Chapter 319 Trying on the Newly Tailored Spring Shirt
"I've found an ideal buyer. All the harvested grain at home can be shipped away at once, except for a portion stored in the shops in the city."
Tu Suminfei participated in the entire process, nodded slightly, and at the same time gave Tu Subo a reproachful look, and whispered: "The transportation route and the required manpower have been arranged. We just need to recruit people to deliver the food to the post station eighty miles away."
"One-time buyout?"
Tu Suting asked in surprise, "Where on earth did you find such a wealthy buyer? His generosity is simply unbelievable."
The new wheat in the granary was piled so high it was nearly breaking through the beams. Tu Subo brushed the wheat awns off his sleeves and lightly moved his fingertips across the beads on the abacus. "A total of 86,000 kilograms."
Tu Suting stared at the amount outlined in cinnabar on the account book, his brows slightly furrowed. "How could anyone in Fangling be able to afford such a sum?"
"The owner isn't from here." Tu Subo pushed the abacus onto the table, the brass beads clacking against each other. "But the path is reliable."
Li came over holding a teacup, the silver bracelet on her wrist jingling against the celadon lid: "Third Uncle, I heard earlier that we were going to renovate the west wing..."
"Of course we have to." The old man lifted the lid of his tea and blew away the foam, a smile hidden in the wrinkles of his eyes. "Wait until Bo'er and Minfei transport this batch of grain, and then we can pick an auspicious day to start construction." He turned his head and raised his chin towards Tu Suting who was gesturing on the blueprint. "Have you figured out all those tricks?"
Tu Suting rustled open the yellowed brown paper, and the outline of the house, drawn in charcoal, came into view: "The main house has five rooms, wing rooms and ear rooms, and the stables in the backyard have been moved to the east..."
At first, Gu Yuexuan listened attentively, her chin propped up. However, her eyelids gradually grew heavy from days of toil. The candlelight flickered twice by her temples, and her head involuntarily tilted towards Tu Subo's shoulder.
"Oh, this young lady." Li covered her mouth and laughed, "She was as strong as iron when we were rushing to harvest, but now she seems to be so weak."
Tu Subo raised his hand to hold her tilted cheek, and the calluses on his palm made her feel slightly itchy: "Xuanxuan, go back to the room and sleep."
"Third Uncle..." Gu Yuexuan forced her eyelids open, hooked her fingers around Tu Suting's sleeves and shook them, "The grape trellis... must be able to bear fruit..."
"I'll remember that!" Tu Suting said, pulling back his sleeves with a look of confusion. "I'll plant two racks for you, with both purple and green grapes hanging on them!"
As moonlight soaked through the window paper, Tu Subo half-carried and half-supported the man back to the east wing. Unexpectedly, the man, touched by the pillow, became more awake. Pulling on his sleeve, he asked, "Is the buyer Cheng Yanhe?"
Tu Subo paused as he was tucking her quilt: "What are you guessing?"
"The Fangling camp suffers from food shortages every year." Gu Yuexuan turned over and rested her head on her arms, her sleepy voice tinged with cunning. "Who else but the military camp can eat 80,000 kilograms in one breath?"
Crickets were chirping outside the window, so Tu Subo simply sat down on the edge of the bed and said, "You're quite insightful."
"But he and you..." Gu Yuexuan yawned, her eyelashes fluttering, "Don't they have a blood feud?"
"The blood feud is true." Tu Subo put his hand over her eyes, "but he has now found out that the Tu Su family was just taking the blame back then." He felt the tickle of his eyelashes brushing against his palm, and his voice became softer, "Besides, military rations are tight. We have food, he has money, we each take what we need."
Gu Yuexuan figured it out in the darkness: "Are they going to do business together?"
"For now." Tu Subo looked at the swaying shadows of the trees outside the window. "When the war in the northern border gets intense, the military pay allocated by the court will probably rust even the blades of the swords - our food is the lifeblood of Cheng Yanhe."
The night wind carried the aroma of wheat in. Gu Yuexuan finally couldn't resist the sleepiness and muttered vaguely, "Then I have to plant more... I have to build a grape trellis next year..."
Tu Su Bo listened to the long, slow breaths rising beside his pillow, his lips curling up. Outside the courtyard came the sound of the night watchman's clappers, three long and two short—Tu Su Minfei leading the caravan out of the village. He quietly closed the door. The moonlight stretched the shadow of the granary far beyond its bulging sacks, filled with the hopes of the entire Tu Su family.
Gu Yuexuan's eyelashes trembled slightly under her palm. She mumbled a response and turned her back to Tu Subo. When her breathing became regular, Tu Subo quietly lifted the curtain and left the room.
The copper bells on the eaves tinkled in the night breeze. He gazed thoughtfully toward the granary. He needed to check with Tu Su Min Fei on the grain transport route tomorrow. The wheel tracks necessitated a detour eastward along the official road to avoid the muddy riverbank.
At first light, Gu Yuexuan was already standing in the threshing ground, counting grain bags. Golden rice piled up like a small mountain. Her sleeves were stained with straw dust. After counting the last bag, she nodded to Tu Subo, "Twenty carts in the east will go to the grain shop. Brother Minfei will take the rest to the market in the north."
Cheng Jing'en was now in charge of the city's grain store. This young man was quite clever, his abacus beads clacking as he saw Gu Yuexuan approaching. He came forward with the account book in hand and said, "Boss, take a look. The millet we harvested the other day has been divided into five-jin bags, just as you requested."
Gu Yuexuan stroked the red knot that sealed the sack with her fingertips, and a smile appeared on the corners of her mouth: "Manager Cheng is becoming more and more capable." As she spoke, she caught a glimpse of a little head popping out from behind the counter. It turned out to be the youngest sister of the Cheng family, who was learning to use an abacus. Her round eyes looked 70% like her brother's.
Around the corner was Yu's embroidery workshop. Two silk lanterns hung beneath a newly painted plaque. Embroiderers shuttled through the blue-brick corridors, their needlework baskets piled high with colorful silk ribbons. Yu was bent over her embroidery frame, tracing a pattern. Hearing the rustle of the door curtain, she looked up and smiled, "Xuan, you've arrived just in time. Try on this newly cut spring gown."
The bundle was untied, revealing a lilac-colored double-breasted skirt with a silver-threaded embroidered lotus at the collar. Gu Yuexuan pinched the thin silk and smiled bitterly, "Second Aunt, I'm always working in the fields. I'm afraid such bright material will be wasted."
"Nonsense!" Yu glared at her and stuffed another blue cloth bag into her arms. "Inside are soft boots with thick soles, and the uppers are sewn with three layers of hemp thread." Seeing that Gu Yuexuan was about to refuse, she deliberately frowned and said, "Are you dissatisfied with Second Aunt's crude craftsmanship?"
Suddenly, a quarrel was heard in the front hall, and the Bai family's wife hurried in, raising the curtain. "Boss, that person is here again." Yu's smile suddenly froze, and she placed the embroidery frame heavily on the table. Gu Yuexuan peered through the carved partitions to see Tu Suye's bloated figure wandering among the shelves, the jade pendant on his waist jingling with every step.
"Let him wander around." Yu picked up the embroidery needle and pursed her hair. "The two young men arranged by Min Fei will follow him closely, so they won't cause any trouble." Before she finished speaking, Tu Suye came to the counter, a smile on his sleek face. "Madam, you are so successful now, why don't you make a new robe for your husband?"
Yu didn't even raise her eyelids, and the needle tip moved quickly on the brocade: "Min Fei bought you five new sets of clothes last month. Could it be that they were all used as gambling money?" Tu Suye's face turned purple. Two strong men came forward at the right time and politely asked him to leave.
As dusk fell, Gu Yuexuan walked home, carrying some fabric. The rice paddies on both sides of the official road had just been plowed, and the smell of moist earth mixed with the smell of cooking smoke filled the air. Tu Subo was wiping the grain cart in the yard. When he saw her return, he smiled and said, "How many good things did Second Aunt give you again?"
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