57 pounds of eels, still at 1.2 Dollars per pound. They also bought the 200 eggs she brought.
This man was quite familiar with Hughes Lawrence. While he didn’t promise to regularly order eels like Hughes Lawrence, he was straightforward:
“If you have more eels in the future, come ask me first. Say you’re looking for Parker Jace.”
Parker Jace was arrogant, but his family connections were strong enough to get him a job at the Yellow River Restaurant. As fellow procurement officers, he and Hughes Lawrence from the Municipal Committee Guest House were friends, exchanging information. Hughes Lawrence had visited him after work yesterday, asking if the Yellow River Restaurant needed eels, mentioning a relative who was selling them.
The Yellow River Restaurant certainly needed eels; native cuisine was their specialty, and authentic native cuisine wouldn’t be complete without eel stew.
If he hadn’t handled this small matter, wouldn’t he have lost face in front of Hughes Lawrence?
What Parker Jace hadn’t expected was that Hughes Lawrence’s relative… was so beautiful.
As beautiful as the vixen in those videotapes. Parker Jace hadn’t imagined such a person existed in real life, and he almost embarrassed himself in front of Whitaker Scarlett.
“Hughes Lawrence, what relative is she? Why haven’t I heard you mention her before?”
Another one is captivated by Whitaker Scarlett’s beauty.
Parker Jace, usually haughty, even offered Hughes Lawrence a cigarette with a smile. Hughes Lawrence was amazed.
“What? You’re interested in her?”
Parker Jace coughed. “We could become friends.”
Hughes Lawrence thought, with the ongoing crackdown, that this young lady wouldn’t be foolish enough to become friends with him. Any relationship not aimed at marriage was a sham. He didn’t know much about Whitaker Scarlett, so he casually replied:
“You’ll have plenty of interactions. Her business will last until November. Don’t bully her; keep it appropriate!”
Parker Jace’s family held some minor power, and he was a sought-after unmarried young man, not bad-looking either. If it was meant to be, Hughes Lawrence didn’t want to shut down the possibility.
Parker Jace heard the implication—there was a chance!
Whitaker Scarlett was definitely not married; otherwise, Hughes Lawrence would have warned him.
He immediately regretted his earlier aloofness. He should have directly ordered a daily supply of eels from her for the Yellow River Restaurant, ensuring daily meetings! What a missed opportunity!
…
Whitaker Scarlett was unaware that her beauty had once again worked its magic, securing her a major buyer for her eels.
She hadn’t expected to sell out so quickly. She’d started with over fifty Dollars, and after selling the eels and eggs, she now had around 150 Dollars. It was still early, so Whitaker Scarlett cycled toward the agricultural trade market.
Beyond the agricultural trade market lay an oil mill. Whitaker Scarlett didn’t want to return to Wellwater village empty-handed, so she considered a side business. She pondered the rural market, thinking about what would make farmers spend money—something that would make them profit.
What did Greenfield County have?
Its two largest factories were the agricultural machinery factory and the meat-processing plant. Whitaker Scarlett couldn’t get involved with the agricultural machinery factory, but the meat-processing plant meant many farmers in the surrounding areas raised pigs.
No one would be extravagant enough to keep a whole pig for the New Year. Even if they hired someone to slaughter it, most of the meat would be sold, leaving only offal and scraps for themselves. Most farmers sold the entire pig to the Greenfield County meat-processing plant. Raising pigs was probably their biggest source of income besides farming.
Too-thin pigs wouldn’t fetch a good price, so farmers fattened them up.
The Miller Family also raised two pigs. Whitaker Scarlett overheard her aunt, Amanda, saying she needed to buy some oil cakes for the pigs but hadn’t found any after two trips to the town market. This sparked an idea. She asked what kind of oil cakes they were.
“Oil cakes are the residue left after oil extraction.”
After pressing oil from rapeseed, some oil residue remained. After fermentation, this became feed for fattening pigs, making them grow quickly Amanda hadn’t found any oil cakes on her two trips, proving someone was selling them, but supply wasn’t guaranteed… If there was a market, there was money to be made.
There weren’t enough oil cakes around Greenfield County, but there were in HarborfieldCity.
Whitaker Scarlett wasn’t specifically buying oil cakes; she’d pick them up on her way back after selling the eels. She wouldn’t need to go to the market to sell them; she could collect eels from various villages and sell oil cakes to pig farmers along the way.
Her keen observation of her surroundings was key; otherwise, how would she know there was an oil mill in that direction?
