The return of Chen Zhuang gave the villagers some hope. They did not want to receive the bodies of their family members. As long as they were alive, it didn't matter even if they were really disabled.
Business in the village is still going on, and the weather is still cloudy and sunny, but fortunately the strawberry picking is almost over.
Xiaoxi brought another 5,000 cans of strawberry jam to the provincial capital. Boss Ji tasted the sweetness and went to the village to find Shen Ying and ordered another 2,000 cans. Even Ma Xingteng was no exception. After Boss Ji left, he found Su Tai and directly bought the remaining goods.
Su Tai entertained him in the courtyard and asked the question that was in her mind, "Mr. Ma, have you expanded your business beyond Lizhou? The quantity you requested this time is indeed a bit too much. I'm afraid Zhaohua County can't handle it all."
Ma Xingteng laughed happily, "Hey! Isn't this the third year since the ringo was planted? Everyone is waiting for the fruit to bear. If it really doesn't bear fruit, our family will have to pay a large sum of money. My father has now handed over the family business to me to manage, and I have to find a way to overcome the difficulties."
He had felt a little upset before because of Su Tai's words, but now he only felt deeply grateful to Su Tai. If Su Tai had not leaked the news in advance, the Ma family would have been robbed by the angry people, and there would have been no time for him to turn around.
"Is Mr. Ma okay?" Su Tai poured him a glass of water.
Ma Xingteng took a sip and said calmly, "It's still the same. My previous injuries have completely healed, but my energy and spirit have not yet fully recovered."
Su Tai nodded and reminded, "Ringo bears fruit in late autumn, but the weather is bad this year. I don't know what the situation will be. Mr. Ma should pay more attention."
"Thanks for the reminder."
A few days after Ma Xingteng left, the last batch of strawberry jam in the village was sold out.
The thatched huts in the village courtyard were demolished and the village was restored to its original appearance.
Because the watermelons grew more slowly than in previous years and would take a few days to pick, everyone gathered in the village courtyard to divide the money.
Tang Yu took the children to count the number of strawberries sent from each household.
He checked with the villagers one by one and made sure there were no problems before handing the final account to the village chief.
The village chief could handle small accounts but was unable to make such a large sum of money work. He was completely in the dark and had to ask Su Tai for help.
After Su Tai came over, she looked at the data carefully and said to the villagers, "The amount of money is huge now. If we pay everyone off all at once, I'm afraid we won't be able to pay it off. The best way is to do it in two steps. In previous years, a pound of strawberries was 80 cents. We should first distribute the silver to everyone according to this price, and then make interest on the remaining money based on the number of strawberries each household produces. How do you think?"
The villagers all nodded. As long as they could get the money, it didn't matter how it was divided. After all, Shen Ying was the village chief and they trusted Su Tai's character.
Seeing that the villagers had no objection, Shen Ying immediately brought a table and a basin and started to settle the accounts.
Su Tai reported a number, and Shen Ying sorted out the corresponding silver and money, put it in a large basin, and counted it in front of the villagers. Many people also testified that there was no embezzlement, and the villagers took the silver and put their fingerprints on it that year.
This is how one household passes through. Of course, this takes a lot of time.
It took them three days to distribute the basic amount of money.
Next, all the villagers turned their eyes to Shen Ying's family, wondering how much interest they could get.
Shen Ying was sitting in Su Tai's house with an anxious look on his face. "Xiao Tai, this interest is not easy to divide! How do we calculate it?"
Su Tai took out a piece of paper with a smile, "Don't worry, Village Chief, I have calculated it all. If I divide the remaining silver into the total amount, I can calculate the interest on each kilogram of strawberries. In this way, I will know how much silver each household will get, right?"
Shen Ying was shocked. "How did you do this? I have been calculating for several days and still can't figure it out!"
Of course he knew that he had to calculate it this way, but the number was so huge that he couldn't even divide it up one ounce at a time, and it was easy for him to make mistakes. If there wasn't enough for the people behind him after he divided it, the people in the front probably wouldn't be able to happily take it out and divide it again, so there would be a lot of wrangling for a long time.
Su Tai got the calculation by borrowing someone else's calculator after running through the space-time gate. How could she explain this? She just made it up to fool Shen Ying.
Shen Ying kept frowning when dividing the interest. Although Su Tai repeatedly assured him that there would be no mistakes, he still felt uneasy.
After dividing half of it, he still looked worried.
Xu asked, "What's the matter? The village chief doesn't want to share the interest with us?"
"No, no, don't talk, or I'll be confused." Shen Ying glared at Xu depressedly.
Everyone then realized what he was thinking and couldn't help but burst into laughter.
It took two days to distribute all the interest, but there were still a few dozen cents left.
The village chief heaved a long sigh of relief, and looking at the villagers, he felt his spine straightened a lot. "Fellow villagers, now all the money we earned has been distributed, and there are only a few dozen coins left. What do you think we should do?"
Everyone made money this year, almost half more than in previous years. It was only a few dozen cents, so no one bothered with the village chief.
Su Tai thought about it and suggested: "Why not give it to the elderly in the village? Even if it's not much, it can still make them happy."
When everyone heard this, their eyes lit up.
He praised: "You are smart, this is a good idea. The old man has worked hard for the village all his life, and he deserves some benefits. In this way, my family will give another 100 coins."
"Then we'll give a little too. We have a large family and we're not as generous as the village chief. We'll give twenty cents!"
This family gave twenty cents, that family gave fifty cents, and soon the basin was full of copper coins again.
Shen Ying smiled bitterly and said, "We are glad that everyone is taking care of the elderly in the village, but there is no need to do this. Copper coins here can be exchanged for several taels of silver. How about this, we invite a troupe to perform a big show! One tael of silver is enough to invite a troupe, and the rest can be distributed to the elderly. How about it?"
"good!"
The villagers agreed excitedly, and the matter was settled.
It is not that easy to invite a theatre troupe.
The opera troupes of this era were all mobile, commonly known as the lower nine types of opera troupes. They had no fixed residence and usually sang wherever they went. They could only be seen in prosperous provincial capitals or county towns. In remote and poor places like Moshi Town, it would be difficult to find them even if you wanted to.
The villagers had never seen any big opera. At most, they had encountered one or two street performers when they went to the market.
Everyone was fascinated by the drama that the village chief had described.
Shen Ying had no choice but to ask Su Tai for help. "Xiao Tai, you have a wide network of contacts. Can you help me ask where I can find the people from the opera troupe?"
Su Tai’s only connection is Ma Xingteng.
It just so happened that she was going back to her parents' home to give some money, so it wouldn't hurt for her to go.
The Ma residence is still the same as before, with no changes.
The Bai family who entertained her was even more enthusiastic than last time.
As soon as the two exchanged a few pleasantries, Su Tai expressed her intention.
Bai was a little surprised. "Your village is looking for a troupe? I've been married to the Ma family for so many years, and this is the first time I've heard of such a new thing." (End of this chapter)
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