Chapter 255 It's Clearly Not My Mother's Business
Second Master Jiang stepped forward and similarly bowed, saying, "Jincheng is in chaos. The victims are starving and lack food. I'm afraid they'll become even more ruthless in the future. We've just agreed not to go to the city for a few months. I apologize."
The three Cao brothers stood there in a daze.
Cao Qingzhu shouted, "How is that possible! We just said we wanted to go with you, and you're saying you can't go?"
Cao Wenzhu then shouted, "You have so many men, all well-fed and strong. How can those hungry disaster victims be your opponents? Why are you so afraid of them?"
Xie Qingshan frowned and said unhappily, "Knowing there was danger, why didn't you avoid it? Instead, you relied on your strong body to take the risk. We didn't eat to fight with a group of people who were in danger of losing their lives."
After Xie Qingshan said this, the other men immediately knew the direction and said, "Yes, we have an easy life, why should we go to the city and take risks?"
"They have food and drink, and their own women do not complain. What are you complaining about?"
"If you're not afraid, then go ahead! Don't look at us and think we don't know what you're up to. If something really happens, with your frail, scholarly demeanor, won't we be the ones rushing to the front?"
"If you're plotting against us and want to take advantage of us, just say so directly. Don't act like we're taking advantage of you!"
They are not stupid. Even if there are some stupid ones, they can't all be stupid. It's hard to tell what they are up to.
Cao Junzhu's face flushed red as he hurriedly explained, "No, we do want to go with you, mainly for safety reasons, but don't worry, we have a donkey cart and won't take advantage of you. We're treating you to a drink to express our sincere gratitude for saving Pinggu and Youcai."
The other men snorted and said nothing more.
Lei Dafu said coldly, "We have indeed agreed not to go to the city. You should find another way."
Cao Qingzhu grumbled dissatisfiedly: "What other solutions can we come up with?"
There are not many people in the family, and the few capable servants are injured. The men in the village are unwilling to go. What other solutions can we think of!
Lei Dafu was close enough to hear clearly, but he pursed his lips and said nothing.
Everyone in the village is very nice. The Cao family was not a good person before, but now when they need help, they come to them arrogantly. They do things in an unkind way and say things that are unpleasant to the ear. How can others agree to it?
If it were the Lei family, even if they knew it was dangerous to go into the city, these men in the village would still go together!
Seeing that no one said anything and showed no sign of agreeing, Cao Junzhu sighed and went back in disappointment.
Cao Wenzhu and Cao Qingzhu looked unhappy, stamped their feet, and followed back reluctantly.
After Granny Qin and the others had gone far away, she finally said, "Actually, if they can't go to the city, they can go to the surrounding villages to buy some vegetables and store them. Adding them to their daily meals can save a lot of food."
The amount of grain in the village farmers is also limited. Most of them sell the fine grains and keep enough coarse grains to eat. They will not sell them easily because they have to buy them back from the grain store after selling them, and the buy-back price is much higher than the selling price.
But vegetables can be sold, especially to farmers who make a living by selling vegetables.
The others nodded.
But no one thought of telling the Cao family.
Let them think what they can think of. If they can’t, they will starve. It’s not their family that’s starving.
*
Shen Qing asked Liu Cuihua to deliver the pills to Pinggu. In the following days, no one in the village went out and everyone worked very efficiently.
The basic mining of Coptis chinensis on the top of the mountain has been completed, and now we are looking for scattered ones. Although the income cannot be compared with the previous one, every piece found is silver. This job will not be abandoned until we can no longer go up the mountain, and a lot of people are arranged every day.
There is no rush to sell the collected ones. Instead, they are dried thoroughly and put into sacks for storage. Shen Qing thinks that the dryness in the north is a great advantage that it is not easy to mold!
Thanks to the hard work of the men, all the houses in the village were built two days ahead of schedule, and Shen Qing's chicken, duck and goose pens, donkey, cattle and sheep sheds, and rabbit hives were also completed at the same time.
The bricklayers were paid in advance, but each household baked a lot of dough cakes for the twenty-eight bricklayers as a token of appreciation for their craftsmanship.
The men drove donkey carts to the official road next to the village before returning - they were selected in the village and did not need to go into the city.
There are twenty-eight bricklayers, all of whom are hard laborers. They are quite strong, so there is no need to worry too much about their safety.
On the way back, I passed by a village selling vegetables. I remembered the instructions given by the women in each household and bought a lot of chili peppers, ginger, etc.
When it’s cold, braving the wind to drink a bowl of hot ginger water can dispel the cold from the inside out.
Shen Qing bought a lot of chili peppers and ginger. There were other vegetables grown in the vegetable garden, so even if he hadn't bought them last time, he would have had enough to eat sparingly. However, because he arrived late, he didn't have time to plant chili peppers and ginger, but they are indispensable seasonings for meat dishes.
Last time she bought 50 kilograms of young ginger, she made pickled ginger with it all. She was a little reluctant to use it as a seasoning for the wedding banquet, so she bought some fresh ginger.
Huo Bing, carrying dozens of kilograms of young ginger in one hand and a large bag of dried chilies in the other, stepped into the kitchen and asked loudly, "Mom, how about we slaughter two sheep on the tenth day of the lunar month? We'll have the main meal at noon: stewed mutton with carrots, spicy mutton offal, and spinach and tofu. How about a big pot of each, and serve with rice?"
Tonight, I'll make some soup with lamb bones, stir-fry some bacon with garlic, and some stir-fry some dried leeks, and serve them with steamed buns and pancakes. What do you think?"
The carrots I bought last time were eaten up very quickly by the bricklayer, but the ones in my own vegetable garden were kept and grew for more than ten days. Now they are just right for the wedding banquet for the second brother and Ali.
Jiang Shui took the sack of fresh ginger, dumped it on the kitchen floor, and began to clean it up, saying casually, "Thank goodness Mom bought a lot of vegetables. Otherwise, with the helpers, craftsmen, and bricklayers in front and the wedding banquet behind, how could we have enough vegetables in our vegetable garden?"
When I was helping to carry bricks and tiles earlier, there were still a few wild vegetables, and I mostly relied on wild vegetables to make up for the shortage. By the time the bricklayers came, the wild vegetables had dried up and become old. Fortunately, the vegetables in the vegetable garden were edible, but I felt a little sad every time I pulled them out because they were so tender, and I felt they could grow a little bigger.
Shen Qing didn't expect that Huo Bing was seriously thinking about the dishes for the wedding banquet. This kid is really generous.
"I wronged you then. It was my fault. I will make up for what you want."
Huo Bing was stunned for a moment, then looked away, and said with a hint of joy in his tone: "Mom, what are you talking about? How can it be that you did something wrong? It's obviously none of your business. You are the best."
Jiang Shui said from the side: "Sister-in-law, why don't you want it? This is what you deserve. Of course you have to take it if mother wants to give it to you."
It can be left for Huahua later.
Shen Qing looked at Huo Bing in confusion, but saw that she didn't even look at her, so she couldn't tell from her expression what she meant.
Ah Bing, she...
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