Chapter 301 Tao Family in Peach Alley

Xiao Jiu quickly did the math in her head: all of this added up to 335 yuan. They only earned 25 yuan after working so hard for so long.

Even if they can sell rice and flour at a high price, isn't this purchase price too favorable to her?

Xiao Jiu wasn't stupid; she asked directly, "Brother Tao gave me such a reasonable price, there must be conditions, right?"

"It's so satisfying to deal with smart people. This deal is just a way for my underlings to earn some extra money. I'm looking forward to future collaborations."

Xiao Jiu gave a forced smile: "Perhaps this is the first and last time we'll work together!"

"Look, I've shown my sincerity, shouldn't you show yours too?"

You have many siblings, so you must have many connections, right? They're willing to take the risk of letting you make the deal, so they must have enough confidence, right?

So, I'll do you a favor by doing you this order, and you can let me earn some money for future orders, okay?

Look, I support seven or eight people, and I have my own job.

"We can't let them go without even soup while we eat meat, can we?"

Xiao Jiu realized that these people weren't ignoring what she had, but rather felt that she could offer much more.

Judging by the timeline, this business can last at least another two years, so it's worth giving this opportunity a try.

Once you actually join the army, you might not even be able to enter or leave the warehouse at will.

It wouldn't hurt to work with them a few times first and get to know each other.

Since this is the first time we've given her such a big discount, she can't be stingy, right?

She pondered for a moment and asked, "How do you collect the raw grains? They're all coarse grains, buckwheat, sorghum, bran, and chaff, totaling about two thousand catties."

"Two thousand catties???" Tao Ge stood up in shock, his legs under the table even trembling a few times.

"Buckwheat and sorghum are 1.5 yuan per jin, and bran and other things are 8 mao."

Even at 1.5 yuan per pound, it's a huge profit; my father bought it for just a few cents back then.

However, during periods of stable grain prices, it only costs a few cents, and besides, this is raw grain, so it's quite a good deal.

At least she is content; what she fears is that these grains will be resold at higher prices to ordinary people by unscrupulous middlemen.

She didn't care what price the grain coupons were fetching on the black market, and just sold the coarse grains first.

After selling the two thousand catties of grain that her father had stored, there was still some left. Combined with the coarse grains she had stored herself, it would be enough to feed the family for two years.

"1,200 jin of coarse grains and 800 jin of bran, let's trade at 6:30 tomorrow morning in the woods at the street corner north of Songshan Road, is that alright?"

Tao estimated the price and immediately nodded.

"No problem, no problem. So, for today's transaction, do you want gold, silver, jade, or cash?"

"Take it out and let me see it."

It was only a little over three hundred yuan in total. At first, she didn't have much hope, always feeling that people nowadays didn't have the ability to collect those old objects.

Little did they expect that Brother Tao was no ordinary person. He casually pulled out a cloth bag, and the moment he opened it, it glittered with gold.

Among the gold, silver, and jade artifacts, there were no other three items; everything that caught her eye was gold, including bracelets, rings, necklaces, and goldfish of various sizes. What attracted her most was a gold bowl, a palm-sized bowl that resembled an unfolding flower petal, with exquisite patterns carved on it. The original owner must have cherished it, as its color was dazzling.

Tao, observing her expression, immediately introduced her.

"This golden bowl weighs nine and a half ounces. It's said to be from the Tang Dynasty. Look, it says 'jin' (斤) on the bottom!"

Tang Dynasty?

If it is truly from the Tang Dynasty, then one liang (两) is 41.7 grams, so the bowl would weigh approximately 400 grams.

She didn't know the current price of gold; all she knew was that grain was more expensive than gold.

So she grabbed the golden bowl directly: "This one, want to trade?"

Tao didn't say whether it was okay or not, but said, "Girl, this is from the Tang Dynasty, it weighs nine and a half taels!"

Xiao Jiu lowered her head and began to calculate the price of tomorrow's batch of grain. Tao Ge thought she was unhappy, so he looked at her again and again, but held back.

Just as I was about to say, "Why don't you take it?", Xiao Jiu looked up.

"Brother Tao, including tomorrow's, find me gold of the same value."

I won't pick them myself; you can just bring them to me tomorrow.

I'll trade gold if I feel it's a good opportunity; if not, I'll just take the money.

"Give me an IOU first; I don't need the money for today."

Tao Tao didn't expect his little girl to be so decisive: "Why don't you take the bowl away? I trust you."

Xiao Jiu didn't take the wine, but pushed the notebook in front of Tao Ge. Unable to resist her insistence on settling accounts, he had no choice but to write down an IOU.

Without saying much, she stood up, slung her basket over her shoulder, and Tao Tao immediately spoke to He Yuan.

"A-Yuan, see your little sister Jiu off. Make sure she's in a safe place before you come back."

Xiao Jiu didn't refuse, nodded to Tao Tao, and left the Tao family.

As she stepped outside, she casually handed over a bag of millet.

"I heard that millet oil is especially good for children, why don't you take it?"

He Yuan was stunned by this stroke of good fortune: "For me?"

"Well, I'll definitely need your help in the future. Here, take this as a commission fee."

He Yuan scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, "I thought you would think that Brother Tao's wholesale price was too low!"

Low? You mean much lower than the quoted price, right?

Xiao Jiu said dismissively, "Not everyone can come up with so much money at once."

If I earn less but bring benefits to more people, then I don't mind earning less.

But that's all we have left before the New Year.

The reason she was so quick to agree was that she felt the grain price was alarmingly high, even higher than in later years when consumption was high. How could ordinary people possibly survive?

Especially for rural people, while urban households receive grain rations, old farmers who don't know how to manage their finances will truly starve to death.

"Go back now," Xiao Jiu told He Yuan as soon as they reached the alley entrance. He Yuan didn't stand on ceremony with her, thanked her, and turned to leave.

Xiao Jiu quickened her pace. No one was with her along the way, but now it was dark, there were few people on the road, and many places had no streetlights.

She walked quickly until she saw her second sister standing under a streetlamp not far away, and her nose suddenly felt sore.

"Second Sister!" Tang Cuiju breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Xiao Jiu waving at her.

"Are you done with your work? Are you cold? Come on, come back with me. I've boiled some water. Soak your feet and then take a good shower."

Tang Cuiju grabbed her hand, breathed on it, rubbed it, and put it in her pocket. The two sisters chatted and laughed as they returned home, and only then did Xiaojiu take the cloth out.

"Sister, look, there's a flawed piece of fabric here, it doesn't look very nice. Shall we make a curtain?"

Tang Cuiju took a look and exclaimed, "Oh my, this fabric is sturdy. This width is enough to make a set of clothes for Xiaoqi or Xiaoba."

How many feet is it?

"Ten feet."

"Ten feet, that's enough to make a single-layer cloth shirt for each of them. They can wear it while working at home and it won't get dirty easily."

"You really aren't going to make a curtain?!" Xiao Jiu looked at Tang Cuiju with a helpless expression.