"There are so many customers!" As for whether business is good or not, she didn't know. Lu Yan carried her younger brother out of the house and handed him to her second brother, then headed towards the shop in front. "With so many things, my sister-in-law will definitely be happy. I'm going to find her."
Qin Xiaozhou arrived from the front shop a quarter of an hour later, carrying the fruits in his basket. The loquats weighed about thirteen or fourteen pounds, the apricots about ten pounds, and the mulberries were less, but they looked to weigh about two or three pounds. If they were only used for dyeing, they would last for five or six days.
The artemisia juice was stored in bamboo tubes, two of which were about the size of a bowl and the length of a forearm.
Qin Xiaozhou looked around and was happy. "Second brother, you've come at just the right time. How's the house?" She handed the artemisia juice to Xiaoyan. "Take this to your mother in the kitchen and have Jingyue come over and wash all of this."
"Sister-in-law, let me wash you." Lu Yunxing rolled up his sleeves and drew water from the well. The well water was refreshingly cold; it was already the end of March, yet it was still freezing. However, Lu Yunxing was a man who was used to farm work, so he quickly started washing.
While washing, she talked to Qin Xiaozhou about things at home. "The chickens, ducks and geese are all fine. The litter of rabbits that my older brother caught has given birth again. This time, there are fourteen. Uncle Dahe cut bamboo to weave bamboo cages. The fruit in the orchard is ripening one after another. I'm thinking of bringing some to the shop every three to five days. Grandma is also doing well. She's been in good spirits these past few days. She just misses you all a little."
Lu Yan said in a clear voice, "Second brother, I miss Grandma too. You have to tell her when you get back."
"Okay." Lu Yunxing laughed, flicking water with his fingers to tease Lu Yan, "Third Sister only thinks of Grandma and not me?"
Lu Yan gave a cute little hum, picked up Xiao Si and left, "Fourth brother, let's ignore the second brother."
Qin Xiaozhou also talked about the shop, "Yesterday your brother and I bought two people from the slave trader. The indentures were all done. We'll keep them in the shop to help out. They're two women. There are a lot of customers in the shop now, so it's hard to distinguish between the staff and the customers. I was thinking of asking Grandma to make clothes for us. We'll just make one style. I'll give you the pattern later. You can take it back to Grandma along with the fabric."
After thinking for a moment, Qin Xiaozhou added, "Since we need a lot of clothes, have Grandma ask someone in the village with good craftsmanship to make them. Grandma can decide how much to pay for each set."
Qin Xiaozhou washed half a basin of apricots and loquats, then took them to the kitchen. She peeled and pitted them, putting the peels into a clean bowl. She planned to try boiling them to extract the yellow dye later. If it could dye the fruit, great; if not, she would add milk. Maybe it would taste good too. In short, it had many uses.
Since it was noon, Jinghe was cooking in the private kitchen. However, the restaurant was busy, so only Lu Yunxing, Lu Yan, and Xiao Si were eating. Lu Yunxing was not used to it and said to Lu Yan, "Why don't we wait for them to join us?"
Lu Yan had been eating lunch alone with Xiao Si for the past two days and had gotten used to it, so she shook her head and said, "Second Brother, let's eat. They're very busy and we don't know when they'll have time."
Xiao Si's lunch was a bowl of steamed egg and vegetable and lean meat porridge. Lu Yan was now quite skilled at feeding Xiao Si. "The shop is very lively, and all the ladies and young ladies smell nice and are very beautiful. I like to help out at the shop, but I can only go after Xiao Si falls asleep."
Lu Yunxing listened quietly. Even from across the courtyard, he could hear the voices of the customers in the private kitchen. "I see that business is doing quite well. After I go back and tell Grandma, she can rest assured."
After dinner, everyone in the family was busy, so Lu Yunxing couldn't sit still. He went from the backyard into the shop's kitchen. Zhao Fang saw her second son and scolded him, "You walked all this way, why don't you sit down after you finish eating? You have to walk back later."
His eyes, however, were full of relief and joy.
Seeing the bustling activity in the kitchen, and knowing he couldn't help with the work, Lu Yunxing went to the yard to chop firewood, cutting it into sections for easy burning.
Qin Xiaozhou brought over five bolts of fine cotton cloth, all dark blue. "Take these cloths back to Grandma. They're for making clothes for the shop assistants. You've seen Jing and Jingyue; they're both slim, with figures similar to Auntie's. The two of them were wearing Auntie's clothes today, and they fit me well. If you tell Grandma this, she'll know what size to make. As for the clothes for the family, you can bring them back in a couple of days."
Lu Yunxing's basket was full of things, including clothes, five catties of meat and ten catties of rice and flour. "Eat as much meat and rice and flour as you like, don't be stingy. If Uncle Dahe wants to settle his wages in advance, then settle them for him."
She took out a money bag, which was full of copper coins. The clattering sound was extremely pleasant. Qin Xiaozhou handed the money bag to Lu Yunxing. "There are two hundred coins here. You can use it to pay Uncle Dahe's wages and to make clothes. This amount of money may not be enough, but it's not safe for you to go back alone with too much stuff. Just take a little bit each time. Anyway, you'll be back in a few days."
Qin Xiaozhou felt like she had forgotten something, and it wasn't until Lu Yunxing left through the back door that she remembered. She immediately chased after him and stuffed five coins into his hand. "This is for your travel expenses. Take the village's oxcart or boat back. Don't walk, or you might get ambushed by bandits."
It's hard to say about bandits. They might be poor people in the area who can't make a living. If they see someone carrying too much stuff on the road, far from any village or shop, they might just decide to rob them on a whim.
At the intersection west of the county town, Wang Ershui was drawing water from the river to feed the cattle. He drove the oxcart back and forth between the county town and the village. He looked up and saw Lu Yunxing carrying a full load of things. He called out, "Lu's second son, do you want a ride? It's not safe for you to walk with so much stuff."
Lu Yunxing thought for a moment, then nodded. His sister-in-law had said he couldn't walk by himself, so he would sit down. He put the basket into the oxcart, then sat down, holding the basket tightly with his hands.
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