Chapter 106 Homecoming [VIP]
When Huang Songbai and his son drove a mule cart out of Qingfeng Town, they were surprised to see that the originally muddy road outside the city had turned into a blue brick road like the one in the city.
"Son, who built this road? It's so good! If it rains again, we won't have to worry about our wheels getting stuck in the mud when we go into town."
Not only does it not get stuck in the mud, but it also stops shaking.
Huang Dongsheng pointed to the stone tablet standing at the city gate and told his father, "It was Lord Li who listened to my cousin's advice and asked the people in the city to fund the construction. The names of the investors are all engraved on the stone tablet."
The mule cart was moving further and further away. Huang Songbai looked at the stone tablet and thought that the next time he went into the city, he would take a good look at the stone tablet to see which great philanthropists had done such good deeds to benefit the people.
"Will this blue brick road be built to our village?"
"If there's enough money, it's definitely no problem. If there's not enough money, it's probably going to be difficult. This money also has to support the education of children from poor families."
During this period, whenever Huang Dongsheng met Constable Liu, he would ask him about the progress of the road construction, which was still a long way from reaching their Xiahe Village.
Huang Songbai couldn't help but sigh when he heard this. It would be difficult for this road to reach their village.
As the mule cart entered the countryside, Huang Songbai saw the fields that had been damaged by the disaster.
Just as my son had said, the damage to crops in the fields was severe.
Those wheat fields that should have had a good harvest are now barren. The harvest may not even be half of what it was in previous years.
The mule cart passed Shanghe Village and just as it got onto the stone bridge, it heard a child shouting at the top of his lungs at the entrance of the village.
"Brother Dongsheng and his father are home, Uncle Huang is home!"
The children in the village shouted one louder than the other in a relay, which cheered Huang Songbai up again.
Huang Songbai jumped off the mule cart and looked at the newly rebuilt stone houses and the newly built courtyard in the village. If his son had not been pulling him, Huang Songbai would not have dared to go in. If someone didn't know, they would have thought they had arrived at the door of a wealthy family in the city.
Shen Qingshan was supervising in the backyard when he heard the children's cries. He and his daughter ran out to greet them, one after another.
Chen Yao and Yang Jizong were weeding the peanut field behind the house, their hands covered in mud. When they heard the shouting, they ran to the front yard without even putting down their pickaxes.
When she saw her father and uncle hugging each other, Chen Yao felt both happy and sad.
During this long trip, my uncle became darker and thinner, but he was obviously more energetic than before.
"Third brother, you've had a hard time on this trip. I'm glad you came back safely. Come with me into the house and have a good rest." Shen Qingshan took his third brother's arm and pulled him to the living room.
"Ayao, you and Zi'an go call everyone back, go quickly." Shen Qingshan was so excited that his hands were shaking while holding the teapot.
The children in the village were very sensible and helped them to notify everyone. Just as Chen Yao and Yang Jizong were about to leave, their family members had already rushed back from the fields and the rabbit house respectively, so there was no need for them to call them.
"Third brother!" Huang Mei ran over and held the gate, panting. She paused slightly when she saw her third brother.
"Dongsheng's father, you are finally back, wuwuwu!" Miao was one step faster than everyone else and threw herself into Huang Songbai's arms and cried loudly.
The eldest sister was worried that her daughter was sick. She was so worried and concerned that she didn't even dare let anyone see that her mouth was full of boils.
Before the child's father left, he repeatedly told her to take good care of the family. That's why she has been so tense, afraid that if she collapsed, the burden would fall entirely on her son.
Now that she saw the man of her family return safely, the breath she had been holding on to finally faded away.
After not seeing his wife for two months, Huang Songbai missed his family. He patted his wife's back to comfort her, his eyes moist, "Don't cry, I'm back."
After being coaxed by her husband, Miao gradually calmed down. She took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears. She stretched out her hand to her husband and said, "You came back by yourself. Where's the letter from Baozhu and her father? Hurry and take it out for us to see."
"How did you know I came back alone?" Huang Songbai pointed to the mule cart outside and said, "All the things are on the cart."
"What? You left such important things in the car. Dongsheng, go and move them with your mother." Miao twisted her husband's arm and walked out with her son.
With these young people around, why should the adults take action?
Huang Dongsheng, Tian Baolai and Yang Jizong could move in all the things on the mule cart.
Bags, bundles, silk, etc. were all placed on the eight-immortals table, and several sacks were leaning against the table legs.
When Huang Dongsheng and Tian Baolai carried the tree into the yard, everyone stood up and gathered around.
"Dad, I wanted to ask you on the way, why did you bring a tree back? What kind of tree is this?" It was worth his father bringing it back from thousands of miles away.
"This tree is the rambutan tree in Jiangnan. The fruit it bears looks like a red thorn ball, with white flesh inside, and tastes very sweet." Huang Songbai recalled the taste and described it to everyone.
"Master, since there are fruits, why don't you bring a tree back? When can we eat them? Besides, the leaves of this tree are falling down so fast that it is hard to tell whether it is alive or not.
Huang Songbai told his wife to stop talking nonsense, pulled off the sack, and showed everyone the soil ball. "The orchard owner said this is a good season for transplanting and planting. If it doesn't survive, he'll give us another one. This fruit will go bad in a few days of storage on the road."
He tried it on the road.
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"Ayao, this fruit tree is given to your family to plant. What do you think?
Chen Yao thought for a moment and said, "Let's plant them behind the house, uncle. Let's read the letter first. It won't be too late to plant them after we finish reading it."
"Yes, third brother, take out the letter quickly. Which bag is it in?" There were too many things, and Huang Mei and Huang Xing didn't know which one to turn to.
"Why is there a painting here?" Yang Jizong saw that when everyone was rummaging through the package, the painting almost fell to the ground, but fortunately he caught it in time.
"This was given to me by Mr. Liang Ming, a painter and calligrapher from Jiangnan. If it weren't for him and his wife, we wouldn't even be able to rent a house in Jiangnan for two taels a month."
Huang Songbai told everyone about the expensive housing prices in Jiangnan, and everyone couldn't help but be amazed.
"Zi'an, open it and take a look. What's the picture?"
Yang Jizong handed one end of the scroll to Chen Yao and unfolded it with her. They saw that the painting depicted the scene that Liang Ming took them to the orchard that day.
Clusters of rambutans the size of eggs hang in the fruit groves, and the fallen fruits on the ground are mouth-watering.
Everyone can see what rambutan actually looks like from this picture.
"This painting is really beautiful. Mr. Liang is our benefactor. Where should we hang it?"
“Let’s hang it up in the school so that everyone in the village can see the orchard in Jiangnan.” Chen Yao suggested.
The two men put the calligraphy and paintings aside. Huang Songbai signaled his son to close the door, and then took out an envelope, 120 silver coins, and an account book from the most inconspicuous bundle.
Everyone sat around the octagonal table while Huang Mei read the letter.
In the letter, Tian Baozhu roughly told them what happened on the road and what happened in Jiangnan, without concealing anything.
The letter also mentioned their plan to stay in Jiangnan, and repeatedly urged Chen Yao and Wen Ying to make more velvet flowers and have their uncle and family send them over quickly. She had drawn a route map for her uncle.
Nowadays, she has received many orders for velvet flowers in Jiangnan, and she works while setting up a stall at the market, which is very hard work.
Huang Mei couldn't help but pause when she read this: "This father and daughter are renting a house and setting up a stall, talking big. Don't they plan to come back?"
"Aunt, please continue reading. It's definitely not what you think."
Baozhu never mentioned this matter again afterwards. She only wrote about her longing for her family, the gifts she brought back to everyone, and the expenses and money they earned along the way.
Huang Mei flipped to the last few pages, which were all about how to sow seeds. She angrily slammed the letter on the table and said, "I've been worried about her father and daughter at home day and night, and yet they only sent back a letter like this and these things, without even a trace of them."
The third brother is thin and dark, I wonder how thin her Baozhu should be!
"Sister, don't be angry. If Baozhu hadn't been smart this time, the furs made in our rabbit house might not be sold." Huang Songbai told everyone about his search for partners and fur merchants in Jiangnan.
"You're just bullying us because we're outsiders. The quality and style of the furs in our rabbit house have all been checked layer by layer." Huang Mei slammed the table loudly.
Huang Songbai pushed the silver and banknotes to the middle and said, "That's why I praised Baozhu. Forty taels of this money was given to me by Manager Lu when I passed by the Tow Building. Here's the account book. Ayao, you and Wenying should put it away first."
Chen Yao took the money and divided it equally with Yang Wenying, each getting twenty taels.
Of the remaining eighty taels of silver, the box of velvet flowers was not much and only sold for twelve taels. They were made by Baozhu, Wenying and Ayao, so the money was given to Ayao for them to distribute among themselves.
The furs from the rabbit house accounted for the majority of the profits. According to the dividends agreed upon at the beginning, Huang Songbai and Tanaka Zheng each took 40%, and the Shen family took 20%.
After deducting the common expenses from the money each family received, overall, although they made some money on this trip to Jiangnan, it was all hard-earned money.
"If you ask me, we might as well open a wealthy and prosperous shop in Qingfeng Town. We can take it step by step. Sooner or later, we can open the shop to Jiangnan. Then Sister Baozhu and uncle won't have to work hard to set up a stall in Jiangnan." Huang Dongsheng still spoke boldly.
Huang Mei listened to Dongsheng's words, which reminded her of the time when everyone was so poor that they saved money together to buy cotton to make cotton-padded jackets. This kid shamelessly said that he wanted to be the shopkeeper and own his own shop.
Now it has come true.
"I think Dongsheng is right. Not only should we open up Fuguironghua, I think the three of us should also set up a tofu workshop in the village. We need to think more about what else soybeans can be used for besides making tofu, soybean paste, bean sprouts, and yuba." Huang Mei looked at Huang Xing and Miao, her eyes full of fighting spirit.
She had to earn more money so that her daughter wouldn't have to suffer for money in the future.
"Sister, we will definitely listen to you." Huang Xing and Miao immediately expressed their opinions.
The rest of the people looked at each other, and then said in tacit agreement: "Why don't we give it a try."
If you fail, the worst that can happen is you can just start over.
"Okay, let's give it a try. So when are we going into town to choose a shop?"
"No rush, Third Brother, you've come back at the right time. Let's harvest the crops in the fields first, and then choose a shop after everything is settled after the autumn harvest." Shen Qingshan sat aside and took over.
Everyone smiled as they looked at the rolls of fine silk and various gifts on the table.
Especially for Chen Yao, Tian Baozhu really did what she said. She bought various local seeds for her and also wrote down the cultivation methods, which made her worry-free when sowing in the future.
After everything was packed up, the elders chatted with Huang Songbai in the living room, while the younger generations prepared lunch together.
During the dinner, Shen Qingshan introduced the two craftsmen, Hong and Li, to Huang Songbai.
Huang Songbai stood up and drank tea instead of wine. "My son told me that our stone house isn't finished yet. I'm thinking of building a smaller one based on A-Yao's. I wonder if you two masters would take on the job?"
"I can do it after the house of Master Shen's family is built. I wonder if Master Li still has the energy?" Hong Lu raised his eyebrows at Carpenter Li.
"Of course I can do it."
"Then it's a deal. Once you build Ayao's house, you can build mine."
Everyone drank the tea in one gulp.
After dinner, the three sisters-in-law cleaned up the dishes, and the children moved the tree to the back of the house according to Huang Songbai's instructions, dug a hole and planted it, looking forward to it blooming and bearing fruit next year.
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