Chapter 95 Chapter 95 Let’s Talk
Early that morning, Kang He and Fan Jingqie were still having breakfast when an old man from another village came to their house and said he wanted to rent some animals.
When asked, he said he was from Tiantou Village, which was three villages away from their Hepingzi village. He came home at this hour, and I'm afraid he left before dawn.
Kang He called the farmhand Lian Si Ge to bring a bowl of tea and asked the old man if he had eaten. He didn't even bother to make do with a bite. The old man said he had eaten before leaving.
After drinking tea, he was anxious to go and see the livestock.
Mou Dalang has been staying at the home of his father-in-law, Doctor Zhu, these days because his wife is pregnant.
Kang He told him that once things on his end were settled, he should go back and look after his husband more often, as brothers and sisters should be taken good care of when they are pregnant.
It was still early at this time. Mou Dalang had gone to live at home and didn't come over for breakfast, so he hadn't come yet.
Kang He put down his bowl and personally led the old man to see it. Chen Sanfang said to him, "Just ask Brother Lian Si to go. He always helps Mou Dalang with these things."
Kang He wiped his mouth and said, "I haven't really managed this business. It's all been under the supervision of Mou Dalang. I might as well do it today. It won't be a big deal."
Chen Sanfang fell silent. Fan Jing wiped Dafu's mouth and said, "Then I'll take Dafu to the private school."
Kang He responded. When Da Fu heard that it was his father who sent him there today, he happily got off the stool and ran into the house to get his schoolbag.
During the autumn months, farm work is in full swing, with people harvesting and drying crops, all taking advantage of good weather.
The Fan family started renting out livestock. In May and June, there were less than two families renting livestock. But in August and September, when the autumn harvest was the busiest, there were two or three families coming to rent livestock every day.
People from the same town and neighboring villages also came.
This month, hiring a laborer to help with the harvest costs not only sixty or seventy dollars a day, but also two good meals a day.
Some people felt it was not worth it and were afraid of hiring people who did not work hard, so they chose to rent animals.
There were also families with more land, and the crops matured at the same time, and they had to harvest them in a hurry. They had not hired enough people, and they also needed livestock, so they went to the Fan family to rent some.
In a few months, Qiao'er took the account book to show Kanghe and found that she had earned more than five strings of cash by renting out livestock.
This income is better than selling livestock.
Kang He entered the barn and saw the strong animals in the family eating grass. He grabbed a few handfuls of hay to feed them.
Lian Si Ge and Kang He said that they had asked the villagers to reserve two strong donkeys yesterday and they would come to take them later this morning.
Kang He then said to the old man, "Father, apart from the animals that have already been arranged, please tell me which one you like. Fortunately, you came early today. If you had come later, you would have no choice."
The old man was amazed by the animals in the shed and felt like he had entered a livestock farm in the city.
He only saw the good in this one and that one, and said to Kang He, "I see that the livestock in your family are all strong. Even if I come late, I can take one and let others choose the rest. They will be very useful."
Kang He said, "To make our livestock father feel at ease, if the animal you take away becomes stubborn and refuses to work, you can spare the beating and bring it back to me. I will even exchange it for another one, and I won't pay you any compensation."
The old man nodded repeatedly. He was willing to come to the Fan family to rent an animal because he saw a family in the village rent a donkey to transport grain a few days ago.
I don't know what's wrong with the donkey. It just refuses to move. People try to drive it several times but it still doesn't move. I feel annoyed, so I take it back with the Fan family.
According to the villagers, the donkey that had been brought back to the Fan family was examined and said to be symptomatic and therefore refusing to work. Since there were many people around, they were easy to talk to, so they immediately brought in a new donkey to use and made up for the lost time.
If you were to rent animals in the city, you wouldn't get such treatment. If you encounter unreasonable ones, you might even get into disputes and even ask people to pay you back.
Seeing that the Fan family was so kind, my father also agreed to rent them out.
After hearing this, Kang He thought that Mou Dalang was good at doing business.
As the old man led the donkey away, Kang He stopped his fourth brother Lian and said, "I've noticed a lot of people coming to our house to rent animals lately. Tell Brother Mou to have him rent out the animals in rotation."
"People pay to rent animals, and they only use them for a few hours, so they work them hard. It's fine for animals to work like this for a day or two, but they can't handle it for a long time."
If someone else comes to rent the animals by then, not only will the animals be tired and unable to work, but if they become sick from exhaustion, it will be a waste of time.
Lian Si Ge agreed.
Kang He also instructed that the rented animals be fed with good food. After Fan Jing sent the kid to Fan Xin's place and came back, the couple drove together to the city.
It was a little late when they arrived at the county. He Xiaoqiu came early, cleared the braised food shop, and opened the door for them.
Kang He had long wanted to hire a clerk to work in the shop, but Chen Sanfang felt that there were enough people at home, so the matter was put off.
The three of them quickly set up the stall. Fan Jing first watched over the stall, while Kang He first went to deliver the spices that had been ordered.
It was almost noon when the couple packed up some things and went to Luo's house. Zhen'er had come over two days ago and asked them to come to their house for dinner today.
It had been a while since I last saw Zhen'er and my nephew, and they both missed each other a little, so I agreed to go over today.
At the beginning of last year, Zhener gave birth to a little boy. He was so soft and cute that Kanghe would hold him for a long time every time he went to see him.
The Luo family loved each other very much. The brother and sister-in-law only had a son and a daughter, and this was the first son in the Luo family, so how could it not be surprising?
"Bring so many things again, but just invite big brother and brother-in-law to come over for a simple meal. Next time, I will be embarrassed to call my brother."
When Zhen'er saw the two men coming with two pairs of quails, a basket of quail eggs and eight pounds of pork, she couldn't help but say a few words to them.
Kang He said, "It's something we made at home, not bought outside. Your eldest brother heard that Rong'er was weaned and said that this quail stew is nutritious and can help nourish the child."
Zhen'er's heart moved: "Big brother, brother-in-law always thinks so carefully."
At noon, Kang He, Fan Jing, Zhen Er and Luo Chuan Yi had lunch together.
The larger households in this city are different from the small households in the countryside. People live in separate courtyards.
Luo Tongsheng and his cousin Yun lived in the same courtyard, Luo Chuanyi's eldest brother and his wife lived in another courtyard with their children, and they and their husband lived in another courtyard alone.
Although the Luo family's house is not big, and the yard they were allocated is not as spacious as the old house of the Fan family, it is still much more convenient.
Living in the same house, each person can entertain relatives and friends separately. If an unworthy person and his family eat and eat together, it will not only be troublesome for the family, but also the guests will not want to disturb them often.
It was precisely because they lived in the branch that Kang He and Fan Jing often came to visit, and every time they came they would bring some vegetables and meat for the young couple to eat in their small kitchen.
Whenever there were good things or festivals, he would send gifts to Luo Tongsheng and Luo Daxiong's two courtyards.
Zhen'er cooked a dish of sweet and sour pork tenderloin, which she made especially for Fan Jing, and also cooked a dish of braised pig's trotters with Kanghe. When she saw Kanghe at home before, she loved it.
After dinner, Luo Chuanyi searched the house and took out a pile of books and gave them to Kang He and Fan Jing.
"A few days ago, I heard from Zhen'er that Dafu has started his education at Daxin's. I found two calligraphy books and some books from my childhood. If you don't mind them being old, you can give them to Dafu."
"I don't complain about it at all. It's what I want."
Kang He quickly took over and said to Luo Chuanyi, "A few days ago, I told your elder brother that I wanted to ask you for some books and great fortune."
A few people chatted and laughed as they sent Kang and Fan Jing out, but they didn't expect that they would run into Luo Tongsheng who had just returned from outside when they were leaving the hospital.
Luo Tongsheng called Kang and Fan Jing over and asked about Dafu's studies.
Kang He also said to him politely: "This child may have just started to learn to read. He still finds it new and works very hard. He learns 20 to 30 characters a day and recognizes them quite well. He says he wants to start learning to write."
After hearing this, Luo Tongsheng said, "At such a young age, he's willing to learn twenty or thirty characters a day? He's really hardworking."
Then he said, "You two don't have to leave in such a hurry. I have two good brushes in my room, perfect for little children learning to write. Go get them and teach Zhongyang how to use them."
Kang He did not refuse. Luo Tongsheng took a pen and gave him some ink. He gave Kang He and Fan Jing some instructions, saying that when a child first learns to write, he needs to lay a solid foundation and make a good start. If he can write well in the future, he will be looked up to in the end.
Even if we take a step back and never take the imperial examinations in the future, and go out to find a job, it would be easy to find a job if you have beautiful handwriting.
"You may not know this, but Li Dianshi in the county government originally won the favor of the county magistrate because of his beautiful calligraphy. He was originally doing odd jobs in the county government, but one day he was promoted to Dianshi."
"A person would stay in the position for many years, and even after two or three county magistrates, they would still hire him as the Dianshi after seeing his calligraphy."
Kang He said he would accept the advice and would urge Dafu to write well when he returned.
On the way back, Kang He and Fan Jingyan thought that Luo Tongsheng really loved scholars. When they went to Luo's house before, they rarely talked even if they met, but just greeted each other politely.
I was immediately warmed up when I heard Dafu reading today. But no matter what, he was a kind person and even gave me some paper and pen.
Whether in the past or now, books are not easy to come by, and it is rare for someone to be willing to give them to you.
As soon as the two of them arrived at the alley, they saw a familiar figure in the braised food shop, busy going in and out and helping to move things.
Kang He and Fan Jing looked at each other and walked back to the shop.
"Oh, this guy is really hardworking. Could it be that he's hired out to work?"
Kang He said with a half-smile to Zhang Shili who had come down the mountain at some point.
He Xiaoqiu's ears turned red when he heard Kang He's words. He said, "This stove is strangely heavy. Brother Zhang happened to come looking for you, so he helped me move it."
Kang He said: "He is a man full of energy, he should do it."
He Xiaoqiu breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, but he saw that Fan Jing on the other side looked at him with a different expression. His heart was beating fast and he said that he was a little tired and wanted to take a nap.
After saying that, he rushed into the shop.
Zhang Shili glanced at the man, then turned back and went to Kanghe's shop.
The two of them got some wine together.
"I'm saying, are you interested in Brother He?"
Zhang Shili almost got his throat burned by the wine: "What nonsense are you talking about!"
Fan Jing was leaning on a spliced bench at one end, with his eyes closed as if he was taking a nap, but in fact his ears were perked up.
"Really?"
Kang He asked again.
Zhang Shili, on the other hand, was drinking and didn't respond to Kang He's words.
Kang He thought to himself that if he kept coaxing him, he would be completely obedient.
"That's fine if there isn't one. A few days ago, my mother was complaining about how hard it was for He Ge'er to run the shop alone, saying that there was a nephew on her side of the family who hadn't gotten married yet..."
Before he could finish his words, Zhang Shili said, "Where do you get so many nephews to talk to? If one doesn't work, you switch to another. What do you think of people?"
Fan Jing, who was standing by, couldn't help but raise his eyelids when he heard the sound.
Kang He said, "What are you shouting for? You've even woken Da Jing up. You're not interested in anyone anyway, and you won't allow anyone else to propose marriage to you? Who else is so overbearing as you? He Ge'er might be happy about it, so why aren't you happy?"
Zhang Shili taught Kang He so much that he couldn't even open his mouth, so he just took a big gulp of wine.
He put down his wine bowl with a bang: "You are such a disgusting person."
After that, he said: "I just like him, so what!"
Fan Jing, who was lying on the bench with his arms folded, suddenly sat up.
He suddenly said, "When did it happen?"
Zhang Shili was startled when he saw Fan Jing's expression. He said angrily, "How can I tell exactly when this happened? Anyway, he's taken a fancy to me."
"You two are acting like you're trying to interrogate a criminal today, as if you were planning to interrogate me."
Kang He laughed out loud: "I've known for a long time that there's something wrong with you, but I only got the chance to ask you today."
"If you're interested, why didn't you tell us earlier? You've kept it a secret from us."
Zhang Shili said, "The matter has not been finalized yet. It will not do him any good to spread it around. Besides, we are all related to each other in this room. If it doesn't work out, how will we deal with it in the future?"
Kang He saw that Zhang Shili had thought it through and asked him, "Then do you know what He Ge'er meant?"
Speaking of this, Zhang Shili smiled visibly: "He has the same idea as me."
In fact, Kang He and Fan Jing had already realized that the two were not one-sided, but they didn't know whether they understood each other's feelings.
After hearing what Zhang Shili said, he couldn't help but say, "If you both agree, why are you still dragging your feet? You two are not young anymore."
Zhang Shili couldn't help but sigh and said, "We hit it off a few years ago, and I went to his house for the first time not long ago. His parents weren't too happy about it."
"Old Man He is not in good health, and we can't be stubborn. If we make the old man angry and something bad happens, that will be useless."
Kang He asked him, "Do you know why you are unwilling?"
Zhang Shili said, "You know who I am. Not only do I make a living in the mountains, but I also have a past like that. The He family is a decent family, so how could they accept me so easily?"
Kang He knew what happened to the He family in the past. Men like Zhang Shili really made the old man worry.
When people first heard that someone had been imprisoned for beating someone, ordinary people would not agree, let alone the He family.
But Kang He still said pertinently: "Old Man He is a reasonable man. He is unwilling to accept you because he has never met you and doesn't know your character. Over time, he will see the true nature of people and will probably figure it out."
Zhang Shili said, "That's what Xiaoqiu said. I'm not afraid of waiting, I'm just afraid of delaying him."
Kang He said, "If you are sincere, then there is no need to delay. It is not right to just wait in vain. Have you thought about the future?"
"I have no ties at home. If his family wants to take me in as a son-in-law, I can go there. I'll probably have to give up my work in the mountains, and I'll just run the shop for him and help with some moving work to supplement the family income."
If he and Xiaoqiu succeed, he will not go down the same old path.
"If there is a plan, then it is good."
Kang He said, "So, just live your life for now, be polite to He Ge'er's family, and wait for the right time."
Zhang Shili responded. Now that he had a goal, he would naturally think about running his business.
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