RPAGF Chapter 167 Manager Feng is simply a shrewd businessman!
Chapter 167 Manager Feng is simply a shrewd businessman!
Shui Sheng nodded in agreement, “Yes, I understand what you mean, Brother Qingchuan. Everyone says that the people are honest and kind, but there are also many neighbors in the village who are afraid of you being rich and look down on you because you are poor. If someone is envious of your family having a child who can make money, and they start to have designs on the child, then things will go wrong.”
"Yes, so ever since we moved to town to do business, we haven't come back to the village much. One reason is that we're afraid my dad and stepmother will be unhappy, and the other is that we don't want everyone to know that we've made money."
"It's true that you shouldn't flaunt your wealth. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about Xiaotang's cleverness, and I won't tell anyone about me working for you."
After discussing it, Lin Qingchuan gave Shuisheng some more instructions, and the next day after lunch, they each packed a bag of turmeric and went to town to call Lin Xiaotang to go to Feng's Pharmacy together.
Feng, the owner of Feng's Pharmacy, recognized Lin Qingchuan and his daughter at a glance. When he saw that Lin Qingchuan was carrying a bag of turmeric to sell, he was immediately taken aback.
He quickly asked, "Brother, you've brought your daughter to my pharmacy to sell turmeric again? I heard this season's harvest is very good. You sold quite a lot last year, how come you only sold one bag this year? Shouldn't you be planting more and more now that you have the seeds?"
Lin Qingchuan smiled and said, "Manager Feng is right. Logically speaking, we should plant more and more, but my father had many sons, and when the brothers divided the family property, I only got a small plot of land. I don't have any land to plant if I want to. So I shared some seeds with my good brother so he can plant turmeric as well. We'll sell them to Manager Feng together. What price do you think is appropriate this time?"
Ever since the father and daughter sold a lot of turmeric last time, he had been eagerly anticipating their return this season, hoping they could sell more so he could earn a better profit. However, he ended up bringing someone with him to grow it, and they only managed to sell one bag each. He was devastated.
Shopkeeper Feng was disappointed and certainly didn't want to offer such a high price. He pretended to check the quality of the two bags of turmeric.
"Alright, let me check how your turmeric is doing this season before I set a price for you."
Lin Qingchuan and Shui Sheng immediately opened their bags and showed them to Manager Feng.
Shopkeeper Feng reached into a bag and took out a piece of turmeric. It was large, plump, and well-proportioned, with a bright and lustrous orange-yellow color.
Because this season spanned the new year, the crops grew in the fields for a longer period than those harvested in autumn, resulting in a much better appearance than those sold after last year's autumn harvest.
Manager Feng was both happy and worried. He was happy that Lin Qingchuan and his daughter's turmeric was getting better and better, but worried that they couldn't grow more turmeric.
He composed himself and said with a serious expression, “Brothers, the market for turmeric is not as good as before. Other places don’t buy it anymore, and I can’t afford this much. But since you’ve come all this way, I’ll do you a favor and reluctantly buy it for you. I can’t let you come all this way for nothing. How about one and a half coins per ounce of turmeric?”
One and a half coins for one ounce of turmeric?
That's utter bullshit!
They'd already dealt with each other several times, but Manager Feng still wouldn't give up looking for an opportunity to swindle him.
Last autumn, after the harvest, he and Tang'er came to sell turmeric. Shopkeeper Feng gave them two coins per ounce. This time, he immediately pushed the price down to one and a half coins. If he hadn't planned to sell a bag first to promote it back in the village, he would have picked up the bag and turned around and left, never wasting a single word with Shopkeeper Feng again.
The prices offered by the pharmacies in the county were much fairer than those offered by Manager Feng. However, he couldn't go back to the village to promote the idea of selling turmeric in the county. Firstly, the villagers were reluctant to inquire about the situation and wouldn't easily believe that growing turmeric could really fetch a good price. Secondly, he was afraid that if the villagers knew they could sell it for a higher price in the county, they would try every means to get it to sell there, and how would he make a profit?
So he said with some difficulty, "Manager Feng, this isn't the first time I've sold turmeric here. Last autumn, after the harvest, I brought my child to sell it, and you still gave me two coins per ounce. How long has it been? How can you lower the price so drastically so quickly? One and a half coins per ounce is really not worth it."
You should know that the principle of growing turmeric is similar to that of growing ginger. It must be planted sparsely. And you can see that my turmeric is much larger than ginger, which should make you understand that I plant my turmeric sparsely than other people's ginger. If it is planted densely, it will not produce such large fruits. It is different when growing rice. Even if it is planted densely, it can still produce a lot of rice.
If this price isn't reasonable, then we can't plant turmeric next season. We can't afford to lose money planting turmeric and waste a season's worth of land, can we?
Manager Feng had never personally grown turmeric, nor had he ever seen what a turmeric field looked like. Naturally, he didn't know how sparsely it should be planted. So when Lin Qingchuan said that the price offered this time was not worthwhile and that it couldn't be planted next season, he immediately became anxious.
"No way, brother, look how well you've grown your turmeric. They're big, plump, and uniform in size. They're excellent for medicinal use. This medicine can heal wounds and save lives. You're doing a good deed by growing turmeric. How can you just stop growing it like that?"
If you think that one and a half coins for one ounce of turmeric isn't worth it, then I'll reluctantly raise the price a little more, but not too much. You can't expect me to sell at a loss, can you?
Shui Sheng was a little flustered. Qing Chuan told him that the price used to be two coins per tael, but now Manager Feng was only willing to give one and a half coins per tael. The price was getting lower and lower, and he was a little unsure. When he heard that Manager Feng was willing to raise the price a little more, he quickly asked first.
"How much is Manager Feng willing to raise the price by?"
Manager Feng smiled and said, "One coin for one tael, how about that?"
Lin Xiaotang thought to herself, "Not good at all." He only gave her one coin and six taels of silver. This Manager Feng is simply a swindler. He's too greedy!
When he and his father first went to Pingding County, they asked the shop assistant at Baicaotang. The shop assistant said that for small orders, they were willing to pay two and a half coins per ounce. If the quantity was large, they could talk to the shopkeeper. For small orders, the price was three coins per ounce. Since there was a difference of half a coin, there was a lot of room for negotiation.
If we can get the villagers to plant turmeric in large quantities, everyone in the surrounding villages will follow suit next year. Even if we only earn one cent per ounce, we can still make a lot of money from the price difference.
Seeing that his daughter remained silent, Lin Qingchuan immediately shook his head and said to Manager Feng, "One coin and six taels is still too low. If Manager Feng can't give two coins and one tael, then let's compromise and make it one coin and nine taels, how about that?"
Shopkeeper Feng looked slightly embarrassed. What's the difference between one coin and nine cash? One and a half cash wouldn't do, one coin and seven cash would be fine too. How did this simpleton from the countryside suddenly become so clever and ask for one coin and nine cash directly? It's infuriating!
But we've already received two coins and one tael of silver. If we push the price down too much, what if they really don't plant next season?
So he had no choice but to grit his teeth and agree, "Fine, one and a half coins it is. I'm only buying from you because we're already familiar with each other. I won't make a profit, but you'll have to sell to me again after the next harvest."
Lin Qingchuan nodded with a smile, and Shui Sheng was so happy he almost jumped for joy.
Manager Feng had his shop assistant weigh the items, paid them in cash, and said many polite things.
Lin Qingchuan, his daughter, and Shui Sheng walked out of the herbal medicine shop. The three of them immediately decided to go back to the village to talk to the village head. They had to persuade the village head to switch to growing turmeric first, so that the business of making a profit from the price difference could be promoted.