Disaster Apocalypse: Farming, Family, and My Hidden Secret Space-Chapter 88. Conditions

"Quick, quick, don’t just stand in the yard, hurry inside, old man." Hua’s wife, who came out from the kitchen upon hearing the noise, reminded Hua old man and their son.

"Yes, yes, it’s too cold outside, hurry inside."

"Have some water"

Seeing the cup of hot water offered, Luo Song quickly stood up and accepted it with both hands.

Hua Chengtian also hurriedly poured a bowl for his own father.

"Young Master Luo, you’ve come over so early... Is there something you need?"

Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense!

As the words formed on his lips, Luo Song nodded earnestly.

Hua Chengtian exchanged a glance with his father, Hua old man, "I see, Young Master Luo might as well tell us directly, we’ll certainly help where we can."

"Indeed, there is something I need to discuss with Uncle Hua and Grandpa Hua." As he spoke, Luo Song gently placed the cup on the table, took out an oiled paper package from his belongings, and opened it on the table.

When the Hua family father and son saw the glistening white grains of salt in the paper package, what was there left to not understand?

Their gazes simultaneously turned somber, and their eyes grew heavy with significance.

Hua Chengtian spoke up, "This... where did Young Master Luo get this from?"

"It was from a return gift from Uncle’s family yesterday."

"A return gift?" Hua Chengtian was momentarily stunned, then immediately thought of his daughter.

Aside from them, it was only his daughter who had access to it; none of the other children could get near it, all stored in Grandpa’s room.

So... what was his daughter planning?

"Yes, Uncle Hua, I understand this might seem a bit forward, but I’d like to ask where this salt came from."

"So you came because of the salt."

"Yes," Luo Song nodded, "Uncle Hua should know about the Luo family in Shanggu Town, that’s my family. I was just so intrigued by this fine salt when I saw it last night that I couldn’t resist coming over first thing this morning. I hope Uncle Hua and Grandpa Hua won’t mind."

"No problem," Hua Chengtian waved his hand, scrutinizing Luo Song while pondering over the thousand plus pounds of salt stored in his daughter’s secret space.

The Luo family, so this is what his daughter intended, and he finally understood it. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

It’s rare for a child so young to have such foresight.

The Luo family indeed makes a very good collaboration partner, and they have a good reputation in Shanggu Town, without any acts of bullying because of their status.

Most importantly, they have a life-saving bond with Luo Song.

This bond alone should mean they won’t exploit them too harshly!

Hua Chengtian squinted at Luo Song.

Perhaps they should sell all the salt from his daughter’s secret stash to Luo Song, after all, their own family doesn’t dare sell it openly.

The government’s control over salt is very strict; getting caught mining and producing it privately is a capital crime.

The Luo family has managed to grow their business so large probably due to their own channels, or at the very least, they must have certain connections, otherwise, they wouldn’t have made this special trip.

Merchants pursue profit, so they have definitely seen the massive benefits in this.

"Young Master Luo, do you really want to know the source of the salt?" Seeing his father nod and come to terms with the situation, Hua Chengtian spoke up.

"I hope Uncle Hua can enlighten me." Luo Song lowered his stance, bowing slightly.

"Ah! I didn’t expect the child’s mother to use salt as a return gift, but as a rural family, we don’t have much of value. However, this shows the bond between us, so fine, I won’t hide it from you—this salt is something our family produced by accident."

"Young Master Luo should know that coarse salt shouldn’t be consumed too much, yet abstaining isn’t practical either, especially for children; it pains us as elders to see. So we wondered whether the salt could be cleaned more thoroughly so it wouldn’t be black, and would the stomachs feel better... and who would have thought, we eventually succeeded, and thus came Snow Salt." Hua Chengtian showed a helpless expression and then looked at the snow-white salt grains on the table.

"Uncle Hua, did you really make this salt yourselves?" Luo Song, who had been standing, couldn’t help but step forward, luckily managing to calm his excitement before reaching out to grab Hua Chengtian’s hand.

"You heard it right," Hua Chengtian nodded helplessly, "we had no choice but to come up with it ourselves."

"Uncle Hua, I..."

Luo Song was just about to speak when Hua Chengtian interrupted him.

"Young Master Luo, I understand your intention; you want to buy our salt-making method, right? I agree..."

"Uncle Hua..." Luo Song was almost stunned silent upon hearing this, taken aback.

This was too easy; just like that, he agreed.

He hadn’t even started negotiating his terms!

"However, agreeing is one thing, but there’s a condition," Hua Chengtian added, his demeanor also growing solemn.

The matter of salt was something the family had discussed awhile ago, and they were more inclined to sell the recipe.

They mainly wanted a once and for all solution, to avoid any more disturbances over the salt.

Seeing this, Luo Song grew serious as well, and said earnestly, "Uncle Hua, no matter the condition, as long as it’s within my ability, I will certainly comply."

Seeing the earnest Luo Song, with a dedicated demeanor, Hua Chengtian softened his tone, "Don’t be nervous. It’s not really a condition. Regarding the Snow Salt, I hope Young Master Luo can keep it a secret, meaning once your Luo family buys the recipe, it’ll be known as your family’s discovery with no connection to our Hua family."

Just... this.

Luo Song could no longer maintain a composed expression, staring in surprise at Uncle Hua and the ever-calm Grandpa Hua.

He had prepared himself to meet various conditions, even readying a large sum of silver coin, but who knew the only condition was merely to keep it a secret.

"Can that be done?" Hua Chengtian looked seriously at Luo Song and his steward beside him.

"Yes, of course," Luo Song quickly nodded, "in this regard, Uncle Hua can rest assured; we can even sign a contract to secure it."

"No need, Uncle Hua trusts you."

A piece of paper might mean something to poor people, but to the wealthy, it’s just a piece of paper—Hua Chengtian might not know much, but he understood this.

So whether or not to have one makes little difference.

"Alright, since it’s settled, let’s discuss the price of the recipe." With the agreement reached, Hua Chengtian proceeded without hesitation to the next step.

What followed proceeded very smoothly: one side feared asking too much, while the other feared the other party’s loss. Ultimately, the recipe was sold to Luo Song for five thousand taels of silver, and at the same time, the thousand jin of Snow Salt from the Hua family was also agreed to be sold at one tael of silver per jin.

Before coming, Luo Song had prepared himself and brought the silver notes with him. The Hua family also had pen, ink, paper, and inkstone ready, needing only a few strokes to complete the transaction.

After seeing Luo Song off, aside from the hundred jin of Snow Salt remaining in Hua Jinchong’s space, the Hua family also gained an additional six thousand taels of silver.

As soon as they entered the main room, the silver notes hadn’t even warmed in their hands before the old man decided that a thousand taels would go to Hua Jinchong.

After all, without Hua Jinchong, they wouldn’t have been able to produce Snow Salt, much less have a recipe to sell, giving the family newfound confidence.

"Jin’er, you were the one who left that package of salt, weren’t you?" Hua old man eyed the granddaughter happily holding the silver note.

Hua Jinchong smiled sheepishly at the old man and nodded in acknowledgment.

Happily, she put the silver note into her bag and stored it in her space, just the thing she needed, as there wasn’t much silver in her space before; now it was more than enough.

"Hehe, Grandpa is clever, guessed right immediately. But I didn’t just leave it there carelessly; I also observed Brother Luo Song’s character, though the thanks came a bit late, this person has a sense of gratitude. As people, we should take risks; we can’t just have a mountain of treasure and only stare at it, can we? Otherwise, all our efforts would be for nothing, and besides, our family has shown him kindness, and we are familiar with him. It’s better than wandering around like headless chickens, right?"