Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 127: Contract

"Da Miao, Er Miao, San Miao, Dazhuang, Tu Gou, Shengzi, come over for dinner. Brother Dafu’s nephew has sent us plenty of bean cakes," Old Guo called to the families who were working.

After they took up the task of clearing the wasteland, they also called their families to help, and now there were thirteen people working on the barren land.

There were many people, but the Gu Family sent a lot of food too, a whole basket full of bean dregs cakes, enough for all their families.

When He Dazhuang, He Tugou, and He Shengzi arrived at the edge of the field, seeing the bean dregs cakes in the basket, they smiled from ear to ear.

He Dazhuang said, "Wow, these are golden bean pancakes, they cost a few copper coins each in town."

He had once bought one and shared it with his wife; it was extremely delicious, but they didn’t have much money, so that was the only time they bought it. His wife had craved that taste for a long time.

"Dazhuang, your family brought three people, here are nine bean cakes, take them," Old Guo distributed the bean cakes.

These bean cakes were much larger than the ones sold in town; they couldn’t fit nine of them into a wooden bowl, so He Dazhuang brought his own basket, filling it with the nine bean cakes.

"Here is some soy milk, it tastes even better when eaten together," Gu Dafu said.

"Eh, got it, thanks a lot, Brother Dafu," He Dazhuang divided the bean cakes among his two sons, then took a wooden bowl to pour some soy milk, enjoying the pancakes with soy milk. The taste was incredibly delightful, making the villagers watching by the field salivate, regretting not taking this job.

But it was too late for regrets; the Qin, Gu, and Luotian families were only clearing this little patch of wasteland, enough hands were already on it, with no plan to hire more.

Old Guo and the others, seeing the remorse in those villagers who had mocked them, found the bean cakes in their hands even tastier.

Each of those families was poor but not selfish. Each of them only ate two bean cakes and saved the last one to take home, letting their family members also enjoy the treat.

...

At Gu Jinli’s house, the villagers from Lianghe Village came calling again.

This time, fewer people came, only three, and Liang Zhuzi was carrying a half basket of eggs and a pack of caramel.

Third Grandpa had heard from Third Grandma about yesterday’s visit and knowing they would come again today, he didn’t go out but stayed at home.

Liang Zhuzi was very cautious this time; upon reaching the Gu’s courtyard, he knocked on the door very gently, almost too quiet for Third Grandpa to hear.

Once inside, Liang Zhuzi and the two men began apologizing: "Elder Gu, Brother Gu, Miss Gu Family, it was our fault yesterday, please don’t blame us."

Gu Jinli was a straightforward person and also wanted to expand the tofu business. After they finished apologizing, she immediately said, "You can take tofu from us to sell, but we have three conditions."

When Liang Zhuzi heard the first half, he almost jumped for joy, but hearing there were conditions, he tensed up, anxiously asking, "Miss Gu Family, what are your conditions?"

Gu Jinli said, "Simple. First, once the tofu is in your hands, it’s no longer our concern. If anyone who buys your tofu has issues, they should find you, it has nothing to do with us."

"This!" Liang Zhuzi didn’t expect the first condition from the Gu Family to be so tough.

The two villagers with him said, "Miss Gu Family, if there’s an issue with the tofu from your family, wouldn’t we have to bear it?"

Gu Jinli smiled slightly, "Business has its risks. If you’re afraid our tofu might have problems, you don’t have to buy."

Her words were firm, making the two villagers from Lianghe almost storm off, but Liang Zhuzi stopped them.

Seeing they didn’t leave, Gu Jinli continued, "You’re afraid our tofu might have problems, and we’re afraid you might tamper with our tofu, so this condition is fair and reasonable."

"However, we understand your difficulty. When you come to buy tofu, you can try a piece for free on the spot and wait a quarter-hour; if there are no issues, then you can choose your tofu and leave. If there are any problems during that quarter-hour, the Gu Family will take full responsibility."

After hearing this, Liang Zhuzi and the two villagers from Lianghe thought it was a good arrangement that protected both parties’ interests.

After some thought, they gritted their teeth and agreed, "Okay, we accept this condition. What are the remaining two?"

"The remaining two are simple," said Gu Jinli. "The second condition is about the price. The price of our tofu is not fixed; we can raise it anytime, but it won’t be more than three cents per jin each time. You can also raise your selling price, but not more than five cents each time; if the price increase is too outrageous, more than ten times our supply price, we won’t sell tofu to you."

Liang Zhuzi and his companions were farmers, illiterate and not good at numbers; they counted on their fingers and on small stones to understand the pricing. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

"Okay, we can agree to this condition," added Liang Zhuzi. "Miss Gu Family, rest assured, we are honest folk just trying to make a living, not greedy or scheming."

Gu Jinli nodded, then stated the third condition, "The last condition is when you sell the tofu, you must tell the buyers it’s ’Gu Family Tofu.’"

She planned to produce soy oil and soy sauce in the future and needed to establish the brand first.

After hearing the last condition, Liang Zhuzi breathed a sigh of relief, his dark face all smiles, "Alright, then that’s settled. From tomorrow, we’ll come to buy tofu from the Gu Family."

Gu Jinli said, "That’s fine, but we don’t have many hands; currently, we can only supply 500 jin of tofu to Lianghe Village per day. We don’t care how you distribute it among yourselves, but we can guarantee this minimum daily amount."

jin of tofu was quite an increase from before.

Liang Zhuzi and his companions were pleased, but not for long, as Gu Jinli then brought out a piece of paper, laying it on the table, "This is a contract with those three conditions written on it. If you have no objections, you need to make a thumbprint on this contract."

"Ah? Sign a contract, make a thumbprint?" One of the villagers from Lianghe said, "We’re not buying property or people, a contract isn’t necessary, right?"

Gu Jinli knew that people of ancient times feared reporting to officials and signing contracts, but "Verbal agreements carry no proof; only by setting down a contract can everything we discussed be considered valid."

As soon as she finished speaking, Village Chief He’s voice arrived: "Old Gu, Dashan, Xiao Yu, are you all home?"

While speaking, he glanced at the three men from Lianghe Village, asking, "Who are these three? They look very unfamiliar."