Chapter 123: Having a Balance in One's Heart

  When people encounter happy events, their spirits are lifted. The several households that have already sold their elm seeds are beaming with joy wherever they go, their faces flushed like peach blossoms in full bloom. This makes the households that haven't yet sold their elm seeds feel both envious and anxious, thinking to themselves that they should sell theirs quickly and get the money in hand. At this point, the households that have already sold theirs will offer words of comfort: "Don't worry, if Zhen'er says she'll collect them, she definitely will - didn't we sign a contract? Besides, if you don't trust Zhen'er, can you still not trust County Magistrate?" Those who hear this reasoning feel reassured in their hearts and simply wait for Zhen'er to notify them that it's time to collect the elm seeds.

  Zhen'er didn't know that she had just delivered a batch of Yu money to the Zhou family, but accidentally let the villagers who went to the market see it. As soon as this matter spread, the villagers not only felt grateful to her, but also showed some reverence.

  However, since ancient times, there have been people who are happy and those who worry.

  Early in the morning, Zhen'er hadn't finished washing up yet when she heard someone knocking on the door. She opened it to find a villager, whom she vaguely remembered but wasn't familiar with. After politely inviting him in, he seemed rather embarrassed and put down the basket he was carrying, awkwardly explaining his purpose. Once Zhen'er gave her consent, he didn't linger and quickly ran off.

  It was early in the morning when such people came to her house three or four times, and Zhen'er knew what kind of people they were. They were those who didn't sign a contract with her that day, and they must have hit a snag at the market, so they came back again to find her.

  Zhen'er's guess was correct. Those few households that didn't sign the contract with Zhen'er saw the thick strings of copper coins hanging from the trees, not symbolizing joy and happiness, but instead worrying about their white hair (i.e., their old age).

  Those elm seeds, every year they produce so many, the villagers are all the same, in the past when they didn't sell them, they just threw them away and wasted them. But this year with Zhen'er collecting elm seeds, the families who signed contracts to sell their elm seeds are beaming with joy all day long, while those who didn't are even more worried and miserable.

  They had thought it was a good idea, that Zhen could sell the elm seeds for three cents a catty and must have found a way in, and she would definitely earn more inside. They didn't believe that a young girl like her could succeed in business, but people who had been eating salt for so many years would still lose out. So at first, Ye's wife encouraged them a bit. They made up their minds without signing any documents. But when they went to the market with high spirits and great enthusiasm to sell the elm seeds, they only then realized the cruelty of reality.

  They had thought that they would sell the elm seeds for four cents a catty, and if they could make one cent a catty, it would be fine. When they returned to the village, they would be able to boast about it for a long time. However, this price was an ideal price, and in reality, it was not that high. Later, they lowered their demands, wanting only three cents a catty, but even this price could not be reached. In the county town, there were few people who would buy elm seeds, and those who did would only pay one cent a catty, which was almost like giving them away for free. At that time, when they heard this price, several families began to complain about Ye Nangzi, blaming her for persuading them to let go of the opportunity to make money and instead piling up a large quantity of useless elm seeds.

  Ye Nangzi was also a sharp-tongued woman, and with just a few words, she would shut down the others' arguments. If they weren't so greedy for more money, how could they be swayed by her three or four sentences? Now that they can't sell it, they come to find fault with her. Do they really think she's easy to bully?

  These people said and said nothing more than Ye Nangzi. The goods can't be sold, and they want to make this money. Really had no idea, only good thickening the skin to come find Zhen Er.

  Zhen'er had been dealing with one after another of people coming to complain and report grievances, and was very tired. Ye Baiji came and heard that those people regretted it and wanted to sell Yu Qian again, and disdainfully curled her lips. Don't wear a hat that's too big for your head, now you can't make good on your promises, only then do you think of coming back to find Zhen'er.

  "Zhen'er, you wouldn't really want to take the silver coins from their hands, would you?" Ye Baiji asked, but thought to herself, "Zhen'er is so kind-hearted, she definitely won't make things difficult for those people. Alas, I should have made it clear from the start that if we didn't sign a contract with Zhen'er, we'd have to find our own way to spend those silver coins. Otherwise, they'll come looking for Zhen'er's help again. What a mistake! Why didn't she think of this earlier? How foolish!"

  Zhen'er saw Ye Baiju's frustrated expression, somewhat puzzled, but still said: "Didn't you say yesterday that we were going to collect the elm money from Lotus Aunt's house? To be honest, my conflict with Lotus Aunt is even bigger, and I can repay her kindness for her enmity. For these people who haven't hurt me much, I shouldn't be too harsh or extreme."

  "How could they not hurt you!" Ye Baiji retorted: "Hmph, you said you'd pay three cents a catty for the cucumbers. They didn't even sign a contract, and yet they stirred up the villagers, saying that taking you in was a huge risk for them, how magnanimous of them! You should be grateful to Tigerzi, and take care of the villagers when good things happen. Now that there's an opportunity to make money, you're still suppressing them, only giving them three cents a catty. The benefits must have been swallowed by you! Spit!" Ye Baiji grew more indignant as she spoke, and couldn't help but spit in disgust. She continued to rant: "At first, they said how capable they were. Not just three cents a catty, even ten or eight cents would be at their mercy. Truly, the bigger the heart, the more leather can be eaten. Now they can't even sell for one cent a catty, and have come crawling back to you. It's only because of your kindness that they're so unscrupulous."

  Zhen Er looked at Ye Bai Zhi, who was filled with righteous indignation, and felt a warmth in her heart. She just liked this simple and straightforward protectiveness of Bai Zhi's.

  "I actually thought of this consequence a long time ago." Zhen'er said calmly, "When the water is clear, there are no fish. It's impossible for anywhere to be all good people, there will always be some unusual voices. Such voices, such people, if you grasp them well, they can be a help, but if not, they become a hindrance."

  "If I had succeeded in this matter overnight, who would know how much effort I put in for the villagers? Only when some people raised opposing voices and hit a wall did they realize what I had done for them. The scale in the hearts of the villagers can only be tilted then. Remember, no matter where or what place, those who truly care about you, without calculating gains and losses, dedicate everything to you, except for your closest relatives, there is no one else. Only say three-tenths of the words to people, don't pour out all your heart, this is my experience, think carefully if it's true or not."

  Ye Baiji stared at the dew, furrowed her brow and thought for a moment before carefully asking: "Are you saying that those who seem to be very close to you, who consider everything for your sake, actually have this balance in their hearts too? They use it to measure whether being good to you is worth it or not, or if there's any loss to them?"

  Ye Baiji was able to see that Jiang was a hypocrite in her teens, not necessarily a fool, she may have just been used to looking at things with kindness, and she wasn't the one who had suffered greatly at the hands of Jiang or Ye Baizhen, so she wouldn't understand that some people are insincere.

  "It's like that, after all, there are only a few people who can really think for you, and you need to be mindful of it. The eyes may deceive, but the heart won't."

  Ye Baiji nodded obediently, but in fact, she didn't quite understand some of the things that were said. However, she silently recited them to herself several times, planning to memorize them and take them out to recite when she encountered situations in the future, following these words would never be wrong.

  "There's actually something I don't quite understand, their elm seeds are all sold for one cent per catty, the owners of the baozi shop and the wine house can't possibly not know about this, so why didn't they go buy cheaper elm seeds from them instead of buying our expensive ones?" Ye Baiji asked in puzzlement. When she first heard that those people went to the county town to sell elm seeds for one cent per catty, she was worried that the baozi shop and wine house wouldn't come to them to buy elm seeds anymore, and they would be left with a huge loss.

  Zhen'er smiled mysteriously and pulled Ye Bai closer, explaining in a low voice: "Actually, I wasn't confident either, but I thought they were all old business veterans, so they must understand these things better than me. If they really didn't want to buy our Yu money, I'd just consider it a lesson learned from spending money. Who knew that in the end, I actually found the right method."

  Zhen'er said this and made Ye Baiji even more curious, urging her to quickly tell her the mystery behind it. Zhen'er took a sip of water before slowly speaking.

  "After we sent the first batch of elm money, didn't we go to the baozi shop and wine house outside? They sold elm money buns and small dishes related to elm money very well. I calculated according to this quantity and price, just the dishes related to elm money, they earned 20% of their daily income, think about it, what a big number."

  Later, I calculated the number of customers in two shops and found that they still need a lot of elm money every day. Just one wine shop needs 150-160 kilograms of elm money per day, which is still a small amount. Think about it, I signed a contract with the village, and all the elm money in the village is under our control. If those wine shops buy elm money from Ye Niangzi and others instead of us, how many days can they last? In the end, either Ye Niangzi and others will buy elm money from the village to supply the wine shop after tasting the sweetness, but then the villagers will have to compensate for our losses according to the contract, so they won't make any money. Or the wine shops will come to us again to buy elm money, but do you think we will still sell it to them at three cents per kilogram? We'll raise the price, and our previous losses will be made up, but the cost of the wine shop will increase. Alternatively, the wine shops won't sell our elm money, and they'll withdraw those dishes related to elm money. But the reputation of elm money has already been established, and if they don't sell it, we'll find other wine shops. In that case, they'll be the ones who really make clothes for others. This is such a simple truth, even I, an outsider, can understand it, let alone those old slippery characters who have been in business for so long. So, even if they know someone else is selling elm money at one cent per kilogram on the market, they won't rashly cut off business with us. They must have already investigated and found that Ye Niangzi and others don't have a large amount of elm money, so they'd rather lose some small money now than make clothes for others and fall into a difficult situation.

  Sorry everyone, it's late~~ sigh, I thought I would have more time to write after going home, but after coming back, all sorts of unexpected things happened, it was a chaotic battle. Here, I want to thank all the relatives who gave Yunshui and "Jenju Tianyuan" various supports and encouragements throughout July. In the new August, Yunshui will work harder, and also hope that everyone will continue to support~~~~

  Special thanks to Agatha for the first pink ticket in August~~~.