Chapter 112: Acquisition

The next morning, Qin Huiyin handed the shopping list she had drafted the night before to Third Uncle Tang and asked him to take Tang Dafu with him to make the purchases.

Tang Dafu was going to learn to drive the cart from Third Uncle Tang, so the trip would give him a chance to practice. By the time they made a round trip through town, he would not only have learned the basics of driving, but also brought everything back.

Qin Huiyin still had many things to do that day. She contacted the older men who carried water and hauled firewood, and told them she needed mushrooms, as well as small fish and shrimp. Both men were very straightforward; they said to leave it to them, and they would immediately send people into the mountains to gather mushrooms, then find others to use fish baskets to scoop up the small fish and shrimp.

"Brother Song, Brother Zhang, if you come across this kind of crab—the kind people usually do not eat, with a hard shell and many claws that pinch—I'll buy that too. Small fish and shrimp are bought by weight: one copper coin per catty. As for the crabs, the price depends on size; the bigger they are, the higher the price."

"No one eats this thing, so I don't know what it's good for. But yesterday I went to my uncle's place, and they suddenly had a plague of these pinching bugs."

"Many of them?"

"Very many. It's quite a nuisance. Some people picked them up and cooked them. They tasted good enough, but there wasn't much meat, and part of it was bitter, a bit disgusting."

Qin Huiyin guessed that the bitter part he mentioned was the part that was not fit to eat at all. Crab meat was delicious, so it certainly would not taste bitter. Still, there was indeed very little meat on them. Since she wanted to make crab roe sauce, she would need a great many crabs. There were no crab farms in this age, so all she could do was search the natural lakes.

"I don't have a cart right now. If I did, I'd really like you to take me to see how large they are," Qin Huiyin said.

"About this size..." Song Tieniu picked up a large stone.

"Something that size can be bought at five for one copper coin," Qin Huiyin said. She had originally wanted to say two for one copper coin, but then decided it was better to drive the price down a little.

After all, these were not crabs they had raised themselves. If they could earn so much money just by picking up a few, it might easily feed their greed.

So-called simple folk were only simple when there was no temptation, or not enough of it. She had never dared to test human nature, because human nature could not withstand testing.

"How many will you take?" Song Tieniu asked eagerly.

"The more the better. I'll take as many as you can get. My price to you is five for one copper coin; as for how you collect them outside, that's your business. I won't ask, and if anyone else asks, I won't say. This is a deal between us; it has nothing to do with anyone else. If you want to make money, use your own brains."

Song Tieniu and Zhang Jieba exchanged a glance, agreed to deliver the goods in the afternoon, and then quickly left.

After the two left the Tang house, they found a deserted spot and quietly discussed the matter.

Zhang Jieba had stammered since childhood, and Song Tieniu was the only one willing to play with him. They had been childhood companions, and when they discussed things now, they soon reached an understanding.

"I'll go to the neighboring village to rent an ox cart. Renting it for a day will probably cost ten copper coins. Then we'll have the villagers over at my uncle's place catch the pinching bugs and tie them up so they can't crawl around and pinch us. We'll buy them at the rate of ten for one copper coin; if they're smaller, twenty for one copper coin. What do you think of that idea?"

Zhang Jieba nodded repeatedly.

Song Tieniu said irritably, "Speak up. Why are you just nodding? No one else is here, and you still don't dare open your mouth with me? If you keep not speaking for too long, you'll end up mute instead of stuttering. Hurry up and say whether it's good or not."

Zhang Jieba said shyly, "Good."

"We still need to go back and find our wives, let them take a few close friends up the mountain to gather mushrooms. The more, the better," Song Tieniu said. "From the way Miss Yinyin put it, she doesn't like too many people crowding into her house, so we'll handle the receiving and then bring everything to her for payment."

"One copper coin per catty—we can take it from them at two catties for one copper coin."

"Right, that's how we'll do it."

"What if the villagers find out the price?"

"They won't. Miss Yinyin made herself very clear just now: she won't tell anyone the price."

The raw materials were more or less arranged. Next came the matter of containers. For better storage, they would need to have a batch of clay jars custom-made.

"Girl, if we use clay jars for the sauce, the cost goes up," Li Taohua reminded her.

"I know. But clay jars are less likely to spill during storage, and they preserve better too. This is what I'm thinking: these jars will be recyclable. We give the shopkeeper however many jars we use, and when they are done, they must return them to us. If any are damaged, they must pay twenty copper coins for each clay jar."

"Clay jars don't cost twenty copper coins, do they?" Li Taohua asked. "That dead man surnamed Song had a good brother who worked in ceramics. I can ask him to buy a batch for me. A jar the size we usually use for sauce can be had for at most five copper coins."

"A jar of that size sells outside for twenty copper coins, so charging twenty for any damage is reasonable. Of course, if Mother can get the lowest price, that would be best. It's just that Uncle Song is gone now. Will his brother still give you face?"

"For him, that's a small favor. He won't refuse," Li Taohua said confidently.

"Does that man have a shop in town?"

"He does have a shop in town, but the kiln he manages is in the countryside, not far from here at all. You can get there in half an hour."

"So close? Then I'll go with you and take a look. If there are any I'm satisfied with, we can set them directly."

"What about us?" Tang Lüwu and Tang Yixiao had been listening from the side and were eager to hear what assignments they would be given, but their names were never mentioned.

"Later, after they pick the mushrooms, they'll bring them over. You two stay at home and keep watch. If they deliver them early, have them sit and wait for a while until we come back to weigh everything."

Qin Huiyin arranged the siblings' tasks.

"Today everyone is busy with the seasoning sauce, so there isn't time to handle the stall. But business at our stall can't stop, so we still need to keep preparing everything."

"Then we'll stay and make the noodles," said Yinyin. "I've been learning every time Yinyin makes them, so I should have picked it up by now. Making noodles is delicate work; one person won't do. My little brother can help me."

Everyone in the family had their own duties; no one was idle. Because of this family, the whole village felt much noisier and busier that day.

When the mother and daughter passed by the river, they saw many adults leading children there to catch fish and shrimp. When they passed near the mountains, they saw Song Tieniu's wife and Zhang Jieba's wife leading a group of young women up the hill to pick mushrooms. As for Song Tieniu and Zhang Jieba, the two of them had already gone to the neighboring village to rent an ox cart, and then headed to the village of Song Tieniu's uncle to buy up the pinching bugs.

The village was sharply divided: some people were busy from dawn to dusk, while others had nothing to do. Those with nothing to do were almost all people who had old grudges with Li Taohua and her daughter. Song Tieniu and Zhang Jieba, though honest, were not foolish. They would not bring those people along to make money, or their own livelihoods might well be at risk.