Chapter 310 - 310 Low-Key
“Oh, push the cart to the back and put it in the cellar.” Gu Chengrui brought them to the back of the house and helped put everything in the basement together.
After they were done, Gu Chengrui saw two jars of about five pounds of beef oil in the cellar. He gave them one and said, “Take this beef oil with you; stewing cabbage with it is delicious.”
“Sure, thanks.” Gu Chengye said as he took it.
“By the way, how’s the yield of sweet potatoes in its second season?”
“To be honest, they’re not as plentiful as the ones in the spring. This season’s white sweet potatoes didn’t lack fertilizer and never lacked water from the beginning to the end. However, they only produced 6,000 pounds per acre.” Gu Chengzhi gave his report.
“In any case, indeed, we don’t have to worry about going hungry for the next year,” Gu Chengye continued. “By the way, are these 300 pounds of white sweet potatoes enough? If they aren’t enough, 1’11 bring more over. Otherwise, you won’t be able to buy them in the future, even if you want to.”
“What do you mean? Are you guys trying to sell the sweet potatoes?”
“That’s right. Storing it at home would attract people’s attention. After the Third Prince stopped accepting them, we gave Ziqiu’s family 500 pounds. Constable Tian bought 2,000 pounds for 10 coppers per pound, and we also sold Zhang Qingqing 1,000 pounds.
“I don’t even know if 1 can keep the remaining 5,000 pounds.”
“How about this? 1’11 buy 2,000 pounds from you, and you can tell others that you sold all 5,000 pounds.
“This way, you can secretly leave a portion of it behind just in case.”
“You can take it if you want; you don’t have to pay.” Gu Chengye replied.
Gu Chengrui immediately knew it was just a courtesy, as 2,000 pounds of white potatoes were 20 taels of silver. How could they give it away for free? He shook his head and replied, “We already have enough for ourselves. These are for Doctor Luo, so we’ll just pay according to the normal price.”
“I see. We’ll heed your advice, as that’ll save us a lot of trouble.” Gu Chengye nodded.
Gu Chengzhi didn’t object when he heard this. Gu Xi was still an apprentice at the clinic, so no one could say anything about selling it to them.
“Okay, it’s a deal. I’ll find two carts and go there tomorrow morning.”
“Alright, we’ll be going back now.”
After that, the two brothers went home, carrying the beef oil in their carts.
After Mrs. Qiao and the others learned that they had brought back a jar of beef oil, they were thrilled.
This was especially so for Gu Chengzhi’s wife, Mrs. Yang. The oil mill had been closed for nearly a year, and the oil reserves at home had been used up. It was fine if the adults didn’t have oil for their daily meals, but not the children.
“By the way, Chengzhi,” she asked, “does Chengrui have meat at home? We can buy some from them.”
“I didn’t see it. There were only two jars of beef oil in their cellar, and he even gave us one jar.”
“That’s enough. It’s good enough to have this jar of oil. Don’t be so greedy. They would have given it to us long ago if they really had it.” Mrs. Qiao said.
“I heard that there are a lot of cattle and sheep in their manor. It’s not like we aren’t paying for them.” Mrs. Yao said unhappily.
She couldn’t stand it anymore, let alone her child. Her pants were almost slipping down her waist after not having meat in the past six months.
“Indeed. Can’t we buy from them?” Mrs. Liu echoed.
“Let’s not talk about this. First, the manor doesn’t belong to the couple in the first place. Now that Manager Liu is there, it’s not like they can decide that on their own.
“Moreover, the villagers are all eating plainly; do you dare fill our house with the fragrance of meat? Won’t this attract hatred? It’ll be troublesome if you attract thieves.” Father Gu reminded them.
“Indeed, when it’s time to be low-key, we must act the part. Didn’t you see that they don’t even dare to eat meat anymore?” Second Uncle Gu chimed in.
“Right. Speaking of keeping a low profile, Chengrui gave us an idea.” At this point, Gu Chengye told them how Gu Chengrui had bought their white sweet potatoes but left some for them secretly..