mtl008 Chapter 185 Those corns were stolen.
Chapter 185 Those corns were stolen.
On the third day, corn-based dishes—corn fritters, corn and shrimp balls, corn and egg pancakes, corn steamed cakes, corn porridge, corn juice, etc.—began to be sold at Baishi Teahouse.
Dishes made with corn, such as corn and pork rib soup and corn with pine nuts, are now available at Fu Lai Restaurant.
White Stone Hot Pot now includes a corn dish.
At the sweet potato stalls in the county town, there's also a new roasted corn stall. Unlike the sweet potatoes, the roasted corn is sprinkled with a seasoning powder called salt and pepper.
In just two days, corn has once again become a hot commodity in Baishi County.
The merchants finally got to the day they had agreed upon with Tian Tian to purchase the goods.
Early in the morning, one carriage after another arrived at Qianjiazhuang in a grand procession.
"Miss Tian, I want two thousand."
"I want five thousand."
"I want five thousand too."
"Miss Tian Er..."
Tian Tian called a halt to the packaging work today, and everyone worked together to load the goods for the merchants.
"Everyone, please be quiet." Tian Tian raised her head to signal.
Everyone quieted down.
Tian Tian took out a packaged ear of corn, "Everyone, take a look..."
"This is how I package my corn; only I have this type of bag and packaging method."
"Corn packaged like this can last for six months!"
"To open it, you need to tear it open from this gap..."
Tian Tian demonstrated by tearing open the packaging from the cut edge. The vacuum film that was originally attached to the corn separated from the corn as air entered...
Everyone who saw it exclaimed in amazement.
"Miss Tian, what's this kind of packaging called?"
Tian Tian explained, "This kind of packaging... is called vacuum packaging."
"Because... we've removed all the air from the bag, it's completely empty, so it's called vacuum packaging..."
She was talking nonsense...
"With this kind of packaging, the items can be stored for a longer period of time."
Tian Tian set the opened package aside. "Now everyone, please take your goods in an orderly fashion..."
The first merchant in line shouted excitedly, "I want ten thousand!!"
After he finished shouting, he turned to the back and said, "Anyway, it can last for half a year!"
He just shouted that he wanted a thousand...
Because they can be stored for a long time, he ordered 10,000 of them.
The merchants behind were thinking...
That makes sense. Vacuum-packed corn can be stored for up to six months, so if they take a lot at once, they won't need to come back again. All that back and forth on the way here costs money.
Besides, the price of corn isn't that high.
Ten thousand ears of corn only cost fifty taels.
The first merchant began loading the goods; one wagon could carry three ears of corn, and ten thousand ears were loaded into four wagons.
The second merchant began to announce his order; he wanted 20,000, but only three carts arrived. The workers first moved his goods aside and left him to guard them himself.
then...
They all start at ten thousand or twenty thousand...
Some people even ordered 50,000 at once.
The workers were counting the goods with great enthusiasm...
Tian Tian watched from the side, a slight smile playing on her lips.
Several merchants were chatting not far from them.
“This corn is so delicious, I’ve been eating it for six days straight and I still want more,” one of the merchants said.
Upon hearing this, Tian Tian looked over in confusion.
On the day she tasted the dishes, she gave some corn to the customers who were dining at Baishi Teahouse.
Three days later, corn-related ingredients began to be sold at Baishi Tea House, Fulai Restaurant, Baishi Hot Pot, and roasted sweet potato stalls.
How could he have eaten it for six days in a row?
"You ate it for six days in a row? How did you manage that?" The other businessman asked the same question.
The man laughed loudly, "It was quite a coincidence. I was passing by the West Gate that day when I saw a woman carrying a dozen or twenty ears of corn, so I bought some from her."
Tian Tian frowned...
Unexpectedly, the man then said, "I bought it from her for six coins."
"I hadn't been gone long when another woman came along, also carrying corn in her arms, and I bought about ten more."
Tian Tian's brows furrowed even more...
"They said it happens every day and told me to wait at the city gate."
"I bought five days' worth in a row."
"Is that so...?" other merchants exclaimed. "You're quite lucky."
Tian Tian called Zhang Fusheng over and told him what the man had said.
Zhang Fusheng was immediately astonished, "Impossible?!"
"When those workers finished work, although I didn't check each of them individually... I did take a quick look, and they didn't smuggle anything."
He was very certain because he was going to stamp each worker's work record.
"That means someone else is stealing our corn."
Tian Tian thought for a moment, then said, "Go and call that person over..."
Zhang Fusheng went over and called the traveling merchant over.
"Second Miss?!" The merchant was excited to see Tian Tian. "Is there something you need?"
Tian Tian glanced at him; he seemed to have ordered 20,000 ears of corn and was waiting to have them loaded.
As far as I can remember... he also bought bean curd sheets, and it seems he knew Manager Chen from Ganzhou Prefecture, whose surname was... Ding.
"Manager Ding?"
Upon hearing this, Manager Ding became even more excited, "Miss Tian Er, you actually remember me?"
Tian Tian nodded, "Manager Ding, what you just said..."
When did this happen?
Manager Ding recalled, "It was...every afternoon...around 3 PM."
Around Shen Shi (3-5 PM)...
The workers are still working and are unlikely to leave.
Then it wasn't the workers who stole it...
Do you remember what those two people were like?
Manager Ding recalled...
"The first one was wearing a burlap headscarf to cover her face, so I couldn't see her clearly."
"The second one wasn't wearing a headscarf, and she didn't look... anything special..."
He smiled apologetically, not knowing how to describe it...
Because of Tian Tian's inquiry, he roughly learned where the corn came from...
"They pick twenty or thirty each day and put them in their pockets..."
"Judging from their tone, they'll probably keep picking them. Second Miss, have your men keep a close eye on them; they should be able to catch them."
Tian Tian thanked him politely, "Thank you, Manager Ding."
Shopkeeper Ding shook his head repeatedly, "No need, Second Miss."
He smiled awkwardly, "I really didn't know those corns were stolen. If I had known... I would never have bought them."
"Please forgive me, young lady."
This is something you can't blame him for.
"Manager Ding, you flatter me."
"I should thank you for telling me this..."
After Manager Ding left, Tian Tian looked at Zhang Fusheng and said, "Go and investigate what exactly happened."
She has always been lenient with her workers; she doesn't care too much about things that weren't done by them.
but...
She didn't want Qingliu Village to benefit from it.
She remembered Zhang Fusheng mentioning Liu Xianglan from Qingliu Village... who always covered her face with a headscarf...
For some reason, her intuition told her that this matter was related to Liu Xianglan.