Chapter 165 - 165 Chapter 165: Buying Straw
165 Chapter 165: Buying Straw
When Wang Dashan arrived, Qin Xiaoyao went to meet Wang Dashan personally, even though she saw that Wang Xiaomei had gone up to talk to her big brother.
She told him that she needed a lot more straw.
“If it’s convenient, help me send the straw tomorrow. The more, the better. At least four carts.”
It didn’t matter if the straw couldn’t be used up. They could be piled up in the courtyard. In the future, whether it was for weaving straw sandals or for lighting a fire, they would still be useful.
“No problem! I’ll borrow the village chief’s handcart and ask my father to send it with me tomorrow!” Wang Dashan quickly replied.
With his current handcart, if he compressed the straw tightly and loaded it high enough, one handcart could carry 7 to 800 catties.
Mrs. Song paid him 38 copper coins for one such cart of straw.
After deducting three copper coins for the town’s entrance fee and about five copper coins for buying the straw, he could earn 30 copper coins in one trip.
Even if the village chief’s handcart couldn’t carry that much straw, it wouldn’t be a problem to make 25 copper coins per trip.
If there were four carts of straw, there would be a profit of more than 100 copper coins.
Most importantly, straw was different from firewood. There was no need to go into the mountains to chop and pick it up.
Although he had to spend money to buy it from the villagers, straw was cheap, and almost every household had it. One copper coin could buy a whole heap of straw.
After receiving Mrs. Song’s request, he would go to the villagers’ houses to pick up the goods.
This money was much easier to earn than selling firewood.
Qin Xiaoyao was a little surprised.
Wang Dashan could read her thoughts, and he said in a good mood, “My father will also be chopping wood and selling firewood with me in the future.”
“In the future, he will go into the mountains to chop wood while I’ll send it to town to sell.”
Of course, he had to enter the mountains when he was not selling firewood. Only in this way would the family have enough firewood to sell in town.
Qin Xiaoyao nodded.
She had heard Wang Xiaomei talk about her family matters before and knew that it was not easy for Wang Dashan to get Wang Laoshuan to agree to give up the grain in the paddy fields.
Qin Xiaoyao only let Wang Dashan leave after paying for the straw in advance.
The next day, Wang Dashan and Wang Laoshuan arrived early in the morning.
After unloading two carts of straw, they left in a hurry.
By the time the two of them arrived for the second time, Liu Daniu had just arrived.
Qin Xiaoyao learned that there was still straw in the village, so she discussed with Big Girl Li. They each bought another cart of straw and paid for them separately.
This made the Wang father and son duo extremely happy, and they happily pushed the handcarts out of the courtyard.
After that, they sent over two more carts of straw.
Qin Xiaoyao and Wang Xiaomei hadn’t returned yet when they arrived.
Wang Dashan had initially wanted to leave with Wang Laoshuan straight away and make a trip back home to bring the firewood into town to sell.
Wang Laoshuan refused to leave, saying that he wanted to wait for Wang Xiaomei to return.
Wang Dashan couldn’t persuade him. As he was in a hurry, he had no choice but to let Wang Laoshuan stay on the Song family’s premises.
As he sat on a stone bench in the Song family’s courtyard, Wang Laoshuan’s eyes were filled with envy as he looked around the courtyard.
In the past, they were all from the same village and were neighbors.
His family’s situation was much better than the Song family’s.
However, it had only been a short while, and the difference between the two families’ circumstances had become as vast as heaven and earth.
The Song family moved into town, and they owned such a large courtyard dwelling. His family, on the other hand…
Notwithstanding the fact that his wife had left, the family’s coffers had also been emptied. He and his son still had to collect firewood every day to pay off their debts.
“Big Brother Wang, have some water while you wait. Xiaomei should be back soon.” Madam Liu brought a bowl of water over.
“Thank… thank you!” Wang Laoshuan subconsciously stood up and bowed.
It was because Madam Liu was dressed differently from before. Now, she was dressed like a town-dwelling person, which made him feel that he dared not look at her directly.
“You’re welcome,” Madam Liu responded.
After saying a few words, she left.
She was well aware of the Wang family’s affairs. She had only come over to offer some water because she didn’t want to appear too impolite.
Wang Laoshuan did not leave with Dashan and even stayed behind to look for Xiaomei. She could only hope that he would not cause trouble for Xiaomei.
After Madam Liu left, Wang Laoshuan sat down to drink some water.
When he found sugar in the water, his eyes lit up.
Then, he quickly finished the sugar water.
He became even more envious of the good life the Song family was leading.
After this, Wang Laoshuan continued waiting in the courtyard again.
Finally, Wang Xiaomei returned.
Wang Laoshuan saw Wang Xiaomei pushing a handcart into the courtyard, and there were still quite a number of woven bamboo products left on the handcart.
Upon seeing this, Wang Laoshuan quickly went to help.
“Why are you pushing such a big cart of goods alone? Let Father help you.” As he said that, he stepped up to take over the job from Wang Xiaomei.
Wang Xiaomei was shocked by Wang Laoshuan’s sudden appearance.
She did not want to hand over her work to Wang Laoshuan, but she wasn’t able to stop him and so could only let him take over.
“Mrs. Song has a lot of things to do, so I’m the one who sets up the stall now. These things look like a lot, but they’re actually not heavy.” Wang Xiaomei said as she led Wang Laoshuan into the courtyard.
“What? You’re setting up a stall by yourself?” Wang Laoshuan was shocked.
Seeing Wang Xiaomei frowning at him, Wang Laoshuan tried to restrain himself.
“What Father means is, it’s… too hard on you.”
To his surprise, Wang Xiaomei simply shot back directly, “It’s not hard.”
“I’m eating well and living well now. Mrs. Song even asked Yun’er to teach me how to read. It’s much better than when we were in Brook Falls Village.”
Wang Laoshuan’s face froze when he detected the hard edge in his daughter’s tone.
“Hehe! She’s just a mere slip of a girl. She doesn’t even know many words. How can she teach you anything?” Wang Laoshuan said with a smile. His original intention was to ease the atmosphere.
Much to his chagrin, Wang Xiaomei’s face turned ominous.
“So what if she’s a little girl? Yun’er finished learning the Thousand Character Classic when she was six years old. After that, she learned the Three Character Classic, the Book of Family Names, and so on under Aunt Song’s guidance. Now, she’s reading the books on Big Brother Song’s bookshelf. Even the scholars in Cirrus Loft Academy might not be better than Yun’er!”
Wang Laoshuan was shocked.
What? How could a little girl be more learned than a scholar from Cirrus Loft Academy?
Wang Xiaomei glanced at Wang Laoshuan and immediately went forward to grab the handcart’s handle back.
“I’ll do it myself. The goods that have not been sold need to be returned to the storage room. Father, you haven’t done this before, so you won’t be able do it well.”
Wang Laoshuan could feel his daughter’s displeasure. He scratched his nose and did not dare to say anything more.
After not seeing her for a month, his daughter had changed.
Her personality had changed a lot compared to when she was at home, and he couldn’t help but feel a little fearful.
Yes, fear.
His daughter was a lot fairer and chubbier than when she was at home.
She was also dressed so much better than when she was in Brook Falls Village.
If he didn’t know that she came to the Song family to be a slave, he would have suspected that his daughter was also a town-dwelling person.
Back then, when that incident happened in his family, sigh… He knew that his daughter blamed him, but this matter was initiated by her mother, so it had little to do with him.
Besides, even though she was now a slave, the Song family had been treating her well.
They provided her with good food and drinks and even allowed her to study and learn how to write. Her life was so many times better than what he and his son were leading back in Brook Falls Village. What did she have to complain about?
At this thought, Wang Laoshuan went up to Wang Xiaomei once again.
A hint of irritation flashed across Wang Xiaomei’s eyes.
“There are many things piled up in the storeroom, and outsiders aren’t allowed to enter. You can wait outside, Father,” she said.
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