In the thatched hut, under the small lamp, there were more than twenty old men gathered, each of them had a troubled and worried look on his face.
"Village chief, let's not wait any longer. It's been six or seven days since the agreed time and there's been no movement over there. If we wait any longer, we'll have nothing to cook."
"That's right, village chief. We are counting on selling these herbs to get some food. My wife just had a baby and we have nothing to supplement it with. We don't have any milk to feed the baby and we can't wait. The medicine dealers in town are also leaving soon. If we miss both ends, how are we going to survive in the second half of the year?"
The village chief sighed in his heart, puffing on his pipe which had long been extinguished, but he refused to express his opinion.
It was because he saw that the man was quick to act that he accepted the order on behalf of everyone. He had received a deposit of fifty taels, and each family received about one tael on average. However, it was almost seven days before the agreed time, and no one showed up. If this continued, everyone would definitely not be able to bear it!
Then I can only feel sorry for each other!
"Old man, it's true that we keep our promises. It's not that the other party broke their promise first, so it wouldn't be a big mistake for us to sell all the herbs! How about we all pick out the herbs we have, keep the best ones for others first, and wait for half a month, and take the rest to the town to see if we can exchange them for some rice?" The village chief's wife compromised and suggested an idea.
"The deposit of five or six taels each family received was used up so quickly? What if they were really delayed by something and knew that we sold the herbs to someone else, where would we find such a generous buyer?
This reminded everyone of how the man was so quick to pay them. Not only did he not devalue their herbs like other drug dealers did, he also told them a lot about how to store and pick the herbs, and left a large deposit to reserve herbs for the next year.
Generous indeed!
"Let's wait for another day. If no one comes, we'll have done our best! But if you sell it now, be prepared to be driven down to earth by the other side."
The village chief was really reluctant to offend such a good buyer and still held some hope in his heart, but he could not ignore the lives of the villagers, so he had to take a step back temporarily.
I hope the other party is really delayed by something, and not just standing us up! The people who are waiting impatiently are standing at the entrance of the village with a large group of people, staring at the big yellow snakes that suddenly rushed out!
The local dogs in the village were barking wildly one after another, which immediately scared everyone out.
When the old village chief came with his men holding torches and wooden pitchforks, he heard someone greeting him in a familiar manner from a distance.
"Brother, we meet again!"
Surrounded by the crowd, the village chief moved the torch forward.
"Ah? Big sister...is this...you?"
I've heard this voice before, and this person looks familiar, but maybe I'm too old to remember it for now!
Qiao Xin saw the tense situation and signaled the guards behind him to put away their weapons and not to be nervous.
He walked to the front of the team alone and sighed, "Brother, you are so forgetful. I am not here to collect medicinal herbs. I should have come here a long time ago. But there were heavy rains and refugees along the way. I was really restless. That's why I came a few days late. I'm really sorry to make you wait a few more days!"
As soon as these words came out, the village head's wife was the first to react. She quickly asked everyone to put away their weapons and walked over quickly: "Big sister, I'm really sorry. My old man is old and deaf and blind. It was so dark that he didn't recognize you. Don't take it personally. I brought so many people with me this time. It must be difficult, right?"
Qiao Xin also followed suit and started chatting with the other party: "Yes, there are some, but we are finally here! Can you arrange a place first so that we can sit down and chat like old sisters!"
"Look at me, I'm so excited that I don't care about anything else!"
As the saying goes, the first time is strange, the second time is familiar. When the village head's wife saw Qiao Xin again, she felt that Qiao Xin was particularly kind.
"Hey, you are a very honest person. You are in such a hurry to travel so late at night. Come, go home with your elder sister. I will cook you some oat noodle dumpling soup to fill your stomach first."
Qiao Xin responded and followed.
There are still many good people!
The village chief also quickly ordered the villagers to come forward to help. With so many people sleeping outside in their village, they had to vacate several rooms, and each family had to prepare some food to send over. The little food stored in his house was definitely not enough.
The village chief's wife specifically asked others to bring more eggs, so they put about 20 or 30 eggs in total into the noodle soup.
Before serving, he fumbled in the cupboard and took out a pound of red and black sugar, and added it to the bowl. The village couldn't get any meat, so it was too busy for the villagers to kill chickens so late. Qiao Xin and the others had obviously been hungry for a long time, and the brown sugar eggs they prepared were the best food that the villagers could serve to everyone.
I hope you won’t dislike it!
As expected, Qiao Xin didn't mind. The village chief's wife specially picked the best bowl in the house, put seven or eight eggs in it, and put a few noodles in it, and then served it to her.
"Eat it. There's nothing much at home. This is all I can make for you!"
Qiao Xin: "Sister..."
"Don't worry about eating it, country boy. I can still get a few eggs even if I don't have much else. You don't need a bite!"
Qiao Xin was not pretentious. In front of the villagers, she remained calm and drank the whole bowl of soup with all the attention!
Qiao Yunqing and others looked at her with admiration. They knew that Qiao Xin never liked eating eggs. This was something everyone in the Qiao family knew!
But now, in order not to hurt the other person's feelings, Qiao Xin actually did this!
With regard to this kind of behavior, they still have a lot to learn!
Qiao Xin's actions obviously won everyone's favor. They gathered around her and started asking about her well-being. As they talked, they brought up the matter of collecting medicinal materials.
"Big sister, are you planning to collect medicinal herbs from our village this time?" The village chief's wife had apparently taken over the village chief's position and asked the question that the villagers wanted to ask most.
Qiao Xin said to everyone, "Take as many as you can, as long as the medicinal materials are good."
The village chief's wife was grinning from ear to ear. With these words, everyone could finally put their minds at ease.
Her old man was right. This was a rare buyer and it was worth their waiting for another seven or eight days.
"Dad, hurry up and ask everyone to pick out the medicine from their own homes and send it to the eldest sister!" the village head's wife said urgently.
"Sister-in-law, don't be anxious, don't be anxious, I still have something to ask you for help!" Qiao Xin said.
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