Chapter 138 Chapter 138——
As soon as Lin Chuntao entered the village, she met the villagers.
Seeing her driving the mule cart back, the mule was a different color from the one at Aunt Guizhi's house. Everyone noticed the difference immediately and asked curiously, "Chuntao, did you buy a mule?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and replied, "I just found a suitable one at the market and bought it. I use it so often that I have to borrow it from Aunt Guizhi. I feel embarrassed to use it anymore."
When Lin Chuntao borrowed a mule, some people initially gossiped about it, saying that Aunt Guizhi and her family would not lend it to other families, but often lent it to Lin Chuntao because she was rich now.
Lin Shuilian's grandmother heard this and angrily responded to the gossipmongers, "Whether Chuntao is rich or poor doesn't hinder their close relationship. Lin Chuntao saved Lin Shuilian's life, so let's not even borrow the mule cart if she wants it, we'll give it to her even if she wants the mule."
The man was speechless. Everyone in the village knew about Lin Shuilian's affairs. Lin Chuntao even went to the county town with her. Aunt Guizhi also said that if Lin Chuntao had not urged her to take her to the clinic, Lin Shuilian might have lost her life. Aunt Guizhi remembered this life-saving favor in her heart.
Later, the old lady had nothing to do so she wandered around the village, telling everyone about the gossips of that person and how good Lin Chuntao was to Lin Shuilian. In fact, everyone knew that Lin Shuilian almost lost her life and that Lin Chuntao helped a lot. If any other family encountered the same thing, they would definitely do the same as Aunt Guizhi's family.
Lin Chuntao had never heard of these gossips. In the village, one usually had to pay to borrow ox carts or mule carts, three or five cents for each use. Lin Chuntao wanted to give them to Aunt Guizhi, but she refused to accept them. After using them so many times, she felt embarrassed to ask for a loan. However, she was so busy and had so many things to do that time passed quickly.
At home, Lin Chunhe and the others were busy in the backyard, and Lin Duoer was doing needlework. She learned some special stitches from Madam Fan and needed to practice sewing. Lin Chuntao gave her some cloth to practice.
Fan Liniang felt that fabric was precious, and even if it was just for practice, she had to make something out of it instead of wasting it. Making clothes was a little more complicated, while making pants and skirts was simpler. So Fan Liniang asked Lin Duoer to make a pair of pants first.
Lin Duoer gave Fan Liniang the data of Lin Chuntao's leg length and waist length, followed the master to cut out the fabric, and then began to sew pants.
She only went to study with Fan Liniang in the afternoon. She prepared pig food and fed the pigs and chickens in the rest of the time. She then practiced needlework.
She felt bored working alone in the front yard, so she took a small bamboo basket, put her needle, thread, fabric, and scissors in it, and went to the backyard to work while chatting with Lin Chunhe and the others.
The grandmother and the others were very surprised to see how well Lin Duo'er was doing her needlework. After all, Duo'er was a lively person and everyone thought she didn't have the patience to sit so quietly and do needlework.
But at this time, Lin Duoer was sitting next to them, able to stare at the needle and thread and fabric in her hands while chatting and laughing with everyone.
There was no one in the front yard, and the front gate was bolted. Lin Chuntao led the mule cart to the back door.
Everyone was surprised when they saw Lin Chuntao leading the mule. Lin Duoer was so excited that she stood up from the stool.
"Sister, did you buy a mule?"
Following Lin Duoer's exclamation, Lin Chunhe also stopped what he was doing and ran over to take a look.
Lin Chuntao looked at them and said, "Unbolt the other door. The mule cart can't get in."
Lin Chunhe ran over quickly and opened the other door. Lin Chuntao led the mule in, and Aunt Guizhi and the others hurried over to help move things.
Lin Chuntao said, "There are three jars of soybean oil. Madam Meng, please note the weight. We will need it to make sauce in a few days."
Meng Yun nodded and asked, "How much is this soybean oil per pound?"
"Six coins." Lin Chuntao said.
Aunt Guizhi and Great Grandma helped to move the jars down. There were still four hams left on the mule cart. When asked if they wanted to take them down as well, Lin Chuntao said, "I'll take these to the kitchen and hang them there. They'll keep them better."
After Lin Chuntao said this, Aunt Guizhi and the others helped to bring the things to the kitchen, and Lin Chuntao put all the things on the bamboo shelf.
The mule cart was unloaded in the yard. Aunt Guizhi looked at the mule, touched it, and found it to be very gentle. Aunt Guizhi said, "The skeleton of this mule is not bad, but it is a little thin."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "The man who sold the mule said that the original owner was tired from harvesting crops. There's nothing wrong with the mule itself. I just need to take care of it."
The grandmother said, "It's quite good. How much did you pay for it?"
Lin Chuntao said, "Two mules and two mule carts, totaling thirteen taels, six hundred wen. That's six taels and eight hundred wen per mule."
Mrs. Hu and Mrs. Deng were also behind. When they heard this, they exclaimed, "Two? Chuntao, you bought two?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Well, the two were sold by the same person, so I bought them both. I brought this one back, and I left the other one with Chunxing and the others. They will bring it back later."
They looked at the mule with eyes full of envy. Originally, their family and Aunt Guizhi's family were the only ones in the village who had mule carts. But the mule had been raised for many years. When they bought it, it was still a small mule and the price was not high. They raised it slowly until it grew up and made it into a cart to pull things. They raised it for many years.
Lin Chuntao would have bought nothing, but she bought two at once, spending more than ten taels in a flash. She couldn't help swallowing.
Aunt Guizhi said, "This mule cart looks good, and the price is quite reasonable."
"I bargained for a lower price because I thought she was thin. I'm sure she'll look better once she gains weight."
When the grandmother heard her say it looked good, she couldn't help but smile. "I haven't had much work lately, so I'll take care of it while I'm free. I'll give it more fodder, and it'll be quite big by next year."
Everyone stood and chatted for a while, then Lin Chuntao led the mule to the empty pen next to the pigpen, threw in some half-dry corn straw, and the mule began to eat the leaves.
After settling the mule, Lin Chuntao went upstairs to check on the bean sprouts. She turned over some that had not been dried properly and waited until they were almost dry. Then she took them down and hammered them to get the beans out.
Recently, many families have already harvested soybeans, and Lin Jiahui has received quite a few, but he also uses a lot of them on a daily basis. Lin Chuntao wants to see how much her family has harvested and see the situation. She plans to ask Lin Jiahui to sell bean seeds when he buys beans. Different varieties have better bean yields, which is more cost-effective for bean farmers.
After turning over the bean sprouts upstairs, Lin Chuntao went to the backyard to dry the chili peppers. The beans only needed to be dried for a day or two. The new sauce was slightly different from the previous one. The previous one was covered and dried, but the new sauce required the ingredients to be prepared and fried with soybean oil.
The sauce business was booming before, so Mrs. Hu and Mrs. Deng had been working there until now. Seeing Lin Chuntao starting to make a new sauce, Mrs. Hu smiled and said, "Chuntao, if your new sauce business is as prosperous as the old one, won't you need to hire more people to do the work?"
Lin Chuntao smiled when she heard this and said, "Thanks for your good wishes, aunt. If we need such a large quantity, we will definitely need to add more people, otherwise we won't be able to finish it."
Mrs. Hu was a little excited when she heard this. Lin Chuntao made delicious sauce and sold it in the county town. People in the surrounding villages had heard about it a long time ago. For example, the villagers on their mother's side of the family all knew that they were helping Lin Chuntao with work and were paid dozens of coins every day. They were very envious.
Relatives with whom I have a good relationship will always ask them to introduce me if I need anyone.
Regardless of whether she was introduced or not, they all benefited from Lin Chuntao's doing this and were quite proud of it.
Mrs. Deng asked with a smile, "If we're adding someone new, Chuntao, do you have a choice?"
Lin Chuntao looked at them and said, "I haven't thought about this place yet, but I should come to the people in the village first. If we can't find a suitable person in the village, we can look for one in the surrounding villages."
After hearing this, everyone understood what was going on.
Everyone present had a good relationship with Lin Chuntao, but when there were more people in the future, Lin Chuntao didn't want all the family to do the work here. It was easy for conflicts to arise when people got along for a long time, and it would be troublesome if the whole family quit working. Although her grandmother was here now and she trusted her more, she was old and would probably have to retire in a few years. If the people doing the work then had to be from several families, it would not be good for her.
Although the people in the village have a large surname, they all have their own families after all, so it is not easy for them to unite to do something.
Lin Chuntao also has to consider the future.
Hu and Deng understood what Lin Chuntao meant, but they didn't feel anything. In fact, at the moment, several people in their family were working here, and the people in the village would think they were overbearing. But when Lin Chuntao needed people again, she could find some people from the village to work together, and then everyone would not think so.
The old couple always said that Lin Chuntao's business would become very big in the future, and by then the people in the village would definitely not be enough to do the work, so there was no need to rush to call on relatives to take up positions, as all that was needed would be given to them in the future.
Everyone was chatting together for a while before the grandmother asked Lin Chuntao, "I see your uncle's two children are following Chunxing. Are they planning to go into business with Chunxing?"
"Yes, Grandma, we are planning to open a shop. Chun Xing can't handle it alone, so my two cousins wanted to come and help, so I asked them to come."
The grandmother said, "We are all about the same age, so it would be nice to do business together."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "You can be my companion."
Mrs. Hu asked, "It would cost a lot of money to open a shop, right?"
Lin Chuntao: "It does cost a lot. I've been busy setting up the shop lately. When it's ready, I'll let everyone know when it opens. Come visit when you have time."
Lin Chunxing has been learning to make new soup noodles and braised dishes recently. She brings back some pork head meat and noodles every day, and buys old hens whenever she sees them. Now there are several old hens at home.
When they came back today, Pei Ying drove the cart, while Lin Chunxing and Xu Sheng sat on the mule cart holding the old hen.
After working for a few days, they became proficient, and Lin Chunxing was very happy about it. When the shop opened, Xu Sheng and Xu Huan would be able to work together, and there would definitely be no problems.
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