vstars Chapter 429 Call Your Parents
Chapter 429 Call Your Parents
"Call your father and mother to me."
Jing Chunxi suddenly had an idea and spoke to the older boy opposite. Her voice was clear and firm, with a tone that left no room for doubt, as if the decision had been made after careful consideration.
The older boy felt it, and his eyes lit up instantly, shining like stars in the summer sun, and he was extremely excited.
He immediately turned around and ran towards the gate, shouting at the top of his lungs: "Dad, Mom!" His voice echoed in the yard with a hint of eagerness and excitement, as if he had some great news to tell his parents.
The little boy didn't understand what was going on, but seeing his brother's happy expression, he realized that what the young lady said must be good news. He immediately turned around and followed his brother's footsteps, running while shouting, "Dad, Mom!" His voice was childish and crisp, and it mixed with his brother's voice, making it seem particularly lively.
The two children ran very fast, as if there was wind under their feet, and soon disappeared in the direction of the courtyard gate.
The couple in the next yard had been unable to sit still since their eldest son spread the one or two taels of silver and a pile of copper coins in front of them. Their hearts were pounding and they felt that their ancestral graves were probably smoking.
The sweet potatoes and cassava cooked in the pot had already cooled down, and they had no time to pick up the washed wild vegetables. They just kept listening to the noise over here with their ears tilted.
The couple's thoughts had long since flown over here, their minds filled with the dazzling silver and glittering copper coins. His father even peeked over the fence three times, but no one noticed.
His mother sat in the yard, picking up the washed wild vegetables again, noticing she had discarded half the tender leaves. Her eyes kept drifting in this direction, hoping for something good to happen.
Ah Qi had already distributed all the copper coins to the children, but they were still reluctant to leave. They gathered around Ah Qi, their eyes full of desire for copper coins and hope for the future, and they hoped that he would assign them some tasks to do.
Seeing the two older boys running out with such joy, the children were even more reluctant to leave, as they always felt that there would be good things to come.
A child who was a little braver mustered up the courage to ask, "Uncle Qi, will you come to collect dried bamboo shoots in the future? My uncle and aunt live far away, and we don't have time to inform them today. They must have a lot at home and want to sell them." There was a hint of expectation in his voice, but also a hint of caution, for fear of being rejected.
Ah Qi looked at the dried bamboo shoots that filled five rooms, tens of thousands of pounds, and felt excited. These wild things were too cheap. There was still more than half of the silver and banknotes the young lady had given him. No matter how hard he tried, he felt that this was a good deal.
He thought to himself that if he could come in again, he might be able to collect more and they could get a bigger share of the money.
He looked at the children's expectant eyes, but didn't dare to answer easily. He didn't know whether they would come here again on the way back, or whether Master Tao's men would come to help pull the bamboo shoots.
Jing Chunxi said without hesitation, "About twenty days, about twenty days, we will be back."
Jing Chunxi thought that traveling by water was much more comfortable than traveling by land. Her butt wouldn't shake and she could sleep soundly. She also felt safer. At least she didn't have to worry about bandits suddenly showing up.
At worst, I can come back to collect more dried bamboo shoots. This way, I can not only help the mountain people, but also earn freight and benefit my subordinates. Why not do it?
When the children heard what Jing Chunxi said, they immediately became happy, and started chattering like sparrows in a nest: "I have to go back and tell my mother, my grandma's house still has dried bamboo shoots, and she is worried about how to sell them." One child said excitedly that if grandma's house was better, her mother would not have so much worry on her face.
"Who doesn't have one? Everyone has some relatives who are closely related to us. We need to ask them to come to our house quickly, otherwise we will miss it again." Another child echoed, with a hint of anxiety in his voice, for fear of missing this opportunity.
At this moment, the children were talking to each other, discussing how to notify relatives and how to sell the dried bamboo shoots. The whole yard was filled with a lively atmosphere.
After a brief discussion, the children all left, completely forgetting that two of their friends had to go back to call their parents. It was getting late, and if they didn't go back, their parents would come looking for them. If they got angry, they would probably spank them.
"Miss, this is my father and mother."
The older boy's voice was childish yet serious as he introduced his closest relatives to Jing Chunxi. The little boy stood beside the woman, his hands tightly clutching the hem of his mother's clothes, his eyes filled with dependence and trust in his parents.
The little boy also whispered, "Miss~Sister, we are back."
Jing Chunxi nodded and beckoned them to come closer.
The couple, along with their children, had actually entered the courtyard long ago, but they had been hiding nearby, carefully listening to their conversation with the children. Only when they saw most of the children had left did they move over.
The woman also placed a lit oil lamp on the broken table. Though it was only a tiny speck of light, it cast a wide radiance. The faint glow seemed particularly warm in the darkness, and everyone's squinting eyes felt less dry. The flame of the oil lamp swayed gently in the wind, making a crackling sound, adding a touch of life to the silent night.
"Miss, Seventh Brother, my eldest son said you guys also want to buy cassava flour and sweet potato flour?" The woman stared at Jing Chunxi as she asked, blushing slightly when she called him "Seventh Brother." There was a hint of shyness in her voice, as if she wasn't used to addressing outsiders, but she had to speak.
The woman was about the same age as Jing Chunxi's mother, not tall, with a kind smile, and looked kind. As she spoke, she pointed toward the other side of the wall, perhaps to tell her that her home was over there.
The man was also smiling, with a simple smile on his face. Seeing that his wife had spoken first, he stopped talking. Instead, he used a needle in his hand to pick the wick on the oil lamp, but it didn't make the lamp much brighter. The light was still weak, but it seemed particularly precious in the darkness.
It’s really getting dark.
No wonder the children ran so fast, they must be hungry. Jing Chunxi also felt hungry.
So without further ado, he asked the woman directly, "Does every household want to dry their flowers? What's the price you usually sell them for?"
The woman blurted out without thinking: "It takes five or six pounds of potatoes to produce one pound of flour. Grinding the flour and drying it in the sun is quite laborious. It takes five or six days to grind and dry it. I have to wait for the weather to be good." There was a hint of helplessness in her voice, and she kept telling her about the hardships of life.
Seeing Jing Chunxi listening attentively, she continued, "Usually, we dry the flour and use it to make baba. But we've also heard that some people can sell it to restaurants, and it's said that they can sell it for three cents per pound. We're not familiar with restaurants, so we can't sell it.
If the young lady wants more, I might be able to bargain the price down a bit." Her tone was filled with anticipation, as if she were calculating Jing Chunxi's expenses, or perhaps trying to find a good outlet for her own sweet potatoes and cassava.
The woman sighed and added, "It's better to sell it than to let it rot in the house." Her voice was helpless, but also revealed a tenacity.
The price is really cheap. You can buy several kilograms of sweet potatoes and cassava for just one penny. The labor costs for grinding and drying the pulp are also quite cheap.
Tang Shuang, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly leaned close to Jing Chunxi's ear and whispered, "When we were in Yamen Village, Nanny Wang said that sweet potatoes cost one penny per pound." Tang Shuang's voice was so soft that only Jing Chunxi could hear it.
Jing Chunxi also remembered what Nanny Wang said. It was precisely because she thought it was a good deal that she let the child call her parents.
She remembered that when she was in Yamen Village, she felt that the price of sweet potatoes was already very low at one cent per pound, but fortunately she used space breeding, and now the sweet potato yield should be very high.
Here, the prices of sweet potato flour and cassava flour are lower. Both of them are the best raw materials for making vermicelli, which made her fall into deep thought.
So, if you were to make sweet potato flour in Lingnan, it would cost five or six wen per pound, and with the labor, it would cost at least seven or eight wen. But the sweet potato flour here was so cheap, the price difference was significant. This made her realize that there might be a huge business opportunity here.
Moreover, vermicelli is made directly from sweet potato flour and cassava flour, which reduces several steps. The vermicelli workshop is also much cleaner and neighbors will not smell any strange odors.
A picture has emerged in Jing Chunxi's mind: a clean and tidy workshop, an efficient production process, and the mountain people whose lives have been changed because of her arrival.