42 Returning to the Village
Zhang Zhan stopped Old Madam w.a.n.g.
“It’s Lord Zhang. What’s the matter?”
When they arrived at the county city, everyone knew that Zhang Zhan was not an ordinary government servant, but an official.
Of course, they did not dare to ask about his exact official position.
To the villagers, even if he was just a bailiff, he was still considered an official.
If he was a county magistrate, he was a high-ranking official.
Perhaps because of their friendship, Old Madam w.a.n.g was not afraid of him like the other villagers.
Zhang Zhan handed over the package in his hand. “Thank you for your family’s help last time. This is a token of my appreciation. Please accept it.”
Old Madam w.a.n.g did not take it. “Lord Zhang has already repaid our kindness by sending the food to our village. Let’s forget about these things.”
“Ok…” Zhang Zhan was a little embarra.s.sed, but he still held back his embarra.s.sment and said,” I borrowed a pair of pants from you last time. I took them back and washed them until they were damaged. This is my compensation to you. Don’t worry, they’re all new and haven’t been worn before. ”
The truth was that the servants at home despised the pants. There were all kinds of patches on it, and the cloth was poor. The servants directly threw it away.
“It’s not a good pair of pants to begin with. So what if it’s broken-” Old Madam w.a.n.g suddenly thought that her old man did not seem to have any more pants. How about she go and buy a few feet of cloth and make pants for everyone when she returns?
She had not been able to buy the cloth for the new year, so she could make up for it now.
“I still need to return what I owe. There’s also a little something in it for Ah Yu.” Zhang Zhan was afraid that Old Madam w.a.n.g would refuse, so he simply stuffed the packages into Old Madam w.a.n.g’s arms and turned to leave.
Old Madam w.a.n.g chased after him for a few steps. If she can’t catch up, forget it.
The two packages were bulging. There must be more than two pairs of pants inside.
Forget it, he would probably feel at ease if she accepted it.
Otherwise, he would think that their family was after something bigger.
After taking the packages, she could not buy anything else. She might as well go to the rice and grain shop to hand the things to Village Chief Hu and ask them to help take care of them before buying more stuff.
She had two taels of silver on her, so she could buy a lot of good things.
She went to the grocery store first and bought some brown sugar and salt. Thinking that there were still some soybeans that could be made into tofu pudding, she bought some salt as well.
Spices like pepper and chili were extremely expensive, especially pepper. They were usually sold in pharmacies.
Fortunately, there was an old pepper tree in the village, so there was no need to buy it.
There was everything in the grocery store. She saw a few hair ornaments, picked out a few more, and bought two lumps of thread and needle.
She did not buy many things, but they were not cheap either. The shopkeeper was so happy that his eyes narrowed. He calculated and said, “Thank you, the total is 732 coins.”
Old Madam w.a.n.g did not even frown. “Round it down. 700 coins.”
The shopkeeper looked troubled. “Aren’t you making things difficult for me? We won’t be able to make a profit on 700 coins. At most, I’ll shave off the two coins for you. We’re just doing a small business and don’t have that much profit.”
“Look, the color of your salt is slightly yellow. The front of the hoe is also curled up! I saw another hoe in the shop in front… and this head ornament… there’s still some split ends on the thread here. This side is sewn like a centipede… This salt isn’t done very well either. It’s very mushy…”
The shopkeeper: “…” Don’t take it if you despise it so much!
The old lady’s slow and picky words made the shopkeeper’s face turn green. Then, she said, “700 coins is already considered me being very easy to negotiate with. If you’re really making a loss at this price, I’ll go to the shop on the other side of the street to take a look. They’re very good at doing business and even offered to give me two more hair ornaments! I originally thought that the shopkeeper’s appearance was not as good as yours. In that case-”
With that, the old lady turned to leave.
The shopkeeper’s surname was Luo. He usually believed in fate. When he heard this, he shouted at her, “Alright, alright, alright. 700 coins it is! I’ll sell them for a slim profit. But you have to come and take a look more often-”
The old lady picked up her things and replied casually, “Sure.”
After leaving the Luo Ji grocery store, Old Madam w.a.n.g went to the cloth shop.
After taking the cloth out, the cloth shopkeeper held his chest and did not speak for a long time.
When the shop a.s.sistant asked him what was wrong, the shopkeeper said bitterly, “I’ve met an expert!” He had earned 30 coins less!
“Steamed buns! Fresh meat buns! Steamed buns, white and soft steamed buns!” The boss of the steamed bun shop shouted very loudly.
With a thought, Old Madam w.a.n.g walked over.
Speaking of which, after another day, the bamboo fence of Old man w.a.n.g’s house would be basically formed. With a little more repair, it would be stable.
However, the few men had been walking around the house. They would rather clean up the chicken coop, pigpen, and feces pit than leave.
w.a.n.g Chuanman returned with a new bundle of firewood. When he saw them, he asked Liu Shi, “Why didn’t they go out to play today?”
“Aren’t they just waiting to eat the pheasants?” Liu Shi found it funny. “Mother will probably be back today. However, it’s still unknown if the pheasants will be eaten.”
They had tied up the pheasant and thrown it into the chicken coop. Before Old Madam w.a.n.g returned, they did not dare to decide to eat it.
w.a.n.g Chuanman was a little speechless. “These brats only think about eating all day.”
Their Little Ah Yu was still the best. She never asked for anything. She did whatever she was told and was very obedient.
Little Ah Yu was hanging around Old man w.a.n.g. Old man w.a.n.g’s legs and feet were weak, so he basically did not do any work in the fields. He asked w.a.n.g Chuanfu to cut a few bamboo for him to weave a basket at home.
Old man w.a.n.g’s movements were not fast, but in a few moves, the shape of a basket appeared. Little Ah Yu watched intently.
Even when Meatball urged her to start farming in the spatial pocket, she ignored it.
“Grandpa will make a small flower basket for you. Do you want it?” Old man w.a.n.g said to Little Ah Yu when he saw her engrossed.
Initially, Old man w.a.n.g had also made a small basket for Little Ah Yu. In the end, the small basket was still a little too big. Little Ah Yu swayed when she carried it and fell easily.
Little Ah Yu wanted to say “yes” but stopped.
It must be very difficult for Grandpa to make a small flower basket. She could not let him work harder.
Therefore, Little Ah Yu said with a very reluctant gaze, “I don’t want it.”
However, that gaze was clearly saying, “I want a small flower basket, but I can’t take it.” It made Old man w.a.n.g’s heart soften.
“It’s fine. Grandpa makes flower baskets very quickly. It won’t delay anything.” As he spoke, Old man w.a.n.g took a bamboo basket from the side and twisted his fingers around. Soon, he made the bottom of a flower basket.
Little Ah Yu watched with interest.
Liu Shi saw it and asked with a smile, “Ah Yu, Grandpa is making a flower basket for you?”
“Yes, yes!” Little Ah Yu nodded, revealing a few teeth. She smiled obediently and sweetly. “Grandpa is so powerful.”
Old man w.a.n.g laughed loudly and his weaving speed increased.
Before the small flower basket was completed, she heard someone shout outside, “Old man w.a.n.g, your old lady is back. Go to the village entrance and pick her up.”
“They’re here!” w.a.n.g Chuanman leaned the shoulder pole against the wall and wanted to run towards the village entrance.
“Grandpa, I’m going to pick Grandma up!”
Old man w.a.n.g lowered his head and replied, “Go-Wulang, go with your sister.”
Before w.a.n.g Wulang could reach Little Ah Yu, she ran out of the courtyard.
The lamb ran to her side and after running for a while, it suddenly lowered its head to the ground, revealing its furry neck.
It gestured for Little Ah Yu to ride it.
“Little lamb, I’ll walk by myself. I’m too heavy. I can’t ride you.” Little Ah Yu was unwilling.
The lamb still did not move. Little Ah Yu said, “I really can’t do anything about you.” She could only sit on the lamb.
The little lamb ran with its four hooves and quickly overtook w.a.n.g Chuanman.
On the way, when the others in the village saw this, they became lively again.
No matter how many times they saw it, they found it unbelievable.
Beside him, a child cried and shouted, “Father, I want it too. I want it too. Buy me a lamb. I want to ride a lamb too!”
In the end, he received a slap. “Can lambs be ridden?!”
“Wuwuwu, even Little Ah Yu can ride one…”
“Why don’t you take a look at yourself? How can you compare to Little Blessing?” She slapped the back of his head again. “Go play at the side!”
“Wuwuwu…”
Little Ah Yu did not know that a group of brats was secretly envious of her behind her back. The little lamb brought her to the village entrance and she saw Old Madam w.a.n.g distributing things with the villagers.
They had all bought food and some small things. There was a lot of miscellaneous stuff. In the end, they could only rent a cart and come back.
They still had to return the cart tomorrow. Coincidentally, the other villagers could also take the chance to go to the city and buy grain seeds.
“Grandma w.a.n.g, why did you buy so much? It must have cost a lot, right?” Someone secretly asked, wanting to see what Old Madam w.a.n.g had bought.
Old Madam w.a.n.g said casually, “It’s already spring. Who doesn’t buy something?”
“Grandma!” Little Ah Yu’s excited voice sounded outside the crowd. The little fellow rode a little lamb and approached.
She ran too quickly, and her red face was like the clouds in the sky, making her look even more innocent.
“My granddaughter is here. I won’t talk to you anymore.” Old Madam w.a.n.g pushed these people aside and carried Little Ah Yu with a smile.
Old Madam w.a.n.g pressed her forehead against Little Ah Yu’s and shook her head, making her giggle.
“Grandma bought something for you. I’ll show it to you when we get back. Be good.”