Daily life of farming and supporting a family on the ancient Loess Plateau

Xu Shirong smiled and said, "It's definitely more convenient to transport it from here, since Ningping County is closer to the south. The subsequent medicine packets will depend on the situation at the Ji family's place; otherwise, if we're missing ten or so kinds of medicine, we won't be able to get anything done."

“Master Xu, Manager Wang—” Ji Yongling’s voice came from the doorway.

Wang Defu and Xu Shirong both stood up. Xu Shirong stroked his beard and said, "Oh my, speak of the devil! I was just talking about you, and here you are."

After saying that, he glanced behind Ji Yongling and continued, "This child, I told you to call me uncle, why are you being so polite? Oh, your father isn't here?"

Ji Yongling smiled and said, "My father is busy collecting medicinal herbs, so I can do it. This is my second uncle's third cousin, Ji Yonghua."

"The Ji family children are all outstanding, handsome and talented." Wang Defu looked at Ji Yonghua and nodded with a smile.

Ji Yonghua lowered his head shyly, but when he glanced at Ji Yongling out of the corner of his eye and saw her standing tall and looking completely at ease, he felt that he, as her brother, was not as generous as his sister. So he raised his head again and straightened his back.

Ji Yongling placed the bundle in her hand on the table in front of Wang Defu, opened it, took out several medicine pouches, and handed them to Wang Defu with both hands, saying, "Manager Wang, these are samples of medicine pouches that my grandmother and her family rushed to make yesterday. They are the most basic designs. What do you think? Of course, if you want them to be more fancy, that's fine too, but you'll need to give me more time."

Wang Defu carefully examined the medicine pouch in his hand. He first rubbed the two characters "济世" (meaning "to save the world") with his hand, then pulled hard on the ropes at both ends of the pouch. Seeing that the opening was tight, he tugged on it again to loosen it, and then tugged on the ropes once more.

After fiddling with it a few times, he smiled and said, "The design of this rope is quite ingenious, and the embroidery of the words 'Saving the World' is also very clever. As for the style, this simple design will suffice. This batch of medicine pouches is mainly being transported to the south, where they may be sold at a low price, or they may be given away directly, so there's no need to make anything fancy. If in the future..." He didn't finish his sentence, saying that they could talk about the future later.

Seeing that Wang Defu was satisfied, Ji Yongling cupped his hands again and said, "Thank you for your appreciation, Manager Wang."

Wang Defu put down the medicine pouch in his hand, looked at Ji Yongling, and said, "I can only offer you eight copper coins for this medicine pouch, not including the cloth and needles and thread. What do you think?"

Ji Yongling thought for a moment. She wasn't really familiar with the prices here. After all, the original owner of this body had never been to a market before and didn't have a single copper coin. So she wasn't sure if the prices were high or low.

However, remembering the prices Ji Manchuan had charged for the baskets and mats, she still bargained a bit: "Manager Wang, if you had this medicine pouch made at an embroidery workshop in the city, it certainly wouldn't cost more than this. I just want to find some work for the aunts, grandmothers, and young women in the village so they can earn some pocket money, so could you raise the price a little?"

Wang Defu shook his head and said, "We would definitely pay a higher price to the embroidery workshop in the prefecture, but their medicine pouches are made by skilled embroiderers, and their workmanship is far superior to that of the village women. Moreover, their price includes the cost of delivering the medicine powder, filling the pouches, and sewing them. However, our boss personally arranged for Ji Niangzi's pouches, so we won't offer you a lower price."

Xu Shirong chimed in, "Yongling, Manager Wang's price isn't low. Even the old women and wives in the county might not get such good jobs."

Seeing Xu Shirong's sincere expression, Ji Yongling thought for a moment and agreed to Wang Defu's offer. After all, in this era, labor was the least valuable commodity!

Seeing that Ji Yongling agreed, Wang Defu and Xu Shirong asked for paper and pen and wrote a contract for Ji Yongling.

Ji Yongling took the contract and carefully read through the requirements, price, delivery time and quantity of the medicine pouches. He also calculated in his mind whether it could be completed on time. Just as he was about to return it to Wang Defu, he saw Ji Yonghua next to him craning his neck to look, so he handed it to him to see.

Ji Yonghua had just learned that his third uncle's family was making medicine pouches, and that they were being made for the Jishi Pharmacy in the prefectural city. It was also the first time he had ever seen anyone sign a contract, so he was looking at it very carefully.

After Ji Yonghua finished reading, Ji Yongling said, "Manager Wang, could you please pay a deposit in advance? You've seen my family's situation; we don't have enough money to cover the fabric and labor costs, so please give us a deposit to help us get by."

Wang Defu and Xu Shirong's eyes widened upon hearing this. It was the first time they had ever seen a young girl from a farming family ask for a deposit on her very first transaction, especially for something as small as the making of a medicine pouch, not a large-scale transaction.

Although they weren't afraid of the other party running away and defaulting on their debt, this request was truly beyond their previous understanding.

Wang Defu coughed and said, "Well, Madam Ji, we've never encountered a business like this where you have to pay a deposit on the very first transaction. It's such a small business."

Ji Yongling nodded, indicating her understanding: "Manager Wang, there's a first time for everything. Our situation is indeed different from the customers you've dealt with before. We don't have any capital, and we can't get cloth on credit. Consider this your help to us."

Wang Defu silently calculated that five thousand medicine pouches would only cost forty taels of silver, then gritted his teeth and said, "Since our master instructed us to take care of Madam Ji, then how about this, I'll pay a deposit of five taels of silver first, and the rest will be paid upon delivery."

When Ji Yonghua heard that it was five taels of silver, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. But seeing that Ji Yongling's expression hadn't changed, he touched his nose and pretended to be calm.

Ji Yongling remained calm because she felt that paying a deposit in advance was normal. Many transactions in later generations required a deposit in advance, and her father had mentioned that in this day and age, it was common to prepay money for large pieces of furniture. Therefore, she felt that asking for a deposit was not abrupt.

It's possible that Wang Defu is used to making large deals and isn't used to having to pay a deposit for such a small business.

The two reached an agreement, and Wang Defu added a deposit clause to the contract, which they both signed and kept on file.

Wang Defu opened his mouth, unable to resist asking, "Madam Ji, is your family really so comfortable entrusting such an important matter to you to make the decisions and discuss?"

Ji Yongning finished writing the last stroke of her name on the contract with a brush. Although the handwriting was ugly, she was still very satisfied. She looked at it a few more times before looking up and smiling as she replied, "I will make the decisions on the small matters of buying and selling, but they will make the decisions on the big matters of the chickens laying eggs and the pigs giving birth."

Wang Defu pursed his lips and asked again, "Why didn't you mention the deposit when you bought the medicinal herbs yesterday?"

A glint appeared in Ji Yongling's eyes as she said, "The medicinal herbs were agreed upon with Liang Dongjia, and the profits will go to the family. The medicine pouches were discussed with you, Manager Wang, today. They're for my grandmother and mother, and the profits will go to the women in the family. Women don't have their own savings or capital, so a deposit is required."

Wang Defu laughed and said, "Your mother is truly blessed to have a daughter like you. You can make money yourself and even help your old mother make money. Oh dear, I'm a little envious and a little jealous. What am I going to do?"

Xu Shirong smiled and said, "With a son like this, what more could parents ask for!"