But there's no rush. Radishes have a high water content, and they need to be pickled and dried, so it definitely won't be ready in less than half a month. The shop definitely won't have enough stock when we open, so there's no rush. A day earlier or later doesn't matter.
Lu Chuan nodded, indicating that he understood. "Okay, then let's go according to our plan. We'll go to the county town after breakfast tomorrow. I've already sent Han Qi to deliver the message today."
When Han Qi returned, he said that Li Wen had already bought the ox and equipped the oxcart, and they could start transporting goods to the county town tomorrow.
Grandpa Zhao, who had been listening for a while, finally had a chance to interject: "Is one oxcart enough? Our boat is very big and can carry a lot of things in one trip. I guess it won't be able to hold everything."
Lu Chuan took a sip of soup and said, "Don't worry, Xiao Han mentioned this yesterday. Today I sent a message to Li Wenchuan to tell him to go to the livestock market tomorrow and rent a few more oxcarts to transport the goods together. We can also transport all the mountain produce and other things we need to get to the shop at once."
Xu Han nodded and added, "I was thinking that instead of using our own oxcart to transport things back and forth, why don't we spend a day transporting all the goods we sell directly there? After all, renting an oxcart isn't cheap, so it's better to spend a day transporting everything there."
The Taoist priest said, "That works too. It should take about a day to transport everything. It won't take much time to go back and forth by water. Tomorrow, have someone move all the goods to the small dock. After that, it won't interfere with our work."
Lu Chuan said, "We'll head to the county town tomorrow. This trip will definitely take at least ten days to half a month to get back. We'll have to trouble the Taoist priest and Grandpa Zhao to take good care of things in the valley then."
Grandpa Zhao glared at Lu Chuan and said, "What are you saying? We're family, why are you being so formal?"
Xu Han chuckled, “Don’t be a stranger, Daoist. You first watch them build the houses in the valley, and then take them to repair the road. Once the shop is open, the oxcart will definitely be used frequently, and if the road is uneven, eggs and canned goods will be easily broken when transported.”
"Don't worry about that. With thirty or forty people working on the road, it'll be done quickly, right? It'll definitely be finished before your fruit wine shop opens."
"Haha, that's great! I'll cook you a big meal when I get back and treat you all to a good meal."
The Taoist priest didn't stand on ceremony and immediately started ordering: "Okay, I want to eat barbecue."
Grandpa Zhao wasn't going to be outdone, saying, "I want to eat hot pot."
Xu Han waved her hand and said, "Okay, okay, we'll have both barbecue and hot pot."
Everyone had a lively dinner together. That night, the two children knew they wouldn't see their father and mother for a long time, so they insisted on sleeping with them.
Xu Han would of course grant their request, and Lu Chuan, unusually, did not raise any objections.
The family of four squeezed onto the warm earthen bed, chatting and laughing until late into the night. If it weren't for the fact that the two of them had to get up early the next day, they probably would have continued their wild antics tonight.
Lu Chuan urged, "Alright, alright, you two should go to sleep. Your mother has to get up early tomorrow morning to organize the goods. If you keep making a fuss like this, she might not be able to get up."
Upon hearing this, the three reluctantly fell silent, wrapped themselves tightly in their blankets, and quickly went to sleep.
The next day, Xu Han was woken up by Lu Chuan. When she groggily opened her eyes, she found that she was the only one left on the kang (a heated brick bed). Although it was only just dawn, the father and his two sons were already up.
Xu Han thought to herself, "It's not that I'm too lazy, it's all because they got up too early."
Because they all have to get up early to practice, they get up at around four o'clock every day before dawn, regardless of wind or rain, spring, summer, autumn or winter, all year round, and it has long been a habit.
Once she woke up, Xu Han wrapped herself in the blanket. It was already winter, and the weather was really cold. She didn't want to get out of bed at all.
Lu Chuan didn't rush her when he saw her like this. He knew she was dawdling, so he called her earlier and made sure to allow her time to dawdle before calling her.
As Xu Han was thinking, she suddenly realized a very serious problem and immediately sat up in shock. "Lu Chuan, there are no kang (heated brick beds) in the houses in the county town. What are we going to do? They'll freeze to death in this cold weather."
Seeing that Xu Han had finally thought of this, Lu Chuan also wanted to tease her, "What should we do then? It's really not easy to live without a kang (heated brick bed)."
Xu Han thought about it seriously and said, "I remember we still have some charcoal left over from last year. Let's take it all with us. There are charcoal braziers inside the house, so it will be warmer."
However, the remaining charcoal isn't enough for us. Let's find some time to have the Taoist priest burn more charcoal and send it over to us."
Lu Chuan knew that Xu Han was really afraid of the cold, so he stopped teasing her. "Alright, alright, rich people know how to enjoy life. How could they possibly freeze themselves in the dead of winter? The rooms all have underfloor heating. When we turn on the underfloor heating, it should be warmer than in the mountains."
But it really is time to burn charcoal; we don't have much left at home, and if we don't burn some soon, we'll run out of us.
Xu Han looked at Lu Chuan with disbelief. "There really is an earth dragon? You're not kidding me, are you?"
Lu Chuan took a coat and draped it over Xu Han's back, saying, "It's true, when have I ever lied to you? Don't worry!"
Xu Han was skeptical, but when she thought about how big the house she had bought was, and how it used to be inhabited by wealthy people, she stopped saying anything. It was normal for wealthy people to have a dragon vein, unlike ordinary people.
Seeing Xu Han lost in thought, Lu Chuan asked, "Are you getting up or not?"
"Get up, we need to take inventory soon, it's better to get up early." Then she turned to Lu Chuan and asked, "It's dawn, have the cabinets and everything been delivered yet?"
"I had Han Qi take them there. The family only has an oxcart and a donkey cart, so they can't deliver much in one trip. They'll have to make several trips."
Xu Han got dressed and got off the kang (a heated brick bed). "Then I'll go and take stock of the goods. We can have them carry them over in a bit, so we don't have to wait for the oxcart. Anyway, they're all dried goods and mountain products, so they're not heavy. We can just make a few more trips."
"Alright, go ahead. People from the valley should be arriving soon."
After Xu Han finished washing up, people arrived from the valley. Xu Han quickly instructed, "Let's go to the storeroom and pack up the things. Put the same items together so it'll be easier to count them later."
After everyone understood the requirements, they began to act. Xu Han saw that they were carrying out and putting away the things she had just mentioned one by one in an orderly manner. She turned around and went back to her room. A little while later, she came out with a notebook and a charcoal pencil to record the quantity and names of the items.
The things here haven't been moved yet, and the people who delivered the cabinets have already returned.
Xu Han pointed to the items that had already been inventoried and said, "You guys move these things over there first. They've all been inventoried."
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