novelaction Chapter 491: Matsutake Mushrooms Are Out of Season
Chapter 491: Matsutake Mushrooms Are Out of Season
For half a month, she went back and forth between these places. The amount of goods shipped out increased each time at the beginning, but gradually decreased later.
Even if the whole family spends a day in the mountains, they can only pick up a basket.
She knew that the season for matsutake mushrooms was about to pass.
I also said hello to a few shop owners.
After another trip, it was found that even if a whole family went up the mountain, they could not pick up even one pound.
She collected the last bit of mushrooms in the village, which was only a little over a thousand kilograms. Each family got a share of this mushroom, which was only about two hundred kilograms.
After this delivery, she announced that this year's pine mushrooms were out of season and she would not deliver them again.
All the shopkeepers had already made preparations, and there was still plenty in the warehouse. From now on, all the restaurants would supply them in limited quantities. One pine mushroom cut into thin slices could make a whole dish.
Just this one dish can be sold for one or two taels of silver in Baoyue Tower. If it is winter, it will probably be more expensive, maybe even two taels of silver.
When Zhou Guo heard that the pine mushrooms were sold at one tael of silver each, she couldn't help but sigh. Sure enough, such a big restaurant would not do business at a loss. One tael of silver each, six or seven mushrooms per pound, and one pound could be sold for six or seven taels of silver. She only earned 220 coins per pound from their restaurant!
After Wang Fugui and others heard this, they began to count on their fingers. Those who figured it out were so frustrated that they couldn't even sigh.
"We only sold it to them for 220 wen, but they sold it for 60-70 liang on the table. How can people in the capital be so rich to buy such expensive food? Otherwise, they would buy it from us. Even if it's only one liang of silver per catty, they would still make a profit."
Everyone was shocked and envious of the pine mushrooms that cost six or seven taels of silver per pound. Some of them even shouted at the shopkeeper to raise the price for them. Wasn't this a rip-off?
Zhou Guo said, "What's there to add? We have all signed the documents. Besides, I told them when I sold it to them that once the goods enter their restaurant, it has nothing to do with us what price they can sell them for. Baoyuelou can sell pine mushrooms at such a high price, it's because they have the ability, otherwise, why can't Fumanlou sell them at the same price?"
"Even though Fu Man Lou doesn't sell for one tael of silver per dish, it's still eight hundred coins. How bad can that be? If you ask me, Boss, why don't we just open a restaurant ourselves? We don't sell for one tael of silver, nor for eight hundred coins. Even if we sell for five hundred coins per dish, we can still make a lot of money. Isn't this much more cost-effective than selling it to a few shopkeepers?"
Zhou Guo laughed and said, "It's not that easy. The city is completely occupied by a few restaurants. We are new here. How long can we fight with them? I'm afraid we will be taken down before we even open the business. They will find a reason to send us to jail."
This is why she only dared to wander around a few nearby cities. If she went too far, she wouldn't know how she died, and maybe her family would be implicated.
This business cannot be too ostentatious and must be kept low-key. If someone finds the village, the livelihood of the entire village will probably be gone.
Thinking of this, I could no longer sit still. I had to go to the village and talk to people about it. I had to stop showing off everywhere, as it would be bad if the news leaked out.
When everyone heard this, they hesitated and said, "Well, what should we do? I've already told you that my daughter is married in the next village. I asked her to come to the village to pick up the trash next year."
When these words were spoken, the villagers became unhappy.
"This is not your mountain, it belongs to the village. Why did you let your daughter come? Your daughter is from another village. If they come, won't we earn less?"
"That's right. There are so many families in the village. Who doesn't have a daughter who marries out of the village? If everyone is like you, and asks their daughters to come back to pick mushrooms, how can we make money? This mountain will be trampled flat by people from other villages."
Zhou Guo said: "I've told you to tell your married ones not to let this news out. If outsiders knew that there is a golden nest in our mountain, I'm afraid the whole mountain would belong to them."
Seeing her speak so strangely, everyone hesitated and said, "No way, can these wealthy families also be interested in it?"
"Why don't they like it? What's wrong with being a rich family? Rich people love money more. Have you forgotten that you went to Landlord Chen's house to harvest wheat this year, and they deducted your money because you trampled on a few wheat plants. They even noticed a few dozen coins, not to mention the treasures all over the mountain."
Zhou Guo gave her instructions and left. If the result was not good, she could think of another way. However, her business worth only a few hundred coins would probably not be looked upon by a real wealthy family.
This year's booming mushroom business has come to an end, and she has not treated Wu Jiang and other dedicated colleagues unfairly.
After receiving their wages on time, each person was also given a generous bonus. The highest amount, like Wu Jiang, was five strings of coins, and the lowest was one string of coins.
Then he bought two pigs and a few stones of rice and flour and divided them between the two parties.
The young men's eyes turned red when they saw these things, and they all knelt down and kowtowed.
Zhou Guo was numbed by their kowtows. "Get up. This is what you deserve. You have worked hard every time we went out together without making any mistakes. If you do a good job, you will be rewarded."
Wu Jiang raised his head and said boldly, "Boss, I wonder when the next job will be?"
Everyone looked at her.
Zhou Guo frowned and said after a while, "There will probably be no work this year. You will have to wait until this time next year. The money I give you is enough for you to spend this winter. You can find work by yourself in the spring next year. The firewood and wild vegetables in the mountains can all be sold for money when there is a shortage of food."
Everyone nodded and were not disappointed. After all, they had earned enough. A month ago, that was unthinkable.
When Wu Jiang and his people go back, only this family will be left.
Li smiled and said, "Finally I've finished it. For the past half month, it's been like a war at home. There's no rest. My head is buzzing every day because of the noise."
Zhou Xing smiled and said, "Second Aunt, that buzzing sound in your head is probably not something else, but the sound of money rustling."
Everyone laughed, and Li also laughed, "Although we quarreled a bit, we made a lot of money. Not only did we earn back the money for you to marry a wife, but we also earned back the money for your grandson to marry a wife!"
When Zhou Gu and others heard this, they all asked curiously how much money the family had earned. Although they had worked every time, especially Zhou Gu who later followed Wang Fugui to lead a team, they had no idea how much money the family had earned.
Li smiled and said, "How much did you make? Let your sister tell you. She was the one who started this business."
Everyone turned to look at Zhou Guo who was drinking tea leisurely. Even the old man looked over. He had four hundred taels of silver in his pocket, which were all given to him by his young apprentice.