Chapter 636 - 623: Tibetan Man

Chapter 636: Chapter 623: Tibetan Man

Su Zhengshi visited Qingshi Town every other day, lingering near The First Noodle Shop of the World, yet always ending up eating a big bowl of wontons in the shop across the street before leaving.

At dusk each day, Su Zhengshi would enter the vegetable cellar at home. He always carried a bamboo basket when headed there and would leave with the basket filled with various vegetables.

Su Zhengshi purchased a house in the county town. The combined price of the land and property deeds came to sixty taels of silver.

Recently, Su Zhengshi’s family added a dog to their household. This dog was quite fierce and not very familiar with others. Whoever came to their house would be greeted by its continuous loud barking, discouraging many people from approaching their doorstep.

Zhuang Qingning nodded after hearing Su Mu’s words, dusting off the ash that had accumulated on her hands from eating sunflower seeds, and gathering the seed shells left on the stone table. “It seems I should take a trip to the noodle factory,” she concluded.

After preparing a bit, Zhuang Qingning found a bullock cart in the village and set off for Shijiazhuang.

When she arrived at Su Zhengshi’s noodle factory, he was inside, observing the bustling workers. Seeing Zhuang Qingning, he seemed a bit surprised and hurried to greet her, “Manager Zhuang, what brings you here?”

“A few days ago, you mentioned that there was no news of Manager Shang, and I could not put my mind at ease, so I came to check in,” Zhuang Qingning replied. “I also wanted to see how the workshop is faring.”

“We still have not heard from Manager Shang,” Su Zhengshi sighed. “I’ve been checking in the county and town now and then, but no one has seen him.”

“The workshop still operates as it always has. We follow the procedures that Manager Shang and Manager Zhuang established. We dare not slack. Please take a look, Manager Zhuang.”

Su Zhengshi led Zhuang Qingning on a tour around the workshop.

Zhuang Qingning scrutinized everything carefully.

Sёarᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

After she finished her inspection, Zhuang Qingning smiled, “It seems the number of workers has increased greatly.”

“The factory’s business is good, and there was never enough help. So, we hired more workers. These newcomers are quite good at their tasks and are very clever,” Su Zhengshi explained. “But don’t worry, Manager Zhuang, these workers are paid their ordinary wages; they won’t get a share of the village’s silver stock.”

“Yes, Village chief Su is meticulous and thorough. Since the workshop has been handed over to Village Chief Su, you just need to handle it as usual.”

Zhuang Qingning raised her eyebrows, “Speaking of which, there’s another matter that I would like to discuss with Village Chief Su.”

“What is it?” asked Su Zhengshi.

“Well…” Zhuang Qingning glanced around at the busy workers and lowered her voice, “I have a business proposal that I want to discuss with Village Chief Su. But there are too many ears around here, and if word gets out, it might cause others to take the initiative. It would be better if we talk about it back at your house.”

After hesitating for a moment, Su Zhengshi nodded, “Alright, let’s go back to my house. But the house is a bit shabby, and I hope you won’t find it amiss, Manager Zhuang.”

“You’re joking, Village Chief Su. We are all peasants and used to hardship, so there’s no need to worry about me disliking anything,” Zhuang Qingning replied while stepping out of the workshop.

Su Zhengshi quickly caught up, picking up his pace to lead the way.

When they arrived at Su Zhengshi’s house, as expected, a large dog started barking fiercely at Zhuang Qingning standing next to Su Zhengshi. Its front paws flaying the ground, it appeared extremely ferocious.

“It’s fine, it’s fine, the dog looks fierce, but it doesn’t bite,” Su Zhengshi scolded the wolf-dog and led it away so it couldn’t see Zhuang Qingning, just in case she was scared.

Out of its owner’s sight and scolded by Su Zhengshi, the dog quieted down and slouched off to one side, lying down with a grunt.

Su Zhengshi led Zhuang Qingning into the hall and poured her a cup of tea.

“The family went out because there’s a market in town today. They took the kids to buy some cloth to make winter clothes,” Su Zhengshi chuckled. “What’s this business deal you mentioned earlier, Manager Zhuang?”

“The business deal is both simple and complicated. In short, it involves pickling radishes, mung beans, ginger, and such into kimchi, storing it in a cellar for about twenty days to a month. Once fully fermented, it can be sold at the market… and we can make roughly this much from one jar,” Zhuang Qingning quickly gestured.

Because she moved too fast, Su Zhengshi didn’t observe clearly, but given his understanding of Zhuang Qingning’s wealth from having opened so many workshops, he knew this figure must be substantial.

“Sounds quite profitable.” Su Zhengshi rubbed his hands excitedly. “Let’s not even talk about radishes, mung beans, and ginger, which the village always has in plenty – if we can make money selling them, that would be fantastic. And every family in the village already has a pickling vat. Setting up a kimchi workshop would be perfect.”

“However, the process of making kimchi and the requirements for the kimchi cellar are key factors in the operation. Also, we can’t dig the cellar in a day or two, so we should prepare in advance.”

Zhuang Qingning glanced toward the backyard and said, “Doesn’t Village Chief Su have an existing cellar at home? I’d like to inspect it to gauge its size. This will provide a reference for other families preparing to make their own cellars.”

Upon hearing that Zhuang Qingning wished to examine the cellar in his yard, Su Zhengshi’s face changed slightly, and his gaze became evasive. “There is a cellar at my house, but it was not dug well, it’s too shallow, and you can’t stand up straight in it. I’m afraid it might not be suitable.”

“That’s something we can determine only after inspecting it,” Zhuang Qingning responded, looking at Su Zhengshi with a smile.

Su Zhengshi swiftly lowered his head, his voice dropping as he spoke. “You’re correct, but the cellar here is damp and dirty. Maybe you should not go down there, Manager Zhuang…”

“Aren’t all cellars damp and dirty? This is commonplace. Why would Village Chief Su repeatedly discourage me?” Zhuang Qingning asked softly. “Could it be that you’re hiding something in the cellar that you shouldn’t be, and therefore, can’t let me see it?”

Su Zhengshi’s face instantly turned as white as a sheet, and his voice shook as he replied, “Manager Zhuang, what are you implying? How could we hide a person in a cellar this small?”

Zhuang Qingning laughed lightly, gazing at Su Zhengshi until the hair on his body stood on end. “Village Chief Su, I didn’t say that you are hiding a person here. I just asked if you’re hiding something. Why did you hastily deny hiding a person?”

If you find any errors ( Ads popup, ads redirect, broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.