A north wind blew overnight and the temperature dropped again.
Early in the morning, Yin Le got up to chop firewood and found that the firewood pile was covered with a thick layer of white frost.
Looking up at the sky, the clouds were very low and the sky was gray. I didn't know whether it was going to rain or snow.
It's already November, and based on previous years, the probability of snow is higher.
Yin Le shrank his neck. Ordinary people were most afraid of snow. If there was not enough charcoal, thick clothes and bedding, and food to survive the winter, winter would be a disaster for the people.
She was glad that she could spend the winter this year in a warm house wearing thick clothes.
Thinking of this, Yin Le felt even more grateful to his master and chopped wood even harder, wishing he could chop all the firewood that Awang had brought from the mountain in one day.
Just after breakfast, Qin Yao received the list of New Year gifts compiled by Song Yu.
There was no such link in previous years. At most, a portion would be prepared for the Ding family and Aunt Qi of the He family in the capital.
But this year Liu Ji became a juren, and his family had to deal with several more families.
Including the time for shopping and traveling, the list of New Year gifts has to be prepared in November.
Some of the journeys were long, so they set out in early November for fear of encountering heavy snow and making the journey difficult.
There were two lists of gifts sent by Song Yu.
One is a business partner related to a stationery factory.
The factory allocated funds for centralized procurement and sent some nourishing medicinal materials and local specialties.
Send an extra new ladies' box to Fulong Trading Company.
One copy was given by Qin Yao individually, and was to be given to the Qi family, Gong Liangliao, the Ding family, as well as the Qian, Chen, and Deng families who had just sworn brotherhood with Liu Ji.
In addition to last year's cloth, wine, meat, and tea, two sets of writing materials worth twenty taels of silver were added to the Qi family and Gong Liangliao, totaling seventy-five taels of silver.
Qian, Chen, and Deng families, each with a pig, two cans of top-quality tea, two pieces of cotton cloth, and two jars of wine. A total of fifty taels of silver are required.
As for the Ding family, each child has to have a portion of food, and even if it is just some meat and vegetables, it will cost two taels per person.
Ding Xiang's family was far away in Beijing, and Qin Yao hesitated at first whether to send a gift, but when she thought that Liu Fei was still in Beijing, and that they would have to keep in touch after opening a counter and store in the future, she had to prepare a New Year gift.
Hometown specialties are a special memory for people far away from home and they are very important.
Therefore, Qin Yao spent a lot of time thinking about the New Year gifts to be sent to the capital, and prepared a portion of all the food that was easy to store in Kaiyang County.
The cost of silver was not much, seven or eight taels were enough, but in order to ensure the freshness of the food, twenty taels of silver were spent on travel expenses. The gift may be small, but the sentiment is great.
We also have to go to Old Lady Ding's place in Dingjiazhuang, so we won't be so careful in preparing the New Year gifts. It will be enough to just bring six gifts, and the budget is ten taels of silver.
Qin Yao called Liu Ji over and asked him when he was free to take the four children with him to go there in person to finalize the arrangements for Sanlang and Siniang to study in the Ding family's original tribe next year.
Now that Liu Ji has the status of a juren, it is almost certain that he can get his children into school.
"The old lady is unhappy with me, so I won't go." Qin Yao said self-deprecatingly.
Liu Ji didn't know how to respond, so he could only agree and secretly glanced at the gift list in front of Qin Yao.
He learned arithmetic from Gong Liangliao. After just one look, he could use the abacus to calculate in his mind and quickly come up with a specific number.
One hundred and seventy taels!
Liu Ji took a deep breath, pointed at the list in disbelief and asked, "Madam, aren't these all the New Year gifts our family is going to give this year?"
Qin Yao said "hmm" and lowered her head to calculate the expenses.
She knew that Liu Ji was feeling pain, and in fact, she was also feeling pain. One hundred and seventy taels was enough for an ordinary family of four to live comfortably for seven or eight years.
But compared with other juren gentlemen in Kaiyang County, their family's spending on New Year gifts was just a one-time expense on other people's daily festivals.
If you still have work to do, the expenses will only be higher if colleagues give gifts to each other.
Liu Jike didn't know that Qin Yao was in pain. He only saw her calculating the expenses without any emotion. He felt nothing but admiration for her.
"Madam, can I ask you how much money our family has earned this year?"
With the cost of New Year gifts, he was worried that his family would go bankrupt!
Qin Yao looked up at him and smiled slightly: "It's inconvenient to tell you."
Liu Ji was not disappointed with this answer at all, it was what he expected.
It would be abnormal if the evil woman really told him how much silver she had at home.
It seems that the family will not go bankrupt for the time being, and the evil woman has plenty of money.
But he had to tell her that he had also made a great contribution to the family this year.
Liu Ji simply found a chair opposite Qin Yao and sat down, saying proudly:
"Of the 170 taels, more than 150 taels must have been earned by me, right? And the fields and houses at home, if we take them back next year, it will be a considerable income."
Qin Yao: "Yes, I know. I'll keep a record for you."
Liu Ji was delighted and asked hurriedly, "Then have I paid off my debt to you, my lady?"
Qin Yao raised her eyelids to look at him and asked seriously, "You want to pay it back? It's not impossible."
Liu Ji almost laughed out loud, but a voice suddenly sounded in his mind, reminding him grimly: Be careful, she is definitely not so kind, there must be a big trap waiting for you to jump into!
Liu Ji suddenly became alert and his mind became extremely clear. He shook his head and said, "No, no, we are husband and wife, why would we settle accounts? It's meaningless."
Qin Yao frowned and asked impatiently: "Then what do you want?"
"I don't want to do anything"
Qin Yao: "I'll ask you again, what do you want?!"
Liu Ji said very quickly: "Madam, can you give me some silver every month? Not too much, ten taels will be enough!"
After saying this, he opened his watery peach blossom eyes and looked at her pitifully, "Other scholars have servants when they go out, or at least a BMW to accompany them, but I am naked and alone."
Qin Yao: "Is that air you're wearing?"
Liu Ji coughed twice with a guilty conscience, brushed his newly made thick satin coat with his hand, and continued in a low voice:
"The Qian, Chen, and Deng families give me a lot of benefits every year. All the income added up can add two or three hundred taels of silver to the family. I only need ten taels to buy some pens and books. Isn't that too much?"
If you want the horse to run, you have to feed it grass. This is Qin Yao's principle for managing his subordinates. It works very well and has never failed.
The pitiful look of Liu Ji in front of her could not move her at all, but the poverty revealed in his eyes did hurt her eyes.
Qin Yao said, "Five taels, no more."
"Okay!" Liu Ji quickly agreed and pursed his lips to prevent himself from laughing out loud.
Hahahaha, he is a wealthy man now!
As for bargaining, it doesn't exist for Qin Yao. This is the truth that Liu Ji learned after several beatings. (End of this chapter)
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