Chapter 29
Chance Encounter
Li Mei brought Li Yu to the east end of the village. Along the way, Li Yu saw that most of the houses at the east end of the village were thatched huts. “Aunt, their lives are quite difficult.”
Li Mei nodded. “These families all fled here, and most of them rely on paddy fields to survive. The large piece of fertile land by the river belongs to the Zhou and Xu families. Fortunately, Aunt has you. Otherwise, she could only be a tenant farmer.”
The aunt and niece chatted as they walked to a thatched house. Li Mei led Li Yu into a fenced courtyard.
“Is An here?” Li Mei called.
Jiang walked out of the house with tears on his face. “Aunt Li, why are you looking for me?”
“Your Sister Xiaoyu said that she would send you some rice first and deduct it from your salary. Where’s your mother?”
At this moment, a sallow-faced woman walked out shakily while holding onto the wall. “An, who’s looking for you?”
An quickly went over to help his mother. “Mom, it’s Auntie Li and Sister Li.”
Li Yu handed the rice to An before she left. “Auntie, I’m Xiaoyu. An is going to my house to work tomorrow. I’ll send him some rice first.”
“It’s Li Mei and Xiaoyu? What a rare guest. I haven’t seen you two in years.”
Li Mei looked at her sallow face and felt a little sad. “Big Sister Qian, rest well. An will work at my niece’s house tomorrow.”
Qian panted. “Thank you for taking care of my An.”
Li Mei smiled at her. “Big Sister Qian, rest well. We’ll go back when it’s late.”
Tears flowed from Qian’s eyes as he nodded in a choked voice. “Alright, An, quickly send them off.”
An sent Li Yu and her niece to the door and bowed to them. With tears in his eyes, he said, “Thank you, Aunt Li. Sister Li.”
“It’s fine. Go back and take care of your mother.” The aunt and niece quickly walked home.
After returning home for dinner, Li Mei looked at Li Yu and said with a smile, “Yu’er, your uncle and I have our eyes on a piece of land. When the wasteland here is developed, your uncle and I will go back to repair the house.”
“Alright, I’ll hire some people to work tomorrow. You and Uncle can go back and hire someone to repair the house.”
“What’s the hurry? It doesn’t matter if it takes a few days. We still have to go to the fields tomorrow morning. Hurry up and rest.”
The next morning, when Li Yu and the others arrived at the field, they saw that An was already digging the ground and picking up rocks. Li Yu quickly stopped him. “An, go eat.”
An glanced at Li Yu and smiled. “Sister Li, I ate here.”
Li Mei looked at him and smiled. “This child is too polite. Ah Qing, take An to eat.”
“Brother An, come with me!” Li Qing went forward and pulled him home.
“We’re late.” Chen Yaohui and the Madam Li had also arrived with their hoes.
Li Yu saw that Chen Yaohui and Madam Li had also arrived. “We just came out too. Uncle Chen, Auntie Li, thank you for your hard work.”
Madam Li smiled and patted Li Yu. “This child is always so polite.”
Li Yu smiled and said to Chen Yaohui, “Uncle Chen, I want to hire two more people to work so that Aunt can go back and repair the house. Just follow the salary from last time. Do you think there’s anyone suitable in the village?”
Chen Yaohui thought for a moment. “Yes, do you want me to help you call them?”
“Alright, thank you.” Li Yu smiled.
Chen Yaohui put down the hoe and went to the village. Li Mei said angrily, “Child, why are you in such a hurry?”
Madam Li wiped the sweat off her face. “Big Sister, let’s take advantage of the fact that everyone is free now and quickly fix it. I heard from my father-in-law that we’ll probably have to send out laborers again in a few days.”
When Li Mei heard this, she frowned and said, “Why do we have to do hard labor again? These past few years have really made me worry.”
“I heard that it takes a lot of days to get a dock to repair the river. Sigh! I’ve just collected some food and I have to spend money again. These days are getting more and more difficult.”
Seeing their miserable expressions, Li Yu was also secretly worried. Chen Yaohui brought four men with hoes over. He pointed at the three of them and smiled at Li Yu. “Xiaoyu, these uncles are all good at working in the village.”
Li Yu smiled at them and said, “Thank you, uncles, for your hard work.”
A tall and strong middle-aged man laughed heartily. “What’s so hard about the work! With money, I can work from morning to night. Haha…”
“Yes! We have to thank you,” everyone said, rolling up their sleeves and getting to work.
Li Mei hired a few more people. Thinking that it would cost about 100 copper coins a day, she asked Yu’er to go to the crossroads to sell those pickled vegetables. She stopped Li Yu. “Yu’er, you should go to the crossroads to take a look!”
Li Yu took a look and saw that the few people who came were all good at work. “Alright, I’ll go take a look.”
Li Yu put down the hoe and returned home. Just as she changed into her dress, Zhaodi ran in. “Cousin, there’s someone called Zhu Zi at the door who wants 50 jars of pickled vegetables and peas.”
“Alright, bring him in. I’m coming.” Li Yu hurriedly took the booklet from Li Qing. When she came out of the bedroom, she saw Zhaodi filling the bamboo basket with pickled vegetables with Zhu Zi.
Li Yu also hurriedly filled up the two bamboo baskets. Li Yu carried the bamboo baskets and placed them on the handcart to inform Zhaodi. Then, she got into the cart and went to the Shun Feng Inn on the three-way road with Zhu Zi.
Seeing that Li Yu and Zhu Zi had arrived, Shopkeeper Liu rubbed his hands and looked at the pickled vegetables in the basket happily. “Xiaoyu, I’ve sold all the pickled vegetables you placed here. The merchants who have tried them all said that your pickled vegetables are delicious.”
Li Yu also became happy. “It’s good that you like it. Uncle Liu, sorry to trouble you.”
A burly man quickly walked over and urged, “Old Liu, hurry up. We’re about to set off.”
“Coming, coming.” Shopkeeper Liu hurriedly brought Li Yu to load the pickled vegetables onto a mule cart behind.
When the man saw the thick hay in the bamboo basket, he smiled in satisfaction. “Sigh! Your family is meticulous. The pickled vegetables I bought in Green Mountain City almost shattered.”
Li Yu smiled and replied, “This is what we should do. Uncle, if you think it’s good after eating my family’s pickled vegetables, help me promote. My family’s pickled vegetables are called Qingyu pickled vegetables. There are two chili peppers on the jar.”
“Okay.” The man readily agreed to pay and shouted at the people in front, “Guys, let’s go! Guys…” The convoy slowly moved away.
Li Yu and Shopkeeper Liu returned to the inn. Shopkeeper Liu smiled and said, “Xiaoyu, including the 15 jars you placed here and the ones you sold just now, a total of 65 jars were sold. I collected 15 jars of pickled vegetables. Other than the money from the consignment, I’ll pay you 317 copper coins.”
“Alright.” Li Yu put away the copper coins and pointed at the bamboo basket with a smile. “Uncle Liu, I brought 10 jars of each type this time. I’ve recorded them all in this booklet. Please check the numbers and sign in the booklet.”
Shopkeeper Liu took the booklet and flipped through it. He saw that the booklet stated that there were ten jars of July 20th bean paste… and he remembered every single one of them clearly. Shopkeeper Liu nodded. “Alright, I’ve already counted them. I’ll sign here!”
Li Yu pointed at the date. “Yes, after you sign here, we’ll go through the accounts according to this.”
Shopkeeper Liu signed at the back. Li Yu took the booklet and said, “Uncle Liu, my family is still plowing. I’ll have to trouble you with the pickled vegetables.”
Shopkeeper Liu waved his hand with a smile. “It’s fine. Go ahead!” Li Yu came out of the inn and walked towards the town quickly.
Zhang Guixiang leaned against the car window and saw Li Yu coming over from the official road. She patted Zhang Guisheng, who was leaning against the wall of the car and pretending to sleep. “Brother, look. It’s that bitch Li Yu.”
Zhang Guisheng looked at Zhang Guixiang and frowned in disgust. “Ignore her. Let’s go.”
“Dachun, stop the car.” Zhang Guixiang stopped Dachun, who was driving the car, and pulled Zhang Guisheng. “I’m not leaving. She hit me last time and caused my stomach to hurt for a long time. Brother, you have to help me vent my anger.”
Zhang Guisheng frowned and looked at Zhang Guixiang. “How are you going to vent your anger? Do you think the Zhang and Li families are still as before?”
Zhang Guixiang looked at him and smiled. “Brother, as long as you give her a good attitude, she will come and suck up to you.”
When Zhang Guisheng heard this, he felt a little smug. He recalled that every time Li Yu saw him, her face would turn red and she would shrink her neck in a wretched manner, making him feel disgusted. Then, he thought about how his father had begged everywhere to raise money. He felt that he should give her some respect.