The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 927 - 905: Enlightenment

Chapter 927: Chapter 905: Enlightenment

Zhou Liulang and Datou bowed their heads together.

Old Zhou, upon seeing his youngest son like this, was furious. He reached for his shoes, struggling to contain his temper.

Ms. Qian glanced at him and said, "There’s no hurry with this matter. Let the children find out for themselves. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll just decide for them in a few years."

Ms. Qian looked at Zhou Liulang and asked, "Do you want to take a look for yourself, or should we decide for you at home?"

Facing his father, Zhou Liulang could joke and even escape, but he didn’t dare to do the same with his mother. After weighing his options, he said, "I, I’d better take a look myself."

"You’re reaching the age of adulthood. I’ll give you three years. If you’re still unwilling by then, I will pick a wife for you."

Zhou Liulang bowed his head in acknowledgment.

No one dared to give their opinion while Ms. Qian spoke. Over the years, her authority at home had grown increasingly stronger.

Ms. Qian made a firm decision, "Let Five go along; Eldest and Third need to stay home and manage the farmland. We also can’t leave those medicinal herbs on the mountain unattended. Two will join Four in getting to know the shopkeepers better in Yizhou City. Next year, let Two take over, and Four will go to the capital to bring Five back."

Zhou SiLang joyfully promised, "Mother, I’m quite capable of managing the shop. When I go to the capital, I will definitely run it well."

Manbao remarked, "It would be better to let Lijun manage it. You don’t know how to keep the accounts."

Zhou SiLang was displeased, "Let Erya manage it while I go to the capital just to eat and do nothing?"

"Just continue selling medicinal herbs," Manbao said. "The herbs in Yizhou City are pricier than those in Luojiang County, and the capital’s are surely more expensive than Yizhou City’s."

"That won’t work," Zhou SiLang, not being foolish, quickly figured without even counting on his fingers that it wouldn’t be cost-effective. "I can transport the family’s herbs to Yizhou City in one day, but transporting them to the capital takes several days. Don’t I need to eat, stay at inns, and pay taxes on the road? With such a long journey, there’s also the risk of being robbed. That’s a lot of money to spend. No matter how high the prices in the capital, they won’t be high enough to justify such a loss."

Manbao had been at Jishi Hall for over a year and had seen all sorts of herb farmers and merchants. She had long been curious about these relationships, but unfortunately, Shopkeeper Zheng was not willing to discuss much with her, as these were his suppliers after all.

But Manbao was clever, and her mind was a rich reservoir of knowledge, thanks to Keke. What she didn’t understand, she’d ask it; what it didn’t know, it would search in the Encyclopedic Library, and thus Manbao figured out the intricacies.

She had wanted to discuss it with her Fourth Brother when he had sent fresh ginger, dried old ginger, processed privet seeds, and yam slices to Yizhou City before the Chinese New Year.

But being busy with homecoming arrangements, she soon forgot about it until now when she remembered and set up her stance to discuss it with him.

"Fourth Brother, who do you think is wealthier, the herb farmers or the merchants?"

"Nonsense, of course, it’s the merchants."

Manbao said, "Did you know that Jishi Hall is not just a pharmacy but also one of the largest medicinal merchants in Great Jin?"

Zhou SiLang nodded, then shook his head; he knew that Jishi Hall was a merchant dealing in medicinal materials, but he didn’t know that it was one of the largest in Great Jin.

Manbao continued, "Currently, our family is just a mere herb farmer in the eyes of Jishi Hall. Although we sell herbs not only to Jishi Hall but also to other pharmacies in Yizhou City, our output still just ranks us as herb farmers. I saw, by the end of the year, many families deliberately left ginger roots in the ground over winter, so they turn to old ginger, and in early spring, some came to inquire about privet seeds and branches to take back and plant, right?"

Zhou SiLang looked up at his three elder brothers.

Zhou Sanlang nodded, "Many families asked, and our mother told us to give them away and even taught them how to plant."

Zhou Erlang added, "There were also people from other villages who secretly broke many of our branches in the mountains, damaging a lot of our trees. At the beginning of the year, Eldest and I even spent time guarding the mountains."

Manbao said, "Think about it, that many branches and seeds sent out won’t show this year, but next year, there will gradually be other households competing with us. In the following years, more and more nearby villages will be planting privet seeds. By then, will our privet seeds still fetch a good price in Yizhou City?"

Having ample experience in business, Zhou SiLang shook his head repetitively.

"Not only will our privet seeds not sell, but others’ likely won’t sell either. What do we do then?"

Zhou SiLang asked, "What do we do?"

"If a merchant comes then offering five or six wen per pound, would you sell?"

Zhou SiLang’s eyes widened, "How could that be? Right now, high-quality privet seeds sell for sixty-five wen per pound, and he wouldn’t even give a fraction of that?"

"But Yizhou City, Luojiang County, and the neighboring counties and towns aren’t lacking privet seeds. The pharmacies buy them, but there are limited patients who need privet seeds in their prescriptions. They can’t simply let the herbs pile up in their warehouses to get damp, right?" Manbao asked. "I’m asking you, for five to six wen per pound, would you sell or not?"

Zhou SiLang wavered, and Zhou Wulang, standing by, declared, "No!"

Manbao looked toward Zhou Wulang.

Zhou Wulang said, "I’d rather pile them up as manure than sell."

Old Zhou couldn’t help but turn to Ms. Qian and said, "That’s a real waste, isn’t it?"

Ms. Qian also hesitated, "Yes, selling for just a few wen might not be worth it."

Old Zhou said, "Even earning a little is better than nothing."

Zhou SiLang nodded, "Yes, earning a little is still something."

Manbao nodded, neither condemning nor approving of the decisions, but instead said, "So, to avoid selling privet seeds for merely five to six wen per pound or just piling them up as manure, we must find other markets before other households start producing them. The capital is a good place."

Manbao said, "What is a herb farmer, and what is a herb merchant?"

"A herb farmer is someone who can only wait for the merchant to determine the prices, while a merchant is someone who can influence the prices," said Manbao. "To put it bluntly, if someday a merchant really comes to severely suppress our village’s herb prices, having our own alternative gives everyone a chance to retaliate."

"If they offer ten wen per pound, we can offer twenty wen, and after transporting the herbs to the capital, even if we only earn three to four wen per pound, we still make a profit. At least, we have a say in our prices and won’t be completely passive."

People of the Zhou family were all somewhat dazed, a majority not comprehending fully, but some began to ponder.

Manbao patted her backside and stood up, "Anyway, you have many followers now, right? When you go to the capital next year to switch with Fifth Brother, just take them along to explore the route."

Zhou SiLang was distressed, "It really costs a lot on the road."