Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family!-Chapter 30: The Tang Family’s Major Business Venture

Chapter 29

The Tang Family’s Major Business Venture

In the morning, Tianchen and Hui Song came out of the room with pale faces. Before they could fully regain their senses, they heard shouting outside the fence. Venturing out to check, they found Jiangnan city soldiers standing all around, with a man in expensive silk clothing smiling at them, causing both men’s knees to buckle.

"Did we do something wrong, uncle? Why are there soldiers in front of our house?" Tianchen asked with a trembling voice. The already pale face turned even paler.

"I... I don’t know," Hui Song tried to recall if he had done something wrong, but before he could think further, the middle-aged man in silk spoke up.

"Are you the ones who sold the cheap sweet potatoes in the city?" His deep voice made the uncle and nephew duo shrink back.

"Yes, sir," Hui Song answered, his voice quivering, with Tianchen clinging to his arm.

The silk-clad man laughed softly before reassuring them, "Don’t be afraid. I haven’t brought the soldiers to arrest you. I just want to buy your sweet potatoes."

Relieved, Hui Song and Tianchen exchanged glances before hurrying to open the gate, apologizing for their earlier rudeness. They invited the gentleman in, accompanied by an attendant and two soldiers, while the rest waited outside.

"A’Ning! Bring some water to welcome our guests!"

Hui Song invited the guests to sit at a low wooden table, traditionally used by the family for meals, then loudly called for his daughter. Fearing he might not make it in time, he quickly headed to the kitchen, leaving Tianchen to host the guest alone.

"How many sweet potatoes do you have left?" the middle-aged man turned to ask Tianchen, who flinched slightly before answering.

"I can’t say for sure, because there were so many we couldn’t weigh them all once we dug them up."

Hearing this, the guest nodded before his gaze drifted to the plump, white figure bustling about. The little girl, who had just yawned widely and emerged from a room, her round, white cheeks looking irresistibly pinchable.

"Err, I’ll be right back," Tianchen hastily went to pick up his niece to get her dressed and wash her face. Once ready, the plump child sat down opposite the stranger.

"What’s your name?" The middle-aged man inquired.

"I’m Tang Xiaolin. And you, uncle?" Xiaolin scrutinized the well-dressed man, noting his luxurious but not overly ostentatious attire.

"I’m Zhou Ming," Zhou Ming, amused by the child’s scrutinizing gaze, couldn’t help but smile. Interesting indeed.

Tianchen, overhearing the guest’s name, dramatically dropped to the floor in a prostate manner. Xiaolin looked bewildered, perhaps pondering if this uncle was someone of high standing. Her round face turned towards both men, her cheeks quivering slightly.

"What brings you to our home, uncle?"

"I heard that your family sells sweet potatoes. With winter approaching, I wanted to buy some to store."

"How much do you wish to purchase, uncle?"

"If you have enough, I’d like to buy up to thirty thousand jin."

Crash!

The sound of a cup filled with warm water that Hui Song was carrying dropped to the floor, and he stood agape in shock.

"You dropped the cup, grandpa," the plump child informed before turning her contemplative gaze back to the guest.

"Do you have many servants, uncle?"

"Heh, you could say that," Zhou Ming stroked his beard, pleased, not taking his eyes off the little girl with round cheeks.

"And how much would you pay for Xiaolin’s sweet potatoes?" Her round face lifted slightly, sensing the visitor’s wealth. Perhaps she could ask for a slightly higher price for the sweet potatoes.

"Your sweet potatoes are quite large. Normally, how much do you sell them for?"

"I just want to help the poor villagers, so we don’t sell them at a high price. They’re only fifty brass coin per jin. But for a wealthy bloke like yourself, I would kindly ask for a bit more because our standard price barely covers the cost," she explained.

"Is that so?" Zhou Ming looked fondly at the cunning little girl. He turned to his attendant, who then placed a box he was carrying on the table in front of the child.

"I’ll offer you eighty brass coins per jin. How does that sound?"

Xiaolin pretended to frown, but internally she was jumping for joy. Growing sweet potatoes didn’t cost much, except for the labor to till the soil, which didn’t even amount to one tael of silver. However, in the future, they would need to purchase more animal manure for fertilizer.

"That would be acceptable."

“Hehe”

At that moment, the adults, having regained their composure, hurried over to embrace the plump child, their eyes flicking between the wooden box on the table and whispering quietly among themselves.

Zhou Ming watched the two men whisper to the round-cheeked child with interest. This child wasn’t like a typical five-six-year-old. Perhaps she had intelligence beyond her years.

"Aren’t you afraid of strangers?" Tianchen asked.

"He’s here to buy sweet potatoes. Isn’t it good that we can sell a lot?"

"That’s well and all, but you’re still a child," Hui Song added.

"But you and Uncle Chen were just sitting there quietly," the two men choked, leaving the round figure to continue her conversation with the guest.

Soon, the plump figure led several tall men to the back of the house, where the woodshed stored a significant quantity of sweet potatoes, with firewood stacked outside beforehand.

"It’s in here. Uncle Tienchen, hurry up and open the door," the child beckoned her uncle, who quickly complied.

The shed was filled with large sweet potatoes, surprising the buyer with the sheer volume. Could it be more than the thirty thousand jin he requested?

"Actually, we also have some stored in our old house, but those are for our consumption and to sell to villagers," she informed the tall uncle, looking up at him.

"Let’s settle for this amount. I’ll have my soldiers come and weigh it. If there’s more than what I need, can I buy some more?"

"I’ve got tocheck with my father first because we need to deliver some sweet potatoes to our customers today," Xiaolin stated.

Hearing this, Zhou Ming nodded in agreement before ordering his soldiers to begin weighing the sweet potatoes to achieve the desired amount.

At that moment, Tianrong returned. He joined in the conversation with Zhou Ming, politely informing him that they had to deliver five thousand catties of sweet potatoes to their customers today. Zhou Ming then expressed his desire to purchase all the remaining sweet potatoes stored in the woodshed.

"It will take quite a while to weigh all the sweet potatoes. You go ahead and distribute the sweet potatoes to your customers. This side will be taken care of by the little miss," Zhou Ming told Tianrong.

After seeing the little girl nod in agreement, he excused himself since his older friends had arrived earlier to collect the sweet potatoes in sacks.

"It’s time for dinner, Xiaolin," called Hui Ning from inside the house, making the little girl’s stomach growl.

"Oops! I have to go eat now. Uncle, would you like to join us?"

"If the little hostess invites me herself, I must accept her kind offer."

"You won’t cheat me, right?" She asked, eyeing the group of soldiers who were busy filling sacks with sweet potatoes.

Zhou Ming chuckled softly before responding, "Of course, I won’t cheat you. If I do, you can take this to the governor’s manor." He handed over a white jade pendant hanging from his waist to the little girl.

Xiaolin, intrigued, examined the pendant. She had seen in Chinese dramas and read in novels that wealthy individuals often gave away their personal jade pendants as a sign of interest or to repay a kindness.

The cunning little girl squinted and smiled. This transaction was going to be smooth sailing.

"Hehe," the child laughed softly, a sound Zhou Ming caught, but he simply smiled and said nothing.

"Let’s go. My mother has prepared some delicious food."

Upon reaching the dining hall, Hui Ning and Zhang Ruo, aware of the distinguished guest joining them for dinner, quickly arranged the food and moved to eat at the back of the house, followed by Tianchen. Hui Song, as the eldest in the household, felt obliged to stay and share the table with Zhou Ming and his granddaughter.

"Your home’s food looks quite unique."

"This is grilled shrimp and squid, caught from the sea. And this is steamed freshwater fish. It’s very delicious when eaten with vegetables and spicy sauce," the little hostess explained the breakfast to her guest.

"Hmm, the steamed fish is quite big. It’s to be eaten with the sauce?"

"Yes, it enhances the flavor of the food. The sauce from Xiaolin’s home is definitely unique."

"Then, please, let the elder eat first," Zhou Ming gestured Hui Song to start.

"Uh, thank you." He slowly picked some steamed fish meat into his bowl, followed by Zhou Ming who also tried the fish dipped in the sauce.

His eyes widened at the spicy and sour taste of the sauce combined with the juicy sweetness of the fish meat. Seeing the little girl smiling brightly at him, he couldn’t help but smile back.

"It’s delicious."

"Have as much as you like."

The two enjoyed the meal immensely, unlike Hui Song, who usually had to compete for food with Tianrong and Tianchen. Even after breakfast was over, he felt not quite satisfied and sneaked back in for another serving of rice.

Meanwhile, Xiaolin sat leisurely swinging her legs on the back house’s bench, with Zhou Ming accompanying her. At that moment, one of the soldiers came running to report,

"There are a total of thirty-eight thousand jin of sweet potatoes, sir."

"Calculate that amount then, at eighty brass coins per jin."

"Yes, sir."

Xiaolin watched the soldier converse with Zhou Ming’s attendant. The little girl attempted to calculate the amount based on the reported figure but couldn’t quite figure it out. She then hopped off the bench, grabbed a stick, and started scribbling on the ground, with Zhou Ming watching her puzzledly.

"It totals to thirty taels of gold and forty taels of silver."

Zhou Ming looked at the chubby little girl, baffled. How did she calculate it? Or was she just rambling?

Seeing the big man furrowing his brows in confusion, Xiaolin climbed back onto the bench. After a while, Zhou Ming’s attendant came back and announced the calculated amount to his master.

"The total is thirty taels of gold and forty taels of silver."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ming sharply turned to look at the little girl next to him. Xiaolin pretended to be oblivious, humming to herself alone before breaking into a wide smile again when she heard Zhou Ming speak,

"Give her thirty-one taels of gold."

Xiaolin lazily waved at the procession of horse carriages and carts taking away Zhou Ming’s sweet potatoes. Today, she had become wealthy again, earning a total of thirty-one taels of gold!

"Right, let’s go check the traps, shall we?"

"I’ll go with Uncle Chen myself. We’ll also bring back some eggs. You sit and rest; you’ve been talking to the guest since this morning."

Xiaolin watched the two men hurriedly running out with twinkling eyes. She wasn’t bothered and happily walked into the house, feeling good. At that moment, her mother and grandmother were sitting, staring at the taels of gold in the box with sparkling eyes.

"Xiaolin, my granddaughter, has become rich again," Zhang Ruo pulled the plump body into a warm hug.

Giggled, Grandma."

"And will you still sell grilled squid? Your father caught quite a lot."

"Yes! But it’ll probably be in the afternoon before we can sell it. Let’s prepare the squid together, Mom."

"Let Grandma help then."

Hui Ning took the box of money to store safely before coming out to help prepare the squid. The thick squid was sliced into suitable pieces while Zhang Ruo was instructed by the plump child to split bamboo sticks for skewering. It was all hands-on deck for now.

Meanwhile, the uncle and nephew who hurriedly grabbed baskets from the house were having a lively conversation. Tianchen told his father-in-law about his time with Xiaolin and Zhou Ming.

"That man said his family name was Zhou, Uncle. I heard it clear as day."

"There are many Zhou families. He could just be a merchant buying sweet potatoes for a resale," Hui Song waved off Tianchen’s words, not daring to think further.

"Family name Zhou, first name Ming. How many could there be, Uncle!?"

"Zhou Ming?!"

"Yes!"

Hui Song swallowed, realizing Zhou Ming must be the governor of Jiangnan! That man came to buy his son-in-law’s sweet potatoes right to their doorstep when he could have just sent someone. And he came himself!

"Did Xiaolin say anything else to him?"

"No. They just talked about sweet potatoes and the price." Hearing that, Hui Song sighed in relief. Thankfully, that mischievous child didn’t speak out of turn.

"Go collect the eggs; I’ll check the traps. Your niece will want to sell more later. Hurry up." After their conversation, they hurried off to their tasks.

When they returned home, the squid was already skewered and marinated. The sauce was also prepared. Hui Song and Tianchen quickly moved the goods to the cart and returned to have lunch.

"Hurry up, today I’ll be selling grilled squid!" The plump child stood with arms akimbo atop the cart, with Tianchen pushing it for her.

"Little niece, how many skewers of squid have you prepared? Isn’t this too much?" Hui Song asked, noticing the cart brimming with skewered squid, possibly nearing a hundred.

"A hundred skewers!"

“Cough!”

"Hehe"

"Isn’t this too much, Xiaolin?" Tianchen was also worried. Even though they enjoyed it, it didn’t mean others would as well.

"Trust me. Let’s go now. Yay!"

Upon reaching the herbal shop, they bothered the shop’s assistant to lend them a table, as it was already afternoon when they arrived in town. The morning rush of female customers buying herbs had dwindled.

"Who will we sell to?" Tianchen slumped over the table, bored as he looked around.

"Should we pack up our things and sell them at the tavern, ma’am? But we can wait until Grandfather comes back." Upon arrival, Hui Song separated from the group to discuss with his friend about borrowing a space to sell goods.

"And do you sell well every day?"

"We always sell out! But since we’re selling in the afternoon today, I’m not sure if people will come."

QUACK QUACK!

At that moment, the ducks they had caught, tied by their feet and bodies, began quacking loudly. The uncle and niece looked down at the ducks in the basket, incessantly quacking.

"Are they hungry, Xiaolin?"

"They might be. They’ve probably been trapped since morning."

Xiaolin looked at the plump ducks with sympathy, but also wanted to make money. The little girl pouted at the ceaselessly quacking ducks.

"Should we release them?"

"Hmm, we caught them to sell them, Xiaolin."

"I don’t want to sell them anymore.."

"What?!"

Tianchen hugged his niece, empathizing with her. While she was tough with pigs, squid, and shrimp, the quacking ducks brought her to tears.

"What’s this little merchant selling today?" A sweet voice inquired. That morning, the lady had checked for the little merchant but didn’t find her, thinking she wouldn’t be selling that day. But on her way back from a friend’s house, she saw the little merchant and a young boy sitting there.

"Beautiful Auntie" SOB! Xiaolin raised a plump hand to wipe away tears, smiling wide at the beautiful visitor. Tianchen too looked dazed by her beauty, despite her age.

"Why the tears, hmm?" The elegant hand caressed Xiaolin’s chubby cheek, not forgetting to offer a fragrantly scented handkerchief to wipe her tears.

"I feel sorry for the ducks."

"Ducks?" The beautiful figure leaned over to look into the basket at the strange-looking creature.

"Is this the creature that lays white eggs?"

"Yes!"

"Ugly little thing, but its eggs are delicious."

"Really?! I brought eggs to sell today too. Will you buy some more, beautiful Auntie?" The plump child eagerly shook the gentle hand, excitement in her eyes.

"How many eggs do you have to sell? I’ll buy them all." Hearing this, Xiaolin bounced happily and quickly told Tianchen to count the eggs.

"Uncle, count the eggs quickly!"

The chubby child rushed to help her uncle count, eagerly participating. Their cheerful counting made Lian Hua smile fondly, wishing she had such a cute, plump, pale daughter.

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