483: Chapter 472: Happy 483: Chapter 472: Happy The villagers of Qili Village were happy, the Zhou Family was happy, Manbao was also happy, even County Magistrate Yang of the County Governnt Office was quite pleased.
Even Old Master Bai was very happy, because he had just spoken with Old Zhou and the three children, asking them to pick out the best batch of the sun-dried new wheat and sell it to him at the sa price as seeds.
But it was no longer one hundred and fifty wen per dou, but rather one hundred and thirty-eight wen per dou.
Moreover, this ti he set very strict requirents for seed selection.
The reason he had such confidence was because the grain prices had dropped!
In Yizhou, grain prices were still high but had fallen sowhat, yet in Luojiang County, grain prices had dropped significantly, already approaching the normal prices of previous years.
Consequently, the price of grain seeds had also dropped.
Manbao and the others were not inflexible.
Although the price had dropped significantly, they were still very happy because this was still much more profitable than simply selling the grain.
The three children and the Zhou Family were easily contented, if only Bai Erlang hadn’t occasionally learned of the price his father resold the seeds for and told his two little friends.
Taking advantage of the teacher’s absence, Bai Erlang imdiately approached them with a serious tone, “Do you know we had guests at my house yesterday?”
Manbao and Bai Shanbao, who was buried in howork, took a mont to reply, “We don’t know.”
The teacher was really getting worse.
Why did Bai Er have so little howork, while theirs was so much?
“It was Uncle Wu!” Bai Erlang revealed the answer directly, “Uncle Wu ca to our house to buy grain and also bought the new wheat seeds from us.
Then I went to eat with him.
Guess how much my dad sold to Uncle Wu for?”
Only then did the two lift their heads, but they shook them together.
“Two hundred wen!” Bai Er said indignantly, “It was two hundred wen for the previous batch, and it’s still two hundred wen now.
But didn’t dad say that the grain prices in the county town had dropped?”
“They have dropped,” Bai Shan said, “Manor Head Bai personally checked.”
“Then why didn’t the price my dad sold to Uncle Wu drop?”
Manbao thought for a mont and said, “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“But the price we sold to my dad has dropped.”
Bai Shan: “So did you rember how your eldest uncle negotiated with Grain rchant Wu?”
Bai Erlang blinked, “…Why would I rember all that chatter?”
Manbao sighed, “If you had rembered, we’d know what to say the next ti we negotiate with Uncle Bai.”
Bai Shan’s eyes spun as he whispered, “It would be best to make friends with Grain rchant Wu too because by next year, not only our manor but also people from the village and even from other villages will have plenty of these new wheat seeds.
By then, your eldest uncle will surely drive a hard bargain.”
Bai Erlang fell into contemplation.
Bai Shanbao and Manbao lowered their heads again to their howork, saying, “But you don’t need to force this matter, because our main priority now is still studying.
So we think that the affairs of the manor should be left to Manor Head Bai to handle.
For any business like this in the future, let him try to negotiate with the eldest uncle.”
Bai Erlang was stunned, “How do you always co up with ideas like this?”
Bai Shan: “Manbao agreed to this too.
You have it the easiest, not studying as much as us and having less howork.
You don’t know our struggles.”
Manbao said, “From sowing in winter to now, we’ve followed the whole process.
Manor Head Bai also knows how to manage the manor, so why should we ddle in every single matter?”
She would rather spend that ti studying her dical books.
“Then why were you telling to find Uncle Wu just now?”
“Wasn’t that an impromptu suggestion I gave you during the conversation?” Manbao said righteously.
“After we thought about it, this would interfere with your studies…”
“It won’t interfere with my studies.”
“That’s because you have too little howork,” Bai Shan complained.
“In the end, won’t Manbao and I still have to help with these things?”
He stretched his head forward for Bai Erlang to see, “Look, am I losing hair?
It’s all because of the heavy burden of schoolwork.”
Bai Erlang, looking at his shiny scalp, angrily retorted, “Nonsense, your hair isn’t thinning at all.
Moreover, it’s autumn now, about to change seasons.
I’m losing hair too, alright?”
When Mr.
Zhuang ca back with tea, the three children were already bickering.
He stood at the doorway, coughing loudly.
The study room instantly fell silent; Bai Erlang returned to his seat at lightning speed, while Bai Shan and Manbao also bowed their heads and continued their howork.
Only then did Mr.
Zhuang compose himself, returning to his seat, standing behind them with his hands behind his back, glancing over their work.
“The Mid-Autumn Festival is just a few days away.
Hasn’t it been several months since you last had a holiday?”
The three children looked up together and nodded vehently!
Seeing their eagerness, Mr.
Zhuang felt like laughing, so he said, “Alright, you’ll have a three-day holiday for this Mid-Autumn Festival, starting from tomorrow.
After the festival, co back to class.”
Manbao imdiately said, “Teacher, that’s not enough days off.
You haven’t been ho in a long ti; you need to rest for more days.”
Bai Shan: “Yes, yes, and after Mid-Autumn you’re also tired, you’ll need a couple more days of rest.”
Bai Erlang added, “Teacher, if you don’t visit for a long ti, Senior Brother and the others will surely complain.
So it’s better to stay for a couple more days.”
Mr.
Zhuang hesitated upon hearing this, mainly because the three children’s gazes were too bright and hopeful for him to bear refusing.
“Alright, you’ll get four days off.
But you must co back for class on the seventeenth.”
The three children cheered in agreent, indicating no problem.
Once Mr.
Zhuang announced the end of lessons, the three eagerly helped him pack his luggage, but he was so picky that he had to shoo them away after they were nearly done, finishing the packing himself.
The three left the house cheerfully, book boxes on their backs.
As they stepped out, Manbao said to Bai Erlang, “Bai Er, let’s find your dad and get him to give us our money.”
Bai Erlang nodded vigorously, “I’m going to Yizhou!” So he might need a lot of money.
Bai Shan also said, “I’ll go too.
Manbao, are you coming?”
Manbao shook her head, “I won’t.
I need to buy things in the county town.”
“What things?
Don’t they have them in Yizhou?”
“Maybe, but Yizhou is too far.
I don’t want to go there to shop.”
Old Master Bai hadn’t settled in cash this ti, not because of a lack of funds, but to let the three children experience what it was like to have paynt delayed.
Sotis, just because you sell your goods doesn’t an you imdiately get the money.
Maybe in order to avoid giving himself away, or possibly to get the three children’s agreent, he hadn’t given even the Zhou Family’s paynt.
The three children weren’t too worried, but Old Zhou was very concerned.
He felt it strange that Landlord Bai, so wealthy and prominent, would be short of his small amount of money.
These days, he couldn’t eat or sleep well, waking up early every morning to gaze in the direction of the Bai Family’s ho, fearing that Old Master Bai might have fled during the night.
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