RMCF: Chapter 57

 

Chapter 57

“How much for this bottle of scented dew?”

The man didn't answer immediately. He hesitated for a moment, then held up his palm. “Fifty wen!”

Zhang Fangyuan didn't react to this. He just looked down at the short man.

Back in the day, this perfume had caused quite a stir in Siyang Town. At the height of its popularity, a tiny bottle no bigger than a thumb had sold for tens of thousand wen. Hearing this man ask for only fifty wen now felt like a dream, but also quite amusing.

Years ago, when he was working for someone in town, the boss's young master had gone to great lengths to get this bottle of Rose Dew for a girl he fancied, spending a small fortune and no little effort. 

At first, when the Rose Dew appeared on the market, nobody wanted it. Then suddenly, it became famous, and just as quickly, supplies ran dry. The old Daoist who concocted it disappeared after making one batch, leaving the perfume in high demand but short supply, making it increasingly precious. 

No wonder people fought over it. He'd seen it at the Yunliang Pavilion back then, stored in exquisite little glass bottles. Even with the lid on, placed in a room, you could smell its fragrance upon entering. And the man wasn't exaggerating—a few drops on clothes, and the scent would linger for ten days or half a month, growing more subtle and elegant over time.

Later, he heard that the old Daoist had extracted the essence from rose blossoms. Eventually, the fragrance workshops figured out the process, and when the Rose Dew flooded the market again, the frenzy died down, and it lost its legendary status.

But... before this Rose Dew had taken the town by storm, he actually stumbled upon it first. 

He couldn't help but smile to himself. If he didn't make this money, who would?

“I'm a grown man. You want me to use this? Not only would it make me less manly, but if I went home and my wife smelled it, he'd think I had been with someone else. Just asking for trouble.”

The man, unnerved by Zhang Fangyuan's stare, relaxed at these words. He quickly added, “Even if you don't use it yourself, buying a bottle for your wife would be a lovely gesture.” 

“Fifty wen! Why don't you just rob me? You think because men don't know much about fragrance, you can just name any price? Ordinary perfumes in the town shops are only twenty or thirty wen. Are you trying to eat people alive?”

The man protested, “But this are quality goods! How can it be compared to those common things?”

Zhang Fangyuan said unhurriedly, “Then tell me, which perfume house produces this? Which master crafted it, or what notable people use it? Just because you say it's good with your mouth, I'm supposed to believe it? If I said my tea stall was a golden brand with the best flavour under heaven, would you believe me without proof?”

The man, who prided himself on his silver tongue, was rendered speechless.

“Well, seeing as you're carrying all this stuff, it can't be easy. How many do you have in total?”

“About thirty bottles.”

Zhang Fangyuan went to have a look. The bottles were neatly lined up in the load, padded with two layers of cloth for fear of jostling.

“Sell me the whole lot. Twenty wen each.”

The man's eyes lit up. He was happy to sell them all at once, but he still couldn't help perking up. “Big Brother, if you think it's no good, why do you want the whole lot?”

Zhang Fangyuan gave a light snort. “I have connections in town. I can send all of these there and still make two or three wen on each. That's like a day's business at the tea stall. Who would turn down making money?”

The man thought Zhang Fangyuan spoke very frankly, but he was still reluctant. “Why shouldn't I take them to town myself? How do you know I don't have connections?”

Zhang Fangyuan said, "If you had connections, would you be peddling them to everyone you meet, asking if they want to buy? If that's your idea of connections, I've got nothing to say. Don't sell to me, then. Go ahead and take them to town. When they ask you questions and you can't answer anything, we'll see if those perfume shops will buy from you. Try hawking them on the street—see if any wealthy family’s lady or ger, willing to spend fifty wen on perfume, will buy from a shady peddler like you with dubious origin.”

With that, Zhang Fangyuan lifted his foot and returned to the table, continuing to crack melon seeds.

The man had a bit of street smarts, but after hearing Zhang Fangyuan's speech, he felt it made good sense. Perfumes weren't like fruits and vegetables—anyone could buy them. If he sold the perfume cheap, he'd regret it; if he priced it high, the people who could afford it wouldn't buy from him. If he took it to a perfume shop, they'd probably lowball him anyway. 

“Big Brother, meeting is fate. Could you raise the price a little? I've come a long way, it's not easy. Everyone wants to earn some money to take home.”

Zhang Fangyuan said, “I'm sincerely trying to do business with you, but you keep finding excuses. What more can I say? On second thought, buying up all your stock would cost a fair bit of money. My ger keeps a tight rein on the purse strings. If I end up losing money, I'll be in trouble.”

“Big Brother, don't say that. A man as wise and mighty as you—naturally your wife listens to you. Don't try to fool your little brother with such talk.”

Zhang Fangyuan crossed his legs and tossed a melon seed into his mouth, seemingly pleased by the flattery. “I'll ask you this and you tell me truthfully: where did these come from? We can still talk business, but the important thing is honesty. We should both understand each other.”

The man answered, “Big Brother, you can rest assured. These are definitely not stolen. They're perfectly clean. There's an old Daoist who lives next to my place. He's always tinkering and concocting things. This fragrant dew is his creation. Now he's going back to the Dashi Kingdom. I scraped together some travel money for him, and he gave me all this perfume as a gesture of thanks.”

Zhang Fangyuan put down his teacup, looking half-convinced. “Even at twenty wen apiece, you're still making pure profit.”

“I’m being wronged! I gave him several hundred wen for travel expenses.”

Zhang Fangyuan didn't believe he'd give that much to someone who wasn't family or close friend—a string of coins at most. But he didn't want to dig deeper. He just said, “So, are you selling or not?”

“Big Brother, add two more wen per bottle. I'm not a local, after all, and I don't have your connections. With two extra wen each, I can save up enough to go home and marry a wife sooner.”

Zhang Fangyuan paused for a moment, as if weighing the matter. “Fine. I'm not one to haggle.”

The man's heart, which had been in his throat, settled. Delighted, he left all the goods with Zhang Fangyuan. “Big Brother, seven hundred and twenty wen.”

Zhang Fangyuan sniffed each bottle, checking that nothing else had been mixed in, then counted out the money and paid him. 

“Thank you, Big Brother! Thank you! May your business flourish and bring you great riches.” With that, the man grabbed a piece of watermelon, hoisted his load, and said his farewell, “Big Brother, may we meet again by fate.” 

Zhang Fangyuan didn't mind the watermelon. He thought to himself, who wants to meet you again? 

In high spirits, he packed all the perfume into a box, turned around, and called to Zhang Shiyue, who was busy in the kitchen, “Second Aunt, I'm going back for a bit. If He Ger comes back and doesn't see me, let him know.” 

Zhang Shiyue only knew that someone buying watermelon had come, and didn't know what the two had been chatting about outside. She acknowledged with a sound. “Alright.”

Zhang Fangyuan took the things home and stored them carefully. He planned to wait until he had sold them for a big profit before telling Xu He. After all, this was unlike any business he'd done before. If he lost money, Xu He would be heartbroken. Once he’d safely recouped his investment, he’ll tell him, and Xu He would be overjoyed.

But there was one problem: how to account for the seven hundred plus wen he'd just spent. He paced around the room. Even if he emptied all his private savings, he only had fifty wen. He was still over six hundred short—enough to make his scalp tingle. 

Borrowing was obviously out of the question. Everyone in the village thought they were well-off now. If he borrowed from relatives, they might think Xu He was mistreating him.

Forget it. He'd just have to go sell his face. 

“He Ger, come here. I need to talk to you about something.”

Xu He had only just returned to the tea stall from his family's home when Zhang Fangyuan showed up. They had barely exchanged greetings before Zhang Fangyuan pulled him aside.

“What did you go home for?”

“Just took a bath. It's hot.”

“Why not bathe here? Save you the trip.”

“There were customers. It wouldn't be right to hog the outhouse.”

Xu He supposed that made sense. Then he remembered, “Right. What did you want to tell me? Nothing happened at home. Auntie came back and wanted us all to have a meal together.”

Zhang Fangyuan nodded. “That's good.” If Liu Xianglan had been up to any tricks again, he wouldn't have minded making another trip over. 

After a few more details about the Xu household, Zhang Fangyuan had a good laugh. That aunt of his was really something. If his mother-in-law were more like her, things wouldn't be so annoying. 

After chatting for a while, he remembered his own business. He looked around to make sure no one was nearby, then lowered his voice. “Um… can you give me some more money?”

“Huh?” Xu He hesitated for a moment. “What do you need to buy?”

“Nothing in particular. I just want to carry a bit more money on me. It's a man thing, you know—saves face.” Zhang Fangyuan rubbed his hands together, offering what he thought was a reasonable excuse. “It's your cousin. He keeps making fun of me for being broke. I used to spend freely, now I'm thrifty, and he laughs at me.”

“What's there to laugh about? Cousin's money all goes to Hua Ger anyway.” Xu He looked at the man in front of him, wondering what he was up to. But considering he himself hadn't been going to town much lately, and Zhang Fangyuan might need more money for expenses there, he asked seriously, “Well, how much do you think you need to carry on you to save face?”

“At least enough to casually produce a qian* of silver.” After all, he used to be a big brother with people flocking around him. Zhang Fangyuan said, “One tael of silver would be best.”

* 1 qian = 1/10 of a teal of silver = 100 wen

Xu He narrowed his eyes slightly. “Aren't you afraid of burning a hole in your pocket with that much money on you?” The gap between a qian and a teal of silver was awfully large. He wasn't particularly keen to agree, but looking at Zhang Fangyuan, acting like a dog wagging its tail for a treat, pitiful and pleading, he couldn't help but sigh. “Alright, alright.”

“Didn't you say you sold all the meat today? Then, give me the two thousand wen from buying the livestock, and keep the rest for yourself.”

Zhang Fangyuan's eyebrows curved. He had sold the pork for over three thousand wen. After handing over two thousand, there would still be plenty left—far better than he'd expected.

His wife was so generous!

Zhang Fangyuan leaned over and pecked Xu He on the corner of the mouth. “That's wonderful! From now on, I'll do whatever you say!”

“You really are…”

Xu He's face reddened. They had never been so affectionate outside before, and he felt embarrassed. But it was true what they said: money could make the devil turn a millstone. Look how happy the man was.

Two days later, Zhang Fangyuan made another trip to the Yunliang Pavilion.

***

Author's Note:

Unnamed man: “He could have directly robbed me, yet he still gave me twenty wen…”

Zhang Fangyuan: “Brother, my usual pocket money is only five wen…”

 

T/N

I didn't expect our Fangyuan to suddenly play like this

(˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵)

 

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