Chapter 131

: For lunch, they had a simple meal at the village chief’s house. As the Shen time was approaching, some villagers came to the village chief’s house to deliver things.

Most of them are weeds, chickens, and winter bamboo shoots dug from the wild bamboo forest. They are not fat and small, about the same thickness as sugar cane, and half as long as an arm.

Not many villagers can dig winter bamboo shoots, so they become conspicuous when taken out.

These winter bamboo shoots are usually taken to the city to exchange for money. Fresh items can be exchanged for several dollars.

The village chief was also very happy when he saw that someone was willing to take it out: "These are the villagers' gratitude to Dr. Guo and Dr. Xu. You must accept them."

He was not polite. After saying this, he asked his son to go and take them. Collect these things and take them to the carriage.

Compared with the medicinal materials sent out today, these crops and food are not worth mentioning at all, but they are all out of the kindness of the villagers. When Guo Zhongyou and Xu Yi saw that the village chief was so enthusiastic to help them collect them, they did not pretend to refuse. .

They didn't stay at the village chief's house for long. They wanted to go back to the city before it got dark.

So the villagers who had been seeing a doctor before got the news, and they ran to wait outside the village chief's house, hoping to follow Xu Yi and his group's vehicle to the city to get medicine.

Only a small portion of the medicinal materials were sent out, and there were still two baskets of unopened medicinal materials on the cattle cart.

They had no place to sit, so they followed on two legs.

Xu Yi saw that the young woman was there and waved her over.

The child in her arms disappeared, and she came to Xu Yi slightly timidly and uneasily.

Xu Yi asked her: "Where is the child?"

The young woman lowered her skinny face and whispered back: "Doctor Xu, my son is being held by his mother. I, I came here by myself."

Xu Yi got the answer and said nothing more. : "You are slow and can't keep up with the vehicle. There is a seat on the oxcart. You can sit on it."

The young woman was a little surprised, but she was very pleasantly surprised to hear this. It can save more than ten miles of travel. Don't want to miss it.

When the remaining villagers saw that she had won the position, they all looked at her with envy, but they did not dare to step forward and call for riding in the bullock cart.

The vehicle quickly set off and drove for nearly an hour before entering the city gate.

After entering the city, they arrived at Xu's house. They took the medicine and thanked each other before leaving.

In the next few days, Xu Yi followed Guo Zhongyou and the others to deliver cold-repelling medicinal materials to each village.

Most of these villagers were very simple and simple, and the scene like that leprous man that day never happened again.

Because of Xiao Huang's heroic appearance that day, Yun Bai always praised Xiao Huang in front of Xu Yi in the past few days, and also thought about raising a little yellow dog.

Every day when I come back, I have to play with Xiao Huang for a while. When Xiao Huang sees that he has nothing to eat, he stops playing with him.

When Yun Bai saw this, he ran to buy meat cakes to feed it, and finally got Xiao Huang's favor and was willing to touch it.

On this day, Xu Yi was teaching Xiao Huang a lesson about being greedy. Yun Bai couldn't stand it and stood up to refute.

"Xiao Huang is so well-behaved and sensible. What's wrong with giving him some meat?" Yun Bai touched Xiao Huang's head distressedly and said angrily, "If he doesn't give it to you, I'll buy it for you."

The corner of Xu Yi's mouth twitched: "..."

"That's a little food? It has already eaten a big bowl of meat!"

"What's wrong with Xiao Huang eating a big bowl of meat? It's not like you can't afford meat, let alone that you're not even willing to give it to Xiao Huang. Huang eats. You see, he has lost weight these days as he runs around with us."

Looking at Xiao Huang, who already weighs more than 80 kilograms, Xu Yi's face cracked. "Slim?" It has gained weight!

If I don’t lose weight, I’m afraid I’ll have three highs within two years.

As a doctor, Xu Yi would never allow his dog to get pregnant before he is old. It would be too embarrassing to tell anyone about it.

He gritted his teeth: "If you dare to feed it meat in private again, believe it or not, I will add rhubarb to your food."

Yun Bai was shocked and his eyes widened: "You are a doctor, how can you poison!"

"You don't "Hey Xiao Huang, will I give you medicine?" Xu Yi was not moved at all, and corrected him, "Rhubarb is not poison, it does not count as poisoning."

"You..." Yun Bai opened his mouth and saw Xu Yi's expressionless face. , I always feel that he will do what he says.

Looking at Xiao Huang, who usually stared at him with big watery eyes when feeding him, he had already run to Xu Yi's feet and rolled around like a baby. He shed two lines of tears, feeling that he had been deceived.

Xiao Huang, it still chose its master.

Its owner doesn't even give it meat!

At night, he gloomily told Guo Zhongyou about this, and Guo Zhongyou shook his head helplessly: "How about I find you a puppy for the master?"

Yun Bai's eyes lit up: "Master, I want one like Xiao Huang!"

Guo Zhongyou: "..." Why did you choose it?

This good dog... is not easy to find.

...

"Auntie, where are the firewood and ashes at your house?" Yu Qiulin was carrying a bamboo basket on his back, which contained half a basket of firewood and ashes in a sack. He held a wooden stick in his hand, "Last time I came to ask, you said you called me late. Come back in two days."

The aunt opened the door and came out. She hesitated for a moment, then sighed and said, "Young man, please stop coming. All the firewood and ashes in our village have been taken over by Jishitang. , I won’t sell it to outsiders."

Yu Qiulin was stunned, why did he change his mind in the past two days.

"Why?" He didn't know why, "Didn't we promise well before that you would sell me all the firewood and ash from these dozen households?"

Then he learned that Jishitang was also collecting firewood and ash, and the price charged was higher than his. It's a little higher, but not much higher. A pound of firewood and ash is one penny more than the price they gave me.

Although it is only one penny more, for rural villagers, a few kilograms of firewood ash at home is worth a few more pennies, and a few pennies can buy several chickens.

Yu Qiulin looked a little ugly after hearing this. Ji Shitang obviously had a premeditated plan, otherwise he wouldn't have cut off the price he had negotiated with the villagers as soon as he left.

Yu Qiulin asked: "Auntie, when will the people from Jishitang come to collect it?"

The aunt said: "It's tomorrow."

Yu Qiulin asked again: "If I increase the price, are you willing to sell it to me?"

"This..." Auntie is a little worried. He hesitated, it would be good to make more money, but he was afraid of offending Ji Shitang.

Yu Qiulin saw her scruples and said with a smile: "Don't worry, even if they don't sell it to Jishitang this time, they will still come to you next time if they want to collect firewood ashes."

When the aunt heard this, she felt that this little Lang made sense and asked her to contact other families in the village.

Yu Qiulin gave them time to discuss and planned to take advantage of this gap to go to the next village.

The next village was smaller and hidden at the foot of the mountain. Yu Qiulin also found this remote village by accident.

There were only a dozen households in the village. When Yu Qiulin entered the outskirts of the village, he suddenly felt that the surroundings had become quiet. The paths were covered with dead leaves. After walking for a while, he heard the sounds of "chirping" and "gurgling".

A girl who was feeding chickens heard footsteps and ran back into the house in a panic.

After a while, a young man came out of the room, holding a hoe in his hand.

The young man had never seen Yu Qiulin before. When he saw him entering the village, he asked cautiously: "What are you doing in our village?"

"I'm here to collect firewood and ashes." Yu Qiulin said, "Last time I came back, I was in the village I was looking for. Chief, if you don't believe it, you can follow me to the village chief's house and ask."

The young man was stunned and looked up and down at the person in front of him. He looked about the same age as him. The village chief said that someone would come to collect firewood and ashes in the next few days. I didn't expect him to be so young.

He remembered that no one came in to collect firewood and ashes before.

Firewood and ashes are available in every household. If no one collects them, they will be buried in the fields. The soil in the fields will become fertile the next year and more rice and millet will grow.

But if someone comes to collect it, they are willing to sell it, after all, they can get money.

The young man did not doubt him and took him directly to see the village chief, who was waiting for Yu Qiulin to come.

Yesterday, he knew that this young man was coming to collect firewood ashes, so he immediately informed him.

Today, every household in the village moved out the firewood and ashes they had saved. Before collecting them, Yu Qiulin checked each household to make sure there were no stones, sticks, etc., and then collected them one by one.

After weighing the copper coins, Yu Qiulin counted two slings of copper coins and took them out. He unwrapped the twine and found that the excess was thirty or forty cents and the less was more than ten cents.

This time he collected dozens of kilograms of firewood and ash. After leaving this small village, Yu Qiulin went directly back to the city to find Xu Yi.

He told Xu Yi the news he got from his aunt.

"Jishitang, it seems he knows we are collecting firewood ashes, otherwise he wouldn't be watching my whereabouts to intercept me." Yu Qiulin said with a cold face, feeling that Jishitang was really shameless.

Xu Yi said casually: "Brother Qiu, are you planning to make some money with them?"

Yu Qiulin was a little unsure. He had told the lady that he wanted to raise the price because he was angry. Now that he thought about it, the person who provided the money was Xu Yi. It's time for Xu Yi to make the decision.

He scratched his head in annoyance: "I told the aunt that it is a penny more per kilogram than Jishitang. The aunt has already gone to discuss it with other people..."

After that, he hesitated for a moment, and then asked Xu Yi He said he would pay for the extra money.

Xu Yi's expression was a little complicated. Originally, he was bothering Yu Qiulin to run errands, but Yu Qiulin had to pay for it despite his efforts.

He said: "Even so, you don't need to pay. Just go ahead and do it without worrying about the extra money."

In order to make Yu Qiulin feel at ease, he got up and went to the cabinet and gave him two more pennies. .

Yu Qiulin accepted the money and said he would do a good job.

The next day, Yu Qiulin went to Da Niang Village again.

He went there step by step, and when he arrived, people from Jishi Hall were already here, including two apprentices.

However, they did not receive the firewood and ashes. The aunt and dozens of other families in the village were waiting for Yu Qiulin.

Seeing the person, the aunt ran over impatiently: "Xiao Lang, you said it's a penny more per catty than Jishitang's, but is it true?"

"It's true." Yu Qiulin nodded.

The aunt said happily: "I have more than ten kilograms at home." This can earn more than ten yuan.

When the disciples of Jishi Hall heard this conversation, they didn't know what was going on and came over angrily.

"What a big tone. Do you know who we are, and you dare to snatch things from us?" One of the apprentices sarcastically said, "It's not your turn to intervene in the things that our Jishi Hall wants to collect."

Yu Qiulin looked at it with a smile . They asked, "What price are you offering?"

The apprentice sneered, "You can get it for twelve cents per pound."

They inquired and found out that this man named Yu Qiulin was collecting firewood ashes for Xu Yi. Xu Yi had a grudge against his young master's family, and the shopkeeper told them not to be polite to them if they met Xu Yi and others outside.

At this time, they did not know that Yu Qiulin had already publicized Ji Shi Tang's "good reputation" in Suining Mansion, otherwise they would have jumped up in anger.

Yu Qiulin said: "Then I will give you thirteen articles."

The apprentice's eyes widened: "How dare you!?"

Yu Qiulin asked him: "Why don't I dare?" With Xu Yi backing him up, Yu Qiulin was very confident.

The apprentices were filled with hatred, and the shopkeeper told them not to raise the price too high, otherwise they would lose money.

But seeing the other party being so arrogant, they couldn't be more angry.

So he gritted his teeth and increased the price: "Fifteen cents!"

The apprentice added: "I advise you to stop, or else wait until we go back to report to the shopkeeper, and ask the shopkeeper to suppress Dr. Xu behind you and let him I can't stay in Yanting County."

Yu Qiulin thought to himself, these two people are stupid.

He didn't flinch or let go.

The price has been increased to sixteen cents per catty.

The villagers surrounding him were overjoyed, but they were secretly thinking that it would be great if the two parties continued to quarrel, so that they could make more money.

The apprentices scratched their heads and scratched their ears, unable to continue raising prices.

They were not very popular with the shopkeeper in Jishi Hall. When they took over the job, they wanted to show off well so that the shopkeeper could see them.

But unexpectedly, Xu Yi, who was at odds with Shaodong's family, was also collecting firewood and ashes. He originally wanted to trip him up so that the other party would have no firewood and ashes to collect.

Unexpectedly, the other party was not afraid at all and actually increased the price of firewood ash from ten cents per pound to sixteen cents.

Later, although Yu Qiulin paid half the extra money, he successfully collected all the firewood ashes in the village.

When Yu Qiulin took back the firewood and ashes, Guo Zhongyou and Yun Bai were leaving.

They wanted to rush back to Suining Mansion when the first snow fell.

Yun Bai couldn't let go of Xiao Huang. The child had feelings for Xiao Huang. On the day he left, he had tears in his eyes and looked back three times every step of the way.

"Master, will we come to Yanting County again?" Yun Bai wiped his nose and tears, lying on the edge of the car window and waving to Xiao Huang.

When Guo Zhongyou first fell in love with this child, he saw that he had a true temperament, but his temperament was too much, and he was so sincere to a yellow dog.

He thought that if the child hadn't been afraid that Xu Yi would give him rhubarb, he would have been able to steal a dog.

Guo Zhongyou pulled back from his thoughts and said to him: "We will meet each other if we are destined."

Yun Bai tilted his mouth, feeling even more sad.

...

After the winter is gone, day after day, the snow moisturizes everything.

When the sun and the moon are gone, spring comes again. The dead trees sprout new buds, the remaining snow melts, and March is full of cold spring.

The charcoal basin in the house was filled with charcoal, and it burned more vigorously.

Ah Jin wore a cotton-padded jacket, put his hands in his sleeves, walked quickly, and ran to open the door.

Outside the door, Xu Yi was wearing a hat, and his ears hidden under the hat were reddish. He exhaled a white breath and came in next to A Jin.

"Mr. Lang, it's cold outside. I told you to bring a hand warmer, but you didn't listen." Seeing the coldness in Xu Yi's body, Ah Jin complained to himself and ran to pour hot water for Xu Yi to warm his hands. .

Xu Yi put down the medicine box, took the tea cup from her hand and warmed it in his hand. He smiled and said, "I'm going to see a doctor. It's ridiculous to bring a hand stove."

"Why is it ridiculous? The weather is colder than the past few days. , it can wake people up at night. "

What else did Ah Jin want to say, but the spring rain started pattering outside.

"Oh, it's raining."

She hurriedly ran out to collect the clothes and towels hanging outside.

With a spring rain, everything comes to life.

Years ago, Xu Yi wanted to open a medicinal field in the courtyard. Then he thought that it would be a good courtyard, so he suddenly dug more than ten square meters to make a medicinal field, which looked nondescript.

After thinking about it, he went to Yu Qiulin to discuss the idea.

Yu Qiulin's family didn't have any land to farm, so he couldn't think of any good ideas, so he told Xu Yi that he could rent a village instead.

"I see that all the wealthy families have their own village in the suburbs. They grow good things, raise poultry and livestock, and don't have to buy meat outside." Yu Qiulin said, and he yearned for it.

His greatest hope in this life is to become a wealthy merchant.

Anyway, the children of businessmen can take part in the imperial examination. If they are rich, they can buy a village, raise some poultry, plant some fruit trees, hire a few servants to take care of them, and live a life of the upper class. If the children and grandchildren of the family are promising, they can It would be great if you study to test your fame.

Thinking about it, Yu Qiulin giggled.

Xu Yi looked at him in surprise, but thought it was a good idea.

"Brother Yi, if you really rent the village, you should find a few good ones to guard the village."

"Oh? Did you hear something?" Xu Yi looked at him.

Yu Qiulin came over and whispered: "The Tao family's young man hasn't been here these days, so he went to deal with those embarrassing things."

Xu Yi frowned and fell silent.

He didn't like to inquire about this information. Many times, Yu Qiulin and Uncle Liu heard something outside and came to him to tell them.

Yu Qiulin traveled around the streets and knew as much gossip as Uncle Liu.

Seeing his thoughtful expression, I didn't hesitate to tell him what I knew.

"There was a scandal in the Tao family's village. A housekeeper sneaked out. The mother-in-law below found out and reported it to the main house. It turned out that the housekeeper not only had a lot of money with him, but also a handkerchief."

Napa The brocade is made of the finest Yuhang brocade, and is embroidered with exquisite colorful lotus flowers. I heard there are also characters on it, but no one knows what characters are embroidered on it.

The handkerchief was burned on the spot by the young man from the Tao family. He was also arrested and beaten fifteen dozen times and sent to the government. It was found that he had embezzled more than two hundred dollars while running the restaurant.

This was a lot of money. Pan County Lieutenant immediately settled the case and sentenced him to five hundred miles of exile.

Yu Qiulin thought about it and said, "It's strange. I inquired later and said that Butler Tao was demoted to Zhuangzi as an errand. Zhuangzi was an idle errand. Why couldn't he think of running away?" What would happen if he

ran away ? In the hands of the family, even if he escaped, he would not have a formal identity and would have to be secretive wherever he went.

Xu Yi held the tea cup and rubbed it back and forth with his fingertips.

The human heart is complex and unpredictable. In the past, I was like a puppy, being dragged away and sold at a low price by cheap teeth, all I wanted was to have a mouth to eat.

Later, he was appreciated by his master, and gradually reached the highest position among the lower class. However, he fell to the bottom. This sense of gap was too harsh on people's hearts.

Now he is stable, and although his life is ordinary, he has no worries about food and clothing, but he can't go back to the time when he longed for a bite to eat.

Xu Yi calmed down and saw that Yu Qiulin was still thinking about something, but did not comment.

This incident did not create much excitement in Yanting County.

It's just that Tao Qinghao hasn't come to Xu's house to see Xu Yi for more than half a month. Xu Yi asked A Xu to deliver the post, but the post was sent and returned.

Tao Qinghao replied to the post with only a few words, saying that he had no intention of meeting friends.

Thinking about it, this incident hit him hard. A few days later, Xin Shengyuan came to find Xu Yi.

"Qing Hao, would you like to see you?" Xin Shengyuan asked Xu Yi as his first sentence.

Xu Yi frowned: "He didn't even see you?"

Xin Shengyuan sighed: "No."

It's so strange.

He couldn't figure out why Tao Qinghao didn't want to see him.

So I came to Xu Yi, wondering if I could learn anything from Xu Yi.

"Xu Yi, I have never seen Qing Hao like this." Xin Shengyuan was worried, the young man's face as white as jade was stained with sadness, "Such a big thing happened before, and he acted like nothing happened. This time, I don't know What kind of stimulation did he receive?" Xu Yi patted him on the shoulder and said

, "Why don't you leave him alone for a while?"

"Huh?"

Sickness comes.

Xu Yi said: "The things he doesn't want to talk about are very important to him. As long as he thinks about it, he will naturally be willing to see us."

Xin Shengyuan's lips moved and turned into a sigh.

He sat on the chair, poured tea by himself, drank it, kicked his legs up, and assumed a carefree posture.

"Xu Yi, what have you been busy with lately?" He turned around and asked.

Xu Yi glanced at the sky outside the courtyard. It was cloudless and clear. He sat on a chair and said, "I want to go to the dental shop. I want to ask the agent if there is a Zhuangzi rental company." "

You want to rent from Zhuangzi?" Xinsheng Yuan was surprised.

Xu Yi nodded.

Xin Shengyuan asked curiously: "What do you want to do when you rent the village?"

When he heard that Xu Yi rented the village to grow medicinal materials, he rolled his eyes and said that he also had a small village in the eastern suburbs.

"That Zhuangzi has always been idle. There are only two servants taking care of it. There is nothing in it. If it weren't for the purpose of keeping it from being abandoned, I wouldn't want to leave two servants there."

Xu Yi was not curious about how many Zhuangzi there were in the Xin family.

What he was confused about was how Xin Shengyuan knew that there was a semi-abandoned small village even though he didn't hear anything outside the window.

Xin Shengyuan said lazily: "I lived there for a while when I was a child, and I remember it there."

After that, he added: "That Zhuangzi is in my name, and I can use it as I want. Xu Yi, you want to spend money to rent it to someone else?" Zhuangzi, you might as well rent my Zhuangzi. I'll rent it to you. It's definitely cheaper than other people's."

"Short of money?" Xu Yi raised an eyebrow at him.

Xin Shengyuan hesitated for a moment, then nodded with a red neck, scratched his head and said, "My mother changed my monthly payment from ten guan to three guan."

She also asked him to take the exam within a year. Go to school in the county, otherwise the monthly payment for the next three installments will be reduced to one.

He was living on a tight budget with three monthly payments, let alone one.

He didn't have Tao Qinghao's business acumen, and he couldn't get involved in the family business, so he could only put his thoughts elsewhere.

Xu Yi wanted to rent Zhuangzi, which was a good opportunity that he didn't expect!

After the spring rain, the soil is moister, and plant ashes can be buried in the fields to provide fertilizer.

Time is urgent and we cannot delay sowing medicinal seeds.

Xu Yi did not consider other Zhuangzi.

The two hit it off immediately, and immediately got on a donkey cart and arrived at Zhuangzi in the eastern suburbs. This Zhuangzi was not far from East Street and could be reached in less than half an hour.

The servants in Zhuangzi had not been able to see their master's house for several years. The young master's family suddenly came with someone, and they were not prepared for anything.

"You don't need to follow." Xin Shengyuan waved them away. He wanted to take Xu Yi to visit Zhuangzi himself. "I'm familiar with Zhuangzi. I remember that the field is in the backyard. If you want to grow medicinal materials, the field is ready. ."

After that, Xin Shengyuan took Xu Yi over.

There were only two servants guarding the village, and the village was the property of a private owner, so there was no need to pay tribute. Moreover, the master's family hasn't visited it for several years, and the servants have become lazy. The field in the backyard has long been abandoned and is now overgrown with weeds, which are half as tall as a person.

Xin Shengyuan, who was still swearing just a second ago: "..."