Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 1054 - 1034. Price of Chinese cabbage and radish

Chapter 1054: 1034. Price of Chinese cabbage and radish

The firewood stove was roaring, and while Zhou Maozhu was peeling and chopping radishes and putting them on a plate, the sizzling sound of burning lard echoed—cabbage had already gone into the pan.

Li Lanhua sniffed and said, "Oh my, no wonder Song Tan’s produce sells for such a high price. Just smell this cabbage—it’s so fragrant!"

"Exactly!" Zhou Maozhu caught a whiff too, while rummaging through drawers for toothpicks. He added, "And these radishes are so juicy. Later, don’t sell them all; save a couple for me to try."

Thinking about it, he couldn’t hold back a grin and whispered to his wife in the kitchen, "Just based on the smell, I bet we can sell these for three yuan!"

But what they didn’t know was that Song Tan’s asking price was five yuan, with Secretary Xiaozu deliberately quoting lower just to avoid overly high expectations.

Now, Old Zhao looked at the plate in front of him and waved everyone over, "Come on, let’s all have a taste and see if the high price is justified."

The group didn’t hold back and reached out for bites one after another.

Early in the morning, sitting in the chilly courtyard eating equally cold radishes wasn’t the most pleasant situation.

But these radishes, bursting with high water content, were crisp and refreshingly sweet, with just a hint of radish’s signature spiciness lingering in the stomach after swallowing... Even chilled, they couldn’t hide their excellent texture.

After this taste test, five yuan truly seemed worth it!

Only Lao Zhu and others smacked their lips and remarked critically, "Still not as good as what we had yesterday."

Xiaodu nodded in agreement, "But slightly better than what we find up in the mountains. Those moments of exceptional flavor on the mountain are rare."

After all, when it comes to fruits and vegetables, even trees can bear both sour and sweet ones, let alone radishes from the fields.

And that’s why this kind of quality is so rare! If packaged and marketed properly, these radishes could fetch multiples of their current price per jin.

Not knowing if the group included buyers, Zhou Maozhu felt apprehensive upon hearing this, estimating that three yuan might fall short—but two or two and a half yuan should work, right?

Observing everyone crunching on the radishes with gusto, he couldn’t help salivating himself. Just as he went to grab a piece to taste, he found the plate had already been emptied.

Song Tan tossed down the toothpick and briskly asked Old Zhao:

"Radishes at 5.5 yuan a jin—are you buying?"

This price was five mao higher than originally quoted. But Old Zhao thought it was well worth it. Who treats these as mere vegetables to sell anyway?

Reselling them at 12.8 yuan as fruit-like radishes? No problem at all.

After all, Song Tan’s items came with fixed prices up front, but there’d be no restrictions later, making it possible for merchants like Old Zhao to make considerable profits!

"Deal!" he agreed decisively and then turned to Zhou Maozhu, "I’m not taking your variety; I want the ones transplanted from Song Tan’s farm. 5.5 yuan per jin—make sure they’re clean and dried properly."

After thinking about it, he added, "As for radish leaves, let them air out to remove dewdrops, pick out the old and inedible yellow leaves, and I’ll buy the rest at 2 yuan per jin."

What!? Even radish leaves?

Zhou Maozhu was stunned with joy, "This is the real price, right?"

Old Zhao thought to himself: Song Tan specifically brought him here, so how could the value of the produce be unclear to him?

But being a seasoned vegetable vendor, he understood the impact such prices could have on farmers, so he patiently nodded:

"Yes. I’ll start with yours today. Once sold, I’ll visit other households in the village in a few days."

After thinking some more, he added, "For now, keep the prices to yourself. If word spreads, I’m worried some might try to substitute inferior goods, causing customers to receive fake items and jeopardizing our future business."

"Got it, absolutely!" Zhou Maozhu nodded repeatedly, then stood up, flustered but excited, pacing as he asked:

"So... should I go pull the radishes now?"

"Go ahead, go ahead!" Secretary Xiaozu urged him, "We’re just here to join the fun—don’t mind us, carry on!"

Meanwhile, nosy Old Zhou asked curiously, "Just how many radishes has his family grown?"

Secretary Xiaozu explained, "Our village’s best grower is Song Tan. These varieties were handpicked by her. Come autumn, any villagers who helped with harvest work in the fields for just two days could get a bunch of radish and cabbage seedlings."

"Back then, it was already said that these might sell for high prices, so everyone planted them... This household should have about one to two thousand jin of radishes, and about the same for cabbage."

Old Zhou quickly calculated in his mind.

With radishes weighing in at 1,500 jin and priced at 5.5 yuan per jin, that’s over 8,000 yuan. Leaves at 2 yuan per jin—

"How many jin of leaves does a single radish yield?"

Old radish leaves could still weigh quite a bit.

Secretary Xiaozu hadn’t tallied this detail and looked toward Song Tan.

Song Tan thought for a moment, "Depends on the size of the radish. For instance, the biggest one we just took weighed over 6 jin, and after sorting the leaves, there should be around two to three jin left."

*Gasp!*

These visitors weren’t strangers to rural life. With quick calculations, they estimated lucrative revenue—

Just from radishes alone, nearly ten thousand yuan in earnings!

For farmers in the village, this was undoubtedly a significant income!

At that moment, clueless Li Lanhua came out of the kitchen holding a plate and a handful of chopsticks:

"I figured you all wanted to taste, so I stir-fried this with lard—no other seasonings besides salt..."

She thought for a bit before asking carefully, "Should I make a cabbage soup with water instead?"

"No need, no need." Having eaten the radishes, Old Zhao was fully confident in the cabbage. He waved off the suggestion and picked up chopsticks to dive in.

"Hmm..."

He chewed slowly. The cabbage’s crisp sweetness became even more pronounced under the heated oil. Its finely chopped stems still carried rich juices.

It wasn’t the grassy taste of ordinary greens—instead, it had a unique flair.

The others didn’t hold back either and dug in eagerly with chopsticks, nodding in agreement, "The flavor is excellent!"

Li Lanhua waited expectantly for their reaction, and Old Zhao gave his verdict directly: "Cabbage at 5 yuan a jin. Please remove the truly tough outer leaves before weighing."

Li Lanhua: ...!!!

"Alright, alright!" She agreed enthusiastically!

Five yuan per jin for cabbage? The cabbage in their town hardly sold for 2.5 mao! Forget just peeling off old leaves—even if someone wanted only leaves without the stems, it’d still be profit!

Looking around the courtyard, she muttered, "Where did he wander off to?" Doing business like this—how could Zhou Maozhu not be present?

Song Tan chuckled and pointed outside the courtyard:

"Auntie, you’d better help Uncle Zhou pull radishes instead—radishes are 5 mao pricier than cabbage."

She stood up and beckoned to the group, "Alright, let’s go—it’s too cold here. Let’s head back and warm up. Teacher Tang said she’s making candied oranges today."