"Manager!"
The attendant at the upscale shop hurried upstairs.
"What's the rush?"
"Bad news, Manager," the attendant said, out of breath, "There are over twenty people downstairs, all saying they want to buy large quantities of our goods! They want everything we have - calendula ointment, soap, fragrant soap!"
"That's good news." Zou the manager said.
"But we don't have any goods!"
Zou the manager: ....That's true.
"Invite them all upstairs, serve the best tea, and prepare some samples. We can't let them make the trip for nothing."
Soon twenty-plus people were invited upstairs. Seeing Zou the manager, they crowded around him with one purpose - to buy goods!
"Don't rush!" Zou the manager feigned calm and said, "There are definitely goods.
"Then hurry up and sell them to us!"
"But! The boss isn't here, I can't make that decision!" Zou the manager said, "How about this - everyone try our goods first to see if they're good. After the boss returns we can discuss details."
With no other choice, this was the only way he could stall for time.
Who knows what Li Yao was thinking, just when huge business had arrived, she took the whole family to the mountains to dig herbs.
"Hurry to Hexi Village, even if you have to go into the mountains, you must find her and bring her back!"
......
Digging potatoes was tiring, but a very happy thing to do.
Especially Da Zhuang. Every time he dug up a pile of potatoes from the mud, he was as happy as if he'd found treasure.
After three days of hard work, the family had dug up almost all the potatoes, piled up like a small mountain, bending Da Zhuang's mouth into a crooked smile.
"Mother, this is at least 3000 catties right?"
"About that."
Li Yao wasn't very satisfied with this yield. After all, they were wild potatoes, the output was too low.
"If we plant all our fields with potatoes next year, we'll never lack for food again."
"It's not just us who won't lack food," Li Yao said. "I think if they're planted and fertilized well, one mu could yield over 1000 catties.
"How much?"
Da Zhuang was shocked speechless.
One mu yielding 2000 catties was enough to feed two people for a year!
With all the mountain land they'd bought, if it was all planted with potatoes, how many people could it feed?
But the shocking news wasn't over. Li Yao continued, "Sweet potato yields could be even higher, 1500 catties per mu or more."
In fact, Li Yao was estimating conservatively here.
With proper farming, one mu could yield up to 4000 catties of potatoes, and 6000 catties of sweet potatoes.
Of course that would require lots of technical expertise and cultivating excellent varieties, but even half that yield would be tremendous.
If it could be promoted nationwide, the whole country would never lack for food again.
"Let's transport them back quickly then," Da Zhuang said. "We'll eat less from now on to save seeds for next year."
Transporting them back now wasn't realistic. There weren't even roads yet. How would they transport them?
While they rested earlier, Li Yao had found a natural cave under a cliff, about fifty or sixty meters deep, perfectly usable as a cellar.
After the roads were built and ox carts could come in, they could talk about transporting them home.
"Alright, let's start moving them!"
The three brothers began carrying the potatoes into the mountain cave. After settling them in, they rolled large boulders over the opening, sealing it tight.
Wang Xiao Si still wasn't reassured. He went to chop branches to further conceal the cave entrance.
With everything settled, Li Yao took the three children back home, but was intercepted halfway by two attendants from the upscale shop.
"Boss, hurry back, Zou the manager can't handle it anymore."
Hearing the shop was filled with merchants from other places, and Zou the manager was at his wit's end without goods to sell, Li Yao decided to head to town first.
"Li Madam, you're finally here!" Zou the manager looked as if he'd seen his savior. "If you didn't show up, these people would have dismantled my bones to sell!"
Seeing the boss finally arrive, the twenty-plus merchants eagerly crowded around.
Li Yao took a look - mostly unfamiliar faces, not locals from Baichuan Town.
"Everyone state your business areas first."
Business areas?
The merchants looked at each other, not understanding her meaning.
As businessmen, didn't they just go wherever there was business?
"Madam Li, what do you mean by this?"
"Right," someone said, "We're paying you money to buy your goods. What we do after is our business. We can sell wherever we want, right?"
"Not with me," Li Yao said. "Anyone who wants to buy from me must follow my rules."
Li Yao's rules were simple, basically the franchise model from her past life. One difference was requiring merchants to pay a security deposit to join.
After all, legal protections were non-existent here. Large deposits deterred any ideas of cheating.
This cooperative model was fresh and new to the merchants. And the mention of needing to tie up capital made them hesitate.
"You're all savvy people," Li Yao said. "I'm sure you understand the rationale behind my rules. I'm giving you half a month to consider. If you find it agreeable, come back with the required silver to sign the contract."
"Alright, we'll think about it carefully."
Before leaving, Li Yao had Zou the manager draft a cooperation agreement for each merchant to take and study slowly.
She was confident this mutually beneficial model would move them.
After sending the merchants off, Zou the manager heaved a huge sigh of relief.
The past three days had him more agonized than being roasted over a fire. Now, with Li Madam smoothly resolving such a huge matter, and even devising this ingenious cooperation model, he felt like a country bumpkin seeing the world for the first time.
He'd been doing business for years and thought he'd mastered it fully, but in front of Li Madam he was like a child who'd never left home.
"Oh right, Madam Li," Zou the manager said, "The county magistrate's wife asked me to relay that she hopes you can visit the county office for tea if you have time."
"I don't have time."
Visiting the county office to entertain the magistrate's wife - no thanks.
She was just a common woman. She didn't belong meddling in high society affairs. Better to hurry home and dig sweet potatoes.
......
Li Yao bought a piece of beef shank, planning to make the long-awaited potato braised beef shank for dinner. But she could smell the aroma from far away outside her home.
It must be Wang Xiao Si's greedy stomach at work, roasting potatoes at home.
The boy had a sweet tooth and appetite like a cat, just like someone she knew.
Just as she reached the edge of the yard, a quavering voice suddenly called out from the side.
"Li Yao, you're back."
Li Yao turned to see it was Wan Old Lady from the village.
In her sixties, after her husband died, her two married daughters barely looked after her. She had previously relied on helping neighbors with farm work to barely eke out a living each year.
But now no one could spare the effort to help her.
"Granny Wan, did you need me for something?"
"Since you asked, I'll be direct."
Wan Old Lady fumbled for something, unwrapping it from several layers of cloth - it was a pair of blackened silver bangles.
"These were my dowry bangles. I've kept them hidden all this time," Wan Old Lady said. "Now I can't even afford food. I thought I'd pawn them. But the pawn shop would only give me 300 wen. I thought since you have money now, if you're willing to buy them, I can sell them to you for 20 wen more than the pawn shop ... or even 10 wen more."