The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Chapter 38 Selling Charcoal for Money

Chen Cui smiled and said, "Boss, what do you think of this charcoal?"

The boss walked over, picked up a piece of charcoal and examined it carefully. He first weighed it with his hand, then broke it open to look at the cross-section, and then said, "It looks okay. How many do you have?"

Chen Cui was delighted and quickly replied, "It's about 700 kilograms."

The boss pondered for a moment and said, "I can buy it, but the specific price can only be determined after I test the quality of the charcoal. Follow me."

The boss took out a ceramic charcoal basin, took out a few pieces of charcoal from Chen Cui's backpack and threw them into it, then lit it.

Seeing that the charcoal was easily ignited, the boss nodded slightly.

Then, the charcoal in the basin continued to emit heat, but no smoke came out, and the boss felt even more satisfied.

Experienced elders all say that this winter will be a cold one, definitely colder than in previous years, so we must prepare more charcoal and other things, so as to avoid the difficulties in traveling on the roads after winter. Not only will it be troublesome to purchase goods, but the prices will also increase.

As the charcoal was burning in the basin, the boss recognized the mother and son as the people who had bought a lot of things in the store last time, so he spoke to Chen Cui, "Did you burn this charcoal yourself?"

Chen Cui nodded: "Yes."

"Then why didn't your boss come?" the boss asked again.

It's not that he's meddling. Although their place is considered a frontier area because it's not far from the western border and the people there are more open-minded than those in the inland areas, men are still the ones in charge and women are rarely allowed to step forward.

Chen Cui lowered her eyes and said, "My late husband has passed away, less than a hundred days ago."

The boss suddenly realized what was going on. He looked down at the shoes on their feet and saw the white cloth on the uppers. Only then did he understand their identities as bereaved families.

No wonder, the mother and son were not wearing any colored clothes, it turned out they were in mourning.

It was also because the woman had only a wooden hairpin on her head and no white hair. If she had worn a white flower, he would not have asked this question.

"I'm sorry for being so presumptuous." The boss said angrily.

"Nothing." Chen Cui didn't care. It was true that she was a widow now, but she didn't need to hide it. The death of her husband was not something shameful. She didn't wear a white robe on her head because she didn't want others to see through her identity at a glance.

Few people in the world pity the weak, and many bully the weak. If they wear white flowers blatantly and let outsiders know that their family has lost its main laborer and there are only orphans and widows, it may cause some unnecessary trouble. Until they have a certain level of strength, it is better to keep a low profile.

Chen Cui raised her eyes to look at Changping, and saw that he lowered his head and said nothing. She knew that the child must be upset because of what he said.

So she ordered, "Go and tell your uncle to wait outside for a while until the charcoal is burned out."

Changping responded and went outside.

The shop owner suddenly realized that he was accompanied by his brothers from his mother's side, no wonder he dared to come out to sell charcoal!

But this matter is still a bit strange. Did this brother just wait outside and let the sisters come in to discuss the matter and negotiate the price?

The shop owner shook his head secretly.

Chen Dahe was sitting on the edge of the car outside, with his hands folded behind his back, an old mattress covering him, and dozing off against the car.

He got up too early in the morning and didn't sleep well. He had to rush on the bus and couldn't be distracted. After eating and drinking, he would feel sleepy!

Changping didn't call him, but sat on the edge of the car on the other side to reflect.

After dad passed away, mom became the head of the family. She took care of everything. She even figured out how to make charcoal. Even selling charcoal required mom's help. As the eldest son, he was really unqualified to be the boss!

What should he do in the future to be a good son and a good brother?

Changping's thoughts flew all the way and had already flown to some unknown corner.

After an unknown amount of time, Changping heard his mother's voice: "Changping, wake up your uncle, drive the car to the boss's backyard, and unload all the coal."

It turned out that the charcoal in the ceramic basin had burned out. The boss was very satisfied with the burning resistance of the charcoal and gave Chen Cui three and a half cents per catty.

Chen Cui thought about it for a moment and decided that although the price was a little lower than she expected, it was still acceptable.

She nodded and said, "Okay, I'll sell it to you."

So she called her son and brother who were waiting outside and asked them to go to the backyard to weigh the goods and calculate the price.

Changping and Chen Dahe, who had just woken up, were both very happy. Although they didn't know the exact price, it was a good thing that the boss was willing to accept it. They could exchange the charcoal for money, so today's trip was not in vain.

The backyard is entered from the alley next to the grocery store. It is actually quite large and a waiter has been waiting there for a long time.

First move the things in the baskets and backpacks on top, then unload the things in the sacks on the bottom. Finally, after weighing them, subtract the weight of the baskets and backpacks, and the net weight is calculated to be 742 kilograms.

"The total is two thousand five hundred and ninety-seven coins. How about I give you two taels of silver and the rest in copper coins?" asked Mr. Chu, the grocery store owner.

Chen Cui nodded: "All is fine."

After getting the money, Chen Cui did not leave in a hurry. She bought two large backpacks and ten sacks in the store, spending several dozen coins.

Before leaving, Boss Chu whispered, "Sister-in-law, if you have charcoal of this quality again, just bring it to me. Don't worry, I will follow the market price and will never let you suffer a loss."

Chen Cui nodded: "Okay, I understand."

Chen Cui did not hide the money from Chen Dahe and Changping, and the two of them also knew the selling price of the charcoal.

After leaving the grocery store, Chen Dahe was still in shock and felt a little dizzy. Wow, this cart of charcoal was sold for two and a half taels of silver!

It’s not that he had never seen so much money before, but he felt that this money came too easily!

You know, it only took two days to burn the charcoal. I earned so much in just two days. It feels like a dream!

At this moment, he automatically ignored the time and hard work he had spent on cutting trees and building the shed. The only thing in his mind was "two days of charcoal burned, sold for two and a half taels", which kept circling in his mind.

Changping also grinned non-stop. His mother was so amazing. Not only did she burn the charcoal, but she also sold it successfully. She made two and a half taels of it the first time. If they burned charcoal non-stop for the whole winter, wouldn't they make a fortune!

Seeing that the two of them looked distracted and didn't even notice that they had strayed off the road, Chen Cui had to remind them, "Dahe, if you go any further, you'll bump into someone else's stall."

Chen Cui pulled Changping's clothes and held him back to prevent him from following his uncle and going astray.

"Mom, you left the ox cart and the things you bought at the grocery store and told the boss that you had something to do. What was it?" Changping asked curiously.

Just now in the store, in front of the boss, he didn't have the courage to ask, but now that he remembered it, he asked.

Chen Dahe also looked at his sister with a questioning look. All the things he brought had been sold, and everything that needed to be bought had been bought. What else could go wrong?