Li Xiangjian and his family built a cowshed behind their house. Just to be on the safe side, Li Xiangjian insisted on sleeping next to the cowshed to keep watch, ignoring all attempts to dissuade him.
Yan Qingqing was both amused and exasperated. Li Xiangjian was stubborn and sometimes inflexible. But the child was grown up and had his own thoughts, so she didn't interfere too much unless it was a matter of principle.
Before they knew it, it was wheat harvest season again, and Yan Qingqing's belly was already quite noticeable. Yuan Huiniang and the others were afraid of tiring her out, so they wouldn't let her do any chores around the house, which left Yan Qingqing feeling helpless.
Having cattle saved a lot of manpower, and although the family still runs a business, they can still manage to keep busy.
Yan Qingqing's family had seven mu of wheat, which wasn't a small amount, but grain yields were very low in ancient times. After a season of hard work, they only harvested two thousand jin.
In addition, 20% of the grain had to be paid as taxes, so only 1,600 catties of grain could be left.
Farmers rely on the land for their livelihood, especially in ancient times. Eating only refined grains was definitely not enough. They would usually exchange refined grains for coarse grains, and save some wheat to exchange for money for emergencies.
Yan Qingqing carefully calculated the accounts, feeling fortunate that her family at least ran a small business; otherwise, they really wouldn't have been able to make ends meet.
After harvesting the wheat, Yan Qingqing thought about going to the city again, as she hadn't been there for a long time.
Li Xin's mother went along because she was worried about Yan Qingqing.
Sitting in the carriage, Yan Qingqing said helplessly, "Are you all keeping such a close eye on me because you're afraid I'll run away? Now I need someone to follow me everywhere I go. Am I that old yet?"
Li Xin's mother said with a grin, "Now that you're so powerful, we're really afraid you'll run away. If that happens, we'll all be orphans without a mother, and we'll have nowhere to cry."
Yan Qingqing glanced at the increasingly lively Li Xinniang and said helplessly, "You're getting more and more useless as you get older."
Among the children, Li Xin's mother has changed the most; she is now more confident and cheerful than before.
Li Xin's mother said coquettishly, "What ambition do you have in front of your mother?"
Li Xiang'an and Li Xiangjian sat to the side watching the mother and daughter play, both very content with their current life.
Soon the group arrived in the county town. Li Xiang'an and the others went to deliver goods, while Yan Qingqing took Li Xin's mother shopping.
They agreed to meet at the grain shop later.
Li Xin's mother finds everything fascinating and sometimes makes a lot of noise. Yan Qingqing thinks this is great; this is how a fourteen or fifteen-year-old should be.
Unbeknownst to Yan Qingqing, she had unknowingly become completely immersed in the role, truly embracing the persona of a mother.
Li Xin's mother then saw an exquisitely crafted rattle drum and said with a smile, "Mother, I'll buy it and give it to my younger brother."
Because of the dividends from Jinsheng Pavilion, Li Xinniang is now quite wealthy. A few coins are nothing to her, so she doesn't stop her from buying Yan Qingqing.
Yan Qingqing's enthusiasm for shopping was probably also ignited, and the two of them bought a bunch of trinkets in no time.
Just as the two were getting into their shopping, Yan Qingqing seemed to spot a familiar face and called to Li Xinniang to hurry up and follow.
The two walked further and further into the secluded area, eventually ending up in a small alley.
Yan Qingqing frowned slightly as she looked around at the clearly residential area.
Li Xin's mother asked with some fear, "Mother, where is this? What are you looking for?"
Yan Qingqing shushed and whispered, "I just saw someone I know."
As soon as Yan Qingqing finished speaking, Li Xinniang indeed saw a familiar figure, looked around, and then knocked on one of the doors.
Upon seeing this, Yan Qingqing and the other person quickly hid.
Immediately afterward, a charming woman walked out of the courtyard. Upon seeing the newcomer, she reached out and tugged at his clothes, saying coquettishly, "You rascal, you finally decided to come!"
Upon hearing this, the man gave a lewd smile and then followed the woman into the house.
After the two went inside, Yan Qingqing and Li Xinniang dared to come out. Li Xinniang said incredulously, "Shouldn't Uncle be studying at the academy? How come he's here?"
Yan Qingqing snorted coldly. No wonder Li Chengye has only been a novice scholar for so many years. It turns out that he has been using his mind and energy to seduce women.
I wonder how Grandpa Li and the others will react when they find out.
At least Yan Qingqing has separated from them. This matter doesn't affect her much at the moment, but the thought of Li Erniu losing his life to support such a scumbag's education makes her feel disgusted.
After the two walked out of the alley, Li Xinniang still couldn't believe it. Was this still her aloof, arrogant uncle who talked about classical Chinese all day long?
Yan Qingqing lost interest in shopping and took Li Xinniang back to Wugufang to meet up.
Yan Qingqing temporarily put Li Chengye's matter aside, but she was actually still concerned about the grain seeds.
In Chengyang County, where Yan Qingqing is currently located, there are two harvests a year. One harvest is mainly wheat and millet, which are the main sources of income for the local people.
The other season is the autumn harvest, which mainly consists of beans.
Because eating too many beans can cause bloating, most people don't pay much attention to it. They just eat them to supplement their diet when they're not full, which is better than eating some grass roots and wild vegetables.
Yan Qingqing came to the county town this time to see if there were any rare seeds. She had previously asked Manager Yang to keep an eye out for seeds from other places, but Manager Yang had never given her any news.
When Yan Qingqing entered Manager Yang's shop, Manager Yang was busy calculating accounts.
Business at Wugufang has been exceptionally good lately. This is mainly because this year's wheat harvest was quite bountiful, and people naturally want to exchange their surplus grain for some money.
After finishing a calculation, Manager Yang looked up and saw Yan Qingqing. He quickly put down what he was holding and said, "Oh my, sister-in-law, you are a rare guest. It has been so long since I've seen you."
For a while, because of her business, Yan Qingqing would come here to buy flour almost every day. Over time, Yan Qingqing and Manager Yang became very familiar with each other.
Yan Qingqing said, "We just finished harvesting the wheat, so see if you have any rare seeds here."
Shopkeeper Yang slapped his forehead and replied, "Look at me, I've been so busy lately that I forgot. There really are two kinds of seeds from foreign lands."
But I've never seen such a big seed before.
Shopkeeper Yang's words piqued Yan Qingqing's curiosity; what kind of seeds were they?
Seeing that Yan Qingqing was interested, Manager Yang quickly ran to a corner of the warehouse and started rummaging around, finally pulling out two baskets. They were filled to the brim.
Shopkeeper Yang said helplessly, "A few foreigners came here a while ago with a batch of goods. Since they couldn't sell them and had no money, they came here to exchange them for some cash."
I wasn't planning on taking it, but then I thought about how hard it must be for them to live away from home, and I softened and kept it.
"They've been sitting outside for so many days and nobody's interested. I figured they're nothing special. Sister-in-law, if you want them, you can take them all."
While listening to Manager Yang's nagging, Yan Qingqing's eyes shone as she looked at the contents of the basket. This stuff was good; the yield was high. She had struck gold.
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