newbobooks Chapter 690: Night Fragrance
Chapter 690: Night Fragrance
In an alley ahead, there was a cart piled high with toilets.
The owner of the cart was standing in front of a house. He took the toilet from the owner's hand, poured the filth in the bucket into the bucket in front of him, then tied the bucket to the cart and continued walking to the next house.
Zhou Guo followed her to visit five or six households and noticed that only two families gave her money, just one cent. The other families gave her some food, steamed buns, cakes, and leftover vegetables, not much.
The owner of the cart was very happy and left with many thanks.
After more than an hour, the toilet on the cart was full, and the cart owner pushed the cart of night incense away with difficulty, not knowing where to go.
She followed behind, turning left and right in the alley, and after walking for half an hour, she finally arrived at a shed.
The shed was made of various rotten wood and straw mats, and was not very big.
She looked around and saw two or three sheds like this. This was the North City, and most civilians lived here nowadays. She just didn't expect that there were people like this living in such an inconspicuous corner outside of the civilian population.
Not long after, several other people came back pushing carts, and without exception, they were all selling night-blooming incense.
Zhou Guo stood outside for a while, and the owner of the cart came out. Seeing Zhou Guo's shadow, he looked at her with cloudy eyes for a few times. After a while, he seemed to recognize that this was a person and asked, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
The voice was calm, as if he was talking to himself.
Zhou Guo stood a little closer and said, "Mother-in-law, I'm here to ask you something."
The woman hunched over, glanced at her, waved her hand and was about to go into the shed, "I am a dying old woman, what can I know? Go ask someone else."
Zhou Guo took a few steps forward and said, "Mother-in-law, I'm not here to ask anything else."
Pointing to the cart parked nearby, he said, "I want to ask what you are going to do with these wild incense after you collect them?"
The Night Fragrance Lady was stunned and looked at her several times, "Why are you asking this? Do you want these Night Fragrances? You are a good young man, why do you want these dirty things?"
Zhou Guo looked at the toilets and said, "These are not dirty things, they are all good things."
With these words, Ye Xiangpo's originally cold eyes softened. She glanced at Zhou Guo and said, "Come in."
Zhou Guo was stunned and walked in. It was pitch black inside and he couldn't see anything, but Ye Xiangpo got an oil lamp from somewhere and lit it.
She looked around the shed. It was not big and was very narrow. There was nothing in it except pots and pans, a few old clothes and a tattered quilt. Even the sleeping place was made of hay. The most expensive thing in the room was probably the oil lamp.
Grandma Yexiang said, "I don't have a stool here, please find a place to sit down."
As he said this, he sat down where he slept and took out today's food from the cloth bag beside him, including steamed buns, leftovers, and cakes. Zhou Guo even saw two eggs.
Yaxiang Po handed over one of the eggs and said, "Eat it."
Zhou Guo took it with a smile, "Thank you, mother-in-law."
He peeled the shell and ate it without changing his expression, nodding as he ate, "It smells so good!"
Ye Xiang Po also curled her lips and started to eat by herself. She only ate half of a cake and stopped. She put the rest in a bowl with a hole in it and covered it with another bowl, obviously saving it for tomorrow.
The old woman then looked at Zhou Guo: "You said these are all good things?
Zhou Guo smiled and said, "Of course, although in the eyes of many people these things are filthy, but when they are in the fields, they are different. As long as they are fermented well, they are excellent fertilizers. Mother-in-law, who did you originally want to give these things to?"
Grandma Ye Xiang smiled and sighed, "I can't tell, you're different from others. These things that city people dislike are dirty and smelly, but in the countryside, many people are scrambling to get them. I push one cart every day, and there are people waiting for it long ago. If I were not an old woman who is useless and can't work anymore, I could make a lot of money by pushing three carts a day."
Zhou Guo said sincerely: "My mother-in-law is really amazing. She can make two profits by buying and selling."
The Night Fragrance Lady waved her hands and said, "No, I am old now and can no longer work. I can only make ends meet. Do you want to collect these Night Fragrances?"
Zhou Guo nodded, "Mother-in-law, there are several people who collect night incense in this county. Do you know them all? I want to buy all the night incense they have. I can definitely get more than selling it to the countryside. I don't need you to send it far. Just send these night incense out of the city every day. I will collect them at the city gate."
Ye Xiang Po was curious, "I see that you are also a son of a wealthy family, why did they send you out to collect this?"
Although this thing is good, it is not a good thing in the eyes of the world after all. Those who collect night incense are the most lowly and despised, and no one wants to deal with them.
Zhou Guo said: "I am not a son of a wealthy family. I am just trying to make a living."
The night incense lady sighed, "I see, you must not be liked by your family, so they sent you out to collect night incense and do this menial job. Okay, I tell you, we will push it to the countryside, one penny for two buckets, you saw the other two families when you came, they are also in this business."
"However, these two are younger than me, and they have done more than me. There are more than ten people we know who collect night fragrance in the county. When do you want them?"
Zhou Guo said, "The day after tomorrow, I will come to pick it up, and you just need to transport it to the East City Gate."
After thinking for a while, he said, "Mother-in-law, I charge one cent per bucket of night incense. I'll give this job to you. If you can bring ten buckets of night incense every day, you can take two cents from it. If you can bring a hundred buckets, it will be twenty cents. Is that okay?"
Ye Xiang Po frowned, "How do you smoke?"
Zhou Guo said, "I'll give you money. If you can bring me a hundred barrels of night fragrance every day, in addition to the barrels you bring yourself, I'll give you an extra twenty cents. Is that okay?"
Ye Xiang Po's cloudy eyes seemed to brighten a little at this moment, "Really? If I pull a hundred barrels, will you give me twenty cents?"
This is much more profitable than selling night incense by herself. She doesn't have to do any work. She just needs to call everyone over and push them out of the city together to make so much money.
Zhou Guo smiled and said, "Of course. The day after tomorrow, have someone push all the night incense out of the east gate. I will come to collect it. I will give you one cent for five barrels of night incense. The more you pull, the more you get."
After calculating, Ye Xiang Po was delighted and said happily, "Okay, I'll go talk to them right away."
Zhou Guo said goodbye tactfully, "Then I'll go back first. I'll wait for you in East City early the day after tomorrow."
As soon as she went out, Ye Xiang Po blew out the lights and walked towards the two sheds next to her.
As she walked away, she could still hear a slightly younger woman's voice saying, "Mrs. Hua, who's here at your house? Why are you lighting the lights? Today isn't New Year's Day..."