Chapter 131: My Name is Xing Honglang
I hadn't intended to write more, but after much thought, I realized I must; one has to make a living, after all. So, consider this an extra chapter born of necessity.
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The group of women immediately went on guard.
Gao Laba was digging up a lump of yellow clay by the roadside, planning to take it home to make a pot. He was closest to the women's party, so he looked up and smiled at them, saying, "Selling illicit salt? You've certainly come to the wrong place. Buying salt from us, now that's a different story."
The woman's expression suggested she was ready to draw her blade at any moment. "What do you mean?"
Gao Laba chuckled, "Oh? Brave woman, don't be angry! I don't mean to mock you, but our Gao Family Village has never been short of salt. In fact, we often have extra. You've truly come to the wrong place to sell salt."
The woman frowned.
From childhood, she had traveled the length and breadth of the land with her father, who dealt in illicit salt. After his death, she took over the salt gang, her footsteps tracing every river and mountain. Yet, she had never heard of a small village that *wasn't* short on salt. There were only villages that couldn't afford it, not ones that had no need for it.
The woman narrowed her eyes, carefully scrutinizing the village before her.
The woman nodded. "People in the jianghu call me Xing Honglang. I'm a salt seller. What's your advice, old sir?"
The old Village Chief extended his hand, offering the earthy-brown sphere to Xing Honglang. "Brave woman, here's something delicious for you."
Xing Honglang glanced at the strange, earthy-brown sphere. Unsure if it was food, she cautiously refrained from taking it. Traveling the jianghu for so long demanded vigilance; one simply didn't accept unknown food from strangers.
Seeing her hesitation, the old Village Chief largely guessed her thoughts. He offered it instead to one of her subordinates behind her. "Brave fellow, have a taste. I'll stand right here and won't move. If it upsets your stomach, you can chop off my head with a single stroke."
The subordinate looked to Xing Honglang for permission. She nodded, and he took the earthy-brown sphere, sniffed it, then cautiously licked it... Just that one lick was enough. His expression instantly transformed, as if he'd tasted something utterly astonishing. He cried out, "Boss... this... it's delicious... so incredibly delicious! I've never tasted anything so good!"
Xing Honglang stared.
The subordinate pinched off the part he had licked and popped it into his mouth, then handed the remaining large portion of the chocolate sphere to Xing Honglang. She used her finger to break off a tiny sliver, tossed it into her mouth, and then her expression, too, became one of utter amazement.
The old Village Chief chuckled. "This, my dear, is called chocolate. It's a divine delicacy from the heavens! How about it? I'll sell it to you cheap. Buy some from me to resell, and I guarantee you'll earn more than selling salt."
It turned out Li Daoxuan had gifted him quite a lot of chocolate. The old man hadn't even finished one piece before selling another bamboo chair earned him another. Consequently, his home was now overflowing with enough chocolate to actually sell.
Xing Honglang asked, "How much per jin?"
The old Village Chief replied, "Five qian of silver."
Xing Honglang pressed, "Is there a discount for bulk purchases?"
The old Village Chief chuckled, "For over ten jin, I'll give you a ten percent discount."
"Deal!" Xing Honglang waved a hand. "I want a hundred jin. Give me thirty percent off."
The old Village Chief was ecstatic. "It's a deal! Brave fellows, please wait here a moment. I'll go home right away and weigh out a hundred jin."
The old Village Chief turned and headed back to the village, practically dancing with delight. He swayed from side to side, as carefree as an immortal. Money! He was making money! While chocolate was good, the old man still wanted some silver to save up for his coffin.
Li Daoxuan watched his "disrespectfully jovial" demeanor, chuckling to himself.
However, the old Village Chief's impromptu sale had inadvertently taught the other villagers a valuable lesson.
One villager quickly scurried home and soon returned with a small jar. He addressed Xing Honglang, "Brave woman, I have a jar of excellent sugar here. Are you interested? I guarantee it's cheaper than buying it anywhere else."
Xing Honglang raised an eyebrow, perplexed.
The villager opened the jar. Xing Honglang peeked inside and gasped. Incredible! It was sparkling, crystal-clear, snow-white sugar. The quality of this sugar was absolutely top-tier.
Xing Honglang couldn't help but ask, "How do you... sell this?"
The villager replied, "I'll give it to you at twenty percent off the market price for ordinary quality sugar."
Hearing this, Xing Honglang immediately did the math. This was top-quality sugar, yet they were offering it to her at an eighty percent rate of ordinary sugar? If she took this to a big city and sold it at the price for top-tier quality, she'd make a killing! The profit would at least double.
"I'll take this whole jar!" she declared. "Do you have more?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Another villager ran over. "My family has extra sugar too! I'll go get you a jar."
"Me too!" "And me!"
Several villagers dashed back to their homes, and before long, returned, each clutching several more jars.
Xing Honglang had just paid for this batch of sugar when the Village Chief reappeared, carrying a massive slab of chocolate. Xing Honglang then paid for the chocolate...
After finally finishing up, she looked up to see yet another man offering a small clay jar, smiling. "Brave woman, would you like some wine? This wine is called Wuliangye. It's a top-tier celestial liquor, you know, just one sip can send you to the heavens!"
Xing Honglang was utterly amazed. "What era is this? You actually have wine?"
The villagers grinned. "The Heavenly Lord bestowed it upon us."
Xing Honglang didn't know what a Heavenly Lord was, but she was interested in wine. She poured out a tiny drop, and the aroma alone startled her. Then she took a small taste—it was 52% alcohol! It hit her so hard she was stunned for two whole seconds.
"Excellent! What magnificent wine!" Xing Honglang exclaimed, delighted. "How much for this wine?"
Suddenly, a subordinate behind her whispered, "Boss, Boss, we've run out of silver."
"What?!" Xing Honglang gasped in shock. "Run out? How is that possible? I brought so much silver with me!"
The subordinate whispered, "Our silver... we just restocked a large amount of salt not long ago, and we haven't even sold it all yet. And then you plunged into buying all this wonderful merchandise here, so of course..."
Xing Honglang was speechless.
Utter embarrassment!
A sudden thought struck her: something was wrong. *She* was supposed to be out making money! When she first saw this village, she'd been planning to sell them a huge batch of salt and make a fortune. How had *she* ended up running out of money instead?
Where had it all gone wrong?
"Hey, hey, are you kidding me?"
She felt utterly bewildered!
Just then, Solar Car No. 2 idled back from outside the village. Gao Chuwu, Zheng Daniu, and the two young people learning to drive were inside.
Two were teaching, two were learning, and they had taken a wide circuit around the area.
Returning to the village entrance, they spotted a group of outsiders, surrounded by villagers, making for quite a lively scene.
Gao Chuwu, ever the simple-minded fellow, lumbered over to join the crowd and watch the fun. As he pushed his way in, his eyes immediately fell upon Xing Honglang. "Hey? This woman, she's so beautiful."
The surrounding villagers collectively gaped in astonishment: "This brave woman, who looks more like a man, where exactly is she beautiful?"
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