aggressively and said first: "Uncle Song, we only sell such good salt for 16 coins. You are really rude to bargain. So we have no choice but to ask other shops. After going around all morning, several shops have expressed their intention to purchase."
"impossible?"
Song Yu subconsciously felt that there was something fishy going on.
Zhu Hao grinned and said, "Which of the shopkeepers of restaurants and inns in the city is not a smart person? They know that our salt is good, not only is the price cheap, but we can also sell it in retail, and we are responsible for delivering the salt to the customer's door. Such good salt can be placed on the counter for customers to see, almost as a living signboard... If you don't buy such good salt, you are a fool, right?"
Song Yu was originally full of confidence, but after hearing what Zhu Hao said, his face suddenly became dull.
Zhu Hao pulled his mother up and said, "Good wine needs no bush. We are selling it at this price now only because we are in a bit of trouble. We won't sell it to you at this price in the future. Mom, let's go and look at other places."
"Xiaohao, you..."
Zhu Niang didn't expect that after finally meeting a potential customer, her son would be so determined to leave.
"Oh, Third Madam, nephew, why are you so distant? We are old friends. How can I just stand by and watch you get into trouble? How about this, fifteen cents for one...pay at the end of the month."
"Mom, let's go. The shopkeeper said this morning that he would pay us 17 cents in cash. Even if he bought a small amount, we can just sell it to a few more stores."
"No, no, no, sixteen coins for both. Buy one hundred kilograms at a time. Is that okay?"
The first large retail order was negotiated in this way.
Zhu Niang discussed the supply details with Song Yu in detail and went out with her son. The sunlight shining on her face added a bit of brightness.
