Chapter 72 Jinjiang First Release Chapter 72 I thought it was to make money, but...
Yu Qinglong didn't want to be held anymore. It felt like he had turned into a folding phone, and it made his back ache more than any other way.
When he opened his eyes, he wondered if he'd been run over by a millstone. His entire body felt heavy, tired, and sore. He didn't want to move, and if he made a sound, it would sound like his "Black Iron Egg" barking.
The little wild duck Fang Shu found in the mountains was named "Black Iron Egg" because of its black fur and yellow head. Although it changed as it grew, it looked the same when it was young. And since it remembered its own name, it kept calling it that.
Yu Qinglong cleared his throat before speaking again, his voice just like it, and he couldn't help but complain: "The sound of sawing wood is more pleasant than my voice."
Fang Shu felt guilty: "How could that be? Everything my husband says sounds good."
After saying that, she couldn't help but peck Yu Qinglong lovingly: "Do you want to lie down for a while?"
"No more." Yu Qinglong sat up, patted his face, and then, to regain his composure, went down to comb his hair. He combed it twice, but it still came tangled. Firstly, it was slippery, and secondly, his arms were sore and he couldn't move them much.
"Let me do it."
Fang Shu took the comb and slowly combed his hair, pinning a wooden hairpin to it. After finishing, he looked in the mirror and saw that he looked so handsome. He gently stroked his lover's face with the back of his hand and poked at his dimples.
Yu Qinglong felt itchy and grabbed the dishonest hand away: "You go out first, I'll make the quilt."
Fang Shu said he would do it, and after folding the quilt and sweeping the kang, Yu Qinglong sat on a stool and looked at it. "This quilt needs to be taken apart and washed. It's unbearable to look at."
"How about I tear it down now?"
"Okay. I'll wash it during the day." Yu Qinglong yawned. "Forget it, you go out. I'll do it."
"Then I'll go fetch some water, and fetch more today."
"OK."
Yu Qinglong went to get his scissors, but discovered they had been taken to the main room, where they were being used to make bags. He went back inside and searched. When he came out, he saw his sister-in-law, pregnant, holding the base of a newly made hemp rope bag. It looked like she'd made it overnight.
She was clearly about to give birth, yet she was still pressed for time to work at night. Yu Qinglong turned the scissors over and held them by the tips to prevent accidentally hurting anyone: "Sister-in-law, take a break for the time being. The birth is coming soon, so you need to save your strength and don't stay up too late. There's no harm in doing anything at this time."
Zhou Jianer said with a smile, "I'm slow, so I'll do it a little longer at night. Besides, I can't sleep since I'm about to give birth, and it's boring to just sit there. What's wrong with your throat?"
"Uh, I ate too fast yesterday and choked and coughed for a long time. I think I broke it. I'll probably be better this afternoon." Yu Qinglong quickly took the hemp rope and changed the subject. "You want to go to the main hall?"
"Yeah. I figured once I finish this package, the baby won't be far away. It's a good thing you thought of this and found a way to make money. Otherwise, I'd be worried about the baby after it's born."
Whether it's a boy or a girl, a boy or a girl, giving birth always costs money. There's money for the midwife, money for the full-month celebration, and when the baby grows up, there will be more mouths to feed. Now that I don't have a house, I have to stay with relatives. No matter how good my relatives are, they can't be so ignorant and not spend a penny.
Seeing that his sister-in-law looked more worried than usual, Yu Qinglong said, "Don't worry, sister-in-law, we'll definitely be able to build a new house next year. I'm even planning to discuss with my father and the others about building a house here in Xiaxi Village."
"Will this work?" Zhou Jianer thought of the land at home.
"Why not? Come back and ask them. You go and have some rest. When Dad and the others come, we'll divide the money together."
"Have you sold all those bags?" She knew her brother-in-law and his wife were coming back yesterday, but she didn't dare ask. She was afraid that if they hadn't sold, it would be difficult for her.
"We've sold them all," Yu Qinglong said. "So you can just sit back and wait for the baby. Don't worry about the house."
"Why!"
Zhou Jianer finally looked a little happier.
She thought about it. Her uncle had previously said she could get 50 wen for each package she made. But he hadn't paid her the previous time, saying it would be easier to calculate later. If that was the case, she could get at least 200 wen this time.
That’s two hundred coins!
His family worked hard on the farm but could not earn more than 200 coins a month.
Zhou Jianer immediately became excited. Unfortunately, her husband had gone out to work before dawn, leaving her with no one to share her joy. So she hurried to the kitchen to help Fang Wu.
Fang Wu was also in a good mood. How could she be in a bad mood after taking a silver ingot at night? She didn't ask Zhou Jian'er to do it, and even asked her if she had any discomfort in the past few days.
When the baby is about to be born, the fetal position begins to move downward, and experienced people can see it.
Fang Wu felt that Zhou Jianer might give birth in the next few days.
"I don't feel anything yet, auntie. I just can't sleep at night and need to pee."
"That's the pressure from the baby. There's nothing we can do about it. It will be fine after you give birth. I saw our village mother Liang on the way out yesterday and told her that we'll go find her when you give birth. She's been midwifeing for decades, and she was the one who delivered Shu'er. As soon as you go into labor, go get her. She's nearby, so she'll be able to catch up in no time. If you have any inconveniences, just tell your aunt."
"I just don't understand anything, and I'm afraid I won't be able to do it well."
"Why should I be afraid? I'm right here in the yard. I can hear your child crying. Or you can ask the Qing family to come to my room to find me. They'll be here in a few steps. Don't worry."
"Mom! Should we soak some tofu skin and stir-fry some dishes during the day?" Yu Qinglong shouted in the main room at this time.
"Okay!" Fang Wu said, then she felt something was wrong. "Brother Long, why are you talking like that?"
"I choked and coughed because I was eating too fast yesterday! It's okay!"
"Really?"
Fang Wu didn't believe it, feeling it wasn't the case. But her husband sounded quite strong, so he probably wasn't ill. If he wasn't ill, then it was just what happened last night.
Now that Yu Qing's baby is about to be born, and Bai Wanqiu is also pregnant, then isn't it her turn to find a husband next? It really makes people happy just thinking about it!
But the happiest moment came when the money was divided. Everyone in the room gathered, and Yu Qinglong distributed the money to everyone one by one. His father got 300 wen, his sister-in-law got 300 wen, Li Zheng got 300 wen, and Bai Wanqiu, who had arrived late and missed the first wave, got 150 wen.
But Bai Wanqiu wasn't unhappy at all, because he did come in late, and his family actually earned the most. Her husband hadn't been paid for the pen holder yet, and he always paid when he delivered the wood, so he wasn't worried.
Yu Qinglong also gave Fang Wushi three hundred coins, and Fang Wushi accepted it happily without saying anything.
The eldest sister-in-law asked, "Brother Long, why are you giving so much?"
Logically speaking, they each made four, so shouldn't that be two hundred coins?
"The ones made later are more complicated and can sell more, so I ordered more."
"Great. So, shall we continue doing the same thing as before?"
"We can't make the same thing anymore. This thing isn't too difficult to make, and soon someone will learn how to make it. If we make it again, we won't be able to sell it for much, so we have to make a new pattern. Sister-in-law, you just made the base, so I'll show you how to add the partitions inside. After the bag with the partitions is made, we'll also need to change the embroidery pattern on the outside."
He was thinking about trying to get a few couples' bags. People here were conservative, and even before marriage, they couldn't meet openly. But there were still newlyweds or those already engaged, and using items to express their affection was a good idea.
If it can’t be sold, my family will just carry it. Just consider it as a new attempt.
This time, Yu Qinglong plans to make three pairs of couple bags and four ordinary bags.
The "Fish Tree" logo was embroidered on previous bags, and there is also a micro-engraving on the pen holder. Maybe this brand can really be successful.
Yu Qinglong lowered his head to teach the people present how to compose a stanza. At this moment, Bai Wanqiu suddenly asked, "Brother Zheng, what's wrong with you?"
Everyone went to look at Li Zheng, only to find that Li Zheng was holding the money to his chest and crying.
There was no big noise at first, but soon he couldn't hold it back anymore and made a "woooo" sound.
Yan Pan sat aside and played. Seeing his father crying, he opened his arms to ask for a hug and started crying too.
Li Zheng picked up the child, wiped his face, and said, "I had thought I wouldn't be able to survive this winter. Thank you, Long Ge'er, and thank you everyone... wuwuwu... thank you..."
His cry made everyone's heart ache. They were all wives and husbands, and although they had never experienced what it was like to live without a husband, they knew how difficult it must be.
Zhou Yuehua and Bai Wanqiu were close, so one of them patted his back while the other took the child over to help soothe him. Bai Wanqiu's heart softened and she started crying too.
Yu Qinglong felt uncomfortable watching this.
On the way back, he had considered that if he could earn money from writing novels in the future, he could stop doing these things. This was a cumbersome job, requiring him to run back and forth to town, buy materials and draw pictures, and then follow instructions and sell them. It all took time.
But at this moment he suddenly realized that this matter was very important to the rest of the family and Li Zheng, especially to Li Zheng.
A few hundred coins may not be a lot, but at this time it can help him get through the difficult times and may even save his life and that of his child.
The eldest sister-in-law said, "It's okay, Zheng'er. Everything will get better and better. Look, aren't we making money with our skills now? Maybe there will be work in the future. We will all get better and better slowly."
Li Zheng nodded, wiped away his tears, and his eyes were red.
Yu Qinglong stared at it for a while and then fell silent.
After a moment, Bai Wanqiu noticed that Yu Qinglong was distracted and called out, "Brother Long?"
Yu Qinglong came back to his senses and smiled, "Yeah. Don't cry, Zheng'er. My sister-in-law is right. Everything will get better and better. Hurry up and get busy. I'll go draw a new picture too. Let's try to make more money next time."
Li Zheng nodded heavily, his tears breaking into laughter. Seeing Yu Qinglong return to his study, the others took out their money and began to chatter. It seemed as if they had been happy just now, but for some reason, they felt constrained. But once Yu Qinglong left, they relaxed.
Bai Wanqiu counted the coins and said, "I really can make that much! Long Ge'er is amazing."
The eldest sister-in-law also said: "Who says it's not true? My little brother really has a lot of ideas."
Li Zheng smiled and said, "God bless me, if I can keep selling, I won't have to worry about it in the future."
Fang Wu said, "Of course he can. My husband is very smart. You are really good at raising children. Long Ge'er is smart and capable, and he is filial and sensible."
Zhou Yuehua was naturally happy to hear this. He had always worried that his youngest son would be wronged when he went to his in-laws' house because of his temperament, but he never thought that he would be so well-off and loved so much by his parents-in-law.
Moreover, early this morning, when his son-in-law went to fetch water, he stopped by his place and left him ten taels of silver, saying that it was for them to use to build a house next year and that it was a way to show his filial piety to them.
That was ten taels of silver! He didn't dare to accept it at first. He had never received so much money in his entire life.
But his son-in-law said that it might be stolen if seen, so he was scared and quickly put it away.
He didn't know whether he should accept it or not, because the head of the family was not involved at the time and didn't know about it. But with this money, his family no longer had to worry about not being able to build a house.
He used to sleep restlessly every night because he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to build a house next year. Then the family would have to live in two places. The vegetable garden and the fields were so far away. He would have to take care of one of the two unborn children and not be able to take care of the other. He was really worried.
Now it's all good. As long as this winter is over, we can build a new house. At worst, even if we have to borrow money first, we can pay it back slowly after saving money. At least with these ten taels of silver, I feel at ease.
If I work harder, maybe I can build a bigger house.
Everyone felt that this life had hope, and they worked even harder. But everyone knew that if they didn't do a good job, they wouldn't be able to sell it, so they put extra care into everything they did.
But Yu Qinglong returned to the study and worked with Fang Shu, one reading and the other drawing.
As Yu Qinglong was painting, he couldn't help but become absent-minded again. His foot unconsciously hooked Fang Shu's calf under the table, moving it up and down without any hesitation.
Fang Shu was completely bewildered. His feet were clearly hooked around him, but his soul had flown away to who knows where.
He had to grab his husband's feet and put them on his legs. He felt the coldness on his feet and asked, "Are you cold?"
Yu Qinglong said, "Not bad."
Although our house is large, the weather changes and we use more firewood, so it's not particularly cold. But it's not very warm either. After all, it's a ground floor house, connected to the ground air. Plus, it's not winter yet, so we don't know how cold it will get. So we have to calculate the firewood we use and not burn too much at once.
At the moment, the best we can do is to wear thicker clothes so that we don't feel too cold.
Even at this rate, he was still surprised by the speed at which the firewood was consumed. Fortunately, they had plenty of land at home, so they could burn bean stalks and rice straw. Otherwise, relying solely on firewood from the mountains to survive the winter would be a real disaster.
It is no joke that there are frozen corpses on the road. In the northern winter of this era, it is likely to happen from time to time.
He helped Li Zheng this time, but what about the other villagers?
Fang Shu pinched Yu Qinglong's ankle, put it down, and then went to get a cotton coat to wrap Yu Qinglong's foot and put it on his leg: "Draw like this."
Yu Qinglong looked under the table. It was packed with dirt, like a big cotton ball, but his feet were no longer cold. Once his feet were warm, his whole body felt much warmer too.
Cotton is indeed a good thing, but it costs fifty or sixty wen per jin. The best ones even cost seventy or eighty wen per jin.
Yu Qinglong looked at Fang Shu and was about to ask something when he suddenly heard Zhuangzhuang's voice from outside: "Uncle!"
The little guy was tall and the knocking on the door outside was loud.
Fang Shu went to open the door: "What's wrong, Zhuangzhuang?"
Zhuangzhuang said, "The village head asked me to come find you. He said the tax collector has arrived. His eyesight isn't very good, so he wants you to come over and help take down some things."
Most of the villagers were illiterate, and Fang Shu was clearly not new to this kind of work. He readily replied, "Go tell the village head and I'll be right there. Is it in the threshing ground?"
Zhuangzhuang said yes. Yu Qinglong then put on his shoes and stood up: "I'll go with you and see if there's anything I can do to help."
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Author's words: Fang Shu: Long Ge'er, Long Ge'er! Can you please count? [Please]
Qinglong: Okay, what’s wrong? [Sunglasses]
Fang Shu: I'm good at memorizing things, but I'm a bit slow at arithmetic [laughing and crying]
Qinglong: It’s okay, just look at me [hug]
Fang Shu: Okay! Then I'll beg for food from the aunties today. I'd like to ask the aunties to help me get a cow for my little Shu and little Yu. Thank you, aunties. - This is a basin in my hand, not a bowl [empty bowl][empty bowl][empty bowl][let me see]
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