Chapter 254 The Fruit Can’t Be Sold
Su Chunlin nodded and winked at Su Chunsen who was in the bed next to him.
Su Chunsen, whose head was wrapped like a dumpling, rolled his eyes speechlessly, but he was more happy in his heart. He was different from Su Chunlin. He really hurt himself. There was a hole in his head and his arm was broken. Apart from being able to walk, he could not lift any heavy objects at all.
Shen Zhuang was even more cruel. Both of his legs were broken and he was now lying on the bed in a cold sweat from the pain.
As for the villagers who came with them and survived, as long as they were older, Shen Yi asked Pan Wanli to help register them on the list of those returning home.
In order to avoid any further complications, after the list was made, Chen Zhuang and his companions set off despite their limited mobility.
The journey home was thousands of miles long and the bumps along the way were painful enough to kill anyone. To make everyone feel better, Shen Yi took out the bag of silver that Su Tai had prepared for him and gave it to Liu Jianzhang.
"Brother Liu, my father-in-law and the others are now in your care. Here are one thousand taels. Please prepare a few carriages and some thick beddings for them. You can keep the rest of the silver." Shen Yi said sincerely.
Liu Jianzhang was frightened, "Captain Shen, this is too much! A first-class carriage doesn't even cost a hundred taels of silver, so there will be several hundred taels left!"
"It doesn't matter. The rest is Brother Liu's hard-earned money. Please make sure to send them to Zhaohua County safely."
"Okay! I will definitely live up to Captain Shen's trust." Liu Jianzhang patted his chest and promised.
After the convoy left for a few miles, Shen Yi walked back with peace of mind.
Without Su Chunlin and the others around him, his mental pressure was much less. The next step was to discuss with Song Yongnian and the others how to survive on the battlefield and clear all possible obstacles.
Su Tai didn't know that Su Chunlin and the others were about to return, and the villagers were still worried about the bad weather.
Although the fruit seedlings were successfully transplanted during the spring plowing and all survived, the weather was sometimes good and sometimes bad, with more cloudy days than sunny days, and it rained from time to time. It did not cause floods, but it was definitely not a good thing for drought-loving crops, and everyone was worried that there would be no harvest this year.
The more time passed, the more grateful they were to Su Tai. If Su Tai had not asked them to transplant the fruit seedlings and use the land to grow crops, their losses in this autumn harvest would have been even greater.
When Shen Ergou and Shen Tian were working, they saw Su Tai coming over and immediately told her everything that happened in the village.
"Sister Su Tai, you are really amazing. My mother said that the villagers are eager to offer you a longevity tablet."
Su Tai was shocked. "What's going on? I'm still alive and well. You can't make random offerings to the tablet."
She was very flustered.
Shen Ergou hurriedly explained, “Everyone is grateful to you! My grandma said that this year is thanks to you. This time, even if the crops in the field don’t grow well, we are not afraid. If we hadn’t transplanted them before, everyone would be panicking.”
"Hey! That's nothing!" Su Tai didn't care. She just looked at the weather outside and pondered the death list sent back by the county government. "Do you know which families in the village are holding funerals? And what about Liujiazhuang? Is there any news?"
Shen Ergou and Shen Tian looked at each other.
Chen Tian said carefully: "My sister-in-law went to her parents' home that day. When she came back, she told me something. I don't remember anything else, but Niu Peng, who climbed over your wall, is dead, and the son of Liu Zhu, the head of Liujiazhuang Village, is also gone."
Su Tai put down the work in her hands, with a bit of surprise in her eyes, "Is the news true?"
Chen Tian nodded vigorously. "My sister-in-law originally took the child back to see her grandmother. It happened that the two families were holding a funeral, and her grandmother went to help. I heard from my sister-in-law that Niu Peng's mother was going crazy and kept beating Niu Youfu, saying that he was the one who killed Niu Peng."
"What do you mean?" Su Tai didn't quite understand.
Chen Tian said: "Niu Peng is the only lifeblood of their family, but he was raised to be useless and has not been able to find a wife to carry on the family line. Originally, they had their eyes on a girl from Ximen Village, but she made some demands and Niu Peng did not dare to agree. Niu Youfu also felt that the other party's demands were too high, so the marriage was called off.
It was not easy for him to find a wife with his conditions. Those with poor conditions did not like him, and those with good conditions did not like him. The couple just muddled along and were not in a hurry at all. As a result, Niu Peng got into trouble and was arrested, and was sent to the border to fight.
Isn’t it almost like the Niu family’s incense has been cut off? Before the news came back, they could still wait. Now that the body has been pulled back, they dare not hold out any more hope. They cry and make a fuss, and they never stop. The villagers would have tried to persuade them, but they didn’t listen. Now no one is willing to come to persuade them.
The wife of the Liujiazhuang village chief is Niu Youfu’s biological sister. Originally, their family would definitely take care of the matter, but now the village chief’s son is gone, so they have no time to care about the Niu family’s affairs.
My eldest sister-in-law said that although her family and the Niu family don’t get along, her grandparents were also very upset when they heard the news. In addition, they were worried about her cousin and didn’t know what would happen to him. ”
The Wei family had not yet officially split up, so the military service this time was decided by drawing lots. The eldest branch of the family was drawn, and the one who went was Wei Erya's cousin.
Su Tai also sighed, she had a grudge against the Niu family, and logically she should be happy to hear such news, but she couldn't be happy, perhaps it was related to the fact that Shen Yi was also on the battlefield.
Summer arrived in this heavy atmosphere.
After finishing her work, Huang Xinghua came to Su Tai with a worried look on her face. "Xiao Tai, I don't know what's wrong with the fruits this year. They don't seem to have any taste and are not as sweet as usual. Some are even a little sour. The shapes are also weird. Some I haven't even seen before. I can't sell them for a good price! And the watermelons. In previous years, the fruits were big by this time, but this year they are only as big as a fist. I don't know if they can bear fruit!
Boss Ji just came over to place an order in advance. He was very disappointed with this year's strawberries and was arguing with the village chief in the back hills. "
Su Tai and Huang Xinghua went to the back mountain to check and saw that many villagers were busy, and every one of them had a worried look on their faces.
Shen Yingze argued with Boss Ji until his face turned red. "The price was the same in previous years. This year, the crops didn't grow well because of the weather. We have worked so hard to grow them for so long. Now you are giving us such a low price. Is that reasonable?"
Boss Ji's face was not looking good either. "Village Chief, let's talk business. I'm not trying to lower your price on purpose, but the goods are there. If the strawberries are as sweet and delicious as in previous years, I will definitely pay the deposit without hesitation. But you know the goods this year. I'm afraid that I won't be able to sell them and end up losing money.
If I buy at the previous price again, I will lose a lot of money!"
"That can't be so outrageous! Ten cents a pound, I might as well not sell it!" Shen Ying was so angry that he almost had a heart attack.
Boss Ji shook his head and said, "If you don't sell them, I won't buy them. I won't be doing the strawberry business this year."
Shen Ying watched Boss Ji walk down the hillside with a serious face, but did not stop him.
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