“Mom, look,” Dazhuang said, counting on his fingers, “If Grandpa Xu could make more charcoal when he goes down the mountain to sell it, we could buy some charcoal from him to burn, so you wouldn’t have to spend your whole day working hard and then have to go to the charcoal kiln every night to watch over it.”
"Furthermore, I once heard my father say that Uncle Xu is a very sincere person with excellent literary talent, and he will repay those who help him a hundredfold. The Xu family will definitely use the money to treat his eyes, and Uncle Xu will owe us a favor. He will definitely repay us when he gets promoted and becomes rich in the future."
"And then there's the bandit stronghold. Although I don't know why the bald leader is so eager to please you, he certainly isn't being sincere. If we help them earn money and solve the bandit stronghold's problem of money for charcoal, the bald leader might be grateful and relieve us of some of our worries."
Why not do it if you can gain favors from two people by doing just one thing?
Ye Wenxue stopped feeding Yuanyuan and couldn't help but take a closer look at Dazhuang.
"Mother?" Da Zhuang asked, puzzled.
"It's nothing." Ye Wenxue was just wondering, had this child really not read the original book? How come he was so accurate in his judgment, even more so than she, the person who transmigrated into the book?
Not to mention that Zhang Suinian, the bald man, became the second-in-command of the rebels, Xu Lin will later pass the imperial examination and will take good care of the villain because he is the son of his former classmate.
These two haven't matured yet, so now is indeed the best time to lend a helping hand.
If we wait until they have achieved success and fame before lending a hand, the effect will be much worse than it is now.
Adding flowers to brocade is ultimately no match for providing charcoal in the snow.
"Yay!" Seeing that her mother hadn't fed her for a long time, Yuanyuan couldn't help but pout and keep reaching for the spoon, her whole body moving back and forth with the spoon.
Ye Wenxue snapped out of her daze and continued feeding Yuanyuan, saying, "What you said makes sense. Let Mother think about it."
Da Zhuang nodded emphatically, and when he looked at Si Wang, he immediately put on a stern face: "How many sweet potatoes did you eat? Didn't Mom say that you can't eat too many sweet potatoes, or you'll get gas? You even bullied your third brother, you've really grown up."
Siwang quickly withdrew the spoon he was sticking into Sanyuan's sweet potato, muttering aggrievedly, "It's because Third Brother eats so slowly..."
Sanyuan immediately objected, decisively finishing the sweet potato in her bowl in a few bites before going to eat her rice.
That heartless little brat! He remembered the time Siwang ate candied hawthorns and was afraid that Siwang hadn't had enough, so he deliberately slowed down his eating of sweet potatoes. Little did he know that this was what Siwang thought of him.
snort!
Seeing that Sanyuan was angry, Siwang quickly grabbed his leg and said, "Third brother, third brother, I was just kidding. Third brother, look, I ate your sweet potato, which means we're the best of friends!"
Her voice was soft, sweet, and gentle, making people's hearts melt.
Sanyuan sneered: "You're not just eating my food, you're clearly bullying me."
Siwang is most afraid of his eldest brother, and dares not snatch food from his mouth. He is also afraid of his second sister, who has been practicing boxing and swordsmanship with extra diligence lately.
The person he fears the least is his third brother.
"Third Brother..."
Shuangshuang glanced at Siwang and gave him half of the sweet potato: "You eat it."
Anyway, Siwang doesn't sleep in the same room with them at night.
Dazhuang and Sanyuan: "..."
Before Siwang could react, the two quickly snatched all the sweet potatoes from his bowl, leaving not a single one.
Hmph, let's see who stinks tonight!
Ye Wenxue ignored the squabbles among the cubs, fed Yuanyuan appropriately, and stored the bamboo shoots in the cellar while working, thinking about Dazhuang's words.
She had considered acting as an intermediary to facilitate cooperation between the bandit stronghold and the Xu family, but there were still many hidden dangers involved.
For example, the bandit stronghold is uncontrollable; for example, the Xu family may not dare to deal with the bandits; and for another reason... she won't get much benefit.
Ye Wenxue has always been too lazy to do things that are troublesome, as doing them well brings no benefit and doing them poorly will result in blame from both sides.
But since Dazhuang brought it up, Ye Wenxue couldn't just do nothing and disappoint him.
After all, it was her eldest son's first idea. As his mother, if she didn't support it, who would?
The next morning, Ye Wenxue didn't care when the three kids in the next room had come to sleep. After getting up, she took out the wood ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, matsutake mushrooms, and other mountain products, cleaned them of dirt and grass clippings, washed them several times, put them in a winnowing basket, and took them out to dry in the sun.
I also washed the jars I brought back from the bamboo house and laid them upside down to dry.
I only made a mushroom stew this morning. The sweet potatoes need to be saved for seed, so they can't be eaten. But the corn kernels are plentiful and easy to save for seed, so it's okay to cook a few more.
After the meal, Ye Wenxue took two ears of corn as provisions and announced in front of the children, "The eldest son's idea yesterday was good. We should do this sooner rather than later. Today, I'll go and sound out both sides. If it doesn't work out, I'll come back and continue burning charcoal."
Shuangshuang and Siwang were bewildered: "Huh? What are you thinking?"
Dazhuang and Sanyuan: "...Mother, don't worry, we will take good care of the valley."
*
Logically speaking, we should first go to the Xu family to ask if they want to cooperate, and whether they are afraid that their charcoal-making method will be stolen.
But Ye Wenxue was too lazy to go back and forth, which would be time-consuming and laborious, so she went directly to the foot of the bandit stronghold and had someone call the bald man down.
The bald man was working in the fields before coming down the mountain, covered in sweat: "Brother Ye, is there anything you need me to do? Just tell me, and I'll do my best."
Ye Wenxue explained her purpose in a few words: "However, I don't trust you all very much. They are all honest and law-abiding people, and they have never even been in a fight. If it weren't for my Dazhuang bringing it up, I wouldn't have done such a thing."
The bald man's expression changed instantly, becoming even more obsequious and ingratiating than before: "Hehe, Boss Ye, you don't trust anyone else, but you don't trust me? I swear, if I go back on my word and cheat you, may my whole family be struck by lightning and die."
He thought for a moment, gritted his teeth, and added, "If things go well, I'll give you half of the mountain stronghold's silver!"
Ye Wenxue: "...No need for that."
However, having said that, Ye Wenxue was very satisfied with the bald man's execution ability, so she mounted a horse from the mountain stronghold and led the bald man to speed up towards the vicinity of the Xu family.
The bald man had originally thought that if Boss Ye couldn't ride a horse, he would reluctantly become a coachman and drive a donkey cart to take her away.
Unexpectedly, Ye Wenxue mounted her horse with a heroic and spirited air, showing no signs of discomfort.
"They're gone."
The bald man snapped out of his daze and saw Ye Wenxue riding her horse far away, so he quickly followed.
Riding a horse is much faster than walking, and they arrived near the Xu family's residence in less than an hour.
Ye Wenxue was careful and didn't take the bald man directly to the valley. Instead, she told him to wait for her news a few miles away, and went to the valley alone.
Before even reaching the valley, Ye Wenxue could hear the sharp cries of the little girl from the Xu family from afar.
She sensed something was wrong and quickly whipped her horse to speed up, heading straight for the thatched hut.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
