Chapter 111
"Tiger has a good personality. Although he is a bit thin, he is a child who has suffered since childhood and can do a lot of work."
Zhou Lin recalled the small figure he had encountered when he went to the mountains to pick wild chrysanthemums, carrying another even smaller figure on her back, who had spoken up for Lin Huzi.
Mu Jin nodded gently, "How about him and Mu Youyu?"
Zhou Lin thought for a moment. Mu Youyu was the third child in his family. At the age of fifteen, he was very calm and composed.
The village elder also said that among these twenty or so people, although Mu Youyu is not very old, he is one of the most efficient workers.
He nodded slightly. "Alright, as we agreed before, each of them will receive six qian of silver per month for tasks such as cutting pig feed, gathering firewood, feeding poultry and livestock, and tending the fields and vegetable gardens. I'll go talk to them about these tasks later."
Mu Jin put the paper with her name written on it aside and put the contract away.
Zhou Lin followed him into the house, and Mu Jin poured out the silver she had saved up under the mattress over the past few months from her purse.
Since someone is always home, I wasn't in a hurry to put it in the hidden compartment, but now I've just taken it out to use it.
Inside were the earnings from selling vegetables in the spring and the nine taels of silver that Zhou Lin had earned at the carpenter's shop in town over the past few months.
The money spent on buying fabric to make spring clothes accounted for the majority of the expenses during this period.
Mu Jin carefully counted the money: more than two taels of silver from the vegetables, more than five taels from the dye shop, and the remaining expenses, not counting the five taels of silver in the secret compartment, totaling eighteen taels and seven mace and twenty-three cash.
After thinking for a moment, Mu Jin took out eighteen taels of silver from inside, put it in her money bag, and handed it to Zhou Lin.
“Our family delivers vegetables to town and tills the fields. We can’t always rely on Master and Brother Zhaoye’s cattle and mules. We’ve saved up quite a bit of money now, and it’s time to get some livestock.”
Zhou Lin's eyes lit up immediately; no farmer dislikes cattle.
He took the money bag containing eighteen taels of silver and said, "I'll go to town first thing tomorrow morning and bring back a good ox."
Mu Jin's eyebrows curved slightly. "I think it would be better for our family to buy a mule. Mules are faster than oxen, which will save time when delivering vegetables."
Zhou Lin still wanted to buy a cow; for field work, an old yellow ox was still the most capable.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "Our village isn't far from the town, so saving time won't save us much time. In the end, we still have to rely on oxen for the work in the fields."
Seeing that Zhou Lin truly loved oxen more than mules, Mu Jin didn't argue with him anymore.
However, I still reminded him, "Remember to negotiate the price; don't just pay whatever amount others quote."
Zhou Lin smiled and nodded repeatedly, overjoyed to the point of being completely lost. He had never imagined that one day he would own a cow.
He put the money bag under the mattress, and planned to take it to town early the next morning. He then turned around and set off with great enthusiasm to find Lin Huzi and Mu Youyu.
Mu Jin chuckled and shook her head. She walked into the courtyard and saw Bai Qiqiu with chicken feathers all over his hands. Wang Li was carrying a ladle of water and carefully rinsing him.
Mu Jin sighed, "How many is this now? If we keep killing them like this, how will we make a living?"
Bai Qiqiu shook the water off his hands and said with a smile, "Brother, Doctor Mu said that you need to replenish your body because of your hard work. If you slaughter another chicken at home, your husband said that you feel sorry for the poultry at home and can't bear to part with them, so he will buy an old hen and an old duck from town tomorrow to make soup for you."
Hibiscus: "..."
So he doesn't care about spending the family's money?
I felt sorry for him, but my heart was warmed.
However, Zhou Lin did not ask him for money to buy chickens and ducks, presumably because he wanted to use his own allowance to nourish him.
Thinking about it this way, Mu Jin couldn't suppress the smile that was curving her lips.
Early the next morning, Mu Youyu and Lin Huzi arrived at the house.
The two looked eager to get started and make a big splash.
However, Lin Huzi not only came alone, but also brought his seven or eight-year-old brother.
The little guy was also very thin, with two big, lantern-like eyes on his small face, and he glanced timidly at the people in the kitchen.
She glanced at the food on the table, swallowed hard without making it obvious, and hid behind Lin Huzi.
Lin Huzi hurriedly said, "Master, I was worried about Nuoge being all alone at home, so I brought him along as well. Don't let his young age fool you, he can do a lot of work. He's very obedient. Can he come with me?"
Mu Jin glanced at Lin Nuo, who was hiding behind Lin Huzi and secretly watching him.
He sighed inwardly. Even with three bushels of grain a year, he wouldn't starve to this extent.
It seems that the eldest son of the Lin family took advantage of their young age and withheld a lot of their food.
Mu Jin smiled gently at Lin Nuo, "Have you eaten yet? Why don't you sit down and have something to eat together?"
Mu Youyu hurriedly shook his head, "Boss, I've already eaten."
Lin Nuo glanced at Lin Huzi, then shook her head gently, just like her older brother.
"Master, we've already eaten."
Mu Jin nodded, got up, ladled out the remaining half bowl of millet porridge from the pot, and waved to Lin Nuo.
"There's still a little left, Nuoge'er, come and try your brother Lin's cooking."
Lin Nuo took a small step forward, glanced at Lin Huzi with eyes full of longing, but still shook her head.
Just as Lin Huzi said, he was indeed a well-behaved and pitiful boy.
Mu Jin smiled and said, "Tiger, Youyu, I think your brother Lin already talked to you two about the chores at home yesterday. You can discuss how to divide them and how to do them. Nuoge will stay here for now. If he misses you, you can take him to find you."
Lin Huzi thought for a moment and nodded, "Then I'll have to trouble you, sir."
As he spoke, he leaned down and whispered something in Lin Nuo's ear.
Lin Nuo shook her head anxiously, "Nuonuo will stay with her brother."
Lin Huzi, however, still left Lin Nuo in the kitchen. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to take care of him while he was working, so he felt more at ease leaving him with the employer.
The two divided the tasks. They went to the vegetable garden first to pick the vegetables they would take to town that day, and then went to the backyard and pigsty to tidy up.
Mu Jin coaxed Lin Nuo into the kitchen and placed the bowl in front of him.
"Your brother will be back soon."
As she spoke, she handed him the spoon.
Lin Nuo took the spoon, and although she was still a little timid, she said in a soft, sweet voice, "Thank you, Master."
Mu Jin chuckled; he really did follow his brother's lead in everything.
Zhou Lin was overjoyed today. His family was about to have a strong, powerful yellow ox with four hooves. He had been excited all night.
The vegetables were loaded onto the oxcart, and Zhou Lin sat down beside the wooden frame. The master and apprentice cracked their whips, and the ox's hooves lifted, clattering as they headed towards the town.
Mu Jin watched him leave, then turned and went back to the courtyard.
Looking up, one could see Wang Li with Lin Nuo, squatting in a corner of the kitchen watching ants move their nest.
Hibiscus: "..."
It seems that people of the same age can get along better.
She smiled, turned around and went to find Wen Zhaoran, telling him about the move that was scheduled for a couple of days later.
Wen Zhaoran's joy was palpable. After waiting for so long, she had finally accumulated a considerable amount of wood and was about to build a new house.
At noon, Zhou Lin drove the oxcart back, and Mu Jin immediately spotted the new cart trailing behind the ox.
The mud on the cartwheel was freshly dyed, truly brand new.
Zhou Lin laughed and said, "When I was in town a while ago, I cut down a few extra elm trees, as well as some jujube and locust trees. My master helped me transport them to town. For the past two or three months, we haven't had a break at noon. We've been driving carts out of town."
Hearing this, Mu Jin gave him a reproachful look, her eyes filled with pity, "Rest when you need to, what if you ruin your health?! At worst, we can just buy a cart later, it won't cost much money."
Zhou Lin smiled and said, "I'm not tired."
He wasn't a prophet; Mu Jin was going to give him money to buy a yellow ox, but it was the cart that Mu Heng had given him before. In the winter, it was left in the yard and forgotten to be brought back to the woodshed, where it was soaked by snow and rain.
The already dilapidated cart was further damaged by the snow and rain, and by the time it was found in a corner of the backyard, it was in even worse condition.
Seeing that it was unusable, Zhou Lin then prepared to make a new cart.
It had been prepared earlier, but before she could bring it home, Mu Jin became pregnant.
For the past two or three days, Zhou Lin has been busy tending to the hibiscus, and even had Mu Heng help deliver the vegetables to the town.
The new cart was simply forgotten in the carpenter's shop in town.
Mu Jin felt a pang of heartache for a moment, but then her attention was completely drawn to the docile yellow ox staring at her.
The ox before me has bright eyes, its hooves are white, and judging from its bones, it is of the highest quality.
Strong and powerful, he returned to his family.
Even though they had just met, he let everyone touch him, whether it was Mu Jin, Wen Zhaoran, Bai Qiqiu, Wang Li, or Lin Nuo.
She has no temper at all; she's incredibly docile.
Bai Qiqiu sighed, "Oxen are still the best. My mule is no good. It has a terrible temper and kicked me. I'll get a cow from Mu Zhaoye later."
Mu Jin chuckled upon hearing this and asked Zhou Lin, "How much silver did it cost?"
Zhou Lin touched his nose and said in a low voice, "Thirteen taels. This cow is of good quality among the cattle. The cattle dealer asked for fifteen taels as soon as he opened his mouth. I bargained for most of the day before he finally agreed."
Mu Jin sighed and laughed, "It's already quite good that you could bargain down two taels of silver. Come to think of it, this ox is worth that price."
With the oxcart purchased and the rent paid to the family, it was time to prepare for the move.
Mu Jin originally planned to take Wen Zhaoran, Bai Qiqiu, and Wang Li to clean the newly rented house inside and out first.
Zhou Lin didn't let him move and went with him. Mu Jin was left with only the task of checking where there were still spider webs and where she needed to clean again.
The dye house naturally had to be moved along with it, and Bai Qiqiu chose a room near the courtyard gate and tidied it up.
The stove in the dye shop needed to be rebuilt, so Mu Jin asked Zhou Lin to invite Uncle Huang over again.
After tidying up the house for two or three days, Zhou Si took some time to come and help out as well.
When they moved, Mu Sheng, Mu Lingqiao, Mu Lingyun, Mu Zhaoye, Mu Nianjun, Zhou Si, along with Zhou Fengnian and Zhou Chuxue, and Mu Mian, who was already showing signs of pregnancy, all came over.
Mu Jin dared not let him do any work, so she pulled him, Mu Nianjun, Zhou Si, Wen Zhaoran, and Zhou Chuxue aside and directed the men in the house to work.
Now that we have an ox, we can use an oxcart to transport a lot of things, which has really saved us a lot of trouble.
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