The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 703 - 692: Conditions (Additional update as a reward for the book friend "Gail")

Chapter 703: Chapter 692: Conditions (Additional update as a reward for the book friend "Gail")

Manbao looked at County Magistrate Tang’s face for a long while, knowing that they couldn’t end things amicably today, so she took Fourth Brother Zhou and the most intelligent Bai Shan aside to consult in a low voice, "What should we do now?"

Bai Shan looked at Zhou SiLang and said, "Drop the price a bit more?"

Zhou SiLang whispered, "It’s possible, but how much less? I still have to have some profit, right?"

This wasn’t just his own business, it was the whole family’s. Currently, it was primarily Zhou Dalang and the others at home who were selecting good wheat varieties, buying them back at twenty to thirty percent above the wheat purchase market price. Then he would transport it here, and after selling it, he would send the money back home and get new wheat seeds.

Since it was a small-scale business, and he only sold around Yizhou City, he didn’t dare to buy too many wheat seeds each time. This time, for instance, he only brought two bags. Previously, to catch the winter wheat planting season, he had transported it here several times by cart.

Now that the winter wheat was almost all sown, he didn’t dare sell too much, for fear that the wheat would end up stuck on his hands. After all, his family didn’t need these seeds for sowing and they were too expensive to just eat as wheat.

Probably even his father wouldn’t eat them, and might get sick if he did.

A heartache-inducing kind of illness.

Therefore, Zhou SiLang paid great attention to cost control. He whispered, "I can’t lose money, otherwise, Dad will beat me to death."

"Of course we can’t lose money," Manbao said to her Fourth Brother, speechless, "I’m not stupid."

Bai Shan clapped his hands decisively, "Let’s lower it to one hundred and ten wen per dou then."

Zhou SiLang was pained, "But that’s thirty wen less per dou."

Manbao ignored him and asked Bai Shan, "What about the conditions?"

Bai Shan lowered his voice, "Get an official document allowing the sale, and also exemption from the city entry and exit fees..."

Manbao’s eyes lit up and she added, "Right, since the price is low, we should go for volume. Let’s just wrap up all of next year’s wheat seeds for both seasons. A small profit with good sales volume can still net a decent amount. But why do we need the County Governmental Office’s approval to sell wheat seeds?"

How was she not aware of this?

Bai Shan just happened to have seen such a regulation, though he had not thought of Zhou SiLang at the time.

He whispered, "For things vital to people’s livelihood and national fortune, like salt, iron, and grain seeds, selling them requires going through the local county office, to confirm the shopkeeper is capable of handling the related risks, before permission is granted. Not only seeds, but the sale of grain itself is subject to this rule. It’s just that your Fourth Brother doesn’t have a shop and sells by dragging his cart around. If the people don\’t report it, the officials won’t investigate."

Bai Shan lowered his voice, "Once you open a shop, part of the income each season must be paid as taxation to the office. When taxation reaches a certain amount, then you are considered a merchant, and there is a need to update the household registration."

Manbao was aware of this. When she bought a shop for her sister-in-law in Yizhou City, she had asked County Magistrate Yang about it. County Magistrate Yang said that, based on the profit of her sister-in-law’s shop, unless she could own three shops simultaneously, there was no need to update the household registration because the tax she paid each season wasn’t significant.

It didn’t reach the quota of a merchant.

"With an official document allowing the sale, since your Fourth Brother doesn’t have a shop, this can be regarded as exempting the merchant tax. Balancing both, you won’t lose much either," Bai Shan said.

Before Manbao could agree, Zhou SiLang had already clapped his hands with delight, "This is good, this is good. With this calculation, it seems we are not at a loss."

Manbao silently watched him for a while without saying anything, then nodded, "Then Fourth Brother, you go and negotiate with County Magistrate Tang."

Zhou SiLang looked at her skeptically, "There’s no problem, right?"

Manbao shook her head, "None, go on."

Zhou SiLang hesitated for a couple of steps but, seeing his younger sister did not stop him, he quickly approached County Magistrate Tang.

Once he had walked far enough, Bai Shan asked, "What’s up?"

Manbao gave a sorrowful sigh, "If we had a shop, our new wheat variety wouldn’t be so much lower than the market price. Calculate how much difference there is between the current market price for new wheat seeds and our family’s."

After calculating, Bai Shan opened his mouth wide, annoyed, "I forgot about that. Then why didn’t you remind Fourth Brother Zhou just now?"

"Because it suddenly occurred to me that what we were doing wasn’t right," Manbao said. "The current grain prices in Yizhou City are wrong, as are the seed prices. Our wheat is one price in the hands of the grain merchants, and another when it comes out of the grain shop. If you seriously calculate it, no matter how many hands it passes through in between, the fact that the price doubles, or more, by the time it comes out is true."

"We need four to five months from plowing the field to harvest, putting in so much effort and sweat. But they simply turn it around, and in maybe less than a month, they make more than we do." Manbao continued, "No matter how much County Magistrate Tang drives the price down, this batch of wheat seeds will eventually go into the hands of the refugees for free, and those my Fourth Brother sells go directly into the hands of the farmers who need to plant. So why should we match the market price?"

"We should calculate our selling price based on our cost. As long as we have a profit, and it’s enough for all the effort and labor we have put in, that should be sufficient," Manbao said with a smile. "So I thought, if the price is low, let it be low."

County Magistrate Tang, who had just sent Zhou SiLang away to dig out the grain seeds from the cart to inspect their quality, turned his head and saw the two children huddled together, murmuring. Upon approaching, he heard this exchange.

He couldn’t help but pause for a moment, and then approached with a smile, "What are you two talking about?"

Manbao turned around and replied, "I won’t tell you."

Whether you tell me or not, I already know, County Magistrate Tang smiled slightly and changed the subject, "Have you been sneaking into the prefectural school to read books recently?"

Caught acting like a thief, Manbao sheepishly stuck out her tongue.

Seeing her show a sign of honesty, County Magistrate Tang was satisfied and brought up another matter, "By the way, I’ve been discussing with some pharmacy owners recently. I want to make use of the time while it’s still not too cold to have doctors check on the refugees. If they’re sick, it’s better to treat them early. Otherwise, with the cold weather, I’m afraid some might not survive the winter. You’re learning to prescribe medicine, aren’t you? Would you like to set up a booth too?"

Manbao’s eyes shone, "Can I?"

After asking, she frowned, "Although I’ve been prescribing alone in the pharmacy, Doctor Ji has always sat behind me to supervise."

County Magistrate Tang said with a laugh, "Of course, you can. I’ll set up a tent for you, and you can exclusively treat female patients. Some women are sick and find it inappropriate to go see a male doctor, but you are a female doctor, so I believe many will come to you."

Manbao asked, "What about the prescriptions? If I prescribe them, can they afford the medicine?"

County Magistrate Tang sighed, "That’s why I say I’m poor. These medicines will eventually have to be provided by the county office. I’ll give you a list of medicines later. As long as the medicines you prescribe are on the list, they will be able to afford them. If not, they’ll have to go to the pharmacy to supplement it themselves."

At this, both Manbao and Bai Shan looked at County Magistrate Tang with increased admiration, "County Magistrate Tang, you really are a good person, no, a good official."

County Magistrate Tang preened his chin proudly, having not managed to stroke a beard, but he smiled happily at them nonetheless.

Mr. Zhuang, who had all along been sitting quietly in the courtyard watching the play, oh, no, observing, couldn’t help but shake his head slightly, feeling that although the two disciples were intelligent, they were still too naive.

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