Chapter Thirty-Nine: Wishing Us Tremendous Success!

At that moment, Uncle arrived carrying a food box to deliver their meal. Seeing everyone still gathered in the brewery, he couldn’t help but laugh. “What’s all this? Are you really trying to brew wine?”

“Here, try this,” Su Youcai handed the bowl to his elder brother.

Uncle glanced warily at the pressing bench and the tangerine peels scattered on the ground, but still took the bowl, sighing, “As long as it appeases you, I’ll drink it, no matter how sour.”

With that, he steeled himself, raised his neck, and gulped down a large mouthful, bracing for that bone-deep sourness that would make him shiver. To his surprise, there was no such assault; instead, it tasted sweet and tart, unexpectedly delicious.

He smacked his lips and took another sip, then gave a thumbs-up. “This is really good—did you add sugar or honey?”

“That’s for me to know,” Su Youcai replied, then asked, “Say, if Jinbao wanted a bowl of this at the festival, how much would you pay?”

“I’d pay whatever it cost, as long as I could afford it,” Uncle answered without hesitation. Jinbao, after all, meant Su Youjin’s precious treasure…

“So how much do you think it’s worth?” Su Youcai rephrased.

“Two copper coins?” Uncle pondered. “Three seems a bit steep.”

“Why’s that?” Su Lu inquired.

“For three coins, you could get a bowl of cheap liquor. You can’t charge more than white liquor,” said Uncle. “But then, the cheap stuff at the market is all watered down—nothing like what we brew ourselves. I never drink that.”

“You really do have it both ways, don’t you…” Su Youcai was speechless.

“Then let’s water ours down too!” Su Lu declared, lowering his voice. “If we can’t raise the price, then we need to lower the cost!”

He Chengshi glanced at Su Lu; in truth, she had just been about to suggest the same.

“Is that really right?” Su Tai scratched the back of his head. “Master always said only unscrupulous merchants water down their wine.”

“It’s not the same. We’re diluting the orange juice to balance the acidity—and with our cool, sweet well water from Erlang Beach, it’ll taste even better.” Su Lu sounded righteous.

“True,” Uncle agreed, showing his own knack for business. “As long as it’s got that sweet-and-sour flavor, what more do you want for three coins—ambrosia?”

“Ordinary folks hardly ever get to eat sugar. It doesn’t need to be that sweet—just a hint is enough to attract people,” the young widow coughed delicately, proving like attracts like.

“I did some math just now: three tangerines make about a pound, enough for one bowl of juice. We have three thousand pounds in the store, so even without counting losses, we can only make three thousand bowls.”

“At three coins a bowl, that’s nine thousand coins,” Uncle clicked his tongue. “Nine taels of silver, that’s not bad.”

“But we spent five taels just buying the fruit,” He Chengshi explained. “If we sell it too cheap, it’s not worth it.”

“If we feel bad about watering down orange juice, then let’s not call it orange juice,” Su Youcai suddenly saw the light, clapping his hands. “We can call it ‘Golden Tangerine Nectar.’ Then the recipe is entirely up to us.”

“Exactly! Trust the scholar to come up with clever ideas,” Uncle laughed. “Even if I add ten times the water, you can only say the nectar tastes too thin, but you can’t accuse me of watering it down.”

“Is that really how it works?” Su Tai scratched his head, feeling out of place among these budding businessmen.

So, with four votes in favor and one abstaining, they decided to dilute the orange juice.

No—rather, to blend it into an entirely new drink!

After trials, they found that equal parts water and juice produced the best flavor. Water could be increased to at most twice the juice, or else it became insipid.

“Let’s make two versions,” Su Lu suggested readily. “A one-to-one ‘Golden Tangerine Nectar’ for five coins, and a one-to-two blend called ‘Sweet Delight’ for three coins!”

“But then customers will go for Sweet Delight—it’s a better deal,” He Chengshi instantly calculated the cost.

“We’re not out to cheat the poor,” Su Lu nodded. “If you want the premium version, you need to pay more. Isn’t that fair?”

“Very fair, indeed,” everyone agreed wholeheartedly.

Thus, they finalized both the product and its pricing. Still, Uncle hesitated. “I still think it’s a bit pricey.”

“You have to understand people’s psychology, Uncle. There’s a saying: ‘Good things aren’t cheap.’ If you price it higher, people will instinctively think your product is superior,” Su Lu smiled.

“But won’t folks go for the cheaper option?” Uncle wondered.

“Usually, yes. But at the New Year’s temple fair—once a year—who doesn’t want to treat themselves? Price it higher, but not prohibitively so, and with a little promotion, you’ll actually make them more eager to try it,” Su Lu replied confidently.

“What do you mean by promotion?” Su Tai asked.

“It means using publicity to create a buzz and attract attention,” Su Lu whispered.

He Chengshi nodded in agreement. “Qiu is right. We women think like that—a lot of times, the pricier something is, the more we want to buy it…” She blushed. “Of course, if it’s cheap, we want it even more.”

“Hmm, you have a point,” Uncle rubbed his forehead, recalling how, when shopping for tea, he tended to pick the pricier leaves—never the cheapest ones.

That was tea, mind you—nothing improper…

“And we can make it look more valuable!” Su Lu added, placing a bamboo tube on the table.

This was from the brewery’s stock, originally intended for orange wine. The bamboo tube’s lid had a small hole bored in the center. With the nectar inside and the lid fastened, Su Lu inserted a straw through the hole and, holding the tube in one hand, sipped the drink straight from the straw.

“That’s clever,” Su Youcai gave another thumbs-up. “Everyone knows you can use a bamboo tube for water, or use straws, but I’ve never seen them combined like this.”

“Brilliant,” He Chengshi remarked. “Now customers don’t have to drink it all at our stand. They can take it along, sip as they stroll—doesn’t interrupt their shopping at all.”

“And as they walk around holding the bamboo tube, sipping now and then, that’s great publicity for us! I bet lots of people will want to try this novel way of drinking,” Su Lu added, then asked Uncle, “Still think it’s expensive?”

“Not at all,” Uncle replied, smiling as he held the bamboo tube. “For the novelty alone, I’d pay even more.”

“We still need to focus on sales volume, though, so pricing can’t be too high,” Su Lu cautioned. “But our supply is limited, so pricing can’t be too low either.”

In these times, there were no suppliers to restock; once inventory was gone, that was it—especially in these mountains.

“So not too high and not too low—three to five coins seems just right,” Uncle said, patting Su Lu’s shoulder. “You’ve got a smart head on your shoulders—no matter what you do, you do it well!”

“But there’s an issue,” He Chengshi spoke quietly. “These bamboo tubes were carefully selected, stripped of their membranes, boiled and dried—they cost one copper each. And there are only two thousand in the store—once used up, we can’t get more for a while.”

“True, fresh-cut bamboo has a raw, bitter taste—even water sours in it,” Su Tai agreed.

“No worries—we can use a ‘deposit refund’ system to recycle the tubes. That way, customers have to return to our stall, boosting repeat business,” Su Lu had already thought it through.

“A deposit refund? You never run out of tricks!” Even Uncle was thoroughly impressed now.

Thus, everyone unanimously appointed Su Lu as the “Commander of the Sweetwater Campaign,” responsible for overseeing the entire production and sales process.

With tuition on the line, Su Lu set aside all modesty and took charge, organizing everyone efficiently.

“Second Brother, you’ll handle sweet wine production; Grandma Li will help you with the fire,” Su Lu instructed. “Keep the batches consistent—starting today, make seventy to eighty pounds of sweet wine daily. Don’t stop unless I say so.”

“Alright,” Su Tai replied gravely. “It takes over two pounds of sorghum to make a pound of sweet wine. I’ll need two hundred pounds of sorghum each day.”

He Chengshi nodded. “We have over a thousand pounds of broken sorghum in the store—enough for five days.”

Sorghum was cheap to begin with, and hers was all broken, so it was worth even less.

“That’s plenty. If all goes well, we’ll use up the tangerines in five days,” Su Lu nodded, then added, “Boss, you’ll need to reboil and scrub all the bamboo tubes. Food safety is most important—if we make anyone sick, we’re finished.”

“Of course!” He Chengshi rolled up her sleeves, feeling a surge of energy for the first time since her family’s misfortune.

“What about me?” Little Tiantian raised her hand eagerly.

“You’ll help your mother,” Su Lu answered gently.

“And your father?” Su Youcai was also keen to help.

“Father’s job is just as important,” Su Lu ticked off on his fingers. “You’ll write out the banners and flags for our stall, and mark the bamboo tubes—one, to distinguish the two drinks; two, so we can identify them when they’re returned.”

“What about me?” Uncle volunteered. “I can’t just stand by and watch everyone work so hard during the festival.”

“There’s a job only you can handle,” Su Lu smiled. “How do we get all this to Taiping Town? And once there, which connections to visit, where to set up our stand? Only you can manage that.”

“Haha, you really know people!” Uncle was delighted. “Don’t worry—at Taiping Garrison, your uncle is like a crab crossing the street—sideways all the way! Leave it to me!”

“Uncle, you’re the best!” Though the others no longer fully believed his boasts, they still chimed in with praise.

~~

Over the next two days, everyone worked their hardest, each at their post. By the evening of the third day of the new year, everything was ready.

Before dawn on the fourth day, the four Su men had already made several trips up and down, carrying everything needed from He’s brewery to the river wharf.

The supplies were truly heavy—just the tangerines, sweet wine, and well water weighed two thousand pounds, not to mention the two thousand bamboo tubes and various tools and utensils. Luckily, Uncle and Su Tai were both as strong as oxen, each worth two men.

The two scholars, though lacking in muscle, did their best as well. Even the three women helped however they could.

To escape their various predicaments, everyone gave their all…

Before sunrise, everything was loaded onto the boat.

Seeing Uncle had hired a lopsided boat, Su Youcai whispered, “That sort isn’t cheap.”

“Mm, that old turtle’s charging me a hundred coins for a day,” Uncle said with some pain.

“Well, it’s the New Year and there’s no other work—otherwise I wouldn’t bother,” the old boatman wasn’t afraid of a petty officer like him.

“If I weren’t worried about bruising the fruit, I wouldn’t have chartered your boat either,” Uncle retorted, then added with a laugh, “But for river travel, you’re the only one I trust—for safety.”

“Uncle’s right—we can’t skimp on this,” Su Lu agreed, thinking of the tragedy that had befallen the young widow’s family. He had great respect for the Chishui River, their mother river.

His father and elder brother felt the same. In the end, the family split into two groups: one went with the boat, the other traveled on foot. That way, they wouldn’t lose everything at once, and the lighter load made the boat safer.

Fortunately, the weather was kind, the river calm, and the old boatman safely brought them to Taiping Town’s dock.

The dock was already crowded with boats from all directions, everyone coming for the temple fair.

“Let’s go—here’s to a great sale!” Su Lu warmed up his hands, ready for the challenge ahead!