Chapter 75 Buying Cows

Li Wanyue's family had no idea about the plans for the old house. They were busy processing the spring bamboo shoots sent by their neighbors.

Ever since the village chief said that his family was willing to help the villagers process the bamboo shoots, villagers began to bring their cut bamboo shoots to them in the afternoon for them to help process.

Most people did not come empty-handed, bringing some firewood, pig feed and so on. A few families only brought bamboo shoots and asked others to help process them.

When seeing others bringing things, those who didn’t bring anything smiled and said they would make up for it next time.

Li Youshan also took the opportunity to tell them the standards for harvesting bamboo shoots.

Remove the outer shell and keep the tender part inside, wash it at the river, and drain it before sending it here.

Because she had to make mung bean powder in the morning and was afraid that she wouldn't be able to cut enough bamboo shoots, Li Wanyue asked Zhao Suying to find Tie Niu's wife, Shuangshuang's mother, to help cut the bamboo shoots.

It only takes one hour and each person will be paid ten cents. The two were very happy when they heard this. They didn't expect that they could earn money at home.

In the evening, Li Wanyue made a dish of preserved egg with ginger juice and boiled a pot of preserved egg porridge. Although no lean meat was added, it tasted very good.

Li Dachuan tasted a piece and a strange taste spread in his mouth. The taste was springy and refreshing. He couldn't help but say, "I have never eaten such duck eggs before. They are delicious."

"I didn't expect that duck eggs could turn out like this after being pickled for a while."

Li Sandong asked: "Sister, are you still going to Zuixianju?"

"Go, but you have to make a batch first. There's not much left. Let's keep it for ourselves. Shopkeeper Wu is a good guy. Let's give it to him after it's pickled.

Sandong, come with me to the county town tomorrow to buy some sweet potatoes and some green beans."

"Okay." Li Sandong agreed.

After Li Wanyue finished speaking, she turned to look at Li Dachuan and said, "Brother, can you help me turn the land tomorrow? The seeds I bought have sprouted and can be used to plant about three acres of land. Now that I have money, I want to buy some more seeds. I wonder how much the shopkeeper can sell them for. Let's turn over one acre of land first."

"Okay, one acre of land, it will be done in one day."

Li Wanyue thought that she should deal with the sweet potatoes and potatoes tomorrow, as it would be too late for them to grow.

Before dawn the next day, someone knocked on the door to deliver bamboo shoots. Li Youshan had also prepared copper coins. When he opened the door, he saw that it was the eldest son of the Hu family and the youngest son of the Cheng family.

"Uncle, we are here to deliver bamboo shoots."

"Okay, come in, I'll weigh you."

Li Youshan weighed them and found that the Hu family's was eight kilograms and the Cheng family's was seven kilograms.

He was about to put the extra ones back to them, but they both waved their hands.

"Uncle, the extra ones are just gifts for you. You can't take them back."

"Yes, uncle. They are picked from the mountain. You can charge them according to five kilograms."

Li Youshan smiled and nodded. He wanted to give them a few more coins, but he was afraid that others would hear, so he deliberately gave them more. If he gave them too much, they would not be able to finish it.

Thinking of this, he gave each of them ten copper coins.

The two men felt the copper coins in their hands and were very excited. They didn't expect that they could earn ten cents by picking a few kilograms of bamboo shoots and cleaning them in just half an hour.

"Thank you, uncle." The two thanked him with a smile and went home.

When they met someone delivering bamboo shoots on the road, they saw that the two men had already received the money, so they walked faster, fearing that the other party would not accept it if they were too late.

Someone has done the previous steps, so it will be much easier to handle the rest. Wang Guixiang can keep an eye on it herself, so Li Wanyue doesn't need to worry about it.

She still gets up early to exercise for half an hour before teaching her children.

After breakfast, Li Wanyue and Li Sandong went to deliver the goods and went to the county town to buy potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Li Youshan and his two sons went to the fields to turn the soil.

Sun Xiuqin and Wang Guixiang cleaned up the chicken manure and prepared the wood ash.

Arriving at the county town, Li Wanyue first went to the money shop and deposited the silver note. He then exchanged another ingot of gold for three ten-liang silver notes, fifteen liang of silver, and five hundred coins. One always had to have some pocket money at home.

After leaving the bank, Li Wanyue said, "Sandong, let's go buy a cow."

"What? Buying a cow? Sister, are you serious?" Li Sandong was so excited that he couldn't speak clearly.

God knows he dreams of buying a cow.

"Yes, we have money now, so we can buy a cow and use it during the busy farming season."

"Then...should I discuss this with Dad first?"

Li Wanyue understood that buying a cow was like buying a car for the whole family, which was a big deal, but since she had come here, there must be more cows in the county town than in the town, and more to choose from.

She shook her head. "Just buy it and give them a surprise. We can use our own cows to deliver the goods tomorrow. Let's go."

The two went to the livestock trading market, and the smell inside almost made Li Wanyue suffocate.

Seeing someone coming, people in the market came forward and recommended their donkeys, cows and mules.

Li Wanyue looked at it and whispered to Li Sandong: "Do you know the market price of cattle?"

Li Sandong replied confidently: "I know. I dream of having a cow at home. The cow bought by the village chief in our village cost 11 taels of silver, and the cow of Grandpa Fu cost 12 taels. The cows of both families are getting old now."

Li Wanyue nodded.

Li Sandong looked around and then stopped in front of a yellow cow.

The cow's fur was smooth and shiny, and its eyes were bright. He looked back and forth, sometimes at the cow's neck, sometimes at the cow's belly, and finally asked the vendor: "How much is this cow?"

"Young man, you have good eyes. This cow is almost five years old and is strong and healthy. Look at the color of its fur. If you really want it, I'll give you fourteen taels of silver."

Li Sandong looked at Li Wanyue.

Li Wanyue walked over to take a look and shook her head: "I'd better look at other stores."

"Hey, don't go, young lady. You just looked at it. What's wrong with this cow?"

Li Wanyue smiled and said, "Your cow is very good, no problem, I'd better go and look at other cows."

When the vendor heard this, he hurriedly tried to stop them. He had not opened his shop for three days, and the two men had already visited several shops.

Most people would find faults when buying something, but this person said the cow was very good. Why not buy it if it was good?

"Girl, if you really want to buy it, then give me thirteen taels."

Li Sandong was stunned. Just cut off one or two taels of silver?

Li Wanyue still smiled and shook her head, pretending to leave.

The vendor gritted his teeth and said, "Twelve taels, this is already very low. If I hadn't been closed for the past few days, I wouldn't be able to sell it at this price."

Li Wanyue thought, the several stores she asked before all offered twelve or thirteen taels, so it seemed that twelve taels was the lowest price.

The main thing is that this cow is better than the ones we saw before.

She nodded: "Okay, since you haven't opened yet, then this is it."

The vendor breathed a sigh of relief, as he had finally opened his business, but the profit did not meet his expectations.

He raised his hand and pointed at the cart beside him: "Girl, we have matching carts here, two taels, three taels, made of ordinary wood, the ebony one is five taels, and there is also a nanmu carriage, which is not afraid of wind and rain, and costs ten taels. Which one do you want?"

Li Wanyue looked at the cart. An ordinary wooden cart weighs one and a half taels, the one with a carport weighs two taels and is detachable. The three-tael one with a carport is made of better materials and is more durable. The carport is also better made than the two-tael one, and it comes with a piece of oilcloth. By putting on the oilcloth, it can keep out the wind and rain. This is pretty good.

She raised her hand and pointed at the cart that cost three taels. "This is pretty good, but after buying the ox, I only have two taels of silver. Can you sell it to me at a lower price? If anyone around me wants to buy an ox cart in the future, I'll recommend them to buy it from you."