Chapter 183: Chapter 183: Mom’s Fish Is Delicious

Qi Quanjin was rendered speechless by this remark.

Although it’s true, Second Brother was a bit too direct.

“Second Brother, well, let’s hurry back home!”

Qi Quanjin decided not to continue discussing the topic of pursuing scholarly titles with his second brother.

Qi Ercai grunted in response and said no more.

What’s the point of saying anything when it just stings?

The Qi Family just doesn’t have the knack for pursuing scholarly titles!

Back at home, Qi Ercai went directly to the room of the elder couple, while Qi Quanjin called Yi Meng to join him.

The brothers explained the price, and Mrs. Qi’s face instantly wrinkled up like a bun: “Three hundred taels, that’s, that’s too expensive. For that money, we could buy a large piece of land.”

She couldn’t calculate exactly how much wasteland three hundred taels could buy, but she knew it was a lot.

Even Qi Zheng said nothing, evidently also thinking the price was steep.

Qi Ercai glanced at Qi Quanjin, who then looked at Yi Meng.

Yi Meng thought for a moment and said, “Spending three hundred taels for peace of mind is rather fitting. But at this price, let’s not tell the family. Later, tell them it was two hundred taels.”

Too many talkative people in the family, and if someone inadvertently spills the beans, it’ll be trouble.

However, Yi Meng didn’t explicitly say this.

Not saying it didn’t prevent the others from understanding.

Qi Zheng took a sip of tea, spit out the tea leaves, and said, “Let’s settle it this way! Once it’s bought, it’s our own, no fear of trouble later.”

Once the old man made the decision, the matter was settled.

Mrs. Qi still felt pained by the cost but realized that if the former owner reclaimed the courtyard, there’d definitely be trouble, so she begrudgingly held her tongue from opposing further.

At dinner that night, Qi Zheng announced the purchase of the house.

Everyone was taken aback.

Wang Daya asked first, “Dad, Mom, two hundred taels, can our family come up with that?”

The others nodded in agreement.

Buying a house was great news; everyone was pleased, but two hundred taels was no small sum. Could the Qi Family really raise that amount?

Currently, the biggest income source was selling vegetables, but in just two months, could they save up that much?

Qi Zheng glanced at his children and grandchildren by the table, wanting to puff on his pipe but realized he hadn’t brought it. So he asked Qi Dafu to pour him a cup of tea.

After taking a sip, Qi Zheng said, “We don’t have two hundred taels yet, so starting tomorrow, we’ll sell frozen fish. After selling the fish, we’ll see, and if still short, we’ll network with the other three families, and if necessary, sell our land ahead of time.”

Everyone knew the family bought land, though no one asked how much. It all came from the money earned by selling ginseng.

The other three families just recently started earning income, but since they hadn’t bought land, they’d either buy from the government or from the Qi Family.

So when the old man said this, everyone didn’t see an issue.

“Alright, just keep this in mind. If anyone asks, just say you don’t know the exact amount, okay?”

Qi Zheng reminded them.

Everyone quickly nodded.

Two hundred taels, geez, if outsiders knew, who knows what they’d think about how rich the Qi Family is!

The next morning, the Qi Family busied themselves swiftly.

The men didn’t go to chop firewood but dressed warmly, then grouped into threes, carrying baskets loaded with frozen fish, heading to the alleys of the town to sell them.

Qi Quanjin and Qi Ercai each carried a basket of frozen fish to Jianghai Restaurant.

Nowadays, Jianghai Restaurant was the largest customer of the Qi Family, having taken all their vegetable produce.

Whether the restaurant could handle so many vegetables was not the Qi Family’s concern.

There weren’t a huge number of frozen fish, and with the Qi Family needing to create the impression of earning silver to lay the groundwork for buying a house, they deliberately arranged for everyone to go peddling fish in the streets and alleys.

Jianghai Restaurant.

Manager Jiang looked at the two baskets of frozen fish on the ground, momentarily at a loss for words.

If it was fish, the restaurant didn’t lack it.

Being the biggest restaurant in Concord City, they naturally had channels to get fresh fish, and they also had frozen fish.

But…

Seeing the two brothers who brought the fish, Manager Jiang found himself at a loss for words: “Did you catch this fish yourselves?”

“Yes, our family has many brothers; it took days of breaking the ice to catch them.”

Qi Quanjin grinned sheepishly, looking simple and honest.

Yet Manager Jiang had come to disbelieve that Qi Quanjin was merely simple and honest. Over their interactions, this man only seemed simple but actually had quite a brain.

But he was indeed a straightforward person, crafty yet without ill intentions, thus leaving a good impression on Manager Jiang.

“How do you plan to sell this fish?”

Manager Jiang inquired.

Qi Quanjin scratched his head: “Our family planned to street-peddle it at twenty wen per jin, but if Manager Jiang wishes to buy, it’ll be a bit less, at eighteen wen per jin.”

Twenty wen per jin didn’t come cheap, yet it wasn’t overly expensive either.

However, hearing this, Manager Jiang shook his head: “Eighteen wen per jin isn’t costly, but these fish are too large, unsuitable for us to cook and present as dishes for the guests.”

“Such large fish, at best, could be used for staff meals. But you know, with staff meals, giving them a treat occasionally is fine, but if the cost is too high, it’s not feasible either.”

“I’m merely an employee here too, without such authority.”

Manager Jiang smiled apologetically: “You’d better take it to sell outside first!”

If not for their past two months of cooperation, Manager Jiang wouldn’t have personally received these two.

They both left a fish over a foot long as a gift for Manager Jiang and then left through the back door of Jianghai Restaurant with the rest of the frozen fish.

After they left, the chef standing by asked Manager Jiang: “Manager, it was right not to accept that fish. Otherwise, with those large fish, you’d have to serve them in portions. With those picky guests, who gets the fish head, who gets the tail—it’s bound to be an issue.”

“Hmm.”

Manager Jiang acknowledged, turned toward the front, and said nothing more.

When he reached the front, before even reaching the counter, he saw the Qi Brothers passing by in front, shouting as they walked, working hard.

Manager Jiang sighed, said nothing, and resumed checking the accounts.

By mid-afternoon, Qi Quanjin returned to the second courtyard and told his wife about Jianghai Restaurant refusing to take the frozen fish.

Yi Meng, who happened to be putting their daughter to sleep, wasn’t overly disappointed upon hearing this: “If they don’t accept it, they don’t. After all, we can still sell vegetables for a few more months, so we’re not lacking this income.”

“Hmm.”

Qi Quanjin nodded. Just as he was about to take off his jacket and get onto the kang, Qi Manman said: “The fish Mom made is delicious!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep