The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 322 Being Kind

Chapter 322: Chapter 322 Being Kind

Fox skin is a precious commodity, especially this pure white fox skin without any spots. Wang Yongfu let the mountain man sit down and rest for a while, then carefully washed his hands in another wooden basin with pancreatin. After drying his hands with a cloth, he carefully picked up the fox skin.

This was all at the insistence of Wang Yongzhu. Ordinary mountain goods were one thing, but with such valuable fur, it was essential to set the tone right from the start, to make it a pleasant and satisfying experience for the customer.

Wang Yongfu first looked at the skin, then felt it, blew on the fur, and after observing it for a moment, he sniffed it for any scent. After pondering for a while, he finally spoke.

"Hmm, white fox skin, shiny on the surface, with thick and coarse leather, but the fur is slightly sparse. There is a slight odor to the fur, which suggests that the processing technique was somewhat lacking. Big brother, this white fox is of a medium grade. If you manage to catch a fox like this in late autumn or early winter when the fur is dense, it would be of the highest quality. I’ll offer three taels of silver, big brother, what do you think?"

The dark-skinned mountain man’s eyes reddened with excitement, "Old brother, I’ll sell! I’ll sell!"

While saying, "Your Old Wang Family’s mountain goods store really is fair. This fox skin was meant to be part of my daughter’s dowry. If I weren’t in urgent need of money, I wouldn’t want to sell it! I just went to that mountain goods store in town, and that shopkeeper was so greedy. After much haggling, he only offered one tael of silver and said that fresh fur is hard to preserve. He criticized that the fur was not well-brushed and claimed that the fox skin smells and is rotting. I was about to leave with the fox skin when he begrudgingly agreed to add half a tael of silver, claiming that’s the price everywhere in town, no difference wherever you go."

"I didn’t believe it, so I went to two more mountain goods stores, got the same price, and was getting disheartened. I was about to settle for that price after one last try when I overheard someone saying that your Old Wang Family’s store is honest and doesn’t exploit people, so I came looking... I was half-doubtful, but now I see, big brother, your store really is sincere. From now on, I’ll sell all our mountain goods to you, and when I go back, I’ll spread the good word about you. No more need to put up with those greedy shopkeepers in town..."

Before Wang Yongfu could respond, the villagers gathered around began to chime in excitedly.

"Those town mountain goods stores are so dishonest, to have a difference of one and a half taels of silver!"

"Exactly, one and a half taels of silver—that’s half a year of expenses for our country folk."

"Yongfu, are you sure you didn’t get the price wrong? We’re talking about a difference of one and a half taels of silver. Maybe you should check again? If you’ve estimated wrong, that money is as good as thrown away, and even your family can’t afford to waste like that..."

Caught up in excitement and gratitude, the mountain man blurted out without thinking. Hearing the villagers advising Wang Yongfu, he too became anxious, watching him in fear that Yongfu might change his mind, instantly regretting why he had had to say anything at all.

Wadian Village and Qilidun might be neighboring villages, but they are actually dozens of li apart.

It wasn’t easy to make the trip. If the Wang Family’s shopkeeper backed out now, would he still sell or not?

As he was feeling restless, Wang Yongfu smiled and said, "Big brother, it’s true that fresh fur isn’t easy to preserve, and your skin does have a bit of an odor, due to incorrect processing methods. That other shopkeeper had his concerns, which is why he offered a lower price. The reason I dare offer a higher price for this skin is that our family has ancestral methods for processing and preserving skins so they don’t spoil. It’s a bit of extra work for us, but it’s not a big deal. Let’s consider it as making a new friend. If in the future, big brother, you have any more quality goods, just remember to come to us. We guarantee a fair price!"

Relieved, the mountain man scratched the back of his head, "Big brother, you really are a good person. I’m glad I took such a long trip to come here. Rest assured, we’ll bring all our mountain goods to you, not just ours but our relatives’ too! Everyone’s heard about the great lady of your family, known both far and wide for her abilities, even praised by the ladies in the palace. To do business with such integrity—it’s indeed the fine reputation of your family, old brother!"

Wang Yongzhu, Old Granny Zhang, Lady Lin, Lady Jiang, and a few younger ones, were taking advantage of the sunny weather to dry mountain goods in the courtyard.

The yard was packed full, hardly any space to walk; they’d even climbed up with ladders, spreading goods over a large area on the roof.

Wang Yongzhu stood on the ladder, drying the mountain goods on the roof.

Seeing the scene outside, she nodded to herself. The eldest brother was becoming more experienced by the day, and his way of speaking had started to have the flavor of a businessman. Even when the mountain men criticized the mountain goods stores in town, the eldest brother didn’t join in the chorus of disapproval. Instead, he even spoke a few words in their defense. That is the essence of how friendship brings about wealth.

After all, their family’s involvement in the mountain goods business had taken away some of the market from those mountain goods stores. If they weren’t careful with their words, they could deeply offend them.

Now, as their business was just starting up, it was better to avoid these troubles.

Even if Old Granny Zhang and the others didn’t see it, they could hear the commotion from outside their courtyard.

Such matters had become common ever since Wang Yongzhu completely handed over the purchasing responsibilities to Wang Yongfu.

Old Granny Zhang, even though she knew Wang Yongfu probably hadn’t done anything wrong and that if the price was actually incorrect, the daughters would have stepped in, still couldn’t help but grumble,

"Is the eldest brother a fool? It’s not his silver, so he doesn’t feel the pinch, huh? The shops in town buy for one and a half taels of silver, yet he goes ahead and offers three taels. Even if he’s doing it for the reputation, couldn’t he give two taels? Wouldn’t that save a tael? Nowadays, silver is needed everywhere in the house, and we don’t even know when Boss Zhang will come. They don’t think about saving, and everyone acts so generous..."

Lady Lin stood by quietly, not daring to chime in. In her heart, she agreed with Old Granny Zhang a thousand times over. One and a half taels of silver, just given away like that? Although she couldn’t touch it, it hurt her to think about it.

Unfortunately, Lady Lin had no say in the matter, and all the words she had, she had to swallow back down.

In these days, she had proven with blood and tears that whenever she spoke up, no matter what she said, even if it was just to agree with Old Granny Zhang or to flatter her, Old Granny Zhang would find fault like picking bones from an egg and scold her from head to toe.

Old Granny Zhang could complain about the eldest brother being foolish, but if Lady Lin dared to agree, and if she said anything wrong, it would be seen as complaining about Wang Yongfu, suggesting she might be bewitched and looking to remarry.

In the past, Lady Jiang, the daughter-in-law of the Old Wang Family, had the lowest status, but now it had shifted to Lady Lin.

But who told her to behave in such a way before?

Lady Lin had been made much more humble by Old Granny Zhang’s training over the past period, walking around with her tail between her legs, wishing only for Old Granny Zhang to scold her less.

Lady Jiang was busy working. She had always been of few words, especially about such topics—as if she would dare to agree with the mother-in-law.

Only Xiao Jinpan looked at everyone’s faces and cunningly flattered, "Granny, it’s all thanks to your good teachings that uncle behaves this way. Haven’t you said it yourself, Granny? Whether in personal conduct or in business, one must be fair and honest for the long run. It seems that not only we but also uncle have taken this to heart."