Chapter 878 An unexpected surprise
This trip was quite rewarding.
Seeing that the New Year was approaching, Madam Le Zheng did not keep them long. She reminded them to be careful on the road and asked them to come earlier next year. She would then keep an eye on the caravans going to the capital for them.
Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan expressed their gratitude.
There was no way to get to Beijing from the provincial capital by water, so one had to go by land. This was a long journey, and hiring a horse-drawn carriage to set off was neither convenient nor safe.
It was such a long journey, who knew if something would happen on the way? It would be terrible if we ran into a group of robbers in the wilderness.
Therefore, whenever people went to Beijing to take the exam, they would usually make an appointment with a few acquaintances or people from the same county and travel together.
A safer and more reliable way is to find a business that is also going to Beijing at that time, say a few nice words to it, give it some gifts, and then go along with it.
Generally speaking, businesses would agree. After all, the candidate who came to Beijing to take the imperial examination would most likely succeed and then transform himself from a commoner into an official. At that time, this would be a favor to be established in advance.
However, most businesses would not run such a long trade route, and because of the need to buy and sell goods, they would have to stop along the way, and in some prosperous cities it was common to stay for ten days or half a month.
But the candidates who came to Beijing to take the imperial examinations could not afford to waste such time.
Therefore, how to choose a suitable business name is not something that everyone can do.
Others can't do it, but in this provincial capital, Madam Le Zheng can definitely do it.
When Qiao Xuan, Shao Yunduan and his party returned home, it was already the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month.
The New Year goods bought at this time are very appropriate.
There were countless kinds of exquisite and delicious desserts, candies, candied fruits, and roasted nuts and snacks, such as lotus cakes, mung bean cakes, cloud cakes, poria cakes, shortbread, small twisted dough sticks, dragon beard cakes, osmanthus candy, peanut sesame candy, pine nuts, small walnuts, melon seeds, almonds, etc., everything was available, and Shao Sanlang and his wife were especially happy.
Each person also had six new sets of clothes, shoes and socks, as well as rouge, powder and various silk flowers for women, spinning tops, clay figurines, cloth tigers, tumblers, wooden knives, swords, ponies and puppies and other toys for children, as well as various dried seafood and other things for the home.
Qiao Xuan also specially bought a set of jewelry worth two to three hundred taels of silver for each female member of the family. Shao Qing also got one, and the two younger brothers Shao Junyan each got a pair of gold bracelets and a gold and jade Ruyi locket.
The big room was bustling with activity for a while, and everyone looked at these things for a long time.
The next morning, Qiao Xuan couldn't wait to take Xiaoqi, Taotao, Yang Xiaoni and others to plant blueberries and cherries on the land where they had harvested cassava.
Yang Xiaoni and her friends knew that these were fruit trees from other places and that they would probably be able to eat delicious fruits next year, so they were very enthusiastic.
There are about three acres of blueberries planted, and a total of thirty-six cherry trees.
There are so many grown in the village, enough for our own consumption.
Some villagers passed by and saw them planting trees. They couldn't help laughing: This is not the time to plant trees! At least the Lantern Festival should be over, right?
After the Lantern Festival, the weather will not be that cold unless there is a late spring cold snap.
At that time, most trees planted would survive. But now...
When Qiao Xuan heard this, she smiled and said, "I brought this sapling back from my friend's home in the provincial capital. My friend happened to bring it back from another place at this time. We can't just leave it here without planting it. Maybe it will survive if we give it a try."
(End of this chapter)
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