The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 204: Plotting

Chapter 204: Chapter 204: Plotting

"I’d rather not go. It might be good for the Song Brothers to go with you instead. I can’t even hold a conversation with those people. I bet they have tons of manners at the dinner table. I remember someone saying that when they drink, they even have to compose poetry and follow certain toasts, and talking about this or that when dining. I’m not going, I’m afraid of embarrassing myself!" Wang Yongping kept waving his hands.

Wang Yongzhu felt like kicking this spineless guy. It’s just a meal, what’s there to be afraid of?

"You’re going because I said you’re going! You don’t have to say anything when you’re there. Just eat when you should eat, and drink when you should drink! It’s businessmen who are inviting us, not those scholars. What are you afraid of? Everyone knows that being amicable leads to a prosperous business. They aren’t fools. They are inviting us to dinner, not to make enemies. What embarrassment?"

When Wang Yongzhu got angry and glared, Wang Yongping immediately caved.

"I’ll go! I’ll go!"

Don’t think he didn’t see his little sister’s twitchy foot; if he didn’t go, one kick from her could break an arm or a leg, couldn’t it?

If he didn’t go, he’d get kicked. If he went, there’d be good food! Why on earth shouldn’t he go?

With a determined heart, Wang Yongping agreed.

Song Chongjin felt like covering his eyes. Did these two siblings not consider him an outsider, or did they not consider him a person at all?

In front of him, they didn’t hold back one bit.

Having dealt with Wang Yongping, Wang Yongzhu looked at Song Chongjin and frowned, "Brother Song, if nothing unexpected happens, we’ll be heading back tomorrow. Weren’t you here looking for someone? Is there still time to find them now?"

Song Chongjin was momentarily stunned, thankfully his dark complexion made it less noticeable, and he quickly recovered, "I already went out to look for them early this morning. That person has traveled afar and I have no idea when he’ll be back. I’ll return with you all tomorrow."

Wang Yongzhu cast a skeptical glance at Song Chongjin, feeling that it was a bit too coincidental, but then again, perhaps Song Chongjin just wanted to keep things from them, not wanting others to know his business, right?

Therefore, she didn’t ask further. Thinking back to the hint he gave her at Shopkeeper Wu’s place, she probed, "That’s good then! I actually have a matter I’d like to consult with Brother Song about, if it’s not too much trouble."

"Speak!" Song Chongjin was sparing with his words.

Wang Yongzhu slowly began to lay out the plan that had been forming in her mind all the way. When she saw that mountain goods merchant, Zhang Yinbao, it occurred to her that these mountain goods merchants come twice a year to collect goods from the mountains and then sell them elsewhere.

In this process, the villagers near Dahei Mountain who gather some mountain goods get very low prices from these merchants due to the small quantities.

Especially since these merchants typically want large quantities and wouldn’t bother collecting here specifically.

They go through middlemen, who buy from the villagers at low prices and then sell to the mountain goods merchants, profiting handsomely in the process.

Take the Yellow Pine Mushrooms, for instance. If sold to a middleman, the price would surely be suppressed to one or two taels per jin, but if sold directly to the merchants, it might fetch several times that.

It was like that time she and Old Granny Zhang went to sell the Yellow Pine Mushrooms; they couldn’t make a sale because the middlemen were deliberately pushing the price down, waiting for sellers to become desperate so they could swoop in and buy cheaply.

If it weren’t for meeting Song Chongjin and Shopkeeper Wu, her Yellow Pine Mushrooms wouldn’t have sold for the high price of ten taels per jin.

She was thinking, if they could make a deal with the mountain goods merchant Zhang Yinbao, they could help gather high-quality mountain goods from the nearby area and sell them directly to Zhang, eliminating the middleman’s profit margin.

With this, the villagers’ income would also increase, Zhang Yinbao could get cheap and good mountain goods, and as for myself, I could earn a little commission in the process.

Now that the Wang Family had lost their land, with a houseful of people, they couldn’t just sit by and watch their provisions dwindle until starvation, could they?

They needed to figure out how to make money.

If they could secure this opportunity, as long as Dahei Mountain still had mountain goods to offer, they would have a stable income.

Even if Zhang Yinbao decided to stop this business in the future, by then they would be familiar with the trade routes and it would be easy to find another mountain goods trader.

Actually, they were already late to act on this, as it was now summer, and there weren’t many mountain goods being produced. The traders had already gathered enough for winter and spring storage and were about to leave Dahei Mountain.

But autumn was coming soon, and it would still be beneficial to establish this connection now rather than later.

Hearing Wang Yongzhu’s plan, Song Chongjin’s eyes lit up. Before he could say anything, Wang Yongping joined in, "Little sister, if Boss Zhang agrees to this, it would be great. We’ve been romping in the mountains since we were kids and know which mountain goods are the best. We guarantee we won’t shortchange Boss Zhang—"

Even Wang Yongping could see the business potential here, proving the idea was indeed feasible.

Song Chongjin nodded in agreement and pointed out a few key issues, such as funding, manpower, storage, and the biggest issue: even though Wang Yongzhu had planned well, would Boss Zhang agree and trust them?

Wang Yongzhu considered Song Chongjin’s comments, went over them in her mind once more, and then said, "Success depends on human effort, but its accomplishment is in the hands of fate! You know the situation our family is in! If we don’t figure something out, how will so many people in the house survive? We have to at least try!"

As soon as she spoke, Wang Yongping’s eyes reddened, and he clenched his fists tightly, bowing his head.

He didn’t dare to look at his little sister, feeling an immense sense of shame!

As an older brother, he was afraid of this and that, worried about everything, yet he had let his younger sister, a girl, bear the burden for the whole family.

Seeing how Wang Yongzhu had slimmed down, Wang Yongping felt a lump in his throat. If it weren’t for the troubles at home and for her worries, how could she have lost so much weight?

It was all his fault for being such a useless brother! He had promised to protect his little sister, but now, she was the one protecting him!

While his little sister was busy finding ways to secure livelihoods for the family, he was still concerned about his pitiful, worthless pride, wanting her, a girl, to negotiate with the boss.

He was truly despicable!

Wang Yongping gritted his teeth. From today onward, he would listen to everything his little sister said. Whatever she asked him to do, he’d do it without half a word of objection!

Song Chongjin noticed that Wang Yongping’s expression was off. While Wang Yongzhu was still pondering how to refine her plan before going to talk to Zhang Yinbao,

he pulled him into the courtyard, "Don’t let your sister see!"

Wang Yongping choked back sobs for a long time before croaking out, "It’s all because I’m good for nothing as a brother that she has to consider everything, even worrying about the family’s future livelihood. Did you see? In just a month or two, how much has she thinned out? It’s all my fault! I’m useless!" As he spoke, he slammed his fist onto the stone table in the middle of the courtyard.