The Farm Girl's Charismatic Fortune-Chapter 89 - 86: Another Large Sum of Silver Deposited

Tiandou had fallen into darkness, and Ruo Chuan only then returned home.

Ruo Xuan immediately brought a bowl of water and ran to Ruo Chuan, "Little uncle, drink some water!"

"Ay, Xuanbao, you look so pretty in your new clothes today! You’re both beautiful and caring. No wonder your little uncle bought you something nice!" Ruo Chuan patted his little niece’s head, happily took the bowl and drank heartily.

Being praised as beautiful made the already happy Xuanbao even happier when she heard there were nice things for her.

She saw that the cart only had a watermelon, a basket of oranges, a box of pastries, and an exquisite wooden box, as well as a cloth bag of seeds.

Smelling them, Xuanbao realized they were all seeds for medicinal herbs, and she excitedly said, "Little uncle, you sold the tiger, the white fox, and the wolves? And you sold the bamboo fungus too? How many taels of silver did you make?"

After finishing his water, Ruo Chuan put down the bowl and scooped up his little niece, "Sold them all. The tiger and the white fox together brought in two hundred sixty taels, and the three wolves a hundred taels. That basket of bamboo fungus I sold for twenty taels of silver, and those square bamboo shoots weighed exactly one hundred catties at three coins per catty, so I sold them for three hundred coins. With the three hundred coins, I bought some pastries from Caidie Pavilion for Xuanbao and your brothers to enjoy, and I also bought some seeds for medicinal herbs. Now, we have four hundred eighty taels left!"

Xuanbao did some calculations and then shook her little head, "That’s not right! Little uncle, you got the math wrong, it should be three hundred eighty taels left!"

Ruo Chuan didn’t expect Xuanbao to be so clever, to so quickly figure out that the numbers didn’t match up. He vaguely said, "Well, your little uncle took some parts of the tiger, the white fox, and the wolves to sell separately, which made another hundred taels."

Hearing this, Xuanbao’s eyes widened with admiration, "Little uncle, you’re so smart! Which parts did you take?"

Ruo Chuan felt a great sense of satisfaction and lightly replied, "The valuable parts."

Then he held Xuanbao and vividly recounted his experience of selling the tiger, the white fox, and the wolves.

Today, he went to Jishi Hall to sell the tiger and white fox, but they only agreed to pay one hundred fifty taels at most, citing the removal of the fur.

The restaurant was only willing to pay one hundred sixty taels.

Unsatisfied with this price, Ruo Chuan didn’t sell to them.

He then went to the Escort Agency to ask the brothers he had escorted with before if anyone was looking to buy things like tigers and white foxes.

Sometimes, the Escort Agency would also get tasks to go up the mountains to hunt tigers.

Unexpectedly, he found someone who was willing to pay a high price for tiger and wolf bones to brew in liquor.

At the end of the year, the Escort Agency was its busiest. Who had the time to take on a task like mountain tiger hunting, which was so dangerous that one might not return?

The Escort Agency gave that wealthy merchant’s address to Ruo Chuan.

Ruo Chuan went straight to the wealthy merchant’s place, and with his glib tongue, he sold the tiger, wolves, and white fox to the merchant to brew a three-bone liquor.

"Three hits on the white bone spirit," he touted, asserting that the three-bone liquor was more powerful. That’s how he hoodwinked the merchant, who believed it.

Turns out, the merchant had a friend whose mother needed white fox meat as a medicinal guide in her prescriptions, so he bought the whole white fox too.

Ruo Chuan also knew that a wealthy merchant in the provincial city was deficient in certain respects and was always buying tiger whips and bull whips to enhance his body.

He had already taken the tiger whip, wolf whip, and fox whip, and after finding another wealthy merchant, he sold all three for a hundred taels!

Because he had run around many places today, that’s why he arrived home so late.

Granny Lei said with a laugh, "Xuanbao is right, selling things to the right person is how you make the most silver."

Today’s tiger and white fox had fetched a price he thought was already high at one hundred fifty taels because the fur was left intact, but he didn’t expect to sell them for an extra sixty taels.

Ruo Chuan nodded in agreement, "The bamboo fungus I’ve also arranged with the restaurant: if we harvest more, we can give it to them. Fresh bamboo fungus will sell for one thousand five hundred coins per catty to the restaurant, and the dried one for three taels of silver per catty."

Although he didn’t harvest the bamboo fungus himself, Ruo Chuan had always gone up the mountain to pick mushrooms and dig for bamboo shoots since he was a child. He knew that bamboo fungus was rare, even rarer than mushrooms; even dried mountain goods like mushrooms could sell in the restaurant for several hundred coins a catty.

Rarity added to the value, with bamboo fungus being even rarer, naturally, the price was higher.

Moreover, Xuanbao said that bamboo fungus is beneficial for boosting energy, nourishing the brain, calming the mind, strengthening the body, and has the medicinal effect of "scraping oil" from the liver, so naturally the price couldn’t be low.

Ruo Hang immediately said, "Then I will go to the mountains to pick more bamboo fungus in the future."

Ruo Bo and Ruo Xian also nodded, indicating they would take on the task of picking bamboo fungus.

They too wanted to help the family earn silver. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

Ruo Chuan smiled and patted the heads of his several nephews, praising them, "I sent a basket of bamboo fungus to two wealthy merchants, so they could enjoy it and come to me to buy more in the future. They gave me some fruits and toys for the children in return."

Ruo Chuan took a wooden box down from the cart and opened it. Xuanbao saw two silk flowers, a pellet drum, a set of nine linked rings, and other toys children play with.

"Xuanbao, play with your brothers."

"Okay!" Ruo Xuan said with a smile as she took them. Besides wearing the two silk flowers in her hair, she was not interested in these things—they were too simple for her. She only took the two silk flowers and gave the rest to her brothers while she went to check on the medicinal herb seeds.

They were all common and easy to plant medicinal herbs, ready to be grown when spring came.

Ruo Chuan then gave each child a piece of pastry to eat, careful not to give too much so they wouldn’t spoil their appetite for dinner.

For dinner, the whole family sat together and enjoyed a hot pot with meat, vegetables, soup, and with ample grains and stored silver. The family ate with particular satisfaction.

Especially the bamboo fungus—it received unanimous praise!

Ruo Xuan suddenly thought of something and said, "With the four hundred taels from copying books, we have enough to build a house. Is four hundred and eighty taels enough to buy a shop in the city?"

Ruo Chuan replied, "In the county seat, it should be just about enough. The price of a shop depends on its location and size. The busier the street, the more expensive the shop. However, if Xuanbao wants to open a bookstore, buying a shop near the Academy would be about enough, but shops near the Academy don’t go on sale often."

Ruo Shui said, "Shops on the bustling streets in the city are rarely for sale; those on quiet streets, however, do come up for sale. But if the street is too quiet, there will be no customers, and the business will be hard to run. Even buying it could be hard to recoup the investment or difficult to rent out."

Ruo Xuan said, "Then let’s take our time and only buy when we find something suitable!"

Granny Lei laughed and said, "Xuanbao has great foresight indeed."

Madam Jiang also smiled and said, "The smartest and most foresightful in our family is Xuanbao! With silver in hand, she thinks of buying land to build houses, purchasing barren hills to plant fruit trees and medicinal herbs, buying shops –she’s one step ahead in things we adults don’t even think of!"

Her two sons were indeed smart in their studies, but compared to Xuanbao, they fell short in every respect.

Madam Jiang cast a disdainful glance at her two sons.

Ruo Hang and Ruo Bo smiled contentedly. They were happy that their sister was smarter than them.

Seizing the opportunity, Ruo Xuan said, "Grandma, take me to the city tomorrow to see if there are any shops for sale!"

Granny Lei paused, wondering if they were in such a hurry?

The family had been so busy recently.

Ruo Xuan winked at Granny Lei, who assumed that Xuanbao must have a necessary reason to go to the city and nodded her head, "Okay!"

Ruo Xian, who had recently grown a bit weary of reading and writing, said, "Grandma, I want to go too."

Ruo Hang and Ruo Bo immediately said, "Grandma, I also want to go and buy a shop!"

"Grandma, can I also help look at the shops to see if they are good?"

After all, they were only children of a few years, stuck at home studying and practicing characters every day. Who would have the patience for that? Granny Lei thought that her granddaughter went into the city every day, while her grandsons hadn’t been for a long time. She then said with a smile, "Alright, tomorrow happens to be the market day, and Granny will take you into the city to the market."

The boys laughed: Finally, they could relax a bit!

The next day, before dawn, Granny Lei made breakfast for the family, then, at Xuanbao’s request, she took the grandsons to pick two baskets of bamboo fungus and a basket of wild grapes before heading to the town.