22 Prosperous and Flourishing

Shopkeeper Niu had ordered thirty jin of fruit leather this time. Given the large quantity, he proactively provided a deposit of six hundred wen.

He had also thoughtfully brought fifteen jin of cane sugar. One jin of fruit leather required half a jin of sugar, so thirty jin of leather necessitated fifteen jin of sugar. Not wanting Qin Jin to waste time going into town to buy it, he had brought the required fifteen jin along.

At forty wen per jin, fifteen jin came to six hundred wen. Thus, Qin Jin merely touched the deposit money before passing it right back to him.

Shopkeeper Niu left, beaming. He had told himself he could earn two sets of profits from young Qin.

He had priced the fruit leather at fifty-five wen per jin, earning himself a profit of ten wen. This figure was not high, but fruit leather was a novel treat not yet available in Dongyang County. If word spread, customers coming to buy it would inevitably purchase other snacks as well, allowing him to earn even more.

In fact, even if customers only bought the fruit leather, it remained a very lucrative business.

He only needed Qin Jin to deliver the goods, and he would have hundreds of wen in revenue—a very effortless way to do business.

After seeing Shopkeeper Niu off, Ye Miao sat back down on her small stool, picked up a kitchen knife, and continued peeling apples.

Qin Jin carried another basket of apples out from the house, preparing to wash them.

They had originally planned to make five jin of fruit leather, but now that Shopkeeper Niu had spoken, they would make thirty-five jin, with the extra five jin intended for retail.

He had mentioned this to Shopkeeper Niu earlier; since he sold his retail portions at a cheaper price, the shopkeeper did not mind, as selling outside the city gates would not affect the sugar shop’s business. Very few customers who visited his humble stall would have gone to the sugar shop anyway.

Thirty-five jin of fruit leather required one hundred and five jin of apples. Half of the stock they had bought from Huang Chunlan was consumed in one go.

The problem was that their household stove and pots were insufficient; there were too many apples to process in one batch.

After some thought, he went to the neighboring courtyard to find Wang Xiuqin, intending to borrow the large iron pot from the old courtyard.

When he and Ye Miao were married, a large stove had been built in the northeast corner of the yard. After the wedding, he had been busy every day, thinking that with the household’s various small ventures, he might use it someday, so the stove had never been dismantled.

Now, with a stove but no pot, he had to borrow that large one.

There were still two hours until dusk, so borrowing it now would not interfere with Wang Xiuqin cooking dinner.

However, he also had to borrow the cabinets from the old courtyard; otherwise, there would be no place to lay out the fruit leather to dry, and this batch was several times larger than the last.

After moving the large wardrobes over, they had to be carefully scrubbed and wiped clean to avoid any complaints from Shopkeeper Niu.

With so much miscellaneous work, Qin An went to the fields to work alone today, while Zhao Feng stayed behind to help. After a flurry of activity, the three of them finally managed to get the apple puree laid out to dry before dinner.

The courtyard was filled with tables and cabinets. Standing at the kitchen door while peeling garlic, Qin Jin remarked, "Anyone who didn't know better would think we were running a business worth dozens or hundreds of taels."

Ye Miao was peeling scallions. Hearing this, she walked a few steps to the kitchen door and said, "This earns quite a bit, too."

For thirty-five jin of fruit leather, they earned five wen per jin. If the cost of firewood and labor were excluded, they could earn five more, though the firewood was essentially free, and the labor included Brother An, so that portion wasn't calculated.

Even if they only made five wen per jin, that was still one hundred and seventy-five wen.

To earn so much after one busy afternoon without being exhausted—what a fine business it was.

Qin Jin nodded with a smile, "Right, it is indeed quite a lot."

One cannot become fat in a single bite; they would earn this money slowly.

The spread-out apple puree dried for a day and a night, and by the next evening, it had successfully turned into fruit leather. Qin Jin weighed out thirty jin and delivered it to Shopkeeper Niu before the city gates closed.

Shopkeeper Niu happily told him that the remaining two jin had sold out that very morning, so these thirty jin had arrived just in time.

At forty-five wen per jin, thirty jin came to one thousand three hundred and fifty wen. Subtracting the six hundred wen deposit, Qin Jin walked away with seven hundred and fifty wen.

He returned home clutching the copper coins to find dinner already prepared. He washed his hands and entered the kitchen to eat.

Qin An had to go home to cook dinner, so only Zhao Feng and Ye Miao were standing by the stove. The dining table had been requisitioned for drying, so they had to eat around the stove.

Seeing him enter, Ye Miao immediately said, "Come and try the corn. Second Sister-in-law sent it over; the corn at her place is ready to eat."

There were a few ears of corn in the bun basket. Ye Miao picked one up and handed it to him.

He took it. The ears were not large, but the kernels were quite plump, and the aroma of the corn was very strong.

The original owner had been lazy and dragged his feet with farm work, so the corn in his fields had been planted by Qin Bing and the others, meaning it was a few days behind Qin Wen’s and not yet ready to eat.

He bit into the ear of corn. Although it wasn't glutinous, it was sweet. He nodded and said, "Delicious."

"When ours is ripe, we'll boil some too," Ye Miao said, taking a bite herself. The rich fragrance of corn filled her mouth, and she couldn't help but take another bite.

Her cheeks were puffed out. She chewed for a long while before swallowing. Seeing that Qin Jin had almost finished his ear, she handed him another one, saying, "Second Sister-in-law said her corn ripened a few days earlier than ours, and she wants to borrow our small cart when she picks it."

"It’s much less tiring to pick corn using the small cart."

Although he had previously given Qin Wen and Li Mei two small carts, the couple had three children, all of whom could work in the fields, so two carts were not enough for them.

Picking corn was backbreaking work. When picking, everyone carried a burlap sack; they threw the picked corn into the sack, and when it was full, they carried it to the edge of the field to put on a cart to bring home.

With the small cart, the effort of carrying the sacks could be spared. One small cart could hold two baskets, which was quite practical.

"Fine," Qin Jin agreed. It was a minor matter, so naturally, it was no problem.

The fact that Li Mei could think of this... well, never mind. Mr. He the carpenter already had more demand than supply; even if others bought his ideas, Mr. He simply couldn't keep up with the production.

Forget it. He would do nothing and let nature take its course.

Entering July, the days began to dawn later. He didn't intend to bring an oil lamp to the stall, so his start time was pushed back as well.

This time, he brought three jin of fruit leather. When calling out to customers, he specifically pointed out that there were no free samples and that they had to buy at least two liang; he wouldn't sell less than that.

There was no helping it—he only made five wen per jin, so two liang only earned one wen. For such a small amount, he couldn't sell it for any less.

His high-handed approach successfully piqued the curiosity of many people. Those who were tight on money were curious, but they certainly wouldn't buy it—a minimum purchase of two liang cost nine wen.

Nine wen could buy a jin and a half of dried bean curd sheets, which could be made into three meals.

However, there were those who could afford the nine wen. The pea cakes and bean curd sheets were delicious, so this fruit leather shouldn't be bad either. After all, young Qin had said it was made of apples, with half a jin of cane sugar in every jin of leather—with both apples and sugar, how bad could it taste?

These people, some readily and some hesitantly, brought out their coins to try something new.

By noon, two jin of the three had been sold, with one jin remaining.

Qin Jin was quite satisfied. He closed the stall and had pushed the cart four or five meters away when Shopkeeper Chen’s voice called out from behind: "Young Qin, wait a moment!"

He turned around and saw Shopkeeper Chen walking over with hurried steps, so he stopped.

This morning, Shopkeeper Chen had bought seven jin of bean curd sheets, a bit more than usual, but today's stock had already sold out.

When Shopkeeper Chen reached him, he couldn't even catch his breath before asking immediately, "Young Qin, do you have any more fruit leather?"

"There is one jin left," Qin Jin replied, suppressing his surprise.

"Give it to me," Shopkeeper Chen said with a sigh of relief, lowering his head to open the money pouch hanging from his belt.

Yesterday, several carriages had arrived at his inn, accompanied by guards, looking like a wealthy family traveling.

The group spoke with an accent from the Shu region. He had the chef prepare spicy bean curd sheets, and after the meal, a man who appeared to be a steward sought him out and specifically requested the dish again today.

That was why he had bought extra bean curd sheets this morning.

The merchant caravan was set to depart this afternoon. A young maid had just run over to ask if there were any novel snacks in Dongyang County. He had suggested several, but the maid had shaken her head at all of them. Suddenly, he remembered the fruit leather and rushed over.

Fortunately, young Qin still had some left.

After hearing Shopkeeper Chen’s explanation, Qin Jin smiled and handed over the last jin of fruit leather, saying, "Shopkeeper Chen, I live in Wuligou. There should be another jin or two at home."

It wasn't that he wouldn't mention Shopkeeper Niu, but Shopkeeper Niu sold it at a higher price—ten wen more per jin.

Shopkeeper Chen smiled upon hearing this: "Good, I’ll keep that in mind. If there is a real need, I’ll send someone to pick it up."

Young Qin’s words made sense. If more out-of-town guests arrived, he could indeed buy some fruit leather to promote to them, which would allow him to earn a few coins as well.

Moreover, his husband quite liked the fruit leather; once they finished this, he would definitely buy more.

On the other side, Shopkeeper Niu was also satisfied.

Yesterday, after the small banquet at the County Magistrate’s home ended, someone had come to buy fruit leather in the afternoon, but there was none left in the shop at that time. Today, the stock arrived.

He had feared that having no stock would dampen their spirits, but today, maids and servants from wealthy households had come in a continuous stream, all acting generously—buying at least one jin, sometimes up to three.

Selling in such small quantities, he had actually sold twenty jin in a single day.

This item couldn't be stored for long; once bought, it had to be eaten quickly, and once finished, they would have to buy more.

So, today it was his turn to find Qin Jin before the city gates locked. He wanted to take advantage of the cheap apples and make as much as possible; otherwise, once apples went out of season, he would have to wait until next year to earn this profit.

Qin Jin had originally planned to make more fruit leather tomorrow, but now that Shopkeeper Niu was urging him, he processed all the remaining apples into fruit leather. Shopkeeper Chen’s place also had a good market; in the afternoon, he sent a waiter over to buy the remaining jin or so of fruit leather.

With no more apples, he went to the Yan family to buy all the apples from Huang Chunlan’s family.

Upon hearing Qin Jin’s intention, Huang Chunlan was shocked for a full five seconds, followed by a smile so wide she couldn't close her mouth. Now, her family wouldn't have to walk the streets and alleys peddling their wares.

She had truly misjudged him that day; Qin Jin was a man of great capability.

Incredible.