Chapter 94 - Donkey Car (1/2)
t
When Brother Six came out of the guest house, he noticed that Xiaocao was still standing there. He raised his eyebrows and asked, “Thank you very much for your help today—is there anything else you need?
Xiaocao took out a string of copper coins from her embroidered pouch and lifted it towards him, “Brother Six, this is the money leftover from buying all of the ingredients, here take it….”
The table of food only required half a catty of pork belly, a catty of pork leg meat, five duck egg yolks, fish that they had caught on their own, and dried tofu and cabbage that were of little monetary value. Altogether, it only cost about one tael and three hundred copper coins to prepare the whole meal.
However, Brother Six didn’t extend his hand to receive the money. He glanced at her hand indifferently and said, “No need! A table of food at Zhenxiu Restaurant would cost at least thirty to fifty taels. When you calculate it, it’s I who gained the advantage! Thank you for helping me keep a very big client of mine!”
Xiaocao gleefully put the money back in her purse and patted the bulging pouch. She grinned, “What are you thanking me for? I’m very happy I could help you! It’s not early anymore, Brother Six, you should head out and do what you need to do.”
By making a few dishes, she was able to earn at least a tael in income. She wished that this type of business could happen several times a month! When she thought of Brother Six’s important client rewarding her with five taels, Xiaocao felt even more giddy and ecstatic. She had not only made enough money to pay for her younger brother’s school fees but also had some leftover to buy at least two sets of clothes for everyone in her family and the materials to make a couple of warm blankets!
“Cao’er, what happened that made you so happy?” As Yu Hai pushed the wheelbarrow, he noticed that his daughter who was sitting on top would occasionally snigger from time to time, which perplexed him. For the past half year or so, his younger daughter had seemed excessively sensible and mature. Sometimes he felt like there was a soul of an adult living in that thin and slightly built body of hers.
XIaocao looked around them before she fished out a large piece of silver from her chest pocket. She waved the money in front of her father and said, “Look! What do think this is…”
“Is that silver? What a large piece, it must be worth around five taels right?” A look of surprise appeared on Yu Hai’s face as he questioned her, “Cao’er, where did that come from?”
“Brother Six’s important client gave it as a reward to me. He said that the food I made was even more delicious than the best restaurants in the capital!” Xiaocao’s face glowed with pride, and if she was a little puppy, her tail would have been pointing straight up.
His younger daughter rarely showed her childish side, so Yu Hai chuckled, “Of course, my Cao’er is the best! If I didn’t know better, I’d believe that the God of Food had entered your body!”
“Hee hee! It doesn’t matter whether the God of Food is with me or if it’s the blessings from the God of Fortune, as long as I can make money then it’s fine! In about two days, do you think Brother Qian Wen will be coming home for a break? Tomorrow is market day at the docks. We should buy some cloth and cotton and make Little Shitou two sets of new clothing…” Xiaocao chattered happily and words flowed out of her mouth in an unending stream. Seeing that she was happy and excited, Yu Hai simply nodded and agreed with everything she said.
With Yu Hai pushing, the over twenty kilometer road home didn’t seem as long as before. They both rested at the midpoint, and Xiaocao rolled up the leg of her father’s trouser and started to massage his injured leg with practiced movements. She felt as if her dad had worked too hard walking and said, “Father, we have around seven to eight taels right now. How about instead of getting new clothes and blankets we get an ox cart instead?”
Yu Hai wiped the sweat off his face and drank a mouthful of sweet and delicious water that had previously been boiled. He felt as if all of the fatigue on his body had been quickly washed away. Xiaocao had especially prepared some mystic-stone water for her father to bring along, so it was natural that it had that effect.
When he heard her suggestion, he laughed, “Seven to eight taels is only about enough to buy an ox alone. If we wanted a cart to go with it, even if we provided the wood, it would still require an additional couple hundred copper coins. The money our family has right now is just about enough to buy a donkey cart instead…”
“A donkey is faster than an ox, so it’s probably better to have a donkey pull a cart then! Father, how much would a donkey cost? How about we buy a donkey and then have Third Maternal Uncle help us make a donkey cart. In a few days, the vegetables at home should be ready to be sold. If we had a donkey cart, wouldn’t it be easier to bring them to market?”
In her previous life, it was rare to see a donkey around, even in the rural areas. She could faintly remember that her family had raised a donkey when she was young. She had even been carried by her father as he drove the donkey cart to go to the town market!
Yu Hai felt his heart skip a beat at the idea. The plots of land in the front and back courtyards were already lush and verdant with growing green vegetables. After growing for over twenty days, the produce should soon be ready to be picked and sold at market. If they didn’t have a cart, they would need to rely on someone hauling the vegetables by foot to get them into town. It would be quite an effort!
“One male donkey should be around four to five taels. If we add on the cart, I’d reckon that Cao’er wouldn’t be able to wear new clothing then…” Yu Hai looked briefly at his daughter’s worn and patched clothing with a pang of guilt. The weather was getting warmer but none of his children had any presentable clothing to wear. As a father, he had really let his children down.
“It’s not a problem. If we spend all the money, we can earn more later! We should still buy a donkey first, so that in the future, whether we’re going to the docks to sell braised food or going into town, it’ll be a lot easier for us to travel!” The corners of Xiaocao’s mouth curved up into a grin and a feeling of excitement rushed into her heart—very soon her family would be the owners’ of a cart!
“Alright! When we send Shitou to the academy in town, we can conveniently stop by the ox and horse market to look. If there’s a suitable animal there, then we can buy one then! In the future, when Little Shitou goes into town, we can drop him off and pick him up easily with the donkey cart. Your mother will also feel relieved too!” Yu Hai made the final decision and could not be swayed from the idea of getting a donkey cart!
For the next couple of days, the entire Yu Family bustled around, busy with their tasks. Xiaocao and Yu Hai went to the docks in the morning to sell their braised food. During that time, Little Shitou would bring his older sister, Xiaolian, to the pond behind their house to catch fish. Madam Liu spent her time in the house working on sewing a couple pieces of clothing for her youngest son. She had seen that the neighbor’s boy, Qian Wen, was now wearing a long robe. Thus she copied the style and crafted an indigo-blue colored long robe for her son.