Chapter 269: On the Road
Editor: Atlas Studios
Qi Haoran was thrilled to hear Mu Yangling call him ‘Brother’. Just as he was about to ask her to repeat it a few more times, Mu Yangling had already turned around to talk to Fan Zijin.
She told Fan Zijin about the few merchants. She didn’t mention that Butler Chen had the intention to stop the merchants from going north. She only said that a few merchants wanted to import goods and sell them south.
Given Fan Zijin’s shrewdness, it would definitely occur to him to ask about this when he saw them. Therefore, there was no need for her to play the bad guy here.
When Fan Zijin heard that a customer had come to ask about the diced rabbit meat, he was in a good mood. Since no one had approached him about this so far, he’d thought that they could only do the diced rabbit meat business themselves.
This was his first business. Even if he did not earn a lot now, he was still very concerned. He had originally planned to expand the workshop and build another workshop in Hanzhong Prefecture. This way, he would be able to produce more diced rabbit meat. When the time came, he would let the merchants from the south sell it. This way, he could reduce his costs by a lot.
However, he had never seen anyone come to ask. He’d thought that it was because the diced rabbit meat had just been launched recently and the profits had not yet been enticing enough to drive those merchants to come. Now, it seemed that the timing was just not right.
When Fan Zijin realized that Butler Chen was behind this, he was so angry that he almost fainted. However, Butler Chen was still in the south at this moment. Even if he wanted to flare up, he couldn’t find a target.
After playing to her heart’s content for two days, Mu Yangling borrowed 400 taels of silver from Fan Zijin. Together with the 100 taels of silver she had on her, she found the vendor who sold mutton skewers and discussed buying sheep with him.
“1 tael 500 copper coins per sheep of my choice. What do you think?”
The peddler said with a bitter expression, “But Miss, sheep can usually be sold for two taels of silver each. You’re too ruthless to directly bargain down half a tael of silver.”
Smiling, Mu Yangling said, “The sheep you raise can’t compare to the ones raised by the Hus. The price you mentioned is from the past. Now, one tael of silver in Hanzhong Prefecture can buy a sheep. After I buy it, I still have to rush south to sell it. 1 tael 500 copper coins is a fair price.”
The peddler was silent for a moment before asking, “How many are you buying, Miss?”
“300.”
The peddler’s eyes lit up. This way, more than half of the sheep in their village would be gone.
Mu Yangling said, “I’ll give you the price of 1 tael 500 copper coins per sheep. Help me organize it and let me choose. As for how much you give them, it’s up to you. But there’s one thing. The worst sheep can’t be worse than that one.”
Mu Yangling pointed at a sheep tied to the back of his stall. After weighing the pros and cons, the vendor nodded. “Miss, don’t worry. I can help you get it done. When will you collect the sheep?”
“Tomorrow afternoon.”
“This is too rushed.”
Mu Yangling said, “I have to leave early the day after tomorrow.”
The vendor could only agree. No longer in the mood to set up a stall, he packed his things and went home to discuss it with the villagers.
Mu Shi and Shu Wanniang had always been supportive of their daughter’s business. No matter what she did, they did not object.
However, Great-aunt had always been very conservative. After learning that Mu Yangling was taking out more than half of the family’s savings at once, although she wanted to object, she felt discouraged when she thought of the past results. She felt that it was better to let them do it.
However, when she found out that Xiuhong was the instigator, she twisted her ear and lectured, “Your cousin is already bold enough. If you still add fuel to the fire, won’t the family business be ruined by the two of you in the future?”
Unconvinced, Xiuhong said, “Grandma, we build up the family business with our hard work. Don’t worry, we won’t lose anything. Even if we can’t sell them, we can raise these sheep and bring one to the market every day to sell.”
“Bullsh*t. How long will it take to sell them all if you sell 300 sheep at one per day? And don’t these sheep eat grass? Won’t they age? The mutton may be alright now. But if we raise them for a few more months, see who else will eat them.”
Although she was skeptical, Great-aunt still actively prepared things for them to go out. This time, Mu Yangling brought Xiuhong and Bowen out. Her reason was that the two of them were not young anymore and should go out to see the world.
Mu Yangling asked Qi Haoran to help take care of things at home. She stuffed the clothes she needed into her bag and said to Shu Wanniang, “Mother, don’t worry. I’ll take good care of Xiuhong and Bowen. Now that there’s nothing to do in the fields, you and Great-aunt should rest too. I reckon Father will be back soon.”
“Then how long will it take you to come back?”
“I’ll definitely be back before the new year.”
“There’s still more than a month before the new year.” Shu Wanniang asked hesitantly, “Does it have to be that long?”
“We’ll head all the way to Xingyuan Prefecture. If we still haven’t finished selling all the sheep by the time we reach Xingyuan Prefecture, we’ll continue walking east along Xingyuan Prefecture. Don’t worry, your daughter won’t suffer any losses.”
“Control your temper outside. Although you’re powerful, two fists can’t defeat four legs. Besides, you have Xiuhong and Bowen with you…” Shu Wanniang reminded her carefully. In the end, she said, “It’s fine even if you can’t finish selling everything in the end. We’ll slowly think of a way after you bring the sheep back. Don’t get angry.”
After agreeing readily, Mu Yangling spread the blanket on the carriage and took out the things she had packed one by one. She had bought this carriage for Blackie in Hanzhong Prefecture. Although it was a waste of talent to use Blackie to pull the carriage, she had no choice. After all, their family only had Blackie now.
Mu Yangling looked at the unwilling Blackie and thought that it would be best to buy a donkey or mule when she returned. It was fine if it was once or twice, but she couldn’t always let her Blackie pull the cart.
Mu Yangling touched its neck and comforted it. “I’ll find you a companion when you come back. Don’t be angry. Let’s go out and relax.”
Blackie affectionately touched Mu Yangling’s head with its head before reluctantly pulling the carriage.
Bowen and Xiuhong climbed into the carriage and waved goodbye to their families excitedly. “Great-aunt, Mother, we’re leaving.”
Xiuhong was also promising her sister, “I’ll buy you beautiful embroidery threads.”
Mu Yangling chased the sheep out. There were 300 sheep, with a rope tying every ten sheep together. This way, the sheep wouldn’t be able to escape even if they wanted to, and the head sheep led the way.
Xiuhong and Bowen sat on one side of the carriage. Blackie could keep up with Mu Yangling, and there was no need to rush at all. When they reached the main road, Mu Yangling wouldn’t have to chase the sheep. She would sit in the carriage herself, and just had to make sure that the sheep didn’t get lost.
Looking around, Xiuhong saw that all the leaves on the trees on both sides had fallen. She immediately felt a little bored. “Cousin, where are we sleeping tonight?”
“In the wild.” Mu Yangling had already confirmed the route before setting off. With their current speed, they could only sleep in the wild at night.
Both Bowen and Xiuhong were excited since it was their first time sleeping in the wild. “Will there be wolves?”
“It depends on luck. I don’t think our luck is that bad.”
The two of them nodded in disappointment. Mu Yangling looked at the two brats and gritted her teeth.
There was a fork in the road ahead. Seeing the leading sheep walk straight ahead instead of turning south, Mu Yangling quickly jumped off the carriage and passed through the sheep to drive the leading sheep away. This made the orderly sheep chaotic for a moment. When Mu Yangling corrected the course of the leading sheep, the sheep behind rioted again before order was restored.
With a sigh, Xiuhong said, “Fortunately, we’re the only ones on this road. Otherwise, other people will definitely have a problem with this.” Their sheep occupied the entire road.