Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 134 - 133: Fruit

Chapter 134: Chapter 133: Fruit
Saying this, she saw Qin Yao about to speak, and quickly interrupted, "Don’t tell me about next spring. No one can say for sure if business will be as good as this next year."
"You’ve got a big order on your hands." Manager Wu gave Qin Yao an irritable glance. Once this batch of orders is out, there will be water mills everywhere!
Qin Yao wasn’t upset. She finished off the rest of her rice wine soup in one go and gestured mysteriously for him to come closer.
"What are you up to?" Manager Wu looked at Qin Yao suspiciously. "Men and women shouldn’t be so close. It’s broad daylight, and you......"
Qin Yao couldn’t stand his whining, so she grabbed his head and pulled it closer to whisper:
"That batch of orders is headed south. It has nothing to do with us here in Kaiyang County. I can responsibly tell you that currently in Kaiyang County, yours is the only private water mill!"
Manager Wu’s face initially showed anger, but upon hearing this, his eyes lit up. He shook off the hand on his neck and tried to suppress his excitement as he asked, "Really? Don’t fool me!"
Qin Yao nodded seriously, then started to help him with the calculations.
"Look, your place is in a prime location, with great accessibility, right next to the official road. It’s just not well-known yet, but in less than two months, the whole town will know. Those big families in the city have plenty of grain and horse carts..."
"Here’s the deal, listen to me and order seventeen more sets to round it off. I guarantee to install them before the end of the twelfth lunar month. By next spring, you’ll be raking in the cash!"
Manager Wu admitted to himself that he was tempted.
After all, he wanted to seize the opportunity to make the first wave of profit.
Qin Yao lightly curled her lips, adding fuel to the fire, "If you want to achieve great things, you’d better start early. Right now, this water mill is exclusive to our Liu Family Village. If you place an order, even the fastest competitors won’t get their stock until after the twelfth lunar month. Considering the time it takes to select a site and start operations, you can do the math."
"Anyway, I still have to go to the other side of our county. It’s just because of our past relationship that I’m giving you a heads-up first."
Qin Yao shrugged, as if to say she wasn’t worried about selling the mills regardless.
Seeing Manager Wu deep in thought and hesitant to make a decision, Qin Yao waved her hand, "I’m leaving first. Take your time to consider."
She still had to return the bowl.
"Miss Qin, where are you planning to go?" Manager Wu asked nervously.
Qin Yao casually pointed south, "Just wandering around, seeing if anyone else wants to build a water mill."
Manager Wu clicked his tongue in annoyance and called her back.
He glanced at the baskets lined up for queuing, grit his teeth, and said, "I’ll order!"
Qin Yao smiled, motioned for him to wait, then went to return the bowl before running back.
She pulled out her homemade notebook and the little brush and inkstone she had specially bought. She dipped a drop of water, ground it, dipped the ink, and quickly wrote out the order for seventeen sets of small water mill combinations, noting the total price, deposit, and names and addresses of both parties.
"Okay, if there’s no issue, put your fingerprint on it." Qin Yao took out the ink pad from her cloth bag and pressed her own first.
Seventeen sets, total price 51, Qin Yao waived the minor digits, making the total 50 taels of silver, and collected a 30% deposit of 15 taels.
Manager Wu glanced at it and winced.
Qin Yao maintained her smile; she knew this man had money.
His water mill charged four cents per hour, and over the past two months, it had brought in over five taels of silver.
Now, with the autumn harvest, the water mill was running almost non-stop day and night. Within two more months, the initial investment would be recouped.
A business that can pay back its costs in four months — where else could you find such a deal?
Qin Yao talked about the profits so enthusiastically. Manager Wu was tempted, but he was hesitant about the fifty tael order all at once.
Qin Yao saw his hesitation and reminded him, "Kaiyang County isn’t the only river. There are so many rivers nearby. With your sons and sons-in-law totaling five or six, opening a chain store could make a hefty profit."
Having stalled for a while, Qin Yao was becoming impatient as well.
Couldn’t she use this time to develop new clients?
She had laid out the path to profit right in front of him. What was there to hesitate about?
Seeing Qin Yao’s impatience and hearing the new concept of chain stores, Manager Wu took a deep breath and stamped his fingerprint.
"Wait here, I’ll get the deposit." He walked a few steps, then suddenly returned, "Come with me. It’s a hassle running back and forth."
"Alright!" Qin Yao packed up the ink, brush, paper, and ink pad, and went with Manager Wu to his house.
Fifteen taels of silver were solemnly handed to Qin Yao, and Manager Wu immediately felt the thrill of a gambler at the table — uncertainty, curiosity, anxiety, and excitement!
Qin Yao assured him, promising delivery before the twelfth lunar month.
At this point, Manager Wu had no choice but to trust her. But after a glance at the bustling business by the riverside water mill, he felt reassured.
Qin Yao hadn’t expected to secure an order on her outing today, so she was in a great mood. She bought ten pounds of good meat and two large bones at the butcher’s stall, planning to treat herself well.
After buying the meat, she passed by a stall selling small greenish-yellow pears.
She had previously eaten one at the clan leader’s house. The flesh was sandy and very sweet.
She decisively paid for a few pounds to take home, as it had been a long time since she had decent fruit.
Most native fruit varieties tasted quite different from the excellent cultivated varieties of later generations.
The peach flesh was hard and not very flavorful. Perhaps due to the region, the dates weren’t sweet either, and their flesh was spongy, like chewing on wood shavings.
Even the Yangmei were more sour than sweet. Forget about the large black plums; here, a Yangmei as big as a thumbnail was considered excellent.
However, she heard from the villagers that the peaches the noble elites in the Capital City ate were from the celestial Turquoise Pool, and were big and sweet.
Qin Yao suddenly remembered her gourd of cool melon seeds. They looked just like watermelon seeds, but she wasn’t sure if they’d grow sweet and red.
She vaguely recalled from a biology class that today’s large, sweet watermelons were products of breeding.
Originally, watermelons weren’t red or very sweet.
Anyway, Qin Yao’s mindset now was that having anything to eat was a boon!
Qin Yao rode her horse home, loaded with goods, and slapped the order in front of Liu the carpenter, startling him.
Qin Yao smiled at him, "Seventeen small combinations, deliver before the twelfth lunar month."
She noted down the fifteen-tael deposit, left two large bones for He, who was making lunch, to spice up the meal for everyone, and then headed home with the meat and fruit for her own family.
Being your own boss has its perks!
Liu the carpenter glanced at the order and then at the departing figure on horseback, filled with envy.
Woodworking was intricate, unlike milling, which was straightforward. His group leaders hadn’t yet mastered it, and who knew how long it’d be before they could be as carefree as Qin Yao?
Unaware of Liu the carpenter’s envy, Qin Yao bit into a pear, sitting by her doorstep, admiring the scenery as she waited for her meal.
By the way, what day was it today?
It was August 1st. Wouldn’t that wastrel Liu Ji be back by now?