Chapter Six: A Bountiful Harvest
As Tang Huaya left Jufu Restaurant, the sky was already covered with a layer of gray. In her arms, she not only had the copper coins from selling two baskets of chili peppers, but also the one tael deposit given by Lin Dongjia. She took smaller and smaller steps, afraid of bumping into anyone.
Seeing this, Shen Zhiyi pulled Tang Huaya to the nearest money exchange and exchanged copper coins for silver ingots.
After weighing the copper coins, the amount she calculated in her mind was two thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine coins. The thought of hiding a large bag of them in her inner clothes made her uneasy, but Tang Huaya kept quiet about it.
"New or old?" the shopkeeper asked casually, holding the silver stamp.
"Shopkeeper, is there any particular reason for this?" Shen Zhiyi asked with a charming smile.
"Here, a new silver ingot costs 1,200 cash to exchange for one tael, while an old silver ingot costs 1,000 cash to exchange for one tael," the shopkeeper replied.
Shen Zhiyi was puzzled and asked, "What if we use it?"
"Old silver ingots are naturally worth one thousand coins, while new silver ingots are worth one thousand two hundred coins," the shopkeeper said, sounding slightly impatient.
Shen Zhiyi recalled that Lin Dongjia had given her brand-new silver ingots, which should have been a deposit of 1,200 wen. She was worried that he might have miscalculated the price.
Silver oxidizes, meaning new silver ingots will eventually become old. She couldn't guarantee that the silver she had wouldn't be usable immediately, so she quickly replied, "Exchange for old ones."
Silver is still better preserved in its old form!
After all, you can't polish silver without toothpaste these days!
Shen Zhiyi exchanged the heavy two thousand coins for a two-and-a-half-ounce silver ingot, casually stuffing it into her sleeve and tightening it, completely unafraid it would fall out.
Tang Huaya, who was standing beside him, seemed dazed and confused, with a hesitant expression on her face.
Anyone would feel a little disappointed seeing such a huge pile of things only to exchange for so little. Making money isn't as fast as you imagine!
As they walked to the side of the street, Shen Zhiyi said softly, "Hua Ya, you heard what the shopkeeper said too. We need to spend the good-looking silver quickly, otherwise it will soon become old."
"Huh? Did the shopkeeper say that?" Tang Huaya tried hard to recall, but was suddenly pulled into a shop. Before she could react, Shen Zhiyi's voice broke into her ears: "Shopkeeper, I heard that the linen in your Miao Ji Cloth Shop is half a coin cheaper than other shops. Is that true?"
Before Tang Huaya could finish speaking, Shen Zhiyi, as if she had just started a conversation with the cloth shop owner, continued, "What's the price of cotton cloth?"
"A bolt of linen costs four hundred cash, and a bolt of cotton costs nine hundred cash," the female shopkeeper said with a smile.
"You don't mind if I take a look, do you?" Shen Zhiyi asked politely.
"Of course, no problem, look." As the female shopkeeper spoke, she spread out the linen she was assembling.
Shen Zhiyi only knew how to use a clumsy method, measuring centimeters by hand length. She then nudged Tang Huaya, who seemed to be in a daze, and asked, "How much linen do you need to make a new set of clothes for your parents, the village chief, and Grandma Qin?"
“Two horses…” Tang Huaya immediately came to her senses, “My parents don’t need to buy any.”
"This matter must be done my way, we can't dawdle any longer," Shen Zhiyi insisted, speaking directly to the female shopkeeper, "Two bolts of linen and one bolt of cotton cloth, totaling one tael and seven hundred cash. Shopkeeper, since I'm buying so much, could you perhaps give me some scraps of cloth as a gift?"
"Of course." The female shopkeeper smiled broadly and took out half a bag of scraps of cloth from the corner of the table. "I didn't collect many scraps of cloth today, so please don't mind, ladies."
"I don't mind," Shen Zhiyi said quickly, and promptly used the new silver ingot worth 1,200 coins, then added half a tael of old silver before leaving with two bolts of hemp cloth, two bundles of cotton cloth divided into half bolts, and scraps of cloth.
As the sun gradually sets in the west, the oxcarts returning to the city carry a full hope for the future!
The car swayed and rocked, and the twilight completely disappeared on the horizon, as if a layer of gray cloth had been shrouded in the sky. But at the entrance of Xiaba Village, two people were standing there chatting quietly. As soon as they heard the sound of car wheels, they both craned their necks to look at the source of the sound.
"If they find out about this, they'll definitely scold me," Tang Huaya said helplessly.
"I heard my daughter Huaya's voice!" Old Tang shouted anxiously, rushing forward.
"What about Chen Yatou?" the village chief asked anxiously.
"I'm here!" Shen Zhiyi quickly replied, and only when she got closer did she realize that it was the village chief and Old Man Tang.
She'll get rid of her night blindness someday!
"Grandpa Village Chief, Uncle Tang, what are you doing here?" Shen Zhiyi asked in surprise. Finally, someone could take over the cloth in the basket!
"Grandpa Village Chief, I'm returning your basket to you! Hurry up and carry it home so your family won't worry," Shen Zhiyi said repeatedly, taking advantage of the darkness to put the basket directly on the village chief's back. Tang Huaya, who was standing nearby, felt that this scene was very familiar.
"I'm going the wrong way, so I'll head over first!" Shen Zhiyi noticed Tang Huaya's situation and reminded her, "Huaya, you can talk to them about the rest on the way. I need to go back and get some rest!"
After saying this, Shen Zhiyi immediately ran away quickly to avoid the village chief discovering what was in her basket.
"This child," the village chief said helplessly, seeing the scene, "is like he's being chased by something."
Only Tang Huaya looked at that figure, hesitant to speak. If she could, she would also like to run away without a care in the world, but reality prevented her from doing so.
"Dad, Grandpa Village Chief, today Zhiyi and I..." Tang Huaya earnestly recounted the wonderful experiences of the day, while also gaining new insights and ideas.
The village chief and Old Man Tang were stunned. If they had been in that situation, they certainly wouldn't have gotten the same result.
Doing business with the county magistrate!
They also signed a contract with Jufu Restaurant to supply chili peppers!
Eighty coins! Seventy coins! Fifty-six coins!
Each piece of news struck them like a hammer blow, making their internal organs vibrate and throb.
That's not just chili peppers, it's a treasure trove!
So much so that when Tang Huaya deliberately mentioned the fabric in a low voice, they were too excited to hear her. That night, they all went to the chili field to keep watch, determined to protect this treasure trove. The conversation naturally turned into "when to plant the chili peppers."
As soon as the white line appeared on the horizon, Shen Zhiyi, who had repeatedly reminded herself to get up early before falling asleep, barely woke up. She pushed open the door and saw a shadowy figure lurking in the backyard wall with a missing corner!
The lingering drowsiness was suddenly startled away. Shen Zhiyi subconsciously looked for a handy tool. Just as she reached the corner of the wall, she stepped on something and made a sound.
Oops!
Shen Zhiyi's heart sank. She quickly picked up a stone and was about to throw it when two familiar figures suddenly appeared in her line of sight, making the exact same movements as when she was about to throw a stone!
"Grandpa Village Chief, Uncle Tang, what are you doing here?" Shen Zhi asked in surprise when she saw the morning dew on their shoulders. "You didn't come before dawn, did you?"
Although Old Man Tang did not answer, his simple and honest smile said it all.
The village chief quietly tossed away the stone in his hand and said, "Girl, we see that your chili peppers are growing quite well, but we didn't know you..."
At this point, the village chief's expression became complicated, as if he found it difficult to speak about what was to come.
“Whether it’s selling chili seeds or teaching the villagers how to cultivate chili peppers, I can do it all! I’ll follow Grandpa Village Chief’s arrangements!” Shen Zhiyi replied without any hesitation. “However, Hua Ya and I have to take the remaining chili peppers to the county. We’ll discuss the details when I get back!”
Shen Zhi saw that it was an acquaintance, so he left with peace of mind and quickly went to fetch water to wash his face and take care of his personal hygiene.
Because of this physique, he lacks many things, his development is slow, and many problems do not need to be addressed immediately.
She returned to her room and checked on the seedlings as usual. The chili seedlings had already sprouted two or three true leaves and were ready for transplanting.
There are also remaining peanut, eggplant, and cucumber seeds being cultivated, but the quantity is not enough for large-scale planting, nor can planting them immediately solve the economic difficulties, so she did not mention them.
Meanwhile, the bok choy seeds planted in the yard have begun to bear fruit, helping her get through the initial period when there were no vegetables to eat.
Judging from the amount of dew in the village, the climate was very different from what she usually knew about February. No wonder the winter wheat growing season was longer than she knew.
Knowing that this season's harvest will be poor, the crops are growing too slowly, which will only further drag down the farmers.
Given her success in selling this batch of chili peppers, there are bound to be quite a few villagers who want to follow suit and plant chili peppers on the wasteland.
Shen Zhiyi was extremely confident about this.
She touched the folded contract neatly placed in her inner pocket; this was her source of confidence!
"Zhiyi, I'm here!" Tang Huaya's cheerful voice echoed into the courtyard.
"Hey, I heard you!" Shen Zhiyi laughed, noticing that Tang Huaya was only carrying one basket, which was twice the size of the one she carried yesterday. "You're not planning to carry it all by yourself, are you?"
With their thin arms and legs, what they carried yesterday was their limit.
"My mom said my dad is in your chili field, and she asked him to carry me!" Tang Huaya said, looking towards the backyard. When the familiar figure appeared, she smiled and said, "Dad, Mom asked me to bring you some flatbread for the road!"
"Hey!" Old Man Tang replied with a smile.
Tang Huaya handed over a large flatbread, bigger than her face, revealing two slightly smaller flatbreads underneath. She leaned close to Shen Zhiyi and whispered, "Zhiyi, these are sugar flatbreads that my mother specially made for us. My younger brother doesn't even have any."
Shen Zhiyi caught a glimpse of Old Man Tang smiling憨憨地, and was certain that the other party had heard her and was quite pleased to hear such words.
"Oh, by the way, yesterday, my mother saw the cloth I carried back..." Before Tang Huaya could finish speaking, Old Man Tang asked in surprise, "Huaya, when did you buy cloth? Where did you get the money?"
Shen Zhiyi silently rubbed her forehead, thinking that she had given Huaya enough time last night to explain the matter of the cloth.
So that's why he was so calm this morning.
"Uncle Tang, we're in a hurry to get to the county town, let's hurry up and pack the chili peppers!" Shen Zhiyi quickly smoothed things over, pulling the large basket inside and taking the still dazed Tang Huaya with her.
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