They chatted for a while at Song Lizheng's house, and then visited several nearby villagers' homes. Only then did Ling Jiheng take the two soldiers and say goodbye and go home.
It was windy and snowy outside, so there was no rush. I waited until dusk, gathered the mushrooms, got some sleep, and set off at daybreak. I would arrive at the barracks by the next evening.
Ling Jiheng's plan was very good, and the two soldiers had no objection. The only difference was that they had to stay at the Ling family for a day and borrow the Ling family's ox cart.
"There are ox carts in the military camp, but we received a mission when we came out, so we can't make a big fuss about it, so..."
Ling Jiheng understood. They were afraid that the news would leak out, so they only rode horses and didn't drive a car.
He also quietly tied the horse near the village, fearing that the villagers would hear the noise and come out to stop him or say something nice.
The three of them returned to the big blue brick and tile house together. Ling Jiheng went to chat with his grandparents and prepare some dry food.
After saying hello, the two soldiers went straight back to Tinglan Courtyard to take some time to rest.
After going through so much torture, Ling Weicun finally couldn't bear it anymore and came over to beg for mercy.
It had only been a few hours, yet he was respectful when facing the old lady and even had a hint of flattery when speaking to Ling Jiheng.
"Ji Heng, this is the dividend from selling mushrooms during this period!"
Ling Jiheng took it without hesitation and said with a smile, "Thank you, Third Uncle!"
There was no mention of what happened at noon.
Ling Weicun touched his nose and didn't want to say anything more, so he poured tea for everyone.
It wasn't until Chi Xingyue came over that he breathed a sigh of relief.
Ling Jiheng stuffed the silver into his wife's hands without any reluctance, and took the initiative to explain where he had been just now.
Chi Xingyue smiled, took out a deck of playing cards, and started playing with the old lady and the old man.
Ling Jiheng gave her some advice, and the couple won all the peanuts that the old lady had saved.
The old lady was very happy and murmured to the old man: "This means that she is going to give birth!"
Chi Xingyue blushed with embarrassment, but she couldn't admit that they had never consummated their marriage.
On the other side, Song Lizheng asked his youngest son to call the managers of each family to come over to divide the money and discuss important matters.
Everyone only heard the first part of the sentence and rushed out to collect the silver with their families. They completely ignored the second part of Song Yuangen's sentence.
"Uncle Lizheng, how much money can we get this time?"
Song Lizheng happily took out the account book, deducted the share for the Ling family, and then distributed the money according to the weight of mushrooms each household produced.
Families with more money could get one or two taels of silver, and those with less money could get dozens of coins.
It all depends on how big the shed is and how good their breeding techniques are.
At this time, people's natures are revealed. Those who earn more are beaming, while those who earn less are sarcastic.
Song Lizheng coughed lightly to calm everyone down.
"Every household has a different situation. Maybe next time your family will have more mushrooms, and his family will have fewer. This is normal, so don't make a fuss.
Let everyone come over here, there is one more thing I want to say."
"Uncle Lizheng, what's the matter? Tell me!"
Ever since the villagers followed the Ling family in growing mushrooms, Song Lizheng's words have been more effective than ever before.
He raised his hand and pressed it down, and after the scene was quiet, he said, "Everyone knows that the mushrooms sent to Zhou Jiajun are much cheaper than those in the county.
The mushroom production in our village is already limited, and allocating a part of it to support that side is really not worth it.
So, I discussed it with Ji Heng and decided to let Dahe Village and Shanghe Village participate as well.
They plant, we harvest, and then send it to the military camp. We can earn less hard-earned money and save more trouble, what do you think?
"No, Uncle Village Chief, how can you teach this method of making money to outsiders?"
As expected, some people came out to sing a different tune.
Song Lizheng was not angry. He broke the matter down and explained to them the seriousness of the matter.
“Although we have divided this part of the business, it has not delayed our ability to make money.
Let them help us earn money, so we can just sit at home and have money to spend, how great is that?
As for your concern about the recipe leak, we can sign an agreement or provide them with ready-made flower beds.
In short, there is a way to avoid it!"
After everyone thought about it, they actually felt that there was some truth to it. After questioning Song Lizheng for a long time, they decided to give it a try.
I thought that Zhou Jiajun had so many people, and thousands of kilograms of mushrooms were nothing to them.
If those two villages were dishonest, they would go over and steal their business. With Song Lizheng and the Ling family around, they wouldn't suffer any loss.
At worst, I can take my own mushrooms to the county town for backup.
With everyone agreeing, Song Lizheng told everyone to go home and prepare the mushrooms. In the evening, he would go to collect them.
The villagers went home happily, hoping to make a small profit before the other two villages grew mushrooms.
Song Lizheng looked at the sky and decided to wait until tomorrow to go to Xiahe Village to explore the bottom.
As for Dahe Village, well, let’s talk about it later. They are all old foxes and he can’t afford to offend them.
***
In Dahe Village, everyone has not stopped to discuss since the ox cart entered the village last night.
Many people were gossiping at home. Who was this person? He came to deliver something in the middle of the night. Was the Cui family going to rise again?
Even Cui Wan'er's grandparents were muttering, "Where did the second son get to know this noble person?"
In the past, the old couple would never mention the word "noble person" because their status was noble enough and they were flattered wherever they went.
But now it was different. Not only was he banished to Youzhou, but he also had to work with those old farmers. It was freezing cold, and there was no rest for a moment.
They open mountains, dig ditches, build canals, whatever work is dirty, tiring, and poor.
I was tortured to the point that I completely lost the enthusiasm I had at the beginning.
The old man even hoped that it was really that Governor Lin, who could at least alleviate their current predicament.
But then he thought, if he was really an old friend, why didn't he come to see him as an old friend, but instead went to visit his second son.
The old man was puzzled and decided to ask Cui Jingzhong after dawn.
After waking up, Cui Jingzhong discussed his situation with his family: "It's better not to expose General Zhou for now, so as not to cause trouble for others.
Just say that you are Shouqing’s friend, and you heard that we were exiled here, so you came to visit us.
Wan'er, go and share some of the food and send it to your grandfather later.
If others ask, just say you know nothing and tell them to come find Daddy."
Cui Wan'er nodded, mixed the refined rice and brown rice that Zhou Chengyu had sent, packed about ten kilograms, and carried it to find her grandfather.
As soon as she went out, she was surrounded by people. They pulled her aside to ask who the guy was last night. He looked quite handsome.
Cui Wan'er looked bewildered. "Uncles and aunts, Wan'er went to bed early last night and didn't know anyone was visiting. If you want to know anything, you can ask my father."
Everyone thought about Cui Jingzhong's temper and instantly lost interest.
However, with the use of imagination, he made up more than a dozen identities for Ling Jiheng.
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