“What’s going on?” Second Grandpa Li asked in surprise, waving his hand to signal the elderly, women, and children to step back.
Li Jin and Li Tie, along with several other men, quickly positioned themselves beside the old man.
Zhang Shitou’s wife, who had been throwing a tantrum earlier, stopped rolling on the ground and scrambled to hide at the very back, moving faster than anyone else. Peeking out beside her was her husband, Zhang Shitou.
Truly, birds of a feather flock together!
No sooner said than done—the carriage arrived swiftly!
The coachman craned his neck to scrutinize the crowd, then broke into a broad smile and pulled the carriage to a stop right in front of Li Qiushuang and Tang Tian.
“Ah, we’ve finally found you!”
The carriage door swung open, and Manager Tian from Meiwei Ju nimbly jumped down. His eyes lit up as he looked at Li Qiushuang and her daughter.
“Well… Mrs. Tang, you returned so quickly. We rushed as fast as we could and finally caught up with you.”
Li Qiushuang’s heart raced, fearing that someone had fallen ill from eating the bean sprouts. Anxiously, she asked, “Manager, what brings you here? Let’s talk properly—our family would never intend to harm anyone!”
Before Manager Tian could respond, Zhang Shitou’s wife, thinking she had caught them red-handed, leaped up and shouted.
“See? See! I told you this family was up to no good! How can anyone eat sprouts grown from soybeans? They must have poisoned someone! They’re here to arrest them and throw them in jail!”
Li Qiushuang’s face turned ashen, her arms stiff as she tried to shield her daughter and son behind her.
Aunt Wu and a few others couldn’t stand it any longer and angrily scolded Zhang Shitou’s wife.
“Shut your mouth! You’re everywhere, like some gossipy donkey!”
“Exactly! We haven’t even heard the full story yet, and you already know everything? Are you a mind-reading worm?”
Zhang Shitou’s wife was indignant, but then she heard Tang Tian ask the manager cheerfully, “Uncle Manager, did you chase after us because our bean sprouts were so delicious and you want to buy more?”
“Haha,” Manager Tian, a stout man, laughed heartily and praised, “Oh, Miss Tang, you’re young but so clever! That’s exactly it! Our chef tried stir-frying a plate of bean sprouts, and they were absolutely delicious! As the manager, I only managed to snatch two bites!
“I also sent a plate for our Dongjia to try, and he couldn’t stop praising it. He personally decided to feature these bean sprouts as the winter specialty.
“Coincidentally, a distinguished guest has booked a banquet for tomorrow—it’s the perfect occasion to debut a new dish. Unfortunately, the twenty pounds we kept earlier aren’t nearly enough. I had to chase you down to ask—do you have any more stock at home? Could you spare some more? Price is no issue!”
Manager Tian spoke with such enthusiasm and joy that everyone felt a weight lift from their hearts. For Li Qiushuang, it was like being pulled straight from hell back to heaven.
She was about to agree immediately, but Tang Tian tugged at her sleeve and invited Manager Tian inside for a drink of water.
Catching her daughter’s hint, Li Qiushuang promptly asked Li Erye and Third Grandma Tang to join them as hosts.
Manager Tian, being shrewd, exchanged pleasantries with Second Grandpa Li and Third Grandma Tang as they walked inside.
The villagers were burning with curiosity, eager to hear what price the bean sprouts would fetch and how much money the Tang Family would make. They started to follow, but Li Jin and Li Tie stopped them at the door.
“Alright, everyone, let’s disperse. Sister-in-law Qiushuang has three children to care for, and it’s not easy for her to find a livelihood. Let’s not dwell on this too much.” Li Jin spoke bluntly, his tone carrying a hint of warning.
Li Tie, being more tactful, added with a chuckle, “Earlier, everyone was worried that Sister-in-law Qiushuang might have been deceived. Now that the misunderstanding is cleared up and she’s proven to be honest, having invested so much silver in buying sieves and pottery basins to finally make this business work, we’re all happy for her, aren’t we?”
Even if the villagers had thoughts of taking advantage, they couldn’t voice them now and could only disperse with awkward smiles.
Zhang Shitou’s wife still wanted to eavesdrop by the wall, but Aunt Wu and a few others tugged at her clothes and chased her away…
Inside the Tang family’s house, the long benches and pinewood table they had added earlier finally came in handy, making the reception of guests less shabby.
Tang Tian poured water into new pottery bowls and personally handed them to Shopkeeper Tian, Li Erye, and Third Grandma Tang.
Out of politeness, Shopkeeper Tian took a sip and was surprised again. “Oh, where did you fetch this water from? It’s quite sweet!”
Li Qiushuang replied, “It’s just from the well in the yard.”
Tang Tian chimed in cheerfully, “The well had dried up before, but recently it suddenly had water again, and it’s sweeter than before! Uncle Shopkeeper, our bean sprouts are grown with this sweet well water—aren’t they especially delicious?”
Shopkeeper Tian nodded with a smile. “No wonder! Such good water would be excellent for cooking and brewing tea too!”
After some more casual conversation, they finally got down to business. “Sister-in-law Tang, our restaurant’s business is fairly good, and as a new dish, the bean sprouts might require a daily supply of a hundred catties. I wonder if your household… can manage to provide that steadily?”
Shopkeeper Tian, facing a widow and her children, didn’t beat around the bush and added, “As for the price, soybean sprouts were previously two wen per catty, and mung bean sprouts five wen… I can raise the price by one wen per catty for each. But I have one condition: you can only sell to our restaurant in Tailai County. What do you think?”
A hundred catties a day, with an extra wen per catty—that meant an additional hundred wen daily! If they kept it up for a month, it would be an extra three taels of silver!
Not only Li Qiushuang, but even Second Grandpa Li and Third Grandma Tang were so thrilled they nearly dropped their water bowls.
Li Qiushuang was about to agree but suddenly remembered her daughter and held back her excitement, looking over at her.
Sure enough, Tang Tian, with an innocent and joyful expression, asked, “Mother, aren’t we a Military Household anymore? Do we still need to send bean sprouts to the Wei Suo? Also, for the beans—we need so many beans to grow the sprouts. Didn’t you say only the Wei Suo has them?”
This reminded Li Qiushuang, and she quickly said to Shopkeeper Tian, “Thank you for your consideration, Shopkeeper, but our family has relied on the Wei Suo’s support all these years, mending clothes and sewing shoe soles in exchange for food to survive. In the cold winter, the Wei Suo likely has few vegetables available. No matter what, we can’t be ungrateful. Besides, we plan to get more beans from the Wei Suo in the future…”
Shopkeeper Tian was disappointed but not angered. Though he didn’t know the specifics of the Tang family’s situation, he was aware that several nearby villages were Military Households. While one might avoid others when having something good, the Wei Suo was an exception. Once the Wei Suo had a large supply of bean sprouts, it would easily spread to the town, making it impossible for Meiwei Ju to monopolize them.
In this manner, he smiled and praised, “The Tang Family’s noble integrity never forgets its roots, no matter the time or place. I, Tian, truly admire this. Thus, our Meiwei Ju will continue purchasing one hundred jin of bean sprouts daily—fifty jin each of soybean sprouts and mung bean sprouts. If demand increases in the future, we hope you will prioritize supplying Meiwei Ju.”
“Of course!” Li Qiushuang promptly responded. “Manager Tian was our first customer, so naturally you’ll receive priority. The price remains two wen per jin for soybean sprouts and five wen per jin for mung bean sprouts!”
Manager Tian felt increasingly pleased. The Tang Family wasn’t greedy—they hadn’t agreed to his monopoly plan nor demanded higher prices.
“Good. For the first month, we’ll settle accounts daily upon delivery of the bean sprouts. Starting from the second month, we’ll settle every five days. What does Madam Tang think?”
“Thank you, Manager Tian. That arrangement suits us best.”
In just a few sentences, the business deal was concluded.