Soon all the ripe pitai fruit in the nearby mountains were picked, and if you wanted to pick more, you had to go deeper into the mountains.
Most of the villagers in Liangshuijing are elderly people, children, women and children, so naturally they dare not go deep into the mountains.
So they went to pick the fruit together in a nearby village. Among the group were the Liu family and Qiaohui and her son, who had been exiled with the Pei family.
The remaining, stronger men stayed in the village to pick lychees.
Anyway, nobody wants the Thunder Fruit, so no one says anything to them if they go to pick it elsewhere.
However, people often gossip behind their backs, saying all sorts of things, mostly discussing how their village has been reduced to eating Thunder Fruit.
A villager stood at the village entrance, cracking sunflower seeds, and said with a disdainful look, "You don't know, I saw with my own eyes those people from Liangshui Village picking more than a dozen bags of thunderbolt fruit by the river. Do you think they've gone mad?"
Villager 2 also curled his lip: "That's right, that stuff doesn't taste good, I wouldn't even take it if it were given to me for free, but they treat it like a treasure."
The villager said sheepishly, "But the animals they raise are plump and healthy, they don't look like they can't afford to eat anything but pitai fruit. Besides, what about the lychees and bananas in the mountains? Aren't they tastier than pitai fruit? They're not stupid, why would they pick pitai fruit? Could they be secretly trying to make a fortune from it?"
Everyone stared at the person who said those words as if he were a fool, and the person, feeling embarrassed, touched his nose.
The villager scoffed at him, "Maybe they really are idiots. Otherwise, who would want something that tastes so awful?"
Villager San thought about the taste of the Thunder Fruit and said, "That's true. Who would like to eat something that tastes so bad?"
To be fair, this guy does have some brains, but not many...
The people of Liangshui Village didn't care what they said behind their backs. Even if they called them fools, it wouldn't hurt them.
They know they are making money and just need to live a good life.
......
After Pei Yao finished washing the large vats, Manager Zhang drove the oxcart over and delivered the glutinous rice.
When he arrived, Pei Yao was moving the jar to a shady spot.
"Miss Pei, I've brought the glutinous rice. Please take a look." Manager Zhang parked the oxcart at the entrance of the Pei family's courtyard.
He didn't know where Pei Yao's family lived at first, but luckily the Pei family had a good reputation in the village, so he found them after asking around a bit.
"Okay, I'm coming right now."
Pei Yao put down what she was holding, went over and checked it. The rice was indeed good quality and there were no major problems. Then she asked Chen Fang to settle the final bill for Manager Zhang.
Manager Zhang then asked the people he had brought to help carry the glutinous rice into the Pei family's courtyard.
After delivering the goods, Manager Zhang left without lingering too long, as the night road was difficult to travel and he needed to get back to town before dark.
Since the rice had arrived, Pei Yao decided to start making glutinous rice wine.
Yunniang, Pei Yichen, and Pei Xuan were responsible for peeling and pitting the lychees, while Pei Yao and Chen Fang were responsible for washing and steaming the glutinous rice.
They were busy with this one step until dark, until their stomachs started growling, reminding them it was time to eat.
Yunniang had no choice but to stop what she was doing and start cooking, while Pei Yao went to the Niu family's house while the glutinous rice was steaming in the pot.
Pei Yao needs to set a price for the bamboo cups made by Uncle Niu Er, otherwise she can't keep taking other people's things for free. Everyone is poor and life isn't easy.
When Pei Yao arrived at the Niu family's house, they had just finished dinner. Uncle Niu was making bamboo cups by lighting an oil lamp in the yard, while Aunt Niu and Niu Qingshan were sorting through the thunder fruits that Aunt Niu had brought back during the day.
When she saw Pei Yao arrive, Aunt Niu stopped what she was doing and warmly brought her a chair.
"Yao'er is here, come in and sit down."
"Hey, Grandma Niu, Grandpa Niu, have you eaten yet?" Pei Yao greeted them as she walked, politely accepting the stool that Aunt Niu Er handed her.
Pei Yao came today mainly to discuss the price of bamboo cups with the Niu family.
Pei Yao had things to do at home, so after chatting for a while, she directly explained the purpose of her visit.
With the increasing volume of bamboo cups produced by our family, it's unrealistic to not charge for them.
Uncle Niu was an honest and upright man, so the price he referenced was the price someone in town had previously paid for bamboo cups, five for one coin.
Pei Yao's lips twitched upon hearing this: five for one coin...
Even capitalists would weep at this price.
Pei Yao thought about the cups that Uncle Niu Er had made for her family before. They all had the character "Pei" carved on them, and a simple little spoon made from useless bamboo was also used to match them.
This was exactly what Pei Yao wanted, but carving the characters and adding a spoon would naturally take a lot of time, so Pei Yao offered one coin per cup.
It's not that she's a saint, but she simply can't bear to see the things that the elderly work so hard to make being sold so cheaply.
Young people always find it easier to make money than older people.
Anyway, when she sold ice jelly, she charged a separate coin for the bamboo cup.
Uncle Niu was very embarrassed and was about to refuse without thinking, but Pei Yao interrupted him with a smile: "Grandpa Niu, let's leave it at that. It's not easy for you to make a bamboo cup."
Uncle Niu couldn't persuade her otherwise, so he agreed, though a flicker of something flashed in his old, cloudy eyes.
Seeing the old man's silence, Pei Yao didn't say anything more. She still had things to do at home, so she went home first.
It was already dark outside. Niu Qingshan lit a lantern to escort Pei Yao, and Pei Yao did not refuse, as it was indeed not safe for a girl to walk alone at night.
After the two went out, Niu Qingshan walked ahead with a stick, occasionally patting the grass on both sides of the village road.
In Lingnan, snakes and ants often roam the grass on both sides of the road at night, so Niu Qingshan was stirring up trouble to scare them away.
"Yao-mei, thank you."
After walking a few steps, Niu Qingshan suddenly stopped, turned around and sincerely thanked Pei Yao. The boy's dark face smiled brightly and honestly under the lantern.
"It's alright, I'm very grateful to your family for taking care of us all this time."
Pei Yao could never forget when they first arrived in Liangshui Village, it was Uncle Niu who picked them up, and it was also Uncle Niu who, fearing they would go hungry, took them to the beach for the first time.
They were exiled prisoners. Although their family hadn't done anything wrong, they were still implicated by their clan. Uncle Niu didn't look down on them or make things difficult for them because of this. Pei Yao would remember this kindness for a long time.
That's why he's always had the chance to help the Niu family and the villagers of Liangshui Well.
Because the people in this village are all kind people.
People are reciprocal; if someone is kind to you, you can't help but want to be kind to them in return.
The two hadn't walked far when they saw Pei Yichen approaching with a small lamp on.
As soon as he saw Pei Yao, he jogged over and said, "Cousin."
What brings you here?
“My mother said it was getting dark, so she sent me to pick you up,” Pei Yichen explained.
Although Pei Yichen came to pick her up, Niu Qingshan was still worried and took the siblings to their doorstep before turning around and going home.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com