Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside

Chapter 686: Auction

Ouyang Hu laughed and said, "Oh, you know, then tell me."

Brother Cheng said, "This is the wine blended by my second sister. It contains Jinling Wine, Songjiang Wine, reed wine, a little bit of mountain pomelo peel, a little bit of Meihua, and a small amount of ordinary sweet rice wine."

He proudly added, "This is a unique beverage of Yanfu Building, proportionally blended. Other taverns can’t create this; it is specifically paired with ham."

Second Sister said, the best pairing with ham is red wine, but since there’s no red wine here, she had to blend a new wine to pair with the ham.

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Hu was astounded: "Can wine really be blended like this?"

Mixing several types of wines into a new one, this was something Ouyang Hu had never heard of before.

"Your second sister is truly intelligent," Ouyang Hu exclaimed.

Brother Cheng laughed and said, "Just a bit, not very smart; Second Sister can be foolish at times."

Especially when interacting with Brother San Lang, Second Sister always acts silly. Sometimes he couldn’t bear to watch, yet she appeared to be quite happy in her silliness.

The elder brother said to let Second Sister be, as she doesn’t act foolishly often.

Hearing this, Ouyang Hu burst into laughter, finding the young fellow quite charming.

"Lord Zheng, County Captain Jiang, and County Magistrate Fang have arrived!" A loud shout interrupted the conversation.

Gu Jin’an quickly said, "Please forgive me, sir. I will go welcome the officials."

Ouyang Hu said, "Go ahead."

After speaking, he began eating the ham and drinking the wine, his plump face full of delight.

Knowing that Yanfu Building was selling ham today, County Magistrate Zheng specially brought his son, three stewards, and the county government assistant officers.

He originally came to support the event, but unexpectedly ran into Ouyang Hu. Immediately, a phrase from County Magistrate Xu came to his mind: Brother Zheng, the Gu Family is a fortunate family, illogically lucky. If you want to get promoted, stay close to the Gu Family.

The fortune of the Gu Family was indeed extraordinary, to have brought Mr. Ouyang Hu here.

Unable to resist, Master Zheng exchanged a few polite words with Gu Jin’an, then quickly brought his son to pay respects: "I pay respects to Master Ouyang. It’s been a long time since we last met, how have you been, sir?"

It had indeed been a very long time, at least twenty years.

When County Magistrate Zheng first met Ouyang Hu, he was still a young lad, and now he has become a middle-aged man.

Even with a good memory, Ouyang Hu couldn’t remember him: "You are?"

County Magistrate Zheng said, "Sir, I am from a collateral branch of the Jinling Zheng Family. Twenty years ago, I attended a lecture in the Capital where you spoke about governing a great country as if cooking small delicacies."

"Oh yes, that did happen. I would have forgotten if you hadn’t mentioned it," Ouyang Hu said while eating. "Are you here to buy ham as well? Did you bring enough silver? I just inquired, that ham is excessively expensive, starting at five hundred taels."

Ouyang Hu looked concerned that Zheng might not have brought enough money to buy the ham and could end up embarrassed, considering he’s a county magistrate and it would not be proper to buy on credit.

County Magistrate Zheng’s face stiffened, but Jiang Qi perceptively said, "Don’t worry, old sir, we’ve brought enough silver notes."

Thanks to the soybean oil business, the Jiang Family has made a fortune over the last three years. This time, Jiang Qi brought three silver notes, each valued five hundred taels, planning to lend two to County Magistrate Zheng when needed.

Ouyang Hu nodded in response: "That’s good."

Brother Cheng knew County Magistrate Zheng was embarrassed, he also knew Zheng’s son, and holding Zheng’s son’s hand, he said to Ouyang Hu: "Grandpa Ouyang, this is Brother Qing, he is seven years old this year, and he’s a very good boy."

Zheng Qing bowed to Ouyang Hu: "Hello, Grandpa Ouyang."

Only then did Ouyang Hu see him and smiled, saying, "Hello to you too."

Then, he turned to Brother Cheng and said: "Indeed, a very good boy."

Hearing this, Brother Cheng laughed, and County Magistrate Zheng also smiled, thinking that the Gu Family’s second son was indeed clever and capable, genuinely caring for his son, Brother Qing.

County Magistrate Zheng sat in the hall since Ouyang Hu was there as well.

Soon, Master Qi arrived with a few wealthy guests from the Prefecture, and almost fainted from excitement upon knowing Ouyang Hu was at the Yanfu Building.

What a blunder, he feared his two mischievous sons would be taken to arrange a marriage alliance with the Gu Family, something they would rather die than attend Yanfu Building for. Had they come, they would have met Mr. Ouyang Hu.

Although Ouyang Hu couldn’t be compared to Old Man Ouyang, he was still a renowned scholar in Great Chu, and a few pieces of advice from him could significantly benefit the learning of his two sons.

Mr. Ouyang Hu only spoke a few words with Master Qi before starting to eat his ham slices. After finishing, Brother Cheng cleverly brought over two more plates, making Ouyang Hu extremely happy.

Gu Jinli secretly watched from a private room on the second floor, saw everyone had arrived, and allowed Jin’an to start the auction.

Jin’an immediately had Lu Peng to close the door; those who hadn’t bought their groceries were directed to queue at the side door’s window, as buying from the main entrance was no longer allowed.

Qi Kangming personally went on stage with Jin’an to conduct the auction.

Ten hams were placed in a white porcelain basin, laid out one by one.

Jin’an pointed to the hams and said: "Honored guests, these are Yanfu Hams, made from select top-quality pork legs, cured for three years to achieve a singular delicacy. With three years for a single freshness, the craftsmanship is uniquely brilliant, truly a rare treat. You esteemed guests have tasted the flavor of the ham, and whether it is worth the starting bid of five hundred taels, you know in your hearts."

Boss An, from a family of merchants in the Prefecture, had set his sights on the ham, but stated: "Although the flavor of the ham is excellent, and ’three years for a single freshness’ is indeed rare, you must have been producing ham every year for these three years, right? How many did you make? Several thousand or tens of thousands? As the highest bidder gets the product, if the quantity produced by Yanfu Building is too large, the price would be driven down, which is extremely disadvantageous for the buyer."

He clearly stated: "I am a merchant, I seek profit. Quality, scarcity, and uniqueness can elevate the price, but if you produce a large quantity of ham each year, you lose these three advantages. If we buy it, we would incur a loss."

Boss An wanted to buy a large quantity of ham at the lowest price and then transport it to make a huge profit in the Capital, so he aimed to push down the price and did not want an auction. If there was to be an auction, it should be handled by the An Family.

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Hu frowned, looked at Boss An, and said: "Boss An considers the ham a rare commodity priced in silver, but the old man sees it as a rare delicacy. To possess one or two of such treasures is enough, they should not be hoarded only to be sold at double the price later, this degrades the word ’delicacy.’"

Boss An’s face showed difficulty in maintaining composure; the old man’s words accused him of being a greedy merchant, one who shouldn’t hoard to create rarity. Just as he was about to stand up and argue with Ouyang Hu, he was held back by Master Qi: "Boss An, don’t be rash, this is Mr. Ouyang Hu."

Shocked to realize it was someone from the Ouyang Family, Boss An quickly bowed and sat back down.

Gu Jinli: "..."

Her face turned a bit red; she was indeed a cunning merchant!

She turned and asked San Lang: "Am I a cunning merchant?"

San Lang laughed and said: "No, Xiao Yu is a girl with a conscience."

Gu Jinli laughed upon hearing this, then asked, "Has Luo Wu not returned yet?"

It was nearly noon, what could be so busy in the government office until now?