Chapter 561: Going Out to Collect Goods (Monthly Ticket Bonus 2)

His two older brothers' families and the neighbors hadn't dried much stock during this period, with each family drying at most twenty or thirty jin. Adding in the consumption over these days, Ye Yaodong only collected 120 jin from the few households combined.

The stock they dried yesterday still needed a few more days to dry, and the households were all brothers sharing a boat, so after dividing the quantity, each family didn't have much.

After Lin Xiuqing calculated the money and settled it with the two sisters-in-law and the neighbor sisters-in-law, they were still reluctant to leave.

Everyone knew how to calculate; selling dried goods was much more profitable than fresh ones.

Although it took a bit more effort, as long as they could make money, what did a little more effort and a few more steps matter to them country folk? The least valuable thing was their labor.

After everyone took their money, they were still talking there, reluctant to leave.

Ye's second sister-in-law said with a smile, "There's only a little over 100 jin here, is the quantity enough? If it's not enough, my maiden home still has..."

Ye's eldest sister-in-law also quickly said, "My maiden home's brothers' families also have..."

"Our brothers also have..."

"How did you guys change so fast? When your family came back from the city the day before yesterday, you still had more than half left that you couldn't sell. Today, it's actually not enough to sell, and you're even collecting goods from everyone?"

"Yeah, the day before yesterday everyone was regretting listening to rumors, thinking your family was making big money, so they all left their stock to dry. As a result, they found out your family couldn't sell it and had so much left. At that time, everyone was slapping their thighs in regret, thinking it wouldn't sell and would be stuck in their hands. Looking at it now, the villagers weren't wrong, right? You guys made big money!"

"Did you guys hold something back?"

"Why didn't you give us a heads-up the day before yesterday? If you had, we would have left more stock yesterday. I don't know if today's stock is in time, has it returned to the wharf?"

Listening to everyone joking and complaining, Lin Xiuqing quickly explained with a smile, "Sisters-in-law, you're joking. You also said it changed so fast. We didn't know someone would suddenly want so much stock. We originally thought we'd have to set up a stall for a long time, and didn't know if we could sell it all. It nearly worried us to death."

"It's good now, suddenly there's a boss who wants it, and our own isn't enough to sell. If we had known earlier, we would have dried more too, saving us from not having enough to sell and having to collect from the villagers..."

A sister-in-law was instantly anxious. "Hey, hey, it doesn't matter. We all have dried fish. If you don't have enough, feel free to collect from us. We seaside folk don't have anything else, but who lacks dried fish?"

"That's right, if your family doesn't have enough, feel free to ask us. We'll dry more tomorrow..."

"Do you still want them tomorrow?"

Everyone looked at them with hope. No one wanted to miss the chance to make more money.

Ye's eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law weren't anxious, just listening there. Last night, the three brothers had already agreed that all the dried fish they dried from now on would be sold to Adong, which could earn them quite a bit more money and save trouble.

Lin Xiuqing smiled. "I'm not sure about that. Who knows when they'll want it? Why don't you guys play it by ear and dry a little to keep there? If we need it, we'll collect from you. If we don't, you can keep some for yourselves to eat."

"If we keep it for ourselves, how much can we keep..."

"Sigh, there's no definite word, we don't dare to dry too much..."

Ye Yaodong was tying up the sacks and moving the dried fish into the house. When he came out and heard their conversation, he also said a word.

"I can't guarantee it for you either! Who knows if they'll want it later? What if the goods are too poor and they don't want them? If the quality is higher, they might want them."

"We picked them when we sent them over, they're definitely good. We can't sell poor ones to others. We'll keep the poor and ugly ones for our own families to eat."

"That's right, people are spending money to buy them, we can't give them poor things. We definitely have to take the good, pretty ones, and keep the bad ones for our own families."

Ye Yaodong wouldn't make promises to everyone. Who knew how many times the military would want them? He couldn't let the soldiers eat dried fish all day long. If they wanted them, he would collect them; if they didn't, he would sell the ones he dried himself in small quantities.

Anyway, he wouldn't lose money. Adding his older brother and second brother's stock, it was almost enough for him to sell.

"So everyone play it by ear. I don't have a definite word on whether I'll collect from here on out, and I don't dare to definitely tell you to dry more. I didn't make big money like everyone is spreading either, it's all hard-earned money, so I don't dare to promise, I can't afford to lose."

Everyone looked at each other, whispering in small voices.

"Then whether to dry more or not is hard to say..."

"Play it by ear and dry some..."

Ye's second sister-in-law couldn't help but say again, "Oh right, I haven't finished asking earlier. Do you still want them? If you do, I'll go to my maiden home and get more..."

"Right, my brothers' families all have..."

Lin Xiuqing smiled. "We're still short of quite a lot..."

Ye Yaodong glanced at her and directly interrupted her words. "We are indeed still short of a little, but we have to ask our own relatives and friends first. Just now, I was thinking that since everyone is a neighbor, we definitely have to take care of you first. Distant relatives aren't as good as close neighbors, and everyone is on good terms, so we definitely have to take care of you first."

These words were spoken beautifully, making everyone feel extremely comfortable.

"Right, right, right, we have to take care of our own relatives first..."

"Yeah, if we want them, we have to collect from relatives first..."

Everyone nodded in agreement, smiling on their faces.

Ye Yaodong said again, "I'll go ask the relatives first later. If the quantity is still not enough, I'll tell you sisters-in-law. If I need to collect next time, I'll notify you too."

"Good, good, good. If you need anything, feel free to say so."

"Right, we'll dry more too and keep it there. Anyway, it won't go bad. If you need it, feel free to tell us."

The couple nodded and said some more polite words.

Everyone walked out while talking, each going home to cook.

After they left, Lin Xiuqing said, "You're still the thoughtful one. I nearly forgot. No matter what, we should have asked our relatives first. Otherwise, everyone would be gossiping behind our backs again, saying we have money but don't give it to relatives to earn, and give it to outsiders instead."

"These people don't have many jin in their hands, and it's scattered and troublesome. I was just thinking of taking care of the neighbors. Later I'll go to Lin Shu's side and see. Lin Shu left a lot before, his family must have quite a bit."

Ye's eldest sister-in-law said with a smile, "Okay, then you guys go ahead and get busy. If the quantity is still not enough, tell us. We're going home to cook dinner too."

"Okay."

After they left, Lin Xiuqing hesitated and said in a small voice, "Do you think the eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law will weigh all the stock from their maiden homes, put it in their own, and then sell it to us together? Letting their maiden homes earn a bit more?"

"If it's just one household from their maiden home, it's fine. I'm afraid they'll collect everything from their aunts and uncles, put it in their own, and then sell it to us. The quantity is too large, and we're afraid we won't be able to sell it all. But since we've already promised the older brother and second brother, it's not easy to take it back."

"Uh... that's really hard to say..." Ye Yaodong frowned, but immediately relaxed.

"Their maiden homes only have small wooden boats, and they catch miscellaneous fish, so there isn't that much quantity. I don't want that many miscellaneous fish either. This dried fish definitely has to be the same variety to sell well. Miscellaneous dried fish were just incidental anyway."

"When we collect two or three times, if there are too many miscellaneous fish, just say that a unified variety is easier to sell and we don't want that many miscellaneous fish, that'll do. It's the truth anyway, fresh ones aren't worth much, and there's no cost."

Lin Xiuqing nodded. "You handle it, I don't understand these."

"Mm, it hasn't happened yet, so don't assume. I'll go to Lin Shu's house and see. I don't know if he's back yet."

Collecting ten or twenty jin scattered around is too slow. Taking care of relatives is just lip service, of course, he has to prioritize making things easier for himself.

Moreover, Lin Shu has a good relationship with his father and is good to him. Last year, he borrowed the rolling wheel from him for more than half a year.

Since he wants to collect goods, he definitely has to ask if they want to sell first. If there's money, of course, he'll let him earn it first.

Lin Xiuqing saw him going out empty-handed and quickly called him back. "Why don't you just bring the scale? It's already 4 o'clock. If Lin Shu isn't back yet, you can weigh it first. Whether to sell or not, ask when he comes back. Have an idea of how many jin there are in your heart, then go to the relatives and calculate it well to collect. It won't waste time."

"That works."

He turned back to bring both the large and small scales, and incidentally pushed the flatbed cart to make it convenient to collect wherever he went, saving him from carrying them.

It's cold, and it gets dark after 5 o'clock. It's already 4 o'clock now, and he still has to collect over 500 jin. He doesn't know what time it will be after picking and collecting.

"Later, when Father and Mother come over to eat, remember to let them come help me after they finish eating. I'll go to Lin Shu's first, then go to Aguang, Azheng, and Hearing Xiao Xiao's, and finally go to a few aunts and uncles."

"Got it."

In the cold weather, it wasn't dark yet, but except for some children running and jumping who weren't afraid of the cold, there was no one on the roads in the village. Those children were all sniffling, yet still running around playing crazily.

Occasionally he could still hear a few desperate shouts, calling their own children home to eat, scolding while shouting. After catching someone, they would grab them by the shoulder of their clothes, scolding and dragging them toward the house... ===== CHAPTER 562 =====