Travel back to ancient times and open a Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 389

"Someone from the capital?"

Zhong Ruyi was secretly watering the orchard when she was suddenly startled by Zhao Gouxiong who came. She calmly put her hand on the bucket, hoping that Gouxiong didn't notice anything wrong.

Zhao Gouxiong really didn't see anything. When he came over, he saw Zhong Ruyi carrying a bucket and seemed to be watering the plants.

"Yes, the village chief asked me to call you down."

"Okay, let's go now." Zhong Ruyi put down the bucket and quickly walked out of the orchard.

Zhao Ganwei wiped the sweat from his forehead. He couldn't stop sweating ever since he knew that the richly dressed young man in front of him was an imperial merchant from the capital.

This is someone who works for the emperor!

He would never be able to leave Liuyun Town in his lifetime, let alone go to the capital.

The man who came was the son of the younger brother of the head of the Ding family, named Ding Renhua.

"No one has arrived yet?" He took out the folding fan he carried with him and fanned himself impatiently.

There were a lot of people sitting in the main room, crowded together and it was so hot.

Master Fang was also sitting in the upper seat. He smiled and said, "It should be soon. I have sent someone to call him."

Ding Renhua gave the servant at the door a look, and the servant understood and came in immediately, took the fan from his hand and started fanning him. However, there were too many people in the main room, and the servant almost stuck to Ding Renhua when he came in.

He was getting a little impatient waiting. Zhao Ganwei noticed that the young master seemed impatient, so he waved his hand and asked Tie Niu to cut the melon and bring it over.

"Master Ding, try it. This melon is the last one of this year. It's as sweet as honey!"

Master Fang asked the servant to pass Ding Renhua a piece of the sweetest part in the middle. He felt a little nervous, thinking that this young master Ding who came from afar seemed to have a bad temper.

After waiting for another cup of tea, Zhong Ruyi finally arrived. She almost tripped over the threshold when she entered the room. Fortunately, Tie Niu helped her up, "Aunt Ruyi, be careful!"

"Thank you." Zhong Ruyi smiled at him, turned around and saw that most of the people sitting in the main hall were from his village and a few business owners who frequently came to buy melons and apples. Sitting at the top were an unfamiliar young man and Mr. Fang.

She glanced calmly at Zhao Ganwei who was sitting near the door. After they exchanged glances, she found a seat in a corner and prepared to sit down.

Mr. Fang, who was in a higher position, had already seen her. When he saw her randomly find a place to sit, he quickly asked someone to make room for her, "Boss Zhong, please sit over here."

Zhong Ruyi looked at the location and saw that it was right in the middle. If she went there, she would be like a sandwich. She didn't like it and smiled and shook her head to refuse. "I'll stay over here. It's cooler here because of the breeze."

Since she was unwilling, Master Fang did not force her. He whispered to Ding Renhua that everyone was present and they could start talking.

Ding Renhua was already used to the feeling of being watched by everyone, and he didn't feel uncomfortable at all. "I came here this time to conduct a field investigation to see if watermelons and apples can be grown elsewhere. In the future, the trading of watermelons and apples will be handled by our Ding family in Beijing. No one is allowed to sell them to others privately."

The villagers sat there in silence. The village chief hadn't even spoken yet. They didn't know if this was a good thing or not. It didn't matter who they sold it to.

"Oh, by the way, we are also here with four agricultural officials from the Agricultural Department. They have been traveling too much since returning to Yunzhou, and they are not feeling well. They are now resting in the inn in the town. They will come to teach you how to grow better and sweeter melons in a few days! After all, what you grow will be sent to the capital for the nobles to eat, so you can't be careless!"

Zhong Ruyi looked at Master Fang: Is this what you call a good thing? Not really, right?

Mr. Fang shook his head covertly, indicating that good things were not yet coming.

Ding Renhua had almost finished his words and glanced at the faces of the people below him. "Anything else you want to ask?"

Since he said this, those who had questions naturally spoke up.

The first one was Boss Wang. His attitude was different from the one he had raised to Master Fang at the inn that day. He seemed much more steady and modest:

"Mr. Ding, may I ask what small merchants like us should do? Before, we bought directly from the villagers and took them away. Now that you don't allow the villagers to sell to us, who should we buy from?"

"It's easy." Ding Renhua snapped his folding fan shut again. "Master Fang has already told me about this. You can buy from Master Fang in the future! You can decide the price yourself, but everything will be based on our Ding family first. We can only give you your turn after we have selected enough goods."

His words were a bit overbearing, but no one present dared to refute them. Why? Because the Ding family had the support of the royal family, and they could not afford to offend them.

Boss Wang stopped talking. The others looked at each other and one of them asked, "In this case, do we need to sell at the same price? Or do we sell at our own price?"

Ding Renhua raised his chin slightly, "Our Ding family's watermelons are priced at two taels of silver each, and apples are priced at one tael of silver per pound. If you can sell them at this price, of course you can set the same price as us. If you can't sell them, don't slap yourself in the face!"

!!!

The bosses didn't react much, but the villagers present were not calm. Two taels of silver for a melon?

What kind of melon is this?

Golden pumpkins don’t have to be so expensive, right?

Everyone looked at Zhao Ganwei with envy, signaling him to ask whether the price of melons sold to this young master in the village would be increased in the future?

Want to ask? Zhao Ganwei encouraged himself in his heart. It was not that he was timid, but the rich young master from the capital was so impressive that people dared not look at him, let alone talk to him.

Zhong Ruyi saw the quarrel between the village chief and other villagers in the corner and wanted to speak out to stop them, but the village chief didn't look at her, so she couldn't do anything.

Fortunately, the Ding family has been in business for a long time and can guess what people are thinking.

Ding Renhua scanned everyone's expressions and said slowly, "It's not that our Ding family loves money, we just have no choice but to set the price so high. Think about it, how far is Yunzhou from the capital? It takes a month to ride a horse back and forth. The time, energy and labor spent are all included in the two taels of silver. If you calculate carefully, we really don't make much money, it's just a reward for our hard work."

"Besides, no matter which village or township grows watermelons and apples, they can sell them, but your Xinghua Village has a reputation among the higher-ups, so other places can't compare with your village."

Zhong Ruyi had also thought about it. They would sell the water melons to the Ding family at the same price as before. They didn't need to worry about anything else. As long as they paid for the melons, they would be done. As for where to send them to, to whom to sell them and what the price was, it was none of their business.

In case some fruits and vegetables were lost along the way, it would not be their fault. Two hundred coins were indeed not a low amount. At least it was much better than having to rely on farming and growing vegetables to make a living before.

What if the villages that came here to learn before grow melons in the future?

The fruits and vegetables from their Xinghua Village are exclusively supplied to the imperial merchants in the capital, and even the most senior master has praised them for being so delicious!

The villagers were confused by what they heard, as if they understood it but also as if they didn't.

Zhao Ganwei felt that doing business this way was better than selling directly to the bosses before. Although the price remained the same, the name was different.

Not to mention the surrounding villages, people from all over the world who eat this sweet melon will remember that it is from Xinghua Village!

He imagined that under his leadership, Xinghua Village would become the best village in the world and everyone would know him, Zhao Ganwei.

"Grandma!"

"Grandpa! There are so many officials outside!"

Tie Niu ran in breathlessly, his voice as loud as thunder, "So many people have come! Grandpa, go and take a look!"