The Farm Girl's Charismatic Fortune-Chapter 41 - 40 Failure
Chapter 41: Chapter 40 Failure
Chapter 41 -40 Failure
Kunling Mountain Range, at the peak of the mountains.
In a spacious cave, the walls were covered with runes.
On the floor of the cave, a complex octagonal array of runes was also drawn.
At the center of the array sat a man with the appearance of a child yet with the hair of a crane, his age indiscernible.
In the northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest corners of the octagon, a child around three or four years old was bound, both boys and girls present.
These children were plastered with runes, eyes tightly shut.
In the remaining four corners sat four Daoist cultivators of varying ages, each wearing a Taoist robe and sitting with crossed legs.
The man sitting in the center suddenly issued an old voice, “Begin!”
The other four Daoists quickly changed their hand gestures.
All at once, the runes began to glow, detaching from the stone walls and forming a circle, suspended in mid-air.
Encircling everyone within the array.
The bound children’s eyes suddenly opened, their bodies convulsing uncontrollably, eyes rolling back as runes scurried up and down their tiny frames.
“Converge!” The Daoist at the center formed a seal with his hands!
The floating runes began to spin rapidly, the cave glittering with golden light!
Suddenly, a thunderous “boom” resonated!
A bolt of lightning struck the sky!
All the runes exploded!
Master Xuan Ji spat out a mouthful of blood, his face changing color as he quickly formed a seal with his hands, pointing directly at the oldest Daoist within the octagon.
In an instant, death struck!
The other three Daoists of various ages turned pale as paper with fright.
The four children suddenly came to their senses, bursting into tears with a “whoosh.”
The Master Xuan Ji who had failed the life-extension ritual rebuked, “Silence!”
The four children paused, too scared to make a sound.
Master Xuan Ji had no time to tend to them; he had just failed his attempt at extending his life, nearly suffering a backlash that would have cost him his life to the lightning, but fortunately, he was prepared and reacted quickly by letting his eldest disciple bear it!
However, this wasn’t his first time attempting to harness the lifespan of children through an array—why had it failed?
He calculated with his fingers, then looked in a certain direction, his brow deeply furrowed.
*
As evening approached, the half sky was adorned with rosy clouds.
In the courtyard of the village chief’s home, five tables were set up, filled with villagers, young and old, who had gone boar hunting in the mountains that day.
In the center of each table sat a big pot of pork dishes.
The village chief’s ancestors were from the north, and the pork dish was a tradition from the village chief’s old home, essentially introduced to the villagers of Xishui Village by their ancestor.
Otherwise, many families in the village who had lived there for generations would never have had such pork dishes; now every household that raises pigs would invite everyone for this pork feast during the New Year.
Before the meal started, Granny Lei, Madam Liu, and Madam Jiang placed a plate of stir-fried zizania with pork strips on each table.
Granny Lei said to the village chief, “Village chief, try this dish.”
The village chief picked up his chopsticks with a smile, “Sister-in-law, what delicious thing do you have for me this time? Is this bamboo shoot tips?”
Granny Lei just smiled without speaking.
Seeing her secretive manner, the village chief took a bite and his eyes lit up, “Delicious! It lacks the bitterness of bamboo shoots, fresh and fragrant. What is this?”
The other villagers also asked, “What dish is this? It’s quite tasty!”
“Delicious! Did Ruo Chuan bring this dish back from the city?”
…
Granny Lei smiled smugly, “It’s the stem of the Geng Grass.”
The village head nodded, “So it’s the stem of Geng Grass. You know, these stems are quite tasty… What did you say? Geng Grass? That big patch of wild Geng Grass by the lake?”
Granny Lei’s face was full of triumph, “That’s right, it’s that very patch of wild Geng Grass. This is a treasure that my Xuanbao discovered by chance. We call it Zizania. Tasty, isn’t it?”
Ruo Xuan was enjoying her pork dish, her mouth greasy. She nodded her little head, “Delicious, very delicious.”
The villagers were all stunned!
Geng Grass stems?
So the reason the Ruo Family spent all afternoon cutting Geng Grass in the wetlands yesterday wasn’t because they were too poor to afford food, but because Geng Grass is actually edible?
What shocked the villagers even more happened next. Ruo Chuan announced loudly at this point, “Folks, the restaurants in town are buying Zizania. If anyone wants to make some silver, you can cut some Zizania and deliver it to my house by 9-11 AM tomorrow; I’ll help everyone sell it! Twenty copper coins per jin.”
Ruo Shui added, “But this price isn’t set in stone. Once everyone knows that Zizania is just the stem of Geng Grass, and more people start selling it, the price offered by the restaurants will drop, and it definitely won’t be as much as twenty copper coins anymore.”
Ruo Jiang said, “We only accept the clean, tender stems of the Geng Grass, which is the Zizania part. We won’t take any that are rotten or old.”
Upon hearing this, the villagers exploded in chatter!
Twenty copper coins per jin—that’s almost as much as the price of eggs!
My, they had all thought the Ruo Family had gone mad with poverty yesterday, cutting and selling Geng Grass to make a living. Little did they know that they actually sold it in the city for twenty copper coins per jin!
They had cut so much yesterday; hadn’t they made several taels of silver?
“Ruo Chuan, how much do you need? I’ll make sure to deliver it on time tomorrow,” one villager said.
“Ruo Shui, my family will also cut and bring some over! We’ll cut it every day. How much do you need?” another inquired.
…
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Ruo Chuan said, “Everyone, don’t rush. The restaurant only needs a thousand jin in total, so I’ll stop collecting once I’ve got enough.”
The Ruo brothers answered the villagers’ questions one by one.
Ruo Chuan had already planned how to sell the Zizania.
It was possible to cut two hundred jin if the entire family mobilized for a whole day, and then they’d still have to peel the leaves off the Zizania at night and get up early the next day to take it to the city for sale.
Exhausting, strenuous work, with the whole family involved, they could earn at most four to five taels of silver a day.
Besides, the family couldn’t spend the entire day in the fields—what about other work?
If he bought the Zizania that the villagers had cut, he would pay twenty and sell it to the restaurants for twenty-five copper coins.
Today, he had successfully signed contracts with seven restaurants in the prefecture and county towns. Among these restaurants, four had branches in the county town and nearby towns, and he had agreed to supply them with a total of a thousand jin of Zizania each day.
If his own family cut a hundred jin and he bought nine hundred jin from the villagers, his family could make seven taels of silver a day.
Even if his family didn’t have time to cut, just buying from the villagers, they could still ensure an earning of five taels a day.
This way, not only could he make silver, but he could also help the people in the village, a win-win situation.
As for the villagers selling the Zizania directly to the restaurants or at the market, Ruo Chuan was more than happy to see it happen.
The silver in the world is endless. The silver of the world is there for everyone to earn, and each person can only make what they are capable of.
So, he never envied others. If someone else could earn it, that was their skill. He would just earn what he could.
He had already run around restaurants in two cities today, and also contacted the butlers of some familiar wealthy families. He only managed to secure about a thousand jin of orders and a deposit of ten taels of silver. The deal was that he would deliver all the Zizania himself. His legs were worn out, his feet were blistered; he had done his best.
After eating her fill, Ruo Xuan held her round belly and waddled over to Ruo Chuan, “Uncle’s amazing!”
Ruo Chuan picked up his niece who had gained an extra two or three pounds, “Uncle’s not as amazing as Xuanbao. One bag of Zizania sold for ten taels of silver, while the other bag helped third uncle find a job.”
Ruo Xuan loved to be praised. She kicked her legs and smiled brightly, “That’s right, you have to find the right buyer.”
Ruo Chuan paused for a moment, then kissed his little niece’s chubby cheeks, “Xuanbao is right!”
Finding the right buyer is indeed key to a successful business, isn’t it?
Just as everyone had finished their meal and were joyfully discussing gathering Zizania together the next day, the entire courtyard abuzz with laughter and joviality, the butcher Zhao charged in, cleaver in hand, “Ruo He! Get out here, you son of a bitch!”
