Chapter 41 Acquisition Storm
The next day, their family did not set up the stall. Instead, they asked the headman to go to the village again to inform the villagers and ask them to quickly send the chestnuts from their homes to sell.
Qianhuan had enough money this time, and she thought that chestnuts had a long shelf life and it would be no problem to keep them for ten or twenty days, so she wanted to buy more and keep them at home. This time she planned to buy 4,000 kilograms of chestnuts.
Who would have thought that after the village head asked his sons to inform everyone, most of the villagers said they did not want to sell chestnuts to Liang Laoer's family anymore.
The headman's sons told Old Man Hu about this, and Old Man Hu ran to tell Qianhuan's family about this.
"Grandpa Village Head, why don't the villagers want to sell chestnuts to our family?" Qianhuan really couldn't understand. Who wouldn't want to make money?
"The villagers didn't say anything about this. How about I ask my sons to call the villagers over and ask them."
"Then I'll trouble you, Grandpa Lizheng."
The village head gathered the villagers together and asked them the reason. Everyone complained, "Mr. Village Head, Liang Laoer's family is really dishonest. They sell sugar-roasted chestnuts for 10 yuan per catty in the city, but they only give us one cent per catty."
"Yes, yes, they are so unkind, that's why we don't want to sell to them." The villagers echoed.
Qianhuan almost laughed out of anger when she heard this. Originally, the merchants would buy chestnuts for a maximum of one cent for two kilograms. She doubled the price, but the villagers were still not satisfied. Instead, they scolded her family for being dishonest. It was really a case of good intentions not being rewarded.
When the village head heard that Liang Laoer's chestnuts were sold for 10 wen per jin in the county town, he was a little shocked. He asked Qianhuan in disbelief, "Qianhuan girl, is your chestnut really sold for 10 wen per jin in the county town?"
"Yes, grandpa Lizhang, our sugar-roasted chestnuts are indeed sold at 10 wen per pound. But we also have other costs. The malt sugar used in the roasted chestnuts is not cheap, and there is also the round-trip oxcart fare, the stall fee, the cost of the oil paper wrapping, plus the labor cost of our family of three. These are all costs." Qianhuan answered the Lizhang calmly.
The head of the village didn't expect that sugar-roasted chestnuts would be so expensive. Qianhuan gave his family 10 kilograms, which was 100 cents.
The head of the village looked at the villagers and said righteously: "The Liang family can sell 10 wen per jin in the county town because of their own ability. If you have the ability, you can also make sugar-roasted chestnuts and sell them at 10 wen per jin. The price they gave is twice as high as the price given by the vendors. Not only are you not grateful, but you are also blaming them. What's the logic of this?"
Some villagers lowered their heads upon hearing this. They had originally been instigated by Aunt Li, and now they felt that what the village chief said made sense.
But there are still a small number of villagers who do not repent, especially Aunt Li, who took the lead and continued to shout: "We are not capable of making sugar-roasted chestnuts, but the chestnuts are our own, and the price is too low. We don't want to sell them. This is our right, unless they raise the price for us, we will sell them to them."
"Yes, we will sell it if you raise the price for us." That small group of villagers also expressed their opinion.
The head of the village was a little embarrassed for a moment, and Qianhuan said, "I won't force you to sell if you don't want to. I can go to the next village to buy. Originally, I gave you one cent per pound because of our fellow villagers, but when buying from other villages, I will only give you one cent per two pounds like the vendors, so that I can spend less."
When the villagers heard this, they were immediately panicked. There were many mountain villages in Qingxi County, and chestnuts were not only found in Yunfeng Village. If Liang Laoer's family really went to the neighboring village to purchase chestnuts, then no one would want their chestnuts.
Someone smart said immediately, "Qianhuan, it was Aunt Li who started the trouble and made me lose my mind and follow everyone else to make trouble. If you adults don't hold grudges, you don't need to go to the next village to buy. I will send our chestnuts to your house to sell right away."
"Yes, yes, us too. I'll send it over right away."
So everyone ran home to carry chestnuts.
Seeing that everyone ran back home to carry chestnuts, Aunt Li also prepared to slip away.
Who knew Qianhuan suddenly stopped her and said, "Aunt Li, you deliberately instigated everyone to make trouble and refused to sell chestnuts to our family. What good will this do to your family?"
"I... I didn't incite anyone. I just thought the price you offered was a bit low. I just wanted to help the villagers gain benefits." Aunt Li felt a little guilty, but she still found reasons to defend herself.
"So you think our prices are too low. I remember there are several chestnut trees in front of your house. No wonder you have never sent chestnuts to my house to sell." Qianhuan said deliberately.
Aunt Li didn't expect Qianhuan to say such a thing. She was a little unresponsive for a moment. When she reacted, she asked in disbelief, "Do you also collect chestnuts from our family?"
"Of course we do. We sell chestnuts when we go to the city. If we don't sell them, why would I ask the village head to notify the villagers?"
In fact, Qianhuan had already heard from Aunt Yang about the last time Aunt Li's youngest son clamored for meat. Aunt Yang also told her that Aunt Li actually wanted to come to her house to sell chestnuts, but she also knew that she always targeted her family, so she couldn't bring herself to come.
When Qianhuan heard about it, she thought Aunt Li was overthinking it. Although she hated Aunt Li's harsh words, she would not refuse the chestnuts sent by her family. After all, she made a living by selling chestnuts, and there was no need to let those small festivals block her way to wealth.
"No, I don't mind the low price, I just feel a little..." Aunt Li didn't know how to start this conversation. She was just embarrassed to come and sell because she had a grudge with Liang Laoer's family.
"Aunt Li, actually the fights between your son and I happened when we were kids. My father loved his daughter, and when he saw me being beaten, he got a little anxious and hit your son. Actually, my father just spanked him a few times and didn't really hurt him. These things will be fine if we talk it out. If you don't mind our low price, you can also send your chestnuts here to sell."
Qianhuan felt that if someone like Aunt Li wanted to make things difficult for you, she would keep an eye on you and try to sabotage whatever your family did.
Unlike Cuihua, she is not someone who directly commits crimes. She is very destructive with her mouth. So if you can avoid making enemies with this kind of person, don't do it. Otherwise, she will be like a rat shit, and sooner or later, it will spoil the whole pot of porridge. This is also the reason why Qianhuan took the initiative to resolve the conflict.
"Don't mind, don't mind. I'll go home right away and carry the chestnuts to your house to sell." Aunt Li said excitedly as she started running towards home, as if she was afraid that if she was a step slower, Qianhuan would not want her chestnuts.
The head of the village couldn't help but admire Qianhuan's ability to handle things when he saw that she had dealt with the villagers who had just been complaining with just a few words, and had also dealt with Aunt Li who had a grudge against his family.
Aunt Li received several hundred copper coins from selling chestnuts. She couldn't help but burst into tears of joy. She bowed to Qianhuan and said, "Qianhuan, I was wrong last time. I was too narrow-minded. I shouldn't have said that you couldn't get married. You are a sensible and reasonable child. You will definitely find a good family in the future." After apologizing, she turned around and took her husband away.
Qianhuan was still a little surprised when she saw Aunt Li suddenly apologize to her. After all, it was really not easy to make someone like Aunt Li bow her head.
Besides, she had already forgotten about the last quarrel. It wasn't that she didn't hold a grudge, but she had many more important things to do. If she spent all her time fussing over these trivial matters, she would be so exhausted.
As a modern person who has been struggling in the society for many years, she understands human nature too well. It is human nature to kick you when you are down.
Similarly, when you are in a good situation, those people will choose to curry favor with you. She can understand and see through it. So she doesn't care about these clowns at all, nor will she spend energy to deal with them.
All she has to do is to move forward towards her goal with determination and make herself stronger. Not strong enough to change the world, but at least strong enough to protect herself and the people around her who truly love her.
When Jiang Lin's mother heard that Aunt Li, who had a grudge against Liang Laoer's family, had gone to sell chestnuts, she knew that she didn't have the face to go there to sell chestnuts. But considering that Jiang Lin's studies cost a lot of money, she decided to go there with a face saved.
There were only two chestnut trees in her family, and the total harvest was only about thirty or forty kilograms. She carried the sacks on her own and went to Liang Laoer's house.
When it was her family's turn, Jiang Lin's mother was very nervous, fearing that Liang Laoer or Qianhuan would say they did not want to accept their chestnuts.
As a result, Liang Laoer and Qianhuan stood aside and said nothing. They just handled the matter impartially. As long as Ban Li was qualified, she would be accepted. They did not deliberately make things difficult for her.
In fact, Qianhuan had already seen Jiang Linniang in the crowd. A heartless and untrustworthy person like Jiang Linniang is even more hateful than someone like Aunt Li.
But Qianhuan feels that the best revenge against this kind of people is to ignore them, that is, to continuously widen the gap between herself and the other party, making it impossible for the other party to reach her potential.
Just like today, she was Jiang Linniang's financial sponsor, and as long as she wanted to make things difficult for her, Jiang Linniang would have to live by her side. But she was not so bored that she would not deliberately make things difficult for her for a few dozen cents of chestnuts.
Because of this, everyone really admired their family. The villagers who had previously talked about her breaking off the engagement now felt ashamed. This kind of vision is not something that ordinary people can achieve.
With the experience from last time, and the fact that the villagers had made a fuss, they were afraid that their chestnuts would not be purchased, so they went back and picked out all the bad chestnuts before sending them over. This time, their chestnuts were purchased very quickly, and it took less than half a day to harvest all 4,000 kilograms of chestnuts.