Happy Little Farmer
Chapter 237: Apologize

Chapter 237: Chapter 237: Apologize

This medicine dealer, known as Old Gou, didn’t have a huge backlog of Codonopsis, but he still had around seven hundred pounds of it.

However, the quality, well, left something to be desired.

He had already sliced it; the large and small pieces were mixed together.

Pan Xiaoxia opened a few bags and immediately was displeased, "Old Gou, this really won’t do. What we need is over one centimeter each. Look at what you’ve done here—with this quality, we can’t offer that price anymore."

"The roots are thick at one end and thin at the other. Once cut, it always ends up like this," Old Gou argued as he grabbed a handful.

"Old Gou, we’re all in the same line of work. There’s no need to make excuses," Pan Xiaoxia waved her hand to cut off Old Gou’s explanation, "Drop the price by two dollars. If the customer accepts these goods, we’ll mix them in. If they don’t, we’ll have to let it go."

"I’m speaking honestly, we’re really short on stock, but the customer has high standards. We have to take a gamble. With the market this depressed, people have every reason to be picky, don’t you think?"

There’s a way to sell sliced Codonopsis, and a way to sell whole roots.

Additionally, after slicing, many medicine dealers choose to mix in those with a diameter under 0.5 centimeters.

As the saying goes, for every clever move, there is a counter move.

Thick ones are cut into thin slices, and thin ones into small dices. After mixing them up like this, is it considered good or bad?

Normally, they would sell it at a price above second-class, which is a lot more cost-effective than selling whole roots.

Old Gou just shook his head, "That won’t work. Another two-dollar drop and I’d be basically throwing it into a ditch. I can’t sell it."

Pan Xiaoxia was very straightforward. Upon hearing this, she immediately stood up to leave, "Okay, I won’t take these goods. I’m also not sure about them. They want whole roots, and with the current market conditions, even though I’m eager to settle this, I’m also worried."

Seeing Pan Xiaoxia really about to leave just like that, beneath his red and white face, Old Gou’s eyes quickly darted around, suddenly he shouted, "How about this, add one dollar, and you take them."

"At most fifty cents," said Pan Xiaoxia.

"Xiao Pan, we’re old neighbors, don’t be so harsh," Old Gou played the sympathy card.

"It’s not that I’m being harsh, but if the customer rejects this batch because of the poor appearance and sends it back, how much money would I lose?" Pan Xiaoxia said, "Given the current market, who knows how much further it will drop? I’m barely making a delivery fee here; I can’t take that bet."

"But this price, it really hurts me," Old Gou said with a distressed expression.

Yang Fan quietly put away his phone, not interfering with Pan Xiaoxia’s negotiating.

Whether Old Zhou would want the sliced Codonopsis was something even Yang Fan didn’t have a clue about.

So, he took the opportunity while Pan Xiaoxia and Old Gou were haggling to send Old Zhou a message to ask.

The answer was yes.

But with a condition—the proportion of second-class goods had to be higher than that of third-class goods.

With this information, Yang Fan crouched down and meticulously inspected the two bags that Old Gou had opened.

This really was a gamble.

Clearly, the proportion of third-class goods was higher than that of second-class goods.

If he sorted them out, they might still be usable, but he probably wouldn’t make anything.

Yang Fan’s mind raced, carefully calculating the finances.

Seven hundred pounds of goods, and employing Pan Xiaoxia’s services meant a net profit of three dollars.

If he sorted out three hundred pounds of third-class goods, which means buying at ninety-one and selling at about eighty, he’d have to lose at least eleven dollars—almost a loss of over three thousand.

Damn!

Upon doing the math, Yang Fan immediately left the Codonopsis behind.

All that hassle and nothing earned, plus over a thousand in the hole?

If the prices returned to previous levels, his loss could be even more—possibly nearing four thousand.

"Boss Gou, we can’t take these goods," Yang Fan interrupted the ongoing debate between Old Gou and Pan Xiaoxia.

A losing business, what a deal.

Pan Xiaoxia looked at Yang Fan somewhat surprised.

"Third-class goods are obviously more than half, our client definitely won’t accept them," Yang Fan explained.

Pan Xiaoxia seemed to understand and nodded, "Then there’s no point in discussing further."

"No, man, are you sure about that? Where do you see half? At most it’s just one-third," Old Gou said urgently.

Yang Fan nodded, "Even if it’s one-third, there’s about two hundred out of seven hundred pounds that would make us lose money. I just asked specifically, and for sliced Codonopsis, they don’t want anything below second-class."

"Did they explicitly say they didn’t want it?" Pan Xiaoxia’s charming peach blossom eyes flickered as she looked intently at Yang Fan.

Yang Fan nodded.

"Alright then, let’s go," Pan Xiaoxia said, not without regret.

"Wait!" Old Gou suddenly shouted, "Eighty-nine, if I sift out the third-class and lower, would that work?"

Pan Xiaoxia looked at Yang Fan, waiting for him to decide.

"Of course, that’s possible," Yang Fan said with a smile.

"Great, you guys go do something else, and come back in two hours," Old Gou said through gritted teeth.

That’s how the business with Old Gou was settled in such a manner.

After Yang Fan and Pan Xiaoxia left the warehouse, he said, "Let’s find a place to eat, I guess you must be hungry too."

"The old Emperors never starved their soldiers; I thought you as a boss, wouldn’t even provide us with a meal and were ready to work me to death," Pan Xiaoxia glanced quickly at Yang Fan with a somewhat unnatural expression and muttered.

She was still shy, but her eyes and brows were filled with a post-moistened charm and bashfulness.

Yang Fan smiled, "Honestly, I’ve just been too busy to think straight."

"I haven’t seen you being that busy, you even had time..." Pan Xiaoxia muttered, abruptly biting her lip.

Though the words didn’t come out of her mouth, Yang Fan got the message.

That’s also being busy!

"Let’s go to that restaurant up ahead, what do you think?" Yang Fan said, glancing down the street.

On this not-so-busy street, the distinctly traditional-looking restaurant seemed like the best one.

"That place is expensive, if you’re willing to spend then we can go there," Pan Xiaoxia muttered.

Being alone with Yang Fan seemed to make her incredibly awkward, her posture somewhat unnatural.

Yang Fan smiled, "If I’m treating you to a meal, it has to be a good one, let’s go."

Pan Xiaoxia covertly wrinkled her nose, "What about the driver?"

"He’s already gone to eat, don’t worry about him," Yang Fan said.

"Oh... it’s just the two of us, we should just keep it simple, no need to go there," Pan Xiaoxia said.

"Simple won’t do, I’m apologizing and should at least make a decent effort, right?" Yang Fan said with a smile.

Pan Xiaoxia’s face turned a subtle shade of red, "What are you apologizing for?"

"I couldn’t hold myself back and made a mistake that I should apologize for," Yang Fan said.

Pan Xiaoxia’s eyes calmed down, "You think that was a mistake?"

"In my heart it definitely wasn’t a mistake, but I’m worried... you might think it was!" Yang Fan said.

Pan Xiaoxia’s lips curled slightly, she pressed her lips together and said, "Then apologize, it was indeed a mistake."