Chapter 175 (2/2)
w.a.n.g Ergou has never seen so much money in his life! In the past, his wife had always pushed him to do odd jobs . After a hard and tiring day working, he would only get ten copper coins . After a month, the most he could save was one or two taels . Today, however, he just shouted a few words and it was enough to earn forty-two taels, which was previously worth several years of savings!
“Wife, wife! Quick, pinch me, am I dreaming?” w.a.n.g Ergou was so excited that tears had welled up in his eyes . With shaking hands he carefully took the money and put it away in his chest pocket . He then pulled on his wife’s hand and placed it on his arm .
Ergou’s wife’s heart was also pounding . With tears in her eyes, she gently patted the man next to her and caressed her inconspicuous pregnant belly . With this source of income, they wouldn’t have to worry about not being able to raise their children in the future .
Ergou’s wife was from a poor family . Otherwise, she wouldn’t have married a man like Ergou . Being hungry was a shadow from her childhood . She had eight siblings, but only she and her two older brothers survived .
After her marriage, although her husband wasn’t outstanding, he dearly loved his wife . Although their days were a bit rough, it was much better than her maiden home . Originally she thought that such bitter and rough days would never end, but unexpectedly they met Yu Hai’s family, who helped them out many times and even gave them a chance to earn money .
Her child wouldn’t have to be like her when she was young . When she was hungry, she used to drink water and hope it would pa.s.s, and when she was sick she could only suffer through it .
“Wife! I’m going to go buy half a catty of meat to supplement your body!” With money in his hands, w.a.n.g Ergou’s back was straighter than before .
w.a.n.g Ergou’s wife glared at him, confiscated all the money, and softly rebuked, “We still owe Brother Hai money for his melons! The rest isn’t enough for tomorrow’s batch of melons! Could it be that you have the conscience to put it on credit again tomorrow?”
w.a.n.g Ergou laughed and said, “I planned to push over more watermelons tomorrow . I’m afraid that the rest of the money isn’t enough to pay for the melons . . . how about we put it on credit once more?”
Ergou’s wife shook her head and said, “Today, we met a customer that bought a lot . Otherwise, I don’t know how long it would’ve taken us to sell all of these watermelons . In my opinion, how about you buy the number of watermelons you can afford with the money earned today? Earning less is ok!”
w.a.n.g Ergou knew the ‘you eat rice bite by bite, and make money little by little’ philosophy . Listening to his wife, he said, “Brother Dahai, I will take forty taels worth of watermelons today . I want to spend twenty taels on the big ones, ten taels on the medium and small ones . . . ”
“Okay!” Yu Hai helped by handing him the already weighed watermelons . When he saw Ergou handing over the money, he smiled and whispered, “Hey! Yesterday’s business must’ve been pretty good, you earned quite a bit!”
“Hehe! It’s only forty-some taels . It’s nothing compared to Brother Hai! You pulled two carts full of watermelon over yesterday!” w.a.n.g Ergou hid his pride but he couldn’t stop his smile from appearing .
Liu Pei, who was helping load the wheelbarrow, upon seeing that a wheelbarrow full of watermelon could earn a profit forty-two taels, realized that if they took one cart full to the prefectural city, then wouldn’t they earn more than 100 taels? His heart raced at such a figure .
At that moment, the carriage that Xiaocao borrowed from the Zhou’s was brought over . After talking it over, Liu Pei and Liu Han decided to immediately depart and transport the watermelon to the prefectural city overnight .
Xiaocao also felt that a cart transporting watermelons wouldn’t be faster than her G.o.dfather galloping quickly down the road . So, she let her two uncles depart first after setting a meeting point with her G.o.dfather tomorrow .
With multiple people helping, the watermelon cart was quickly filled up . They first had to take the cart to Tanggu Town, and then take the imperial highway before they could get to the prefectural city . If they set off now, then it would still be hard for them to arrive at the prefectural city before they closed the city gates .
Xiaocao prepared rations, water and warm clothing for her two uncles . Even though it was near the end of spring, the nights were still chilly in the north . Her uncles might be sleeping out in the open, how could they stand the cold?
Xiaocao’s family’s two carts set off with the Liu Pei brothers . Xiaocao took the donkey cart and Yu Hai took the cart that they had bought a few days ago . Thankfully, the horse chosen by Third Young Master Zhou had a good temperament, so even a stranger could control him .
Yu Hai had stayed back in the fields yesterday, so he missed the melon store’s first raucous open day of business . When Xiaocao told them what had happened, he wanted to see the scene . He regretted not being able to see it with his own eyes . Today, no matter what, he had to go to town with her .
No matter what, he was still the father of the store owner, so didn’t that make him at least half an owner? Besides, if he didn’t help his daughter, he would feel bad . As such, Madam Liu stayed behind to watch the field in the morning and he was going to take over in the evening .
There were two other people who came along with them . One of them was Eldest Aunt, Madam Han, who came along to help . The other was Xiaocao’s maternal grandmother, Madam Yao, who was fooled by Xiaocao into coming to widen her knowledge .
When they arrived in town, they found that the melon shop was surrounded by people and thought something had happened! After the store closed yesterday, Li Li was left alone to keep an eye on it . Fang Zizhen and Wu Yun had gone to the pier and Xiaocao have gone back to Dongshan Village . Was yesterday’s business so good that it caught the attention of some people so they came today to look for trouble?
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