Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 894 - 892_1

Chapter 894: Chapter 892_1

Xiao’er, who grew up in the village, was aware of this custom. She turned to Zhao Yong and Yang Liu Yang Mei and said, "Zhao Yong, you can also take my gifts to the village chief’s house."

It was their first collaboration and Xiao’er was always generous. She had a good impression of the villagers yesterday, so she prepared a bag of candy as a meeting gift for every household. It was a small token of her goodwill, not meant to be overly formal. A bag of candy wouldn’t stress anyone out.

Of course, Xiao’er didn’t plan to deliver these gifts personally. She simply entrusted the village chief to distribute them on her behalf.

When everyone arrived at the village chief’s house, all of the seats were filled with men, with Xiao’er being the only woman.

Xiao’er didn’t feel awkward, after all, she had a clear understanding of the planting methods for the yellow dragon fruit. She was quite proficient in conducting business negotiations. Therefore, she was the best person to explain to the villagers.

The villagers were conservative in their thinking. Women were not typically involved in discussions alongside men. But Xiao’er sat there confidently and at ease without any sense of dissonance, as if she naturally belonged there, as if something was missing without her presence.

Seeing that everyone had settled down on their small chairs, Xiao’er began, "I think Huzi’s father has already discussed the matter of the yellow dragon fruit with the village chief and you all must be aware. I will repeat it again, just to see if you have any questions. If there are no issues, we can proceed with signing the contract."

The villagers nodded in agreement after hearing her words.

So, Xiao’er repeated: She would provide yellow dragon fruit seedlings and seeds free of charge to them. The fruit they cultivated, she would buy at a price of 100 coins per catty for the first two or three years, after which the price would be adjusted according to the market rate.

The villagers must first sell their fruit to her. If she didn’t want it, only then could they sell it to others.

If the fruit grew well, large and sweet, the purchase price would be increased considerably.

If the fruit was too small, about the size of a chicken egg, it wouldn’t be accepted.

Such a situation clearly indicated laziness in caring for the fruit yet trying to cheat her out of her silver with these underdeveloped fruits. Xiao’er was no fool and naturally couldn’t agree to it.

Also, the villagers weren’t allowed to palm off inferior or spoiled fruit as good, or short-weight the fruit. Once detected, they would be fined and she would no longer buy fruit from them in the future.

Xiao’er spelled out all possible issues they might encounter.

In any case, she forewarned everyone, so that if anyone violated the rules in the future, they couldn’t blame her for lacking empathy. She would not entertain favoritism in business.

She had always refused to co-operate with dishonest people.

"Does anyone have any questions, or does anyone have any better suggestions?" Xiao’er added after she finished speaking.

Some villagers shook their heads. Xiao’er’s explanation was straightforward and easy to understand. They all grasped the details, and profusely indicated that they had no objections. Considering that each catty of fruit was to be purchased at 100 coins, which was incredibly lucrative, they all regarded the fruit as ’golden fruit’ and had no complaints.

Baozi’s father listened to Xiao’er’s words, his eyes rolling contemplatively: If they were willing to buy the yellow dragon fruit at 100 coins per catty, they definitely must be selling it at a much higher price, perhaps even 200 coins per catty or more!

Why should they, who put in no effort at all, be able to earn an extra 100 coins per catty, potentially making a greater fortune than what he painstakingly cultivated?!

It was unacceptable. The fruit couldn’t be sold to them at such a low price of 100 coins per catty. The price must be raised somehow.

Baozi’s father decided to fish for information in a roundabout way and asked, "Miss Xiao’er, this fruit is very expensive at 100 coins per catty. It must be very difficult to sell it, right? Are you sure you can actually sell it?"

Jingrui frowned upon hearing this but quickly resumed his calm demeanour, keeping quiet.

Shangguan Xuanyi gave him a light glance, his expression unchanged.

Upon hearing this, Xiao’er turned her gaze towards him but remained silent.

This man was sitting next to Baozi’s grandfather – given their similar appearances, he must be Baozi’s father.

As Xiao’er looked at him, his eyes immediately diverted, dodging her gaze guiltily. Clearly, he was not an upright individual.

Different characters would hold different implications for the same words. If Huzi’s parents, who were simple and kind-hearted, had said it, Xiao’er would think that they were genuinely worried about her inability to sell the fruit. But when Baozi’s father spoke these words, Xiao’er thought differently: His remark, seemingly expressing concern that her fruit might not sell well, had the hidden intention of reminding retailers that the fruit they had toiled to grow was being taken away by her and sold at a much higher price, making her more profit without lifting a finger.

In short, Baozi’s father definitely had malicious intentions with his remark.

Xiao’er decided not to respond for the time being, waiting to see what others would say. This was also a good opportunity to test her potential business partners.

Baozi’s father was somewhat hesitant to meet Xiao’er’s gaze, as if her stare could see through him.

After hearing those words, others present were taken aback.

Selling such expensive fruit, if Xiao’er couldn’t sell it, would she refuse to buy their fruit? If she did not buy, and they took their fruit to the city, how much could they sell?

Fruits, by nature, would perish quickly if not sold!

If all their fruits spoiled in their hands, would they not end up losing everything?!

When the villagers considered this, they glanced at each other, sharing their concerns and worries.

The villagers huddled together discussing in low voices.

Xiao’er didn’t speak. She let them continue their discussion and waited for them to come up with a conclusion.

"Miss Xiao’er, will you really be able to sell the Yellow Dragon fruit if you buy it at such an outrageous price? If not, you will be losing a lot of money," the village chief said.

After the village chief spoke, others also chimed in unanimously:

"Yeah! Actually, 100 coins a catty for fruit is really too steep. We have privately been calling it ’gold fruit’. You can buy it at 50 coins a catty too."

"Right, 50 coins a catty is also acceptable! 50 coins a catty is already quite expensive."

Almost everyone present dataed their agreement. The fruit could be a bit cheaper.

Now that they finally have a way to earn money, the villagers hoped that the price wouldn’t be too exorbitant, thereby killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

They did not want to lose a long-term profit for the sake of a one-off gain.

In fact, everyone noticed that the three people, Xiao’er and her companions, being young and distinctively dressed and behaved differently from them, obviously came from wealthy families.

They heard that some young sons from affluent families treated one tael of silver as one coin, spending ten taels of silver on a cup of tea at the tea house.

Perhaps these three young people did not even know the market price for most of the fruits at the market and unintentionally quoted the sky-high price of 100 coins per catty to buy the fruit.

Being honest with one’s conscience was more important. Since they now thought about this, not voicing out would make these honest farmers feel guilty.