It was still snowing the next day, and the two brothers had strange expressions when they came back.
"What's wrong? You look so sad. Are you having trouble selling charcoal?" Zhou pulled them to the stove and asked them to change their shoes.
Chunxiao also looked at them.
"It's not that sales are going badly. We originally agreed to deliver 100 kilograms of charcoal to three families. Today, when I went to deliver charcoal, that family wanted 50 kilograms. But then, for some reason, they took all our charcoal. We couldn't say we wouldn't sell it, for fear of offending them and cutting off business. But because of this, the other two families didn't deliver."
"Have you explained this to the other two families?"
"All this stuff is gone. We were afraid we wouldn't know how to explain it to anyone, so we just went and bought 50 kilograms of fine flour and came back." Yan Dashan pulled out a handful of silver from his pocket and said, "106 kilograms of charcoal. Can you calculate it?"
"Oh, big brother, you should have said hello if you lost me. The worst thing about doing business is dishonesty." Chun Xiao counted the money and felt bad. "The money is right." The numbers were quite auspicious: 6 taels, 6 qian, and 60 wen.
"What should we do?" Both of them were a little anxious. "Should we go again to deliver it? When will your charcoal be ready?"
Chunxiao calculated in her mind that the earliest she could get her charcoal was around 2 p.m., which would take at least two hours to get to town and back, by which time it would be dark. Furthermore, it was snowing outside, making it too dangerous.
"Forget it. It will be too late to come back after getting charcoal at 3 p.m. Safety is the most important thing. At worst, I can just stop doing business with those two companies in the future."
Zhou felt a little sorry.
"If you can get up at noon, that's fine. I'll give it another go. I walk faster. At most, I can bring a torch with me. I can buy a tinderbox in town for a few dollars."
"Second brother, do you really need to send me off again?" Chunxiao was a little worried.
"Send it. We can't ruin our reputation. Last time, my eldest brother went. This time, I'll go."
"Mom, what do you think?" Chunxiao was a little undecided.
"Go if you can. Your brother is right. We can't destroy the signboard. If it's late, just go home. There's no need to come. Keep the money first and we'll talk about it tomorrow."
"How much charcoal can you collect today? Will you still be able to sell it tomorrow?"
"I'll be able to lift over 60 kilograms later, so I'll take a day off tomorrow. I need to give people a break."
Yan Dashan nodded and said, "Okay, I'll arrange it as you say."
After lunch, Yan Dashan took a nap around the stove, while Yan Dahe looked at the mounds of earth in the straw shed from time to time, hoping that they would heal soon.
"Brother, please stop looking. I don't dare to open it before the time is up. I'm afraid it won't be smoldering long enough and smoke will appear when it burns."
"Don't open it too early, I'm just curious."
"Why don't you go to my room and take a nap, or you'll be too tired to have any energy later." They had already walked for hours to get to town today. If Chunxiao went again, she was afraid her legs would cramp up. "When you're done, have my sister-in-law give you a good soak in hot water, otherwise you won't be able to walk tomorrow."
"You think I'm you." Yan Dahe smiled, "Don't worry, I can go today and leave tomorrow."
"Give me your shoes so I can check if they're dry inside." Zhou called him over and asked him to sit down. "Take this opportunity to rest a little longer. It's not easy to go twice."
Several people sat by the stove. When the time came, Chun Xiao lit the charcoal, placed it in a backpack padded with a curtain, and covered the curtain with straw. "Just go back immediately after delivering it. Don't ask for the buyer."
Yan Dahe is gone.
Yan Dashan sat for a while and then prepared to go back. Chunxiao handed him a few pieces of ginger and said, "Give this to my second sister-in-law. Ask her to cut it into slices and boil it with water. When my second brother comes back, let him drink it while it's hot. It can prevent colds."
Yan Dashan also left.
Chunxiao started to light the stove again. She was a little tired of this job now. She had to sit around the stove all day and couldn't do anything else. Fortunately, it was only winter. If it was like this all year round, she would probably get depressed.
Zhou has been making clothes in her room these days whenever she has free time. She has already finished her eldest sister-in-law's coat, and is working on her second sister-in-law's today. It should be finished by evening. Once the coat is finished, it's time to make the pants.
After a good night's sleep, knowing that they didn't have to deliver coal the next day, Zhou slept in with Chunxiao. When they got up, they were surprised to find that the rain and snow had stopped and the air had become dry. It turned out that good weather comes after the snow.
Just a few minutes after the two of them got up, the Yan family, father and son, arrived. "Mom, Chunxiao, open the door quickly. The sky is clear."
When several people entered the house, Yan Dahe took out the silver first and said, "Yesterday, the charcoal in the back was 67 kilograms in total. The person in front took 25 kilograms, and the people in the back took all of it. Fortunately, I went there. People were waiting for our charcoal, so they didn't buy it when someone else sold it. If I didn't go, they would have nothing to use in the evening, and they would definitely not deal with us again in the future." He felt very lucky.
Chunxiao counted the money and gave each of the two brothers 2 taels. "Why did you come so early today?" She looked at Yan Bangfa again, "Why did Dad come here so early too?"
"The sky is clearing up!" Dashan said excitedly. "We're going up the mountain to cut bamboo for you today. Your sister-in-law and the others will join us later."
When Chunxiao heard that the whole family had to go out, she said, "Why are we going to cut bamboo? It's still wet on the mountain. Our clothes will get wet if we go there."
"Dad said he would build you a long bamboo shed in the backyard so that it would be convenient for you to store wood and start a stove. Now we can't chop wood, otherwise we would have to chop some wood back."
"It's so cold with wet clothes, Dad. Why don't you just forget about it and wait until it gets sunny for a few days?"
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