Transmigration: A Farm Girl’s Brocade
Chapter 176 - 141: Proposing Cooperation_2

Chapter 176: Chapter 141: Proposing Cooperation_2

He regretted it deeply, why hadn’t he followed her into the mountains?

He said, "You only picked so little? Why didn’t you pick more?"

Qian Yixiu said, "There was only one tea tree, and I picked all of it, only this much." Seeing the pained expression on Shopkeeper Cui’s face, she added, "If Shopkeeper Cui doesn’t like it, it doesn’t matter, my grandpa said we could keep it to serve our guests at home."

Shopkeeper Cui replied, "Who said I don’t like it? I like it too much. It’s a pity, even though it’s good, there’s only so little."

Qian Yixiu naively smiled and said, "It’s not just this little. I also collected some tea seeds under the tea tree to take back and plant. If I plant a large garden, there will be plenty of tea."

Shopkeeper Cui was overjoyed. Now that he had the tea seeds, he didn’t need to search all over the mountains for tea trees. Laughing, he said, "I knew it, Yixiu is a smart girl, this is great. Sell all these tea seeds to me, I’ll give you a good price."

Qian Yixiu shook her head and said, "We don’t plan to sell the tea seeds," seeing Shopkeeper Cui getting anxious, she quickly added, "I said we won’t sell, but I didn’t say we won’t let Shopkeeper Cui plant them. Shopkeeper Cui can go back and process these tea leaves first. If you think the tea is worth cooperating with our family, then we can work together on planting."

After thinking for a moment, Shopkeeper Cui said, "That’s fine, I’ll take the tea leaves back for Master Huang to process. If it’s worthwhile, I won’t just pay you the money for these tea leaves at market price, we’ll also discuss the next steps. However, I must say the hard truth upfront, this isn’t my personal business, and if we cooperate, you won’t get any advantage in terms of shares. Selling the tea seeds directly would profit you much more than a partnership."

Qian Sangui was astonished to see Qian Yixiu negotiating terms with Shopkeeper Cui like this; he hadn’t expected the tea leaves to catch Shopkeeper Cui’s eye. His granddaughter could have sold half of the tea seeds to Shopkeeper Cui and kept the other half for themselves, yet she chose to use them as a bargaining chip for a partnership. He then realized why – his astute granddaughter was trying to use this opportunity to form a connection with the Duke Mansion and find a big tree to shelter under.

It made sense. Being weak and alone, just the mention of Yama Raja Xu had filled them with fear, and a mere county magistrate had almost cost them their lives. Relying on a powerful entity, particularly one as distant as that in the Capital City, whose representative, Shopkeeper Cui, was a decent and generous man, would prevent the local bullies from harassing them. Although selling the tea seeds seemed more profitable, a partnership could grant them long-term protection...

Nevertheless, as an ordinary country family, they couldn’t be too presumptuous, a slight connection was enough. They didn’t want to make things difficult for Shopkeeper Cui or displease his superiors. He therefore chuckled and said, "My granddaughter is spoiled and doesn’t understand the gravity of matters. Please don’t blame her, Old Master Cui. If the tea genuinely impresses you, we wouldn’t dare ask for a large share, one or two percent would be sufficient."

That was exactly what Qian Yixiu meant; a one or two percent share was enough. With the Duke Mansion as their backup, no one would dare to covet their golden lotus. She nodded with a smile.

At first, Shopkeeper Cui thought Qian Yixiu was overstepping her bounds, a little girl being too clever for her own good. But hearing that they only wanted a one or two percent share, if the tea was truly the finest quality as he suspected, unlike anything on the market, then the Qian family was getting the short end of the stick. They were willing to take a loss in order to ally themselves with him, which clearly showed they sought protection.

He laughed and said, "Brother Qian is too modest. Yixiu is a clever sprite, I like her. As for the partnership, we’ll discuss that after I’ve had the tea processed back home."

By now, it was the end of Noon. Lady Wu brought over a few dishes as appetizers and invited them to drink first, explaining that the soup would take another half-hour.

Zhang Zhongkun chuckled, "No rush, let it simmer slowly and bring out the flavor."

Shopkeeper Cui was eager to return, but he had to wait along with Zhang Zhongkun.

Around three-quarters past the Noon hour, the soup was finally ready. Lady Wu served a basin of soup, and not only did she set aside a bowl for the Zhang family and Cui family, but she also left a bowl for Old man Qian and Old woman Qian, and a small half bowl for Qian Yeejin.

After the meal, Zhang Zhongkun and Shopkeeper Cui hurried away.

Shopkeeper Cui taking the tea to be processed saved Qian Yixiu the trouble. She had visited Wuxi Tea Building several times before and had seen Master Huang processing tea in the evenings, which she then learned by watching. However, she only understood the theory and had yet to actually do it.

Once the guests were gone, Qian Sangui felt tired and went to sleep on the bed.

Qian Yixiu was taken into the left wing by Lady Wu. She left out the gifts for her stepmother and aunt, and handed over the rest of the gifts to Lady Wu, explaining which one was for whom, and asked her to distribute them.

Lady Wu’s eyes widened upon seeing the Jade Hairpin, exclaiming, "How can I bear to wear such a fine thing? Does it make one immortal just by wearing it? Better to keep it, to buy ten or more acres of land for the family in the future, or to save it for Jinwa’s wedding." She did not even dare suggest it as a dowry for her daughter.

Qian Yixiu laughed and said, "Don’t worry about using it, grandma. In the future, I’ll buy even better hairpins to honor you."

Lady Wu tapped her little head and said, "I don’t look forward to you buying nice things to honor me; I just hope you don’t cause such big trouble again. Look at your grandpa, his health just started to improve when he met with another misfortune."

After Lady Wu left, Qian Yixiu called Qian Manxia into the small room and presented her with the Agate Hairpin and a handkerchief, saying, "This is to honor you, aunt. I hope you won’t be mad at me anymore."

Qian Manxia, receiving the legendary Agate Hairpin for the first time, smiled radiantly.

Bribed, the young girl said, "Little troublemaker, when have I ever truly been mad at you?" And with that, she ran back to her room with the gifts.

Seeing her aunt’s joyful departure, Qian Yixiu thought to herself that in the future, she would not only let her wear agate, but also jewels, pearls...