Chapter 80 Buying Salt and Grain
The fragrance of tea lingered in the air. Lin Youcai held the teacup in his left hand, and gently stirred the tea leaves with the tea lid in his right hand. He sniffed and put down the teacup, "Manager Cao, we want to buy salt and grain. Is it convenient?"
Manager Cao: "How much salt and grain do you want?"
Tao Mingyuan: "Price..."
Shopkeeper Cao: "Shunzi, bring the list."
The servant walked quickly to get the list and handed it to Tao Mingyuan.
Everyone took the list and read it from beginning to end. The price of grain and salt was about the same as what they had inquired about yesterday. The money they earned today could not buy many kilograms of good salt and grain. The prices here were at least twice as expensive as those in the southern county town.
Lin Youxing held more than 20 taels of silver in his arms. It was the first time he had seen so much silver in his years of life. He reached out and picked up a silver ingot, touched it, and squeezed it. He sighed, because he had to give the silver away before it was even warm.
As there were many people in the team, everyone decided to buy 100 taels of silver worth of coarse salt and coarse grains.
Everyone bargained with Manager Cao, trying to reduce the price of grain and salt by a few cents per pound, and then rounded off the change.
Shopkeeper Cao asked everyone to have tea and snacks while he asked the servant to bring the goods over. Everyone thought it was OK as they didn't have to run around to several shops.
Shopkeeper Cao stood up and said, "You guys take a rest here for a while. I'll go get busy first."
Lin Benshu stood up and said with a smile, "Manager Cao, you go ahead and do your work."
Manager Cao: "If you need anything, just ask the servant to call me."
Lin Benshu: “Okay.”
Lin Youcai stood up and said to Lin Benshu, "Uncle Benshu, I'm going to sell some furniture. You guys wait here for a while, I'll be back soon."
Lin Benshu: "Okay, you go early and come back early."
Lin Zisu and Lin Xianwen saw their father's look and followed him out the door.
Lin Youcai: "Shopkeeper Cao, I have a new and unique food here, I wonder if you are interested in it."
"Oh? What new food? Bring it here and have a look." Shopkeeper Cao looked at Lin Youcai, who looked very mysterious, and immediately became interested.
"Wait a moment, we'll get it from the cart." Lin Youcai took his children to the mule cart and brought back a big bag.
Shopkeeper Cao: "This is..."
Lin Youcai looked around and said, "There are too many people here..."
"Let's go." Manager Cao took the three of them to another tea room.
When Lin Youcai took out a bag of instant noodles from his bag, Cao was so surprised that his eyes widened. He pointed at the red bag on the table and said, "Instant noodles!!!"
Now it was the three of them’s turn to be stunned. . . . .
Lin Zisu: "How do you know this is..." Could he be a time traveler as well? . . . What a coincidence?!
Shopkeeper Cao raised his chin, stroked his beard and said, "Our boss's business is spread all over the Dahuan Dynasty. I am honored to have seen it."
The three of them looked at each other and said, this is not a question of how rich and powerful your boss is...
Seeing the three people stunned and speechless, Manager Cao continued, "Excuse me, you said you came from the north, how come you have instant noodles?" The instant noodles bought by the boss were never sold to the public, but given to royal relatives and nobles.
Lin Youcai: “Someone else gave it to me.”
Lin Zisu: "Where does your boss's instant noodles come from?"
Lin Xianwen and Lin Youcai looked at her. Is it so direct?
“Given by others?” Shopkeeper Cao’s mind was spinning with thoughts. Could these people be relatives of relatives of relatives of the royal family? ... No matter how you look at it, it doesn’t seem like it... The north is in turmoil, so it’s possible that they were a branch of a declining family and got it by chance...
Lin Zisu looked at the stunned Shopkeeper Cao and waved her hand in front of him, "You haven't told me where your boss got the instant noodles?... It can't be your boss's property, right?"
When Shopkeeper Cao heard this, he was shocked and said quickly, "What nonsense! This is what my boss bought from the country of He in the south." It's a gift! Saying that instant noodles are my boss's property, isn't this accusing my boss of treason? Shopkeeper Cao complained in his heart, with a hint of unhappiness on his face.
Lin Youcai quickly said with a smile: "The child doesn't understand and is talking nonsense. Don't mind it, Manager Cao. Do you want this instant noodles?"
Shopkeeper Cao thought that the child was immature and said, "These days are very chaotic, so don't say anything careless."
Lin Zisu nodded: "Yes, yes."
Shopkeeper Cao looked at Lin Youcai and said, "We'll take all the instant noodles you want, no matter how many you have. The price is absolutely fair. How about I give it to you at the current market price of 100 taels?"
It was the three's turn to stare in shock, one hundred taels!!!
Lin Youcai calmed down, controlled his expression, and asked, "How much instant noodles does Manager Cao mean by the one hundred taels?"
Shopkeeper Cao was a little puzzled, and then thought that maybe someone really gave it to them. He knew that instant noodles were expensive, but he probably didn't know the exact price. He asked, "What do you think?"
Lin Youcai's heart skipped a beat. He was indeed a businessman.
"There are 5 packets in a big bag, 1 packet is 20 taels, a big bag is 200 taels, and two big bags are taels." Lin Zisu curled her lips in her heart. She had been staring at Cao, and his expression and eyes had betrayed him long ago. When he said the market price of taels, he was looking at the big bag of instant noodles, not the single packet of instant noodles next to it.
When they came out, they brought a thermos in their bag, which contained boiling water for making instant noodles. They also had bowls and chopsticks, and a pack of instant noodles, which they prepared to make on the spot for people to see and taste. The two large bags of instant noodles had never been opened, and one large bag contained five packs, and they were sold in full.
Shopkeeper Cao choked.
Lin Youcai: "Okay, let's just go by the market price! Just go out and make some friends!"
Shopkeeper Cao had a smile on his face. This group of people really didn't bargain when selling things, they only tried to cut the price when buying things.
Lin Youcai thought for a moment and added, "Our relatives are in the south, and we don't know what the situation is there now."
Shopkeeper Cao knew he wanted to inquire about the situation in the south after hearing what he said. Seeing that they sold him a lot of good goods today at a cheap price, they spent the money on him. He stroked his beard and said, "The south is now ruled by the He country. Several prefectures have been conquered and many cities have been occupied. The world is in chaos now, and many people are running there."
Lin Youcai: "We also need to buy some fine salt and fine grains. Shopkeeper, do you have any?"
Shopkeeper Cao's smile deepened. "Yes, yes, how much do you want?"
Lin Youcai: "Give me 50 taels of fine salt and 50 taels of fine grain! When you go out, you need to have some cash on you."
Manager Cao: "Yang San, tell Shunzi to get 50 taels of silver each for the finest salt and finest grain. And get another taels of silver in cash."
Lin Xianwen: "Manager Cao, is this country far from Dazhao City?"
Shopkeeper Cao: "The two places are very far apart. This instant noodle is expensive, not only because it tastes good, but also because it is a novelty. Another point is that it has a long transportation distance. Although it is not heavy, it is fragile. It has to be transported from the country by water and land. It takes several months to travel by land alone. The distance is shorter and the speed is faster if it is transported by water and land."