The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 321 Good Stuff

Chapter 321: Chapter 321 Good Stuff

During this period, Jindou and Jinhu, along with Jinguan, the three brothers, followed Wang Yongping around to several nearby villages, asking if anyone had mountain goods to sell.

Wang Yongfu’s leg had almost recovered too. That day, when he suddenly felt pain during the water scuffle, and then it rained heavily a couple of days later, alleviating the drought, he realized the painful feeling Song Chongjin talked about that arises during rainy weather.

Now that he could walk, and knowing the agony of being unable to, he paid even more attention to his leg and, although he could not do heavy work, he couldn’t stand idling around either.

All he needed to do every day was stay at home, waiting for Laosi and a few kids to bring people who wanted to sell mountain goods, so he could assess their quality and estimate their price.

Fortunately, the skills he had learned from Old Master Wang hadn’t been lost. He seemed to have mastered the ability to discern the quality of such mountain goods, which he could tell just by handling, touching, and smelling them.

Initially, since he had never done this before and lacked confidence, he was hesitant to set prices, afraid of misquoting and causing the family to lose money. Hence, he kept dragging Wang Yongzhu into it, consulting her about everything.

Wang Yongzhu also felt uncertain at first, but she was prepared. Most of the mountain goods were always the same, and as for the prices, she based them on what Old Granny Zhang had previously sold and inquired about the market rates from Shopkeeper Wu. When Song Chongjin heard about this, he somehow got her a list of the current market prices for mountain goods in the county town.

With this information, she had a ballpark figure, and after some calculations, the prices she set were just about ten to twenty percent higher than those of other mountain goods traders, which was about right.

Since the market rates were still uncertain, she dared not set the prices too high. Plus, summer goods were definitely not as good as those in autumn, so the quality was naturally slightly inferior, and the prices were cheaper.

She wasn’t aiming to make a huge profit at once; she intended to build a good reputation. Earning less but over time, and conducting fair and honest trade.

With Wang Yongzhu’s guidance, Wang Yongfu felt more assured.

After a few days of practice, he gradually got the hang of it. Now, Wang Yongfu was primarily in charge of buying mountain goods at home, and Wang Yongzhu could let go of the reins unless there came by unusually fine goods that involved a substantial amount of silver. Only then would she need to decide.

This slightly higher pricing attracted quite a few people since to peasant families, every coin mattered.

In the beginning, it was mainly Wang Yongping who collected the goods or brought people back with their goods, but gradually their reputation grew. People said that Wang Family bought goods at fair prices, so many villagers began to bring their stored mountain goods to Wang Family. Every day, the Wang Family Courtyard was bustling with visitors, igniting envy among neighbors.

The visitors were locals from nearby mountains, carrying various mountain goods such as fox, wild boar, rabbit, and deer skins, dried mushrooms, black fungus, medicinal herbs, wind-dried cured meats, dried wild vegetables, and assorted rare dried fruits, to name just a few.

The variety was extensive.

With the increase in people coming to sell mountain goods in the last few days, Wang Family Courtyard could not accommodate everyone.

Wang Laozhu then took up his carpentry tools again and set up a simple but sturdy shelter at the entrance. He made a long table that served as the buying station.

He also placed several long benches under the shelter where people selling goods could rest their feet.

There was also a small barrel next to it, filled with freshly drawn well water and a ladle, so the thirsty could drink at any time.

These were Wang Yongzhu’s suggestions, and Wang Laozhu, seeing the thriving business, knew it was all thanks to his daughter.

That his daughter had a knack and talent for business, he could no longer deny it, hard as his stance might have been.

So when Wang Yongzhu suggested, he hurriedly made it happen.

And sure enough, though it was just a few benches and a barrel of water, it meant a lot to the villagers after a long walk of many miles. Having a place to rest and drink water, they would surely speak well of Wang Family’s kindness behind their backs.

Wang Yongping was now responsible for collecting goods from the countryside. As Jindou and Jinhu had been taught some tricks for identifying the quality of mountain goods by Wang Yongfu, whenever he went out, he would take one of his brothers with him. Although it meant eating and sleeping rough, sometimes staying out overnight, the growth in all three of them was evident.

Wang Yongping had become more mature, having dealt with business more frequently. He had lost some of his blunt directness, become adept at reading people’s expressions, and less blunt in his speech.

Having run around with Wang Yongping for a while, Jindou and Jinhu had become leaner and tanner. Their increased exposure had pushed aside the unpleasantness caused by the matter with Lady Lin, and they had gained some confidence.

The mountain goods that were brought home couldn’t just be thrown into a room and left there; they had to be dried, cured, and stored. Every day, the members of the Wang Family were bustling about, busy with tasks. Even the teenagers, maids, and Jinshao, who was very small, knew that the goods drying in the courtyard needed to be turned over periodically—these were all items that could be sold for money.

Ever since the shelter and long table were installed, Wang Yongfu would sit behind the table on a chair every day, mainly because he could not stand for long with his leg, but it lent him the air of a mountain goods shopkeeper.

A dark-skinned mountain man with a basket on his back looked around hesitantly as he approached the Wang Family’s goods shelter. "Gentlemen, I’d like to inquire about something. This is the Wang Family that buys mountain goods, right?"

Wang Yongfu got up with a smile.

"Big brother, you’ve got the right place, are you here to sell mountain goods? I feel like I’ve seen you before. Are you from around here?" Wang Yongfu had also learned to chat with people who came to sell their goods and to build relationships with them.

"Indeed, I’m from the neighboring Wadian Village. Last month, I got lucky and bagged a pure white fox. Brother, could you take a look and tell me how much it might fetch in silver coin?"

The mountain man took out a cloth-wrapped bundle from his basket and laid it on the table, carefully unwrapped it to reveal a snow-white fox skin, flawless and without a single stray hair.

"What a fine piece!" someone nearby couldn’t help but exclaim.

Ever since Wang Family set up this mountain goods shelter at their doorstep, all the village folk, young and old, would come and sit around if they had nothing else to do.

As there wasn’t much work in the fields at the moment and they were just waiting for the rice to bloom and fill with grain, they only needed someone to keep an eye on it. Thus, those with nothing else to do, having finished their chores at home, would flock to the entrance of the Wang Family in search of a lively and curious scene.

This also had its benefits, as any villager from the nearby mountains who wanted to sell mountain goods would find their way here even if they didn’t know the location of Wang Family’s place. Seeing a crowd, they could ask and find out they had arrived.