The group traveled over a hundred miles round trip; they were tired, but their spirits were high.
Upon arriving in the village, Tian Gui patted the grain sacks on the wheelbarrow and said casually, "They're full of white rice and white flour; everyone gets a share."
Xu Errui then recounted the events of the past two days to Jiang Zhi. Upon hearing that the city guards had misunderstood her as stealing green grains, and that Magistrate Zhang had forbidden her from selling tender corn at the market, Jiang Zhi's brows furrowed into a deep frown, and she immediately became anxious.
The differences between eras are stark; I've truly made a mistake.
After all, the market economy is a relatively recent phenomenon, only emerging in the last few decades. Throughout history, the self-sufficient, self-producing, and self-selling small-scale peasant economy has been the mainstream.
what to do?
We still have so much in our own fields; we can't just leave it for the whole village to eat.
However, Xu Errui's next words relieved her immediate worry: "Miss Huo said she will send someone to check on the grain tomorrow!"
good!
Jiang Zhi felt a sudden sense of relief; as long as they came to see it, some of the products would definitely be sold.
In addition, according to Magistrate Zhang, these items cannot be sold openly, but can be exchanged as gifts or favors.
I need to trouble Miss Huo to introduce me to a few clients.
In a good mood, she then asked about the journey, whether the rain was heavy yesterday morning, and how easy the road was to travel.
Xu Errui smiled sheepishly: "Take care, it's nothing. With so many people here, everyone is doing well!"
Landslides are common on mountain roads, but these are minor incidents, and no one gets hurt, so there's no need to mention them.
On their way back, they had already seen that a large amount of soil and rocks had slid up the hillside, blocking half of the road, but it had been cleared by people passing by.
The basket left behind by Xiaoman is still in the same place, but it has been buried in the soil and is flat. The flint and water bottle inside have also been taken away.
This is the official road, and there are still quite a few people coming and going every day.
You can imagine what would have happened if those people had actually fallen asleep while taking shelter from the rain that day... they really would have fallen asleep!
Harvesting corn, making silage, and selling grain in the city—everyone has been busy and tired these past two days, but seeing the grain carts being pushed back, everyone gets excited again.
Previously, Xia Xiucai was probably the only one who was idle. He was too weak to even kill a chicken, so he didn't participate in any physical labor.
This is his busiest time.
As dawn broke, the grain cart was opened, and bags of white rice were laid out in front of it.
Xia Xiucai spread out the account book and began distributing the grain according to the names and amounts already listed on it.
Families who had gone to work in the spring were now lining up with cloth bags in hand.
The three siblings, Tian Tao, Tian Xiaoquan, and Tian Xiaoxi, were the most excited.
Dad has gone to sleep now, and Mom is cooking for him at home. Only these three children have come to collect their food rations.
Because Tian Gui had been helping with the work since the first day, and he had the most grain, the bags he brought were so full that the siblings had to carry them with sticks.
Beside them, Qin Shi watched with great envy.
She also came to get a share of the grain, but she only received a pitiful half liter, not even enough to line the bottom of a sack.
Xu Genqing didn't believe Jiang Pozi's words at all. If he finished the work and was cheated out of his payment, he would have wasted his efforts.
Who would want to work on an empty stomach for free, and not even be allowed to help their wife?
At this moment, as Qin Shi watched others receiving large and small bags of grain, she could only curse her son inwardly for being so useless.
His eyes drifted to the grain distribution area: Sigh! Why didn't he go there and find something to do?
This time, Xia Xiucai only took care of the accounts, while four women helped distribute the grain.
There was Tian, the wife of Xu Genyou; Pi, the wife of Xu Gensheng; and two women from other families.
As the dipper was raised and the small container was pulled out, dozens of eyes were watching them. The women were afraid of making a mistake, so they worked carefully but also with great enthusiasm.
Although Qin was envious, she dared not say a word. Compared to other people's pockets, she even lowered her head.
Tian was down-to-earth and didn't talk much, but Pi had a sharp tongue.
Now, her husband, Xu Gensheng, follows Jiang Pozi around like a leech, and if anything goes wrong, he'll drag her along to show off. Even Pi Shi has started to swagger around with him.
The day before, he came to my house specifically to see about his injury, but he kept implying that I was easily offended and deserved to be beaten.
She even wanted to drag her daughter-in-law to work for Granny Jiang, and she was ridiculed again when she received her grain rations.
As for the two women from outside the family, Qin hated them even more.
The day I was beaten, it was these two who pulled down my pants and tied me to a tree.
Jiang Zhi didn't care about the distribution of grain here; she left it to Tian Shi to manage. Er Rui and Xiao Man also found a place to sleep.
He, however, led Li Laoshi and the others to watch over the corn in the field.
The land in Xujia Village is not a single piece, but scattered. Only the part that Jiang Zhi took over was integrated together, while the rest of the land is still scattered in different places.
Since the corn harvest is imminent, Jiang Zhi needs to thoroughly investigate these plots of land so that she can make overall arrangements for manpower.
In the newly built warehouse, Tian Gui and others had to stop working because they needed to sell green grains, and now only Xu Genqing and others were doing the work.
Yesterday, they were gloating while they were buying silage, but now they are all silent and won't say a word.
Because the lively scene of distributing grain had nothing to do with him.
Xu Genqing couldn't help but sigh; he knew how much work he had done before.
Thinking about how pitifully little time she had spent in the ledger, she knew without even looking that her mother, who had gone to collect the grain, must have looked unhappy.
Nearby, a migrant worker surnamed Lin was all smiles as he worked hard, knowing his wife would collect his grain.
With enough food to eat, the ability to work, and the son Xiaohu selling herbs, life began to get by.
After Jiang Zhi had inspected the plot of land and was explaining to Li Laoshi which plot to start picking corn from, Tian Xiaoquan came running up to the hillside to find her.
"Village Chief Jiang, Aunt Tian, who is in charge of distributing the grain, wants you to go back to the village immediately."
"What is it?" Jiang Zhi looked at the sky. It was only noon, and the Huo family couldn't have arrived so quickly.
Tian Xiaoquan pulled up his tattered trousers and said with a grin, "It's Sister-in-law Qiaoyun here, watching the grain distribution!"
Jiang Zhi asked in surprise: Why did Qiaoyun come down the mountain? Could something have happened on the mountain?
She quickly headed towards the village.
Qiaoyun has never come down from the mountain since she fled the famine. Her child is not even a year old yet, cannot be separated from his mother, and will not move around freely.
Worried, Jiang Zhi hurried along and soon arrived at Xia Xiucai's place where the grain was being distributed.
At this point, the people here had gathered together and no longer cared about the distribution of grain.
In the crowd, Qiaoyun was surrounded by women such as Tian and Pi, who asked her a barrage of questions.
Tian Tao'er and the two girls were holding Xiao Caixia and playing with her.
Little Caixia wasn't shy at all; when held by a stranger, her chubby, rosy face stood out.
As soon as Jiang Zhi arrived, the women quickly dispersed, and Qiaoyun, carrying Xiao Caixia, came to greet her: "Mother!"
Jiang Zhi took the child from her and asked anxiously, "Why did you get down here? How can you walk alone carrying a child? What if something happens?"
I always went up and down the mountain with Errui and the others, but Qiaoyun dared to go alone with the child. Anything can happen in the mountains.
In the past, Qiaoyun would have been terrified by her mother-in-law's anger, but now she smiled and said, "I'm not afraid with Peiqi by my side. It took me all the way to the edge of the village before stopping."
Jiang Zhi nodded: Having a wild boar is indeed somewhat useful, at least you won't have to worry about encountering snakes on the road, but it's still not safe.
"Mom, I've come to bring you, Errui, and Xiaoman clothes. You haven't been back for the past few days, so they must be soaked with sweat and need to be changed."
My mother is staying here and needs mosquito coils at night, so I'll bring some down!
Mosquito coils!
Jiang Zhi slapped her forehead. Qiaoyun's arrival was just in time. The Huo family was coming to see the corn, so she could take some mosquito coils back with her.
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