Chapter 25: Collecting Rent For the next two weeks or so, snacks...
For the next two weeks or so, the food stall sold fewer noodles, but more meat sauce and various snacks that they tried making.
After the autumn harvest, the temperature may suddenly drop sharply, so you need to quickly prepare your winter clothes before the weather changes.
Qiu Yuruo originally wanted to buy a set of clothes for each person first. Yes, one set for each person, because not only did she not have any winter clothes, but Yun Che and his two siblings did not either.
Because in the past, when the seasons changed, most of their out-of-season clothes would be given by their mothers to their husbands' families and their own families' nephews and nieces.
On the contrary, Su Yunting had the most clothes left because he was much older than the children from the other two families.
Qiu Yu's decision to buy ready-made clothes was opposed by her second sister.
Su Jingshu's cooking skills are not good, but her needlework is quite good. It's just clothes for the family. She was already able to make clothes on her own last year. If she can make clothes herself, why should she spend more money to buy ready-made clothes?
Since her second sister could make it, Qiu Yuruo no longer spent money to buy it in town.
First, they bought coarse cloth woven by a familiar family, and then they bought cotton. Everyone in the family, except Su Yunting, made two sets of coarse cloth cotton clothes, and made an extra set of clothes for late autumn. From then on, everyone could just wear coarse cloth clothes on weekdays.
Su Jingshu stayed at home taking care of her younger sister and older brother, doing housework and making clothes, while Qiu Yuruo took Su Yunche to the food stall at the village entrance from morning to night.
After the autumn harvest, married women have the custom of returning to their parents' home, so Qiu Yuruo's various pastries sold quickly.
Pastries high in oil and sugar are expensive, and apart from passersby who are drinking tea, very few people from nearby villages buy them.
The most popular item among locals is steamed sponge cake. In town, one steamed sponge cake costs three coins, and two cost five coins. Qiu Yuruo's steamed sponge cakes are slightly larger than those in town, but the price is the same. She gives the people of Sujiazhuang two coins each.
Therefore, after the autumn harvest, steamed rice cakes from snack stalls sell the fastest, followed by meat sauce, and then higher-priced pastries.
In the three to five days following the busy autumn harvest, the boxes for storing money were always full when I got home from the market.
In just over a month since the food stall opened, Qiu Yuruo has already recouped her investment of ten taels of silver!
However, such good profits can only last for two more days at most. The temperature is already so high that you need to wear a light cotton-padded jacket in the morning. Fewer people are going out because of the cold weather. Let alone more than two thousand coins a day, a food stall can only make five hundred coins a day if business is good.
Therefore, Qiu Yuruo is now facing two choices.
The first option was to use the ten taels of silver to take Su Yunting to the county for medical treatment. The second option was to not seek medical treatment for the time being and save the money for unexpected needs in the winter.
As Qiu Yuruo was struggling with how to spend the money, Su Yunche told her that it was time to collect the rent from the family's land.
Qiu Yu's heart stirred again when she heard about land rent.
The rent from ten acres of land is not enough to live on for a year, but it is enough to live on for a winter. Even if the food stall does not make money in winter, there is no fear of going hungry!
Speaking of land rent, Qiu Yuruo naturally thought of the tax exemption privilege granted to scholars by the imperial court.
Scholars enjoyed the privilege of being exempt from corvée labor and taxes on eighty mu of land.
My family only has ten mu of land left. Who used the tax exemption quota for the other seventy mu of land under Su Yunting's name?
Actually, there's no need to ask who used it.
After confirming her guess with Yun Che, Qiu Yu Ruo secretly told Su Yun Ting about her plan that night.
After hearing this, Su Yunting couldn't help but laugh in her mind. She was making the most of Old Man Qiu's help!
The next day, Qiu Yuru made enough pastries and meat sauce to sell for two days, because she was going back to her parents' home the next day.
The pastries have been selling well these past two days. Qiu Yuru didn't want to delay her stall, but she was worried that Su Yunche wouldn't be able to manage it all by himself, so she asked Aunt Shuncai to help her for a day and also arranged for a mule cart from the village to pick up passengers.
The next day, he set up his stall early, cooked bone broth and prepared dough, then took a sufficient amount of steamed cakes, two catties of expensive pastries and two jars of meat sauce, and rode a mule cart to the town to buy wine and meat.
...
In Qianqiao Village, Old Man Qiu has been thinking about when Qiu Yuruo will return to her parents' home.
When Grandma Zhou saw him wander around the door again, she couldn't help but say to him, "A married daughter is like water spilled from a cup. Your daughter hasn't come back since she got married in the fall. You still hope that your granddaughter, who hates you, will come back to see you!"
They're all heartless, what's there to hope for!
Old Qiu glared at her: "Don't talk nonsense. She's our own child. What's with all this talk of hatred? Outsiders will laugh at us!"
When Qiu Laoda's wife heard her father-in-law say this, she replied, "Father, if she didn't hate him, why have all the other girls around gone back to their parents' homes, but she hasn't?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a voice came from outside the door: "Grandpa, Third Uncle, I'm back."
The courtyard fell silent, and the third son's daughter couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Grandma Zhou glared at her fiercely, and the third son's wife pulled her daughter out, warmly responding to Qiu Yuruo: "Yuruo is back! Your grandfather and third uncle have been looking forward to seeing you these past two days!"
Qiu Yuru took things off the car: "Third Aunt, I've been busy at the stall these past two days, and I didn't want to delay, so I postponed coming back until today."
Uncle Qiu, who was visiting his neighbor, came out when he heard the noise: "It's good that you're alright. I was worried something had happened. I was thinking that if you didn't come back today, I would go to Sujiazhuang tomorrow to check on you."
Qiu Yuruo gave him a big smile and said, "Don't worry, Uncle, I'm fine."
After saying that, he saw the neighbor who came out with Uncle Qiu and said, "Sixth Master is also at home. I brought some steamed cakes. I will have Ersheng take some to you later."
The man who was called Sixth Master smiled and said no need, then told her to go home quickly.
Qiu Yuruo brought quite a lot of things, but she only gave a pound of better pastries and meat sauce to Grandma Zhou. However, she said it very nicely: "Grandma, the rest are just cheap trinkets. I made these pastries especially for you and Grandpa, and the meat sauce has extra meat in it."
Grandma Zhou didn't like Qiu Yuruo, but she had no grudge against Hao Dong. Although she didn't smile, she didn't say anything unpleasant either. She took the things and went back to her room.
Qiu Yuruo pretended not to see Qiu Laoda's family and turned directly to Qiu Laotou, saying, "Grandpa, I also bought you some good wine. I'll cook lunch, so you and Uncle San can have a good drink together."
Old Qiu chuckled and replied, "Okay."
If Qiu Yu wanted to use him, she would make sure to give him face. "I also made steamed cakes. See who around you you are on good terms with, and have Ersheng deliver two to them for you."
She had really hit the nail on the head this time, and the old man's voice even became three times louder, "No need for Ersheng, I'll just send it to those old friends."
Old Qiu went to show off what his granddaughter had brought. Qiu Yuru gave the meat and vegetables she bought to her third aunt to pack up first, and then went to her third uncle's room to talk for a while.
Old Qiu boasted until it was time to eat before returning home. Qiu Yuruo even specially prepared several of his favorite dishes, talking about his reputation for benevolence and righteousness in Sujiazhuang, which greatly satisfied Old Qiu's vanity.
Just as he was feeling smug, Qiu Yuruo changed the subject and said, "I run a small food stall now, which is enough to support my family's daily expenses."
Yesterday, the rent for the land we rented was also delivered. It's a pity we only have ten mu of land left. If we had more land, Yunting, being a scholar, would have eighty mu of land rent-free. The rent we collected would be enough to take him to the county hospital for treatment!
After listening, Old Qiu put down his wine glass and asked, "Your family only has ten mu of land now. Whoever uses the remaining seventy mu of land quota has to pay half of the land rent!"
Qiu Yuruo sighed: "If someone else were using it, they would have to send it over even without being urged. But it's being used by Yunting's grandfather."
Old Qiu slammed his hand on the table: "Even if he uses it, he still has to pay rent!"
Uncle Qiu also said, "Yes, he said back then that he wouldn't get involved with anyone else and wouldn't let you bother him. He even wrote a document. Since he made such a clear division, he has to pay you the rent he owes you."
Qiu Yuruo: "It's right to give, it's not that it's not good to give!"
He occupies the position of elder, and if I go to him for what I want, even if I'm in the right, I'll lose some of my grounds for argument!
Old Qiu pondered for a moment and said, "Aren't we supposed to take Yunting to the county for medical treatment? Your third uncle and I will go back with you. We'll ask that old man for land rent first, and then use the rent to pay for Yunting's medical treatment!"
Qiu Yuruo quickly filled his glass: "It has to be my grandfather! If you hadn't come back with me, I don't know how many times I would have had to beg him to give it to me."
Old Qiu downed his drink in one gulp: "Don't worry, leave this to Grandpa."
Actually, asking Old Man Su for land rent isn't that troublesome. As long as the clan chief intervenes, even if he's unwilling, he'll have no choice but to pay.
Qiu Yuruo mainly wanted Old Man Qiu to go to the county with her.
There was no way she could take Su Yunting to the county for medical treatment by herself, not even with Yun Che. At the very least, an adult male would have to accompany them.
Since she had just married into the family, she needed to take Su Yunting to see a doctor, and she also had to bring a member of the Su family along.
It doesn't matter if he lies there unconsciously and dies of illness, but as long as he moves around, he has to take the Su family with him. Otherwise, if anything happens, Old Man Su will find a way to make him be buried with Su Yunting.
Sending an adult male from the Su family to the county would be risky, as it's uncertain whether he'd be able to return by nightfall. Even if Yun Che were to go with them, there would definitely be bad rumors circulating in the village upon their return. Therefore, bringing along an elder male from the family is the best solution.
As for Uncle Qiu being enough on his own, Qiu Yuruo felt it was better to be prepared. It was her first time going to the county, and having another person of her own by her side would give her more peace of mind.
...
Uncle Qiu drove the oxcart, taking his father and niece to Sujiazhuang.
Qiu Yuruo had already told them on the way that the Su family patriarch should go and ask for the land rent first.
When Old Qiu is calm, his mind is still clear, so he naturally won't object.
Qiu Yuruo then carried some more things, called Yun Che back from the food stall, and they went to the clan chief's house together.
The family property was divided so clearly that it was only natural to ask Old Man Su for land rent, especially since the rent was for Su Yunting's medical treatment.
The clan chief immediately said he would go with Qiu Yuruo to ask Old Man Su for land rent.
Qiu Yuruo then told Yun Che to go home, "Have Third Uncle hitch up the cart and go with my grandfather to the old man's place to pick up the grain."
Qiu Yuruo and the clan chief arrived at Old Man Su's house first.
Old Man Su felt that Su Yunting was unlucky. Ever since he passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, his eldest son's family had suffered one misfortune after another. His son and daughter-in-law had both died. Thinking of his eldest son's son and daughter who died young, Old Man Su secretly hoped that Su Yunting would also die soon, so that he would not bring misfortune to himself.
However, wishing him dead was one thing, but taking advantage of him and then having to give it back was something Old Man Su was not so willing to do.
However, due to the clan leader's intimidation, he had no choice but to comply.
Old Su was unhappy, so he yelled and cursed at his son and daughter-in-law, but the meaning behind his words was that they were all directed at Qiu Yuruo.
He had barely uttered a couple of curses when Old Qiu's shouts and curses came from outside the door.
Since they are of the same generation, it's obvious that the one in the wrong can't win an argument.
Old Qiu cursed to his heart's content, and even after leaving, he didn't forget to boast about his reputation. He pulled out some grain and said to the onlookers, "With this land rent, I can take Yunting to the county for medical treatment tomorrow!"
That evening, Qiu Yuru tidied up Su Yunting and looked through the things she would need for the next day's outing before going back to bed.
When Su Yunting heard her confirm that she could go to the county tomorrow, his heart couldn't help but pound wildly.
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