Chapter 207 Uncle Qi's Daughter
Because of the tenant farmers' heartfelt gratitude, Shen Yi and his wife felt that they had done a great good deed and were happy. This New Year became particularly meaningful.
After the lively Spring Festival, it is spring plowing season again. With last year’s experience of making money, everyone knows what to do this year without Su Tai reminding them, and they are particularly attentive to the work in the fields.
With Huang Xinghua at Shenjiazhuang, Shen Yi and Su Tai don't have to worry about anything, but they do need to keep an eye on the manor.
When Shen Yi found time to go over for inspection, he found that Fang Wei had already organized the tenant farmers to turn the land over and spread some wood ash. They had just started raising seedlings, and they would be ready for sowing when the fields were almost ready.
Shen Yi was impressed by their speed in doing things and was completely relieved.
During the spring plowing season, the days seemed to pass by in a blink of an eye.
When Xu came excitedly to talk about Shen Wen's marriage, Su Tai suddenly realized that it was time to prepare summer clothes.
She hurried back to the house and got some summer cotton cloth for Xu, and chatted with her, "Second Aunt, which village is the girl that Ah Wen is talking about? When will she get married?"
Xu narrowed her eyes with a smile, eagerly waiting for Su Tai to ask.
"He is a master named Qi from the dyeing factory in Dahe Town. His daughter is called Qi Yan, and she is also a pretty and smart girl."
"Uncle Qi?" Su Tai was slightly surprised. She never expected that Shen Wen's wife would be from their family.
Xu nodded hurriedly, "It's him. It was the middle of winter when my wife and two boys helped your family deliver pot cakes. They often went to Dahe Town, and they got to know Master Qi and met Miss Qi a few times.
After Dagou got married last year, I discussed with Awen about arranging a marriage for him, and he took the initiative to propose the girl from the Qi family.
The Qi family were residents of Dahe Town. Master Qi had a skill, and his three sons worked with him in the dyeing workshop. The four of them could earn more than two taels of silver a month. If there were any processed materials in the dyeing workshop, they could collect them and sell them outside, thus earning some money.
Miss Qi and her mother farm at home. They don't have much land, but the income from the land is enough to feed the whole family. Their life is much better than that of ordinary people. If it were in the past, I would never have dared to dream of marrying into such a family, but my good-for-nothing little son was moved and dared to think and do it!
For him, I put my reputation on the line and found many lame excuses to approach him several times, making him think I had ulterior motives!"
"Pfft!" Su Tai couldn't help laughing, "Second Aunt, you are so funny! So you were satisfied with the girl from the Qi family after seeing her?"
"Of course!" Mrs. Xu said proudly, "Appearance is secondary. The most important thing is to know how to live. The girl's father and brothers are the beneficiaries. They are more successful than us. The family is well organized. I heard that she saved a lot of money by buying fabrics herself. She is generous to her family. She takes what she should take and doesn't think about what she shouldn't take. The old ladies nearby all praise her!"
Su Tai had a clue after hearing this, and couldn't help but nod and ask, "Has the engagement ceremony been completed?"
Mrs. Xu nodded quickly, "We have gone through all the formalities. When Aliang married his wife, the betrothal gift was 20 taels, and this time we will give 20 taels as well. Dahe Town is separated from us by a river, and they don't know much about our situation. When they heard that the betrothal gift was 20 taels, the neighbors on both sides were alarmed, and they thought we were some local rich man!
Miss Qi's mother really loves her daughter. Seeing that we gave so much betrothal gifts, she guessed that our family was not poor and was quite satisfied with this marriage. We have agreed to let them get married after the autumn harvest."
"Oh! Daya was about to give birth at that time!" Su Tai blinked hard.
Xu was very happy, "That's right! In order to save some trouble when the time comes, I'm coming to you now to quickly arrange the things that need to be purchased in advance, so that there won't be any chaos when the time comes."
Su Tai immediately sat down and took notes carefully.
In the blink of an eye, it was midsummer. Baby Shen Congrong was already over one year old. Not long after she learned to walk, she would run around in the yard every day and could not be locked up. She was exactly the same as her sister when she was little.
At that time, Su Tai was very tired taking care of the children alone. Now, with Miss Shen Yuezhang taking care of her younger brother and three good dogs watching over her, Su Tai has saved herself a lot of trouble.
It just so happened that the fruit in the village was in great demand, so some merchants went into the village early to wait for it, and she had no time to keep an eye on the child.
While everyone was busy harvesting strawberries, merchants who came into the village began to bargain with villagers, "Can the strawberries be cheaper this year? Mr. Ma in the town also planted fruits this year. They are big and sweet, and only sell for five cents per pound. Now that there are more and more fruits, the strawberries you plant will become less and less valuable."
The villagers felt a chill in their hearts and their faces changed.
The merchant was secretly delighted, thinking that his goal was about to be achieved, but he did not expect that the villagers would all run in one direction towards the village.
"What's going on?" Boss Ji from Moshi Town was surprised and followed.
A group of villagers entered Su Tai's house and talked about the situation outside.
"Su Tai, they said Mr. Ma also grows fruit, and they sell it for five cents a pound. If we don't lower the price, they won't buy our strawberries."
"Yes, yes, yes. They also said that when there are more fruits in the future, our strawberries and watermelons will be worthless. Should we continue to grow fruits?"
"What? The merchant who bought from us directly asked for five cents. He didn't want any more. What should we do?"
After listening for a while, Su Tai finally understood what was going on. She smiled calmly at the villagers and said, "Don't worry, everyone. I want to ask, what kind of fruit did Mr. Ma grow?"
"Well." The villagers looked at each other, and none of them could answer.
Finally, everyone turned their eyes to Boss Ji who had just walked in.
Boss Ji was a little scared, but still went in hesitantly, "Why are you looking at me like that? I'm not the only one who wants to negotiate the price with you! All the merchants in Moshi Town mean the same thing. Mr. Ma has planted a hundred acres of orchard, and he said that he sells the fruit for five cents per pound."
Su Tai stood up, nodded slightly to Boss Ji, asked him to sit down, and served him tea. "I know what you are talking about. Can I ask what kind of fruit Mr. Ma planted? How did he plant it?"
Boss Ji didn't want to say it at first, but seeing Su Tai's smiling face and kind and polite attitude, he answered her question, "It is said that there is a fruit called Lingo, which was brought from a small vassal state of Xuanyuan Country. Except for Mr. Ma's family, all the families who are on good terms with Mr. Ma grow Lingo. By the way, many families in Liujiazhuang next door to you also grow Lingo.
If you don’t believe it, you can go and see for yourself.”
Quite a few villagers actually walked out the door.
Su Tai listened silently, with a leisurely smile on her lips. She just smiled calmly at the inquiring look from her boss last season and said, "Have some tea."
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