Yongpeng Dawa was very interested in Gu Qingshan's hunting results. Seeing his mother and the others busy, he quickly followed in Gu's footsteps.
The yams at Wang Benchang's house weighed 320 jin in total, and Liu Shi quickly counted out 320 copper coins and handed them to him. This money had been exchanged by Qin Sanniang beforehand, strung together in strings of 100 coins each, for easy calculation!
Wang and the others happily led their eldest brother and nephew back home, saying that they still had yams to sell and that their eldest son would bring them over later.
Qin San Niang and the others had no reason to refuse; they simply told her to bring it over!
Looking around this ten-mile valley, quite a few families do grow yams, but it's all small-scale. Even if they harvested them in large quantities, they might not be able to make much! She's worried it won't be enough!
Immediately afterward, Cheng Shi, along with his two brothers-in-law, weighed the yams they had brought. Wang Guixiang, not wanting to delay her own work, only glanced at the goods before returning home. She had only heard that her family had brought over four hundred jin of yams to sell, which was a considerable sum of money. With that money, her thrifty mother could prepare a good New Year for the whole family!
As expected, just as Qin San Niang had predicted, a lot of villagers came to Shiligou. Apart from a few families who had stored over a hundred catties, the other families only had a few dozen catties. So they started high and ended low. When they finally took stock at the end of the night, they had only collected 1,500 catties!
But this is still quite a lot; it's enough for Manager Si to use until after the New Year!
However, the villagers, who could earn dozens or even hundreds of copper coins with little effort, lit oil lamps that they usually couldn't bear to use and sat at home counting their coins. The pleasant sound of them counting their coins was something they could never get tired of!
"This new family is capable; we must never offend them!" A wise elder instructed his children and grandchildren.
It was clear that Qin San Niang and the others were no ordinary people; that scholar was also quite capable, with excellent handwriting!
In fact, besides the village head who had been a shopkeeper in the county in his early years, the second son of the village was also literate! However, this did not stop the old farmers from seeing the admiring look in He Yingyuan's eyes. His upright posture, his demeanor, and the smooth flow of his brushstrokes were all excellent! The characters he wrote were all the same size, and there were no ink smudges. That was good handwriting!
"Grandpa is right. Thanks to their kindness, our family will have a good New Year!" The children and grandchildren responded with smiles.
At He Xing's home, her husband Chen Dahe was all smiles as he looked at the copper coins in his grandfather's hand. Not only him, but everyone else was the same.
"Grandpa, luckily you have foresight. How did you know that yams could be sold for money? Our family is the only one in the entire Shiligou who brought out 600 catties of yams at once!"
"Yes, Father, it's definitely true that listening to you is right! Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure, it's not just a saying."
Old man Chen Geng stroked his white beard, grinning from ear to ear, the wrinkles around his eyes deepening!
Being affirmed by his children and grandchildren makes him happier than eating honey! An old man of his age is afraid of being a burden to his children and grandchildren, but they are all good and filial! Otherwise, they would not have agreed when he cleared the land to plant yams.
He Xing's father-in-law was now filled with regret. He should have listened to his father and planted more crops, so they could have earned more money! But there was no going back, otherwise he would have swallowed his anger long ago!
"Grandpa, Xing'er went to work at Madam Qin's house, and they said she'd get paid!" Chen Dahe was excited when he thought of this. He couldn't keep things to himself, so he told everyone to have a laugh.
Old Man Chen had two sons and two daughters. His daughters were married and lived elsewhere, while his sons all lived together, not separated from the family. Chen Dahe was the eldest son of his eldest son! Chen Dahe was an only child. They married two years ago and now have a son, nicknamed Daxiong (Big Bear). They only hoped this child would be strong and healthy like a bear cub, but unfortunately, Daxiong was born crying at night. Not only was he short, but he was also hunched over, weak and limp! He would also have convulsions from time to time, causing his family endless worry!
For his sake, Old Man Chen even took out his savings for a coffin, hiring doctors and giving him traditional Chinese medicine. At least he showed some improvement, though his head appeared even larger against his already frail body. Fortunately, the child could communicate normally and wasn't mentally challenged, which was excellent! Even if he still had convulsions, perhaps they would get better as he grew older! The whole family believed he would definitely get better!
"I heard there's payment for helping out?" Old Man Chen pondered for a moment and said, "We in Shiligou are all about mutual help and support. Don't break this rule just because they're new here! Neighbors helping each other out shouldn't require payment! Besides, we've already received gifts from them!"
He wouldn't have accepted Liu's large white steamed buns if he hadn't thought about how his children and grandchildren hadn't eaten white flour in a long time.
As for him showing people the way? That was just something he did along the way! It wasn't worth all that money! He was happy that his granddaughter-in-law was invited to help, considering it a way of repaying a favor. He never expected to get any money in return.
None of the grandfather and his grandchildren dared to disobey his orders, knowing full well that their grandfather was right.
The villagers usually help each other out, it's just a matter of making a few vegetable dumplings, why would they need money to bribe someone? It's probably because Qin Niangzi's family just came to the village and don't know the customs.
After thinking for a moment, Chen Dahe said with a heavy heart, "Grandpa is right. I'll go pick up A-Xing later and make sure she doesn't ask for any money!"
He Xing was unaware of these matters and was currently busy helping out.
After spending the afternoon together, He Xing regained her carefree personality and, together with Wang Guixiang, picked out interesting things about Shiligou to tell everyone.
With the help of these two quick-witted women, the production speed of gloves and earmuffs more than doubled!
Qin San Niang watched the women's fingers fly across the paper with envy, praising them repeatedly, but in the end, she slunk away under Liu's disdainful gaze.
The eldest child was both surprised and excited. Uncle Gu had actually hunted a wild boar?! It weighed over 200 jin (approximately 100 kg). Although it wasn't the biggest one, it was still enough to surprise everyone! In addition to the wild boar, there were also five pheasants and three rabbits. They hadn't hunted any foxes or anything like that. The rabbit fur could be used to make knee pads for Liu.
The children all gathered in the backyard watching as Gu Qingshan, wielding a dagger, easily dismembered the wild boar. His skillful technique made them suspect he was actually a butcher! However, A-Zhi denied this, saying that her father had never worked as a butcher, though he had served in the army.
Gu Qingshan's muscles tensed up, but no one paid attention to what the child said. Seeing that everyone's attention was on the wild boar, they relaxed and continued working!
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