Chapter 138

Lin Chuntao encountered villagers as soon as she entered the village.

Seeing her drive the mule cart back, everyone immediately noticed the difference—this mule was a different color from the one at Aunt Guizhi's house—and asked curiously, "Chuntao, did you buy a mule?"

Lin Chuntao replied with a smile, "I just found a suitable one at the market and bought it. I often need to use these things and I even borrow them from Aunt Guizhi's house. I feel embarrassed to use them all."

The matter of Lin Chuntao borrowing a mule was initially the subject of gossip. People said that Aunt Guizhi and her family often lent money to Lin Chuntao, even though they wouldn't lend to others, because Lin Chuntao had money now.

Lin Shuilian's grandmother overheard this and angrily retorted to the gossiping person, "Whether Chun Tao has money or not doesn't affect the good relationship between aunt and niece. Lin Chun Tao saved Lin Shuilian's life. Let alone borrowing the mule cart, we would give her the mule if she wanted it."

The man was speechless after being rebuked. Everyone in the village knew about Lin Shuilian's situation. Lin Chuntao had even gone to the county town with her. Aunt Guizhi also said that if Lin Chuntao hadn't urged her to take her to the clinic, Lin Shuilian might have lost her life. Aunt Guizhi would never forget this life-saving grace.

Later, the old lady, having nothing to do, would wander around the village, gossiping about the person who had been talking, and telling everyone how good Lin Chuntao had been to Lin Shuilian. In fact, everyone knew in their hearts that Lin Shuilian had almost lost her life, and Lin Chuntao had helped her a lot. If any family had encountered such a situation, they would definitely have done the same as Aunt Guizhi's family.

Lin Chuntao had never heard such gossip. In that village, you usually had to pay to borrow oxcarts and mule carts, three to five coins per use. Lin Chuntao tried to give them to Aunt Guizhi, but she wouldn't accept them. She had used them many times and was too embarrassed to ask to borrow them again. However, she was busy with many things and time flew by.

Lin Chunhe and the others were busy in the backyard. Lin Duo'er was doing needlework. She had learned some special stitches from Fan Niangzi and needed to practice sewing. Lin Chuntao gave her some fabric to practice with.

Fan Liniang felt that the fabric was precious, and even if it was just for practice, it should be made into something, rather than wasting the fabric. She thought that making clothes would be a little more complicated, while making trousers and skirts would be simpler, so Fan Liniang asked Lin Duo'er to make a pair of trousers first.

Lin Duo'er gave Fan Liniang data on Lin Chuntao's leg and waist lengths, and together with the master, they cut out the fabric and began sewing the trousers.

She would only go to study with Fan Liniang in the afternoon. The rest of the time she would prepare pig feed, feed the pigs and chickens, and then practice needlework.

Bored while working alone in the front yard, she would take a small bamboo basket, along with her needles, thread, fabric, and scissors, and go to the back yard to chat with Lin Chunhe and the others while she worked.

Grandma and the others were quite surprised to see that Lin Duo'er was doing such a good job. After all, Duo'er was a lively person, and everyone thought she wouldn't have the patience to sit quietly and do needlework.

But Lin Duo'er was sitting right next to them, able to chat and laugh with everyone while keeping an eye on the needle and thread and the fabric in her hands.

There was no one in the front yard, and the front gate was bolted shut. Lin Chuntao led the mule cart to the back gate.

Everyone was surprised to see Lin Chuntao leading a mule, and Lin Duo'er was so excited that she jumped up from her stool.

"Sister, you bought a mule?"

With Lin Duo'er's exclamation, Lin Chunhe stopped what she was doing and ran over to see.

Lin Chuntao looked at them and said, "Unlock the other door; the mule cart can't get in."

Lin Chunhe quickly ran over and opened the other door. Lin Chuntao led the mule in, and Aunt Guizhi and the others rushed over to help move things.

Lin Chuntao said, "There are three vats of soybean oil. Madam Meng, please note the weight. We'll need it to make soy sauce in a few days."

Meng Yun nodded and asked, "How much does this soybean oil cost per pound?"

"Six coins," Lin Chuntao said.

Aunt Guizhi and the eldest grandma helped unload the jars. There were still four hams left on the mule cart. They asked if we wanted to take them down as well. Lin Chuntao said, "I'll take these to the kitchen and hang them up. They'll be easier to preserve there."

After Lin Chuntao said that, Aunt Guizhi and the others helped carry the things to the kitchen, and Lin Chuntao put them all on the bamboo rack.

The mule cart was unloaded in the yard. Aunt Guizhi looked at the mule, touched it, and said that it was very gentle. "This mule has a good frame, but it's a bit thin."

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "The man who sold the mule said that the original owner used it too much for harvesting crops and that there was nothing wrong with the mule itself. I can take care of it and it will be fine."

The older woman said from the side, "It's quite nice. How much did you pay for it?"

Lin Chuntao said, "Two mules and two mule carts, totaling thirteen taels and six hundred cash, each mule weighs six taels and eight wen."

Hu and Deng, who were also behind, exclaimed in surprise upon hearing this, "Two? Chun Tao, you bought two?"

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Well, both ends were sold by the same person, so I bought them together. I brought this one back, and I left the other one for Chunxing and the others. They'll bring it back in a bit."

They looked at the mule with envy in their eyes. Originally, only their family and Aunt Guizhi's family in the village had mules and mule carts, but they had raised the mule for many years. When they bought it, it was a small mule and the price was not high. They raised it slowly until it grew up and then made it into a cart to pull things. They had raised it for many years.

Lin Chuntao, once she started buying, bought two heads, spending over ten taels in no time. She couldn't help but swallow hard.

Aunt Guizhi said, "This mule cart looks quite nice, and the price is reasonable."

"I negotiated a price because I was thin, but I'll definitely look better once I gain weight."

When Grandma heard you say it was pretty, she couldn't help but smile. "I don't have much work to do lately, so I'll take care of it while I'm at it. Give it plenty of feed, and it'll gain a lot of weight by the New Year."

After everyone stood and chatted for a while, Lin Chuntao led the mule to an empty pen next to the pigsty, threw in some semi-dry corn grass, and the mule began to bury its head in eating the leaves.

After settling the mule in, Lin Chuntao went upstairs to check on the bean sprouts. She turned over some that hadn't dried properly and waited until they were almost dry before taking them down to pound them and extract the beans.

Many people have already harvested their soybeans recently, and Lin Jiahui has received quite a lot as well. However, since they use a lot of soybeans on a daily basis, Lin Chuntao wants to check how much her family has harvested and see how things go. She plans to have Lin Jiahui buy soybean seeds along with the soybeans when he goes to buy them, as different varieties of soybeans have better yields, which is more cost-effective for soybean farmers.

After finishing over the bean sprouts upstairs, Lin Chuntao went to the backyard to get dried chili peppers. The beans only needed to be dried for a day or two. The new sauce was made in a slightly different way than before. The previous one was made by sun-drying, but the new sauce required the ingredients to be prepared and stir-fried with soybean oil.

The sauce business was good before, so Hu and Deng have been working there ever since. Seeing that Lin Chuntao has started making new sauces, Hu said with a smile, "Chuntao, if your new sauce business is as successful as the old one, won't you need to hire more people to help?"

Lin Chuntao smiled upon hearing this: "Thank you for your kind words, Aunt. If such a large quantity is needed, we will definitely need to hire more people, otherwise we won't be able to finish."

Hearing this, Hu was a little excited. Lin Chuntao made delicious sauce and sold it in the county town. People in the surrounding villages had already heard about it. For example, people in her own village knew that they were helping Lin Chuntao with her work and were earning dozens of coins every day. They were extremely envious.

Relatives with whom you have a good relationship will often say that if you need someone, you should ask them to help you make an introduction.

Whether or not they were introduced or not, they all benefited from Lin Chuntao's actions and were quite proud of it.

Madam Deng asked with a smile, "If we were to add a new person, do you have anyone in mind for Chun Tao?"

Lin Chuntao looked at them and said, "I haven't thought of that yet, but I should prioritize people from the village. If we can't find suitable people in the village, we'll look for them from the surrounding villages."

Hearing this, everyone understood what was going on.

Lin Chuntao had a good relationship with everyone present, but as the number of people increased, she didn't want all her family members to work there. It's easy for conflicts to arise when people spend a lot of time together, and it would be troublesome if the whole family quit. Although she trusted her eldest grandmother now, she was getting old and probably wouldn't be able to work for many more years before retiring. In that case, it wouldn't be good for her if the people working there were from several families.

Although the villagers share a common surname, they all have their own small families, so it's not easy for them to unite and do something together.

Lin Chuntao also needs to consider the future.

Hu and Deng understood Lin Chuntao's meaning and didn't react emotionally. In fact, right now, several members of their family were working here, and the villagers would think they were domineering. But when they needed more people, Lin Chuntao could find some people from the village to work together, and then people wouldn't think that way anymore.

The elderly couple always said that Lin Chuntao's business would grow very big in the future, and there would definitely not be enough people in the village to do the work, so there was no need to rush to call on relatives to reserve positions; everything would be provided in the future.

Everyone chatted idly for a while before the eldest grandmother asked Lin Chuntao, "I noticed your uncle's two children are with Chunxing. Are they planning to go into business with Chunxing?"

“Yes, Grandma, we’re planning to open a shop. Chunxing can’t manage it all by herself, so my two cousins ​​wanted to come and help, and that’s why I let them come.”

The old lady said, "We're all about the same age, so it's not bad to do business together."

Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "We can keep each other company."

Mrs. Hu said, "Opening a shop must cost a lot of money, right?"

Lin Chuntao: "It will cost a lot. I've been busy setting up the shop recently. I'll let everyone know when it's ready and open for business. Come visit when you have time."

Lin Chunxing has been learning to make new soup noodles and braised dishes lately. She brings back some pig's head meat and noodles every day, and she also buys old hens whenever she sees them. At this time, she already has several old hens at home.

Pei Ying drove the cart back today, while Lin Chunxing and Xu Sheng sat on the mule cart, each holding an old hen.

After working with them for a few days, they became quite proficient. Lin Chunxing was very happy about this. When the shop opened, Xu Sheng and Xu Huan would both be able to work together, and there definitely wouldn't be any problems.