This small shop costs five hundred taels. After deducting the five hundred and twenty taels used to buy the house, Zhou Laoda still has one thousand taels of silver notes, which is enough to buy it.
One hundred taels were paid upfront for the medical expenses, and the subsequent treatment could be paid in installments, so they were financially well-off at the time. Since they had decided to buy the shop, they naturally had to negotiate the price.
Perhaps because the location was rather remote, the homeowner actually agreed to sell it to them for four hundred taels of silver. This made Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua very happy, as the remaining silver could be used for renovations and to buy furniture.
"Once the shop is renovated, we can rent it out first. We don't have any wine to sell now, but we definitely will next year," Zhao Guizhi said.
House prices rise every year, so buying now is a sure thing, as they will only become more expensive in the future.
Li Qian and Zhong Daya were arranged to stay in the prefectural city for the time being, and they would return after Zhong Daya's illness was cured. Zhou Laoda and the other two were going back first. Before leaving, Zhao Guihua left two hundred taels of silver for Zhong Qian.
“Please use this money first. We will come back in three months. If you encounter any difficulties in the meantime, you can go to the Zhong residence to find Madam Zhong. She will help you.” As Zhao Guihua said this, she felt a little guilty. She had doubted Madam Zhong before, and now she was hoping that Madam Zhong would take care of her.
Madam Zhong runs a rouge shop in the county town, and the manager often travels between the two places to help deliver messages. The Zhong family also has merchant ships, which can be of great help.
On the return trip, Zhou Laoda and his group also took the Zhong family's boat. Traveling by water was safe and fast. If they had traveled by land from the county town to the prefectural city, it would have taken at least half a month, while by boat it would have taken only six days.
Most importantly, it was free and there was no need to pay for the travel expenses. Mrs. Zhong is truly a very kind person.
Back in the county town, Zhao Guihua told Li Qian that Zhong Daya would need to be treated in the prefectural city and wouldn't be able to return for a while, and that Li Qian would be there to take care of her, and informed Li's three children.
“If you want to go to the prefectural city to help take care of your mother, then we’ll take you with us next time we go to the prefectural city,” Zhao Guihua said gently.
Li Ji'er and Li Yu'er thought for a moment and then shook their heads. "Dad can take care of things over there. We and our brother can help out at the tavern in town."
So much money was spent on Mother's medical treatment, and there was no work to be found in the prefectural city, so they stayed to help out. They will slowly pay back the money they owe the Zhou family.
Li Congzhi nodded and said, "I've been learning to read and do accounting with my father. Recently, Uncle Chen has taught me a lot more. If Uncle Zhou doesn't mind that I'm young, how about I take over as the shopkeeper in town for now?"
“Since my brother-in-law says you’re capable, then of course there’s no problem. I don’t like doing accounts; I’m always worried about making mistakes. I’m overjoyed to have you doing the accounting.” Old Zhou waved his hand, genuinely happy that he didn’t have to do the accounting himself.
“Your Uncle Zhou never went to school and doesn’t know many words. He’s okay with simple things on a regular basis, but when there are a lot of customers at the tavern, he gets so flustered that he sweats and his mind goes blank. You can’t count on him to do the accounting,” Zhao Guihua teased.
Even after his shortcomings were exposed, Zhou Laoda wasn't angry. He just laughed along with everyone else. He still loved farming the most and felt comfortable doing whatever he wanted in the village.
"Dad, Mom, did you bring Xingxing a gift?" Xingxing asked Zhao Guihua expectantly.
"Of course we'll buy them! It's not just you who gets them, everyone gets them. Don't worry, we'll distribute the gifts right away." Zhao Guihua picked up Xingxing and smiled, gesturing for Zhou Laoda to take the things out of his bag.
This time, Zhao Guihua really went all out, spending twenty taels of silver to buy a big bag of things, including food, toys, and clothes.
They weren't wearing clothes, but rather bolts of cloth. There was a cloth shop in the prefectural city that sold very cheap cotton cloth. After Zhao Guihua and Zhao Guizhi looked at it, they bought several bolts. There were many people in their family, nearly twenty men and women in total.
Everyone naturally gets a share.
Zhao Guihua thought about what the Li sisters had gone through, and their parents were not around. She couldn't help but want to cherish them more. In addition, the two girls would be of marriageable age in two months. At that age, many girls would get married directly, but these two girls were not engaged yet.
Zhao Guihua felt sorry for them and wanted to take the two girls back to the village to stay for a while, so that they could do needlework at home, practice their needlework skills, and take care of their health.
However, this left the shop short-handed. Zhao Guihua gritted her teeth and decided to buy a few more people who would be useful.
"Are you addicted to buying people? Why do you keep wanting to buy people?" Boss Zhou was speechless.
"Then what can we do? The tavern can't handle all the staff." Zhao Guihua glared at him, feeling that he was deliberately contradicting her.
"Let's hire some people. The boys from Fagen's family and Shugen's family are both hardworking and sensible. They're both fourteen years old and very capable," said Zhou Laoda.
Zhao Guihua glanced at him. "Did Fa Gen and the others mention this to you?"
Old Zhou nodded somewhat guiltily, "The kids aren't going to amount to much if they stay in the village. They want to let the two boys get some experience so it'll be easier for them to find wives later."
“Since they’ve already asked, it’s not good to refuse, so let’s hire them. But let’s make this clear from the start: the first month’s wages will only be one hundred coins. After a month, we’ll see how they are. If they’re useful, they can stay and get a raise. If they’re not useful, they don’t need to come. Our money doesn’t grow on trees,” Zhao Guihua said impartially.
"Wouldn't this be inappropriate?" Old Zhou was a little breathless. They were all so familiar with each other, and he couldn't bring himself to say something so harsh.
“If you’re afraid of offending people, then I’ll make the decision. It’s my decision, and it’s settled.” Zhao Guihua said firmly.
"Alright, I'll leave this to you," Zhou Laoda said without any temper.
After spending the night in the county town, the next morning Zhou Laoda drove the oxcart to take his family back to the town. Once back in town, something unexpected happened.
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