In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 764 Good Official

"My family head's surname is Zheng, and his given name is Qing!"

Manager Ma cupped his hands in a gesture of respect towards the north and said, "This is the Prefect of Taicang County."

"What? It's actually the governor of Taicang County?"

"Prefect Zheng is truly a good official!"

"Yes! Other officials would love to squeeze every last drop out of us, but Prefect Zheng is willing to sell us chickens and ducks at low prices."

"..."

While praising Zheng Qing, everyone took out their money to buy yellow-feathered chickens and white-feathered ducks.

"Boss, give me a yellow-feathered chicken."

"I want a white-feathered duck."

"Give me three yellow-feathered chickens."

"..."

Although the people of the prefectural city were far from wealthy, they did have some money. The reason they were starving was that goods were scarce in the city, and they simply couldn't spend their money.

Now that they see chickens and ducks at such low prices, how can they possibly resist?

Everyone present willingly took out their coins and excitedly bought chickens and ducks from Manager Ma's stall.

"Don't worry, don't worry, there's plenty of stock, you can buy everything."

Manager Ma handed the chickens and ducks to the people who had paid, a smile on his face.

Although chickens and ducks were sold at very low prices, this did not mean that the caravans made no profit.

The purchase price of yellow-feathered chickens and white-feathered ducks in Chenjia Village is 150 coins, and the selling price is 200 coins and 220 coins respectively. For every yellow-feathered chicken sold, you can earn 50 coins, and for every white-feathered duck sold, you can earn 70 coins, with an average profit of 60 coins per chicken.

After deducting the labor costs of transportation, the profit per chicken or duck is between 30 and 40 coins, and this time the caravan brought as many as 5,000 chickens and ducks to the prefectural city!

If all five thousand chickens and ducks can be sold, even with the lowest profit of 30 coins, that would still be a profit of fifteen thousand coins.

A full 1,500 taels of silver—that's quite a profit.

Not to mention, the caravan brought not only chickens and ducks, but also grains, chicken and duck eggs, down jackets, and so on. If all of these goods could be sold, Manager Ma estimated that the profit from this trip would not be less than 2000 taels!

Of course, a profit of only 2000 taels would not be enough to excite Manager Ma so much.

What truly excited him was that the patriarch had said that after this, the Zheng family business would establish a Zheng Bao Lou in the prefectural city, and he, Manager Ma, would become the manager of this Zheng Bao Lou!

Managing Zheng Bao Lou was the dream of most managers under the Zheng family business, and Manager Ma was no exception.

Becoming the manager of Zheng Bao Lou means gaining greater power and settling down without having to travel around anymore...

In short, Manager Ma is determined to get the position of manager of Zheng Baolou.

"Boss, I heard you sell chickens for 200 coins each?"

"That's right! Would you like one, sir?"

"One isn't enough, give me two!"

"I'll have two too!"

"..."

As time went by, more and more people in the city learned of the stall's existence and flocked to Manager Ma's stall to buy chickens and ducks.

In just half an hour, Manager Ma had sold one-fifth of the chickens and ducks on his stall, which is a thousand!

But it's obvious that a thousand is not the end, but the beginning!

As time went on, more and more people came to buy the chickens and ducks. By the time the sun was high in the sky, almost all of the five thousand chickens and ducks that Manager Ma had brought had been sold, with less than 200 left!

"Boss, do you still have chickens and ducks for sale?"

A woman with rough skin rushed over and asked breathlessly.

Upon learning from others that chickens and ducks were being sold in the East Market, she immediately set off for the market. Because she hadn't been eating much lately and had been running so fast, she was breathing rapidly and her chest was heaving violently.

"And more and more!"

Shopkeeper Ma said with a smile, "Auntie, you came just in time! If you had been any later, there wouldn't have been any chickens and ducks left!"

"Great!"

The woman quickly took out her money pouch from her pocket, hurriedly counted out 600 coins, and handed them to Manager Ma: "Boss, quickly give me two yellow-feathered chickens."

"okay!"

The woman who successfully bought three yellow-feathered chickens left beaming, and after her, many more customers came one after another.

In less than fifteen minutes, the remaining 200 chickens and ducks on the stall were completely sold out.

Many people who rushed over later were dismayed to find the stalls empty except for some chicken and duck feathers.

"Damn it, I'm still too late!"

"I ran so fast and I still couldn't catch up."

"Why would those dogs buy so much? Can they even finish eating it all?"

"..."

Seeing the disappointed customers, Manager Wu instructed his staff to unload the remaining goods and said, "Gentlemen, we're out of chickens and ducks! But I have some chicken and duck eggs here. Would you like to buy them?"

Chicken and duck eggs?

Everyone's eyes lit up immediately, and they all asked about the price.

Upon learning that chicken eggs cost only 5 coins each and duck eggs only 6 coins each, these latecomers almost immediately took out their money bags and each bought at least 10 chicken or duck eggs.

Although eggs cannot be compared to meat, they are still a kind of animal product. For the people of the prefecture who are suffering from hunger, they are naturally overjoyed to be able to buy chicken and duck eggs at such a low price.

"Boss, your caravan is really honest! You're selling such in-demand goods at such a low price."

"Yes! If it were any other merchant, they would probably sell this egg for 20 coins."

"The boss and his employer are such kind people!"

"..."

The people who bought the eggs kept praising Manager Ma and the owner Zheng Qing, whom Manager Ma mentioned.

At this moment, Manager Ma and his employer were seen by these people as almost like bodhisattvas who saved them from suffering.

After these people left, a large number of people came over, asking as soon as they arrived if they had any yellow-feathered chickens, white-feathered ducks, or chicken and duck eggs...

Unfortunately, the chickens, ducks, and eggs had already been sold out, so Manager Ma could only shake his head and then try to sell them the remaining goods: grain and down jackets.

Food and down jackets are also things that the city is in dire need of right now, and the people naturally won't miss out, quickly taking out their money to buy them.

Soon, all the goods brought by Manager Ma were sold out. Looking at the people who were still coming in droves with frustrated expressions, Manager Ma thought for a moment, stood up and said, "Gentlemen, all my goods are sold out! But don't worry, other caravans will be arriving soon, and you will be able to buy the same goods then."

Upon hearing this, the eyes of the people who had just been looking annoyed immediately lit up.

"Really, boss? Are there other caravans bringing goods to sell?"

"Does that mean we can buy yellow-feathered chickens and white-feathered ducks too?"

"Boss, do other caravans sell their goods at the same price as you?"

"Boss, when will the other caravans arrive?"

"..."