“The village only has my family and Liu Shan’s family growing them. His family still has over 700 jin, just freshly dug up.”
Together that makes 1,500 jin. At 15 taels spent on purchasing, it seemed she really needed to hurry and earn more silver to develop new products.
“Alright, Uncle Liu, please inform Liu Shan’s family. They can directly bring the yams to the estate for weighing later.”
Liu Shitou responded with a smile and happily led his young son Liu Xiaolin back home.
When Liu Shitou’s family heard that their yams would be bought at 10 wen per jin by the young lady of the estate, they were extremely excited—even his mother cried. Though he was also excited, he still calmly arranged for the family to pack the yams and bring them to the estate for weighing.
As he walked toward the door, Liu Shitou said, “Wife, I’m going to tell Liu Shan’s family the good news so they can quickly prepare their yams for weighing.”
“Liu Shan, are you home?”
“Yes, I am! What is it, Shitou?” Liu Shan happened to be doing carpentry in the front yard.
“Good news! Hurry and pack your yams and bring them to the estate for weighing. The young lady is buying them at 10 wen per jin. Both your family and mine are being purchased.”
“Really? I’ll pack them right away! Father, mother, Chunhua, quickly pack the yams!” Liu Shan excitedly instructed his family.
Soon after, both Liu Shitou and Liu Shan’s families carried their yams to the estate in a lively procession. Butler Chen was already waiting to weigh them.
Liu Shan’s family received 7 taels and 300 wen, while Liu Shitou’s family received slightly more—8 taels and 200 wen.
When Su Lele saw the potatoes, she almost forgot she had originally come to buy red fruits.
“Uncle Liu Shan, Uncle Shitou, my family is purchasing red fruits at 2 wen per jin. We need 500 jin today. Do you have time to pick them?”
“Yes, we have time! You’ve helped our families so much already. These red fruits aren’t worth anything anyway—they’re all over the mountains. No need for money, we’ll go pick them for you,” they said.
“My family will go too,” Liu Shitou added.
Little Liu Xiaolin obediently said, “Miss, I can also help pick them. I picked red fruits with my father last time.”
Su Lele gently patted his head. “So well-behaved. You’re already helping with work at such a young age.”
Then she said firmly, “No, it can’t be free. I’ll still buy them at 2 wen per jin in the future.”
The villagers already had a hard life. She would not let them pick fruit for free just because she had bought their yams. That was not her way of doing things.
The two families eventually agreed. Soon after, both families headed into the mountains to pick large, red fruits.
An hour later, they had gathered 600 jin of red fruits in total. However, they strongly insisted on counting only 500 jin. Su Lele had no choice but to accept their kindness.
When she returned to the manor, it was already lunchtime.
Only her mother and sister-in-law were in the dining hall; her younger sister was at school and did not return for lunch.
“Daughter, after lunch are you going to make fruit leather? I’m free later, I’ll help you,” her mother said.
Her sister-in-law also wanted to help: “I’ll come after I wake up from my nap.”
“You can just watch from the side, sister-in-law. Mother, if you’re free, you can help me. I plan to make 200 jin of fruit leather this afternoon.”
Su Lele intended to teach Butler Gu and the others so she would not need to do it herself tomorrow.
The entire afternoon, the kitchen was extremely busy.
“Right, the hawthorn paste must be ground very finely.”
“Be sure to stir-fry slowly over low heat…”
After the servants fully mastered the technique, 200 jin of fruit leather was completed. Large sheets of red fruit leather were spread all over the courtyard, drying in the sun. Tomorrow, they would only need another day in the sun before being cut into slices.
Originally, Su Lele planned to cook a potato feast that night, but she was a little tired after making the fruit leather, so she decided to postpone it to the next day—just in time for her third brother’s return.
In the evening, the Su family gradually returned home.
Grandfather Su Dong said happily, “Good granddaughter, you don’t know how much my old friends loved your fruit leather. I gave each of them a pack, and they finished half of it in just one day! Especially during afternoon storytelling sessions, they kept eating slices. When the event ended, they almost wouldn’t let me leave and kept asking if there was more. I’m sure they’ll come knocking tomorrow.”
Although they were good friends, he couldn’t keep giving them free snacks every time—especially since they were all wealthier than him.
“Second sister, I gave a pack of fruit leather to a colleague of mine. His wife is pregnant, and they also have a son,” her elder brother added.
Su Tongtong proudly said, “Second sister, Little Fatty and the others said your fruit leather is super delicious! They even said they want me to be their boss!”
Not bad—everyone had good taste. In any era, snacks were loved most by the elderly, children, and pregnant women.
The Next Day
When Su Lele woke up, it was already mid-morning. She had been quite tired from the previous day and slept in.
Her mother did not wake her, knowing she was exhausted. Luckily, the Su family did not follow the strict morning greetings of aristocratic households.
After washing up and having breakfast in her courtyard, she went to the front hall and saw Butler Chen leading a tall, thin man in gray cotton clothes.
“This is a runner servant from the Prime Minister’s residence. He came to ask whether fruit leather is available for sale,” Butler Chen said.
It turned out the old prime minister had originally sent servants to buy it elsewhere, but no one in the entire capital knew what “fruit leather” was. So he had no choice but to send someone directly to the Su residence.
“Our Prime Minister says your fruit leather is very popular with his grandson. Price is negotiable,” the servant said respectfully.
Before Su Lele could respond, Grandfather Su appeared at the door.
“That old fox just wants to eat it himself and uses his great-grandson as an excuse. Fruit leather is only available in our house. 100 wen per pack, half a jin each. How many do you want?”
“Twenty packs,” the servant replied.
Originally, the Prime Minister only intended to buy ten packs, but since only the Su family had it in the entire capital—and it was not expensive anyway—he decided to buy more. Even famous jujube cakes cost one tael per box, which he didn’t even like. Twenty packs only cost two taels.
Su Lele had Qiu Yu count the remaining stock from the previous day—there were just over 20 packs left, exactly enough. A profit of 2 taels.
“Grandfather, you’re amazing! I’ll cook something delicious tonight to reward you all.”
“Then I’m in for a treat tonight. There will be more income later today—just wait,” Grandfather said confidently, already familiar with his old friends’ habits.
And he was right.
By noon, families from the Grand Tutor’s residence, the Grand Commandant’s residence, and the Duke of Zhen’guo’s mansion all came one after another.
Butler Chen recorded all their orders. After the fruit leather dried and was cut and packaged in the afternoon, it would be delivered to each household.
As expected of noble families—their purchasing power was strong. Another 160 packs were sold in one go.
“Qiu Yu, have Butler Gu and the others been making fruit leather this morning?”
“Yes, they started at dawn. They’ve already made 100 jin today and can reach over 200 jin.”
It seemed they had already learned the process. Tomorrow, she could start making potato chips.
Su Lele planned to test two flavors: original and spicy. It would likely bring in another round of profit.
In the afternoon, she planned to stroll through the capital market—and she was quite looking forward to it.