After finishing their work on the back hill, Niu Da and Niu Yong went to the fields over there to help weed.
Since it was summer, the school gave all the students a two-month summer vacation.
Niu Cuihua and Sang Yu were responsible for cultivating one piece of land, while Niu Da, Niu Yong, and Sang Yu were responsible for cultivating another piece of land.
Vegetables grown in the summer are not easy to keep alive.
So, Niu Da plans to plant the sweet potatoes, peanuts, and edamame he saved last year in the new field. Peanuts are a rare commodity; he hadn't planted them in the previous two years, but two were accidentally mixed in with the chili seedlings he bought.
Chen Yu realized that this was edible, so she saved some seeds and planted some last year, but the quantity was too small, and her family ate it all.
"After we turn this soil over, we'll go to Jiangzhou Prefecture tomorrow, and we can start planting the day after!" Niu Dadao said to Niu Yong after resting for a moment with his hoe.
"Doing business is really not as comfortable as farming!"
Although Niu Da has some talent for business, he has been doing farm work since he was a child. He is used to farm work and feels uncomfortable if he doesn't work for a day.
Niu Yong straightened up, patted his back, and said, "That's right!"
The two brothers worked for another two hours before the family went to have lunch. When they got home, Niu Meihua, Niu Baozhu, Niu Cuihua, and Xiang Jinlan moved four basins of ice to the kitchen.
Chen Yu cut a few pieces of chilled melon, and everyone felt much cooler after eating them.
"Judging from the weather, it might rain this afternoon. Luckily, not much land needs to be plowed! After we finish working in the fields, we'll make pickled vegetables together," Niu Da said to Chen Yu.
"We've done everything we were supposed to do! There were more than a dozen people helping us! You should take a good rest! Don't keep busy all day long!" Chen Yu said with a hint of reproach.
“Don’t worry, if you don’t do it while you’re young, it’ll be harder when you’re old!” Niu Da said.
“Even the youngest body can’t withstand working like this every day!” Chen Yu said. “You have to listen to me. Let’s turn this land over, and then we can rest properly today! If it doesn’t rain all night, we’ll go to the night market tonight and pick out a few outfits. We have to meet someone tomorrow, and we can sell some fruit while we’re at it!”
"Okay, whatever you say!"
In the afternoon, Niu Da, Sang Yu, and the others had just finished their work when, as expected, a torrential downpour began. However, the rain stopped after about an hour, and the sun gradually began to peek out again.
The family rarely gets a moment's rest.
Little Fu Bao squatted down on the ground and said, "Daddy, Mommy, let me massage your feet! Daddy has been digging all day, he must be very tired!"
She was too young to exert much strength, but Niu Da and Shen Yu felt very comfortable.
Niu Baozhu was massaging Chen Yu's feet.
As for Niu Baolan, she was just a clueless little foodie. Watching her older and younger sisters massage their parents' feet, she imitated them, saying, "Then I'll massage Uncle's feet too."
"If I massage my second uncle's feet, I can't eat anything! Because my hands are dirty!"
Niu Baolan's little face was extremely troubled. She looked at the pastries in her hand, then at Niu Yong's feet, and scrunched up her face.
Niu Yong laughed and said, "Let's eat quietly! Your second uncle hasn't done as much work as your father these past two days, and his feet don't hurt."
He had just returned from Jiangzhou.
At night, Niushan County has become wealthier in the past two years, and a night market has opened in the county town. Although it is not as bustling as the night market in Jiangzhou City, there are still quite a few people coming and going.
The fruit stall was temporarily left to Sang Yu and Niu Cuihua to look after.
Niu Da, Shen Yu, and Niu Er, along with several children, were picking out several sets of brocade clothes at a clothing store in the night market.
Niu Da frowned slightly: "The clothes I usually wear are already good enough. Buying this now is just a waste of money."
Chen Yu tugged at the buttons on Niu Da's chest and said, "Clothes make the man, and gold makes the Buddha! Those brocade clothes are nice, but the person we're going to see tomorrow is the highest-ranking official in Jiangzhou. We can't let Heng'er and Lao Er lose face, can we?"
As she spoke, Shen Yu gazed at her man, somewhat mesmerized, until Xiao Fu Bao exclaimed in surprise:
"Wow! Daddy looks so good in this outfit! Don't you think so, Mom?"
Chen Yu finally came to her senses and said, "I'll go to the barber later to get a shave and trim off the stray hairs."
In the Great Zhou Dynasty, barbers primarily trimmed beards.
Although the Zhou people stopped shaving their beards after the age of thirty, they still admired the practice of styling beards, which involved grooming beards, shaving faces, and shaping women's eyebrows and forehead hair.
Wealthy families often have private female barbers.
There was only one barber on the street, surnamed Yang. Old Yang's beard trimming and crown-styling skills were superb. After Niu Da was groomed by him, he looked like a completely different person.
His demeanor had also changed; he no longer had the humble manner of a merchant, nor the appearance of a peasant, but rather seemed more like someone from an official family.
Xiao Fubao thinks that her grandfather had a really good eye back then.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have had several older sisters, each of whom was exceptionally beautiful and graceful.
Next, Chen Yu picked out several sets of summer clothes made of silk and ice silk for her daughters. The one that Xiao Fubao wore was a watercolor dress with gold thread embroidery and cloud patterns.
Little Fu Bao has two small pigtails tied in her hair, with red flower ropes tied on them. She looks so cute, just like a porcelain doll.
Both baskets of fruit were sold out.
Niu Cuihua quickly calculated the costs. Because lychees and peaches required ice chests, and ice was a precious commodity in the summer (one tael of ice was equivalent to the price of one gram of gold), lychees and peaches were sold for five times the price of pork, which was 250 wen per catty.
One pound of ice can hold five pounds of lychees under the ice chest. Master Niu has ten ice chests.
The cheapest fruit is oranges, which cost three coins per pound.
Two baskets of fruit sold for twenty taels of silver.
Three years ago, Shen Yu wouldn't have dared to even imagine this.
When the Niu family arrived in Jiangzhou Prefecture, they found that the mansion was even more magnificent than Jia Dafu's. Two servants were standing at the gate, and seeing that the group was well-dressed, they hurriedly went up to them and said:
"Are you gentlemen family members of Scholar Niu and Scholar Xiao? Please come in, the master has been waiting for quite some time!"
Jiangzhou Tongpan Ji Ningtang was waiting in the main hall at this time. In the morning, he had already sent people to the city gate to wait for the Niu family.
Someone just came to report that the Niu family had entered the city. Just as he was eagerly waiting, Niu Da was the first to enter.
Ji Ninghai couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed.
He noticed that Niu Da didn't seem like the person his old friend knew, but Ji Ninghai still went to greet him and then saw Chen Yu.
I was surprised and somewhat taken aback.
Shen Yu also felt slightly uneasy upon seeing Ji Ninghai, and tugged at Niu Da's sleeve. Ji Ninghai, momentarily stunned, recovered and said:
"Please take your seats, both of you!"
Niu Da and Shen Yu sat down.
"You two are so young, yet you've raised such outstanding juniors. It's truly admirable!" Ji Ninghai said.
As he spoke, he unconsciously glanced at Chen Yu again, and seemingly realizing his lapse in composure, he quickly and awkwardly covered it up, saying:
"Your sons and brother saved my child; we are truly grateful beyond words! The cooks in the manor have already begun preparing lunch. May I ask what you two are doing now?"
Little Fu Bao's eyes darted around, looking at Chen Yu and Ji Ning Hai.
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