Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Xie Youshun apologized to the Xiao Family on behalf of Ruyi. Although it wasn't his fault, Ruyi was still his sister, and he felt very sorry for his sister-in-law's family, especially for Meihua.
The members of the Xiao Family naturally did not blame Xie Youshun. They knew his character, and considering Xiao Lihua's poor reputation and her tendency to cause trouble, Xie Youshun had not taken her back nor treated her poorly. Therefore, the Xiao Family would not blame him for Ruyi; even Meihua said she did not hold it against him.
However, Xiao Pozi also suggested that Xie Youshun should avoid provoking Ruyi in the future. Xie Youshun agreed. Prior to this, they had already decided to limit their interactions with Ruyi, and now they had a reason to do so. With this incident in mind, when it came time to speak in front of the Xie Family's Old Couple, they could no longer say anything good about Ruyi.
As soon as it was the hour of Shen, they set off. They still needed to meet Zhao Linting on the way and could not afford to delay.
The family reluctantly saw them off, especially Xiao Shi, who was particularly attached to her two younger cousins. She waved until they were far away.
They hurriedly arrived at Zhao Linting's estate and shared what had happened. Zhao Linting was very pleased and immediately began selecting an auspicious date for the proposal. The nearest date was the day after tomorrow; he said he would go to Caotou Village to propose then.
Seeing Zhao Linting's happy expression, Xiao Lihua thought that he genuinely wanted to marry her sister. She felt very happy for Meihua, thinking that the misfortunes brought upon her by the original owner of this body were finally being broken. In fact, Meihua's fate was also tied to her; if Zhao Linting hadn't visited Xiaqiao Village, Ruyi wouldn't have seen him or developed such strong feelings for him, and Meihua wouldn't have helped Zhao Linting. She thought this might be fate.
By the time they returned home, it was already getting dark. Xiao Lihua hurriedly prepared some food for the family. After eating together, they snuggled into bed.
The two children were exhausted from a day of play and fell asleep shortly after playing for a while.
Xie Youshun and Xiao Lihua talked for a while longer while lying in bed together. As they chatted, they rolled closer together; outside it was cold and freezing, but inside the blanket it felt warm like spring.
In the following days, regardless of whether the weather was warm or cold, Wang Dashan and his companions began buying pigs everywhere. They first bought all the pigs available in their village and then started going to nearby villages to buy more pigs. They would buy them fresh and slaughter them on-site; once prepared, they delivered them to a courtyard behind Flavor Fragrance Tower where cured meat was made. They delivered as many as they brought.
Although Xie Youshun claimed he didn't want to profit from this venture, he still let Wang Dashan and the others take him along, saying that having one more person meant more strength and that collecting more pigs would lead to more profits. In the end, what he earned wouldn't be taken from them but would be his own earnings. After thinking about it, Xie Youshun agreed to join them.
The women stayed at home together to work and chat, preparing hot water and meals for their husbands who returned late each day so that they could continue with energy for their trips to distant villages.
Since they also invited Yang Cao's husband Li Xing along, there were five people in total—each driving a cart. Despite having multiple carts, each village collected quite a few pigs at once so they couldn't fit everything in one trip; they often had to make several trips. Later on, as they ventured farther out, they hired people to help deliver the pork without worrying about others stealing their business. As long as they claimed they were helping someone else collect pigs without letting anyone know they'd sell for a higher price, everything went smoothly.
Eventually, Hua Heng's people also started buying pigs; sometimes they would run into each other during their purchases. At such times, whoever arrived first got priority. When it came time to make money, there was no room for politeness; in order to get ahead, they often split up their actions—going into a village to find the village chief who would gather everyone together to discuss buying pigs before weighing them and paying for them while hiring someone else to help slaughter the pigs. One person could handle it all and return with a line of carts back to Fortune Town.
This made things much faster; of course, this meant that everyone collected their own money afterward. Wang Dashan and his companions didn't feel tired at all; instead, they became even more motivated.
After nearly half a month of hustle and bustle, they had almost covered every village within a hundred miles and even some further ones. They stopped going farther because it would take too long to return in one day; those places naturally had Hua Heng's people taking care of things without their involvement. Finally, they could rest.
During these days, everyone divided up their earnings daily; by the end of it all, every household was shocked by how much money they received.
After twenty days of work including Xiaqiao Village, they had visited a total of forty-six villages—some larger with many pig farmers and others smaller with fewer farmers—but at this point in time as long as people had money in hand almost every household raised pigs. The smallest village had dozens of pigs while the largest had over a hundred; on average each village had around a hundred pigs which meant over four thousand pigs across forty-plus villages.
At this time, although the pigs were not like the modern ones that had various additives in their feed, they were still quite large. The smaller ones weighed around 130 to 140 pounds, while the bigger ones could reach up to 200 pounds.
Of course, these pigs were sent for slaughter, which meant not all of it was meat; there were also other by-products that could be sold. The prices varied accordingly.
In the end, after calculating everything, almost every household made several hundred taels of silver. The one who earned the most was Xie Qingfeng, who made over 580 taels of silver, while Li Xing earned just over 510 taels. The difference in earnings was due to the different villages they visited; some villages had more pigs while others had fewer, which depended on luck. Undoubtedly, Xie Qingfeng had very good luck.
"Isn't this too much?"
Zhang Lianxiang couldn't believe it. Although she received money every day and had been shocked at first, she had gradually accepted it over the past twenty days. However, when she calculated the total at the end, she was still taken aback.
Over 500 taels of silver! For them, that was an enormous amount. It would take a lifetime of farming to earn that much; some people spent their entire lives farming and ended up with very little cash left. Yet now they had earned what they could never have imagined in less than a month!
It felt like a dream. Zhang Lianxiang pinched Wang Dashan, who was sitting next to her. He winced in pain and said, "Why did you pinch me?"
Zhang Lianxiang replied, "I wanted to see if I'm dreaming. If I pinch myself and it hurts, then I wouldn't believe it."
Xiao Lihua laughed and said, "Sister-in-law, it's been days already; do you still think you're dreaming? This dream is way too long!"
Zhang Lianxiang smiled and said, "It feels like a dream—a beautiful dream I don't want to wake up from! Over 500 taels! Don't you all feel like it's a dream too?"
Yumiang nodded; she was also very excited. She initially thought that just paying off her family's debts would be enough but never expected to earn so much—she could hardly believe it.
Yang Cao slapped his thigh and said, "I also feel like I'm dreaming. But thinking about it, this was Li Hua's idea; she's someone who knows how to make money. She made money before by building a bridge! Now she's helping us earn this money; it's no surprise. Li Hua is truly capable! Li Hua, if you have any more money-making opportunities in the future, remember to include us!"
Xiao Lihua nodded with a smile. Yang Cao was a good person and the village chief's daughter-in-law; maintaining a good relationship with her could only be beneficial.
Zi Clan grabbed Xiao Lihua's hand and said, "Sister Four, thank you so much! This time we won't have to worry about money for building our house in spring. We initially only planned to build a few rooms just enough for living, but now we can build a proper first wife’s house."
Xiao Lihua replied, "Second Sister, we're family; there's no need for formalities! You and Second Brother have always helped us out. Now that we have the means to help you back, how could we not? If you say that again, I won't be happy."
Zi Clan laughed and said, "I won't say it anymore."
Xie Youtai also smiled without saying anything. However, his gaze towards Fourth Brother and Sister Four was filled with gratitude. He had never earned so much money in his life and felt very excited inside. He thought he should help Fourth Brother and his wife even more in the future.
Wang Dashan, Xie Qingfeng, and Li Xing were also very excited and expressed their gratitude to Xie Youshun and Xiao Lihua. Everyone likes having money—especially men—because having money gives them confidence. They felt particularly proud now as if they were wealthy people; having money in hand made them feel secure!
The adults were happy, and so were the children. They all knew that their father had been out earning money these days—and he had earned a lot of it! Having money meant they could have more delicious food, nice clothes, and fun things to do. They were all joyfully chattering together in excitement.
Wang Dashan's home was filled with laughter and joy.
Feeling happy, everyone decided to gather for a meal. They sold the pork they had been working with these days and brought back a lot of meat and offal. The four women worked together, with Xiao Lihua in charge of cooking. They fried, sautéed, and made many dishes, along with a large pot of white rice and three greasy flatbreads.
The four men sat at one table, while the four women sat with their four little ones at another. The men even brewed a jar of liquor and drank heartily.
Just as they were halfway through drinking, someone knocked on the door. After hearing it, everyone exchanged glances.
Zhang Lianxiang said, "It’s probably someone from your family come to call you."
Yang Cao replied, "We said we would be back late today."
Zhang Lianxiang continued, "The more you say that, the more likely they will come looking for you. They just want to see if you are here counting Silver."
They had been rushing out every day, leaving early and returning late, which surely made their families curious. They claimed they were helping others with work, but sometimes the joy on their faces was hard to hide, especially since today was one of their happiest moments. They said they would return late, so someone would definitely come to check on them.
Upon hearing this, Yang Cao snorted and said, "So what if they see us? This is our legitimate Silver; no one can take it away! I’m telling you all, none of you are allowed to spill the truth."
Everyone remained silent but shared the same thought: this Silver could not be given up. Even if it wasn't for them, it couldn't be revealed for the sake of Xie Youshun and his wife; if they did, others would become envious and that would bring trouble. There were no issues on Hua Heng's side; people there believed they were merely hired to collect pork. As long as they kept quiet here, others would only think they earned a little labor fee.
Comment 0 Comment Count