Chapter 486: Selling late-season rice seeds (2)
A Blessed Daughter
Chapter 486: Selling late-season rice seeds (2)
Translator : Virichime
This translation made by Moonlight Teatime.
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That had also been the only time she warned farmers under her identity as Wei Qingruo. After that, whenever she went to other villages to advise people, she used the identity of Xu Heyou.
Therefore, the old man did not know that the person standing before him now was the same one he had once scorned.
But whether he knew or not made no difference. Wei Ruo had no intention of settling accounts with anyone. She would treat everyone who came today the same.
“It’s true,” Wei Ruo replied firmly.
Hearing her confirmation, the few of them were overjoyed.
But soon, conflicted expressions appeared on their faces. After hesitating for quite a while, the old man carefully asked, “Young Master Xu, could you possibly distribute some of those rice seeds to us?”
“You want the rice seeds?” Wei Ruo looked at them.
They nodded repeatedly.
“The rice seeds are for sale, not free,” Wei Ruo said.
“For sale?”
The moment they heard it would cost money, the light in their eyes dimmed instantly.
They exchanged glances, and then the old man continued, asking about the price. “Young Master Xu, how much are the seeds?”
“Ten wen per jin,” Wei Ruo answered.
That was the original price of the seeds. Wei Ruo had not deliberately raised it. When she previously sold them to Yun Shi, it had been at the same price.
The grain used as rice seed had been carefully selected—full, plump kernels of excellent quality—so it was naturally somewhat more expensive than ordinary grain.
And even the regular rice produced from these seeds, once husked, sold for one hundred wen per dou at Wei Ruo’s Xu’s Grain Shop.
However, upon hearing her answer, the expressions of the people in front of Wei Ruo changed immediately.
“Young Master Xu, that’s far too expensive!” the old man said angrily. “Husked rice only costs a few wen per jin. How can your rice seeds cost ten wen?”
An acre of land required three to five jin of seed. For an average household with three to five mu of farmland, purchasing seed would cost over ninety wen.
That was a sum many farming families simply couldn’t afford right now. The past two years had been difficult; many households were barely scraping by. On top of that, they had already spent quite a bit on the seedlings that had just died. Where could they possibly find so much money to buy these seeds?
The others chimed in:
“Exactly, Young Master Xu, that’s too expensive. Who sells rice seeds at such a high price?”
“Besides, what if your seeds don’t work? What if we still can’t harvest anything this year?”
“That’s right. You say this is late rice seed that can still produce a harvest when planted late—but we don’t know if that’s true.”
Wei Ruo replied unhurriedly, “If you can’t afford to buy them, that’s fine. I have a second solution. Sign an agreement with me, and you may take the rice seeds for free—however much you need. At autumn harvest, repay me five times the amount you took in unhusked grain.
For example, if you take ten jin of seed from me, you will return fifty jin of unhusked rice after the harvest. Of course, if my late rice seeds prove useless and planting them now still fails to produce a harvest in time for autumn, then you won’t need to pay me anything.”
Wei Ruo’s late rice seeds required three jin per mu. Moreover, her variety yielded twice as much per mu as the ordinary rice they planted. Generally, the yield could reach around two thousand jin per mu, though the exact amount would depend on weather, fertilizer, and other objective factors that year.
Thus, the fee Wei Ruo charged amounted to fifteen jin out of those two thousand jin.
Therefore, the old man did not know that the person standing before him now was the same one he had once scorned.
But whether he knew or not made no difference. Wei Ruo had no intention of settling accounts with anyone. She would treat everyone who came today the same.
“It’s true,” Wei Ruo replied firmly.
Hearing her confirmation, the few of them were overjoyed.
But soon, conflicted expressions appeared on their faces. After hesitating for quite a while, the old man carefully asked, “Young Master Xu, could you possibly distribute some of those rice seeds to us?”
“You want the rice seeds?” Wei Ruo looked at them.
They nodded repeatedly.
“The rice seeds are for sale, not free,” Wei Ruo said.
“For sale?”
The moment they heard it would cost money, the light in their eyes dimmed instantly.
They exchanged glances, and then the old man continued, asking about the price. “Young Master Xu, how much are the seeds?”
-rice seeds
“Ten wen per jin,” Wei Ruo answered.
That was the original price of the seeds. Wei Ruo had not deliberately raised it. When she previously sold them to Yun Shi, it had been at the same price.
The grain used as rice seed had been carefully selected—full, plump kernels of excellent quality—so it was naturally somewhat more expensive than ordinary grain.
And even the regular rice produced from these seeds, once husked, sold for one hundred wen per dou at Wei Ruo’s Xu’s Grain Shop.
However, upon hearing her answer, the expressions of the people in front of Wei Ruo changed immediately.
“Young Master Xu, that’s far too expensive!” the old man said angrily. “Husked rice only costs a few wen per jin. How can your rice seeds cost ten wen?”
An acre of land required three to five jin of seed. For an average household with three to five mu of farmland, purchasing seed would cost over ninety wen.
That was a sum many farming families simply couldn’t afford right now. The past two years had been difficult; many households were barely scraping by. On top of that, they had already spent quite a bit on the seedlings that had just died. Where could they possibly find so much money to buy these seeds?
The others chimed in:
“Exactly, Young Master Xu, that’s too expensive. Who sells rice seeds at such a high price?”
“Besides, what if your seeds don’t work? What if we still can’t harvest anything this year?”
“That’s right. You say this is late rice seed that can still produce a harvest when planted late—but we don’t know if that’s true.”
Wei Ruo replied unhurriedly, “If you can’t afford to buy them, that’s fine. I have a second solution. Sign an agreement with me, and you may take the rice seeds for free—however much you need. At autumn harvest, repay me five times the amount you took in unhusked grain.
For example, if you take ten jin of seed from me, you will return fifty jin of unhusked rice after the harvest. Of course, if my late rice seeds prove useless and planting them now still fails to produce a harvest in time for autumn, then you won’t need to pay me anything.”
Wei Ruo’s late rice seeds required three jin per mu. Moreover, her variety yielded twice as much per mu as the ordinary rice they planted. Generally, the yield could reach around two thousand jin per mu, though the exact amount would depend on weather, fertilizer, and other objective factors that year.
Thus, the fee Wei Ruo charged amounted to fifteen jin out of those two thousand jin.
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