Chapter 165

Treading through wind and snow.

It is said that traveling in winter is the most suffering. Although there is a carriage to block the wind, there must be someone outside to control the direction.

At first it was Wang Xiaosong, but Zheng Ruqian was not the kind of black-hearted person who exploited workers. He would always go out and take turns.

When the wind of early spring blew on his face, piercingly cold, Zheng Ruqian thought of his sister, thought of the Hairpin courtyard, thought of the warm quilt, thought of the braised pork elbow made by his aunt.

But who made their business rely too much on temperature? The colder the weather, the better it was to preserve things.

If lying in bed could make money fall into his arms, who in the whole Dayu Dynasty would be willing to suffer hardships?

Thinking of Little Jiang Sheng's happy appearance of eating her fill, wearing warm clothes, thinking of the doubled savings at home, Zheng Ruqian exhaled a white breath and continued to whip the horse forward.

The curtain behind was lifted, and Wang Xiaosong sniffed and complained, "It's said that the further south you go, the warmer it gets. How come I don't feel warm at all, and even shiver from the cold?"

Zheng Ruqian thought about it carefully.

The elder brother had mentioned when reading miscellanies that although Anshui Prefecture was located in the north, the climate was dry and windless. Going south to Danyang Prefecture, the temperature did rise slightly, but the air was humid and rainy, and the wind was even more chilling when it blew.

"Xiaosong, sometimes feeling cold or warm is not all about temperature. You also have to consider the dampness of rainwater and the wind direction." He shook his head, putting on a mature and experienced posture.

Wang Xiaosong had little education, and was really fooled. He increasingly admired the young master.

All the way bumping to Danyang Prefecture.

Zheng Ruqian was in no hurry to buy a carriage full of roast ducks and take them back. Relying on his upright face that made elders like him, he turned to his aunts and asked around to find the most authentic one.

Roast ducks were weighed by the catty. A whole one weighed about fifty or so wen. Even though Danyang Prefecture was prosperous, this price was not low. Most commoners preferred to cut half or a quarter to take home as a dish.

When Zheng Ruqian said he wanted to buy a hundred ducks, even the shopkeeper was shocked, staring at him and asking in Danyang dialect, "Young man, a hundred costs a lot of money, are you sure?"

Of course he was sure. But Zheng Ruqian did not intend to take away a hundred ducks with five taels of silver. He rolled up his sleeves, his tongue as agile as a lotus flower, "Boss, since we want a hundred at one go, do you have any discounts for buying in bulk? It is said that business emphasizes thin profits and quick turnover. We are giving you quick turnover, so you should lower your profit a bit, right?"

Bargaining was a talent, and addictive as well.

After half an hour of soft grinding and hard foaming, Zheng Ruqian got his wish and bought a hundred ducks at the price of forty wen.

But the shopkeeper was shorthanded and usually sold thirty to fifty ducks a day. They simply couldn't roast a hundred.

So Zheng Ruqian had to wait two days in Danyang Prefecture before he got the hundred ducks in batches.

After settling the four taels of silver with the boss, he immediately took Wang Xiaosong and rushed to Anshui Prefecture at full speed.

According to the price Shopkeeper Hao gave, two taels of silver per duck, a hundred would be exactly two hundred taels of silver.

Such a huge profit stirred Zheng Ruqian's heart. He didn't even want to stay overnight, but took turns resting in the carriage with Wang Xiaosong, shortening the half-month journey to six or seven days.

But something still went wrong.

When the carriage arrived in Anyang County, Wang Xiaosong smelled a sour odor in the carriage. He dared to open the package, only to find that the roast ducks bought on the first day had rotted.

When he opened the ducks roasted on the second day, although they were still intact, they were no longer fresh.

He called Zheng Ruqian over, and both felt chilled to the bone.

This was only Anyang County. It would take at least three more days to Anshui Prefecture. The roast ducks had already gone bad. How many would be left by the time they were delivered to Leisure Residence?

No wonder Shopkeeper Hao charged the astronomical price of two taels of silver per duck. This stuff simply couldn't be transported back to Anshui Prefecture.

"Young master, although four taels of silver is a lot, we have to cut the loss if it really doesn't work." Wang Xiaosong said with a choked voice, "Let's take this trip as wasted. We lost four taels of silver."

But how could that be allowed?

This was not just four taels of silver, but also his hope of making money, the breakthrough for long-distance food transport, the key to expanding the business in the future.

Zheng Ruqian did not only intend to transport roast ducks. If possible, he also wanted to transport the soured fish from Yuhang Prefecture, to go further south to Yongjia Prefecture for some fresh flavors, and even transport them back for the people of Anshui Prefecture to have a chance to taste.

Businessmen could not easily give up.

Zheng Ruqian thought hard in the carriage for a long time before finally deciding to distribute the still edible roast ducks to the people of Anyang County, then turn back and go to Danyang Prefecture again.

Along the way, he kept thinking about how to preserve the roast ducks. The reason why they traveled before and after the New Year relied on the cold air in winter to preserve the food longer.

But even after seven days of sleepless rushing, the roast ducks still rotted and deteriorated, indicating the air was not cold enough and the temperature not low enough.

Danyang Prefecture was even warmer than Anshui Prefecture, with little snow even falling, let alone storing them in snow.

It seemed ice was the only way.

Zheng Ruqian recalled Fang Heng mentioning that the wealthy households in Fengjing basically all had ice cellars to freeze in winter and take out in summer to cool off the heat.

His mind started working.

It was winter now, the season for making ice. The price of ice should be cheaper than in summer. Even if it was expensive, as long as the profit was within the two taels of silver Shopkeeper Hao promised, the roast ducks could be transported.

But Danyang Prefecture had a relatively high temperature, probably not suitable for freezing ice.

After figuring it out, Zheng Ruqian urgently pulled the reins and turned back to Anyang County under Wang Xiaosong's puzzled eyes.

After asking around carefully, there really were people selling ice.

He bought a whole half carriage, laid it out in the carriage, leaving the ice seller stunned.

"What illness do you have that requires you to sleep on ice to cure it?" The ice seller asked puzzledly.

Zheng Ruqian scratched his head, "I want to transport some stuff that shouldn't get hot."

"Then you can't do it like this." The ice seller kindly reminded, "The ice cubes will melt away quickly in the carriage, especially now that the weather is getting warmer and warmer. To preserve ice, you need to wrap it with thick cotton wadding."

The function of cotton wadding was insulation. It could retain both warmth and cold.

Zheng Ruqian suddenly realized, and hurriedly went to buy two thick cotton quilts, wrapping all the ice cubes in them.

After bidding farewell to the ice seller, the two rushed straight to Danyang Prefecture and bought another hundred roast ducks.

Still four taels of silver, still rushing day and night without stopping, but with the protection of the ice layer, the hundred roast ducks were finally transported back to Anshui Prefecture intact.

The spring breeze in March was no longer piercingly cold, blowing on the face like a mother's gentle touch, the familiar prefecture, the familiar people, the familiar hubbub rushing into the ears.

After repeated back and forth trips, evaporation of four taels of silver, gritting his teeth to buy ice and transport goods, the now darker and thinner Zheng Ruqian was most importantly exhausted physically and mentally.

He hadn't had a good sleep for nearly two months, curled up in the corner of the carriage every day, nestled against the ice cubes, and still worried about the roast ducks.

If it wasn't for his strong willpower, he would have collapsed long ago.

But this support vanished in an instant when he saw the erect, graceful young lady standing at the door of the Hairpin courtyard, and he fainted softly to the ground.