By this time, Zhou Laoda had calmed down. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Zhou Fagen and the other seven men were staring intently at the silver in the box. His eyes narrowed and he immediately made a plan.
"I have to thank everyone for their help this time. Otherwise, the guards from the Song family might have attacked me in secret. We've always managed to come back from the mountains unscathed thanks to everyone's mutual support." After expressing his gratitude politely, Boss Zhou said he would share some of the silver with everyone.
"This, this is too much trouble. Although we are very envious, you were the one who dug up the herbs, so you should keep the money." Zhou Fagen scratched his head and smiled.
It would be a lie to say they weren't jealous. Anyone would be tempted by so much money at first glance. But even if they wanted it, they wouldn't show it. They had their limits; they wouldn't stoop to stealing what didn't belong to them.
"We'll have to rely on everyone to continue supporting us in the future. I found these herbs by accident. They said they'd charge us in the forest, but I never expected to get so much. I thought it would be at most a few hundred taels."
Here's what I'm thinking: Everyone's struggling. Right now, no one can take care of their families; it's just the women holding the fort. The men have to go into the mountains to collect herbs for the imperial court, so they can't work and earn money. This silver is one hundred taels for the village chief, and fifty taels each for the six of you.”
Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua were also heartbroken at losing four hundred taels of silver, but everyone had seen how much money it was, and they had even helped carry it back. If they didn't distribute some of it, it would inevitably make people feel unbalanced.
Furthermore, this small group of them always looked out for each other and had good character. When they went deep into the mountains, they always stuck together, so outsiders didn't dare to bully them.
Now that the Zhou family has made a fortune, they should help their brothers out. If they don't give a penny, they'll definitely become estranged.
After some initial refusals, seeing that Boss Zhou's face darkened as if he was about to get angry, they finally agreed to accept it.
As they left the Zhou family compound, the village chief and Zhou Fagen were overjoyed. They hadn't expected that Zhou Laoda and his wife would share some silver with them. In fact, even if they hadn't shared it with them, they wouldn't have done anything out of line, except for a little jealousy.
However, it would be foolish not to take the money. Since Boss Zhou was willing to give it to them, they were naturally delighted. Fifty taels! In just a few years, it would take fifteen years to save up that much money.
"The eldest son and his wife are truly amazing. They've been incredibly kind to us, and we should remember their kindness," Zhou Fagen praised, giving them a thumbs up.
"Yes, their business is getting better and better, and their lives are becoming more and more prosperous. We're benefiting from it too." Zhang Facai happily clutched the silver ingot to his chest, almost floating on his feet.
The village chief also praised Zhou Laoda a few times, but his thoughts drifted away. It seemed that the Zhou family's life was so smooth and prosperous, as if the stars had come to their house and made them even more prosperous.
Although he knew that Xingxing was a lucky star, the village chief was still extremely envious when he saw Zhou Laoda get so much silver. He sighed and wondered if Xingxing would have become his daughter if his roof hadn't been struck by lightning.
Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs" in this world. Oh well, that's just how fate is. What's meant to be will be, and what's not meant to be cannot be forced.
"After giving away four hundred taels, our family still has sixteen hundred taels left. It's worth it." After Zhao Guihua finished speaking, she gestured to Zhou Laoda to help her carry the silver from the box to the cellar under the bed.
"Of course it's worth it. You don't know that today the guards from the Song family held a knife to Fa Gen's neck. He was so scared that his legs were trembling and he didn't betray me. These people are worth befriending. They also contributed to our success in getting the herbs back. Otherwise, given the guards' posture, they would have definitely tried to take them by force. They didn't dare to do anything because there were more of us."
After Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua carried the box containing the silver into the cellar, the couple then laboriously carried over the stone slab to cover it, and finally covered it with some soil.
The two men crawled out from under the bed, covered in dust and dirt. How difficult it must have been for them to hide the silver!
"By the way, where did you put the treasures you brought back before?" Boss Zhou wasn't in a hurry to take a bath, as he was thinking about the wild ginseng and lingzhi he had dug up.
"It's locked in the cabinet." Zhao Guihua quickly unlocked the cabinet and took out the items, which were wrapped in rags.
"I thought there would only be Ganoderma lucidum, but I didn't expect to find wild ginseng. This wild ginseng is even bigger than the one I found on the mountaintop before, so it must be even older." Zhao Guihua said with a look of surprise.
“I think so too. Let’s go to the county tomorrow and sell all of these.” That way, we won’t be reluctant to eat them ourselves, and end up letting others eat them instead.
Although Zhou Laoda gave that wild ginseng to his nephew to save his life, he was never quite comfortable with it.
Zhao Guihua thought so too, "Yes, let's sell it all. When we get the money, we'll see what we can do with it. We feel uneasy if we have too much money hidden at home. It would be more reassuring to spend some of it."
"What are you talking about? You can't just squander money like that. I think you've gotten too cocky. You keep talking about spending money. I think you've just gotten it too easily and don't know how to cherish it at all," Boss Zhou accused with a sour face.
Zhao Guihua glared at him, her tone a bit sharp, "Can you let me finish what I have to say? Do you think I want to squander all the money? Of course not. I just want to acquire some property, like a few shops or houses."
We don't know much about business, but if we buy a shop, we can rent it out; if we buy a house, its value will increase in a few years. These are our assets. We can also buy more fertile land. With houses and grain, we can live a more secure life."
That seems to make sense.
"Then let's wander around the county town tomorrow and see if we can buy a house and a shop?" Old Zhou was still a little undecided.
“Since we’ve made the decision, let’s get it done as soon as possible, so we don’t have too much money sitting at home and can’t sleep soundly every night,” Zhao Guihua decided.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
