I was a little surprised to see her.
"Why did Yuan Niang come here at this time? Is there something going on at home?"
There are more watermelons planted, and Li Yuan also learned to check the maturity of watermelons during this time.
She glanced at the watermelons on the vines in the courtyard and said, "Third Aunt, it's very chaotic outside now. Can Niang and Uncle Niang almost didn't come back from Fucheng this time. Sister Su came to collect the watermelons, and I told her, This time you and your third uncle and three younger siblings will go with her. As for the watermelons in your field, they will take a long time and she won’t be able to collect them. I will give them to you at the price she gave you, one tael of silver. In a few days God, together with mine, I will sell it to Mr. Xu.”
Ma knew the price that Brother Cao paid for the watermelon. When he heard the two taels of silver, he was a little worried and said, "The price Miss Su gave was one twenty taels, but Cao Dong's house only paid one hundred cents per catty. Yuan Niang, you If you give me two ounces, don’t you have to go in and build it yourself?”
"No, my watermelon will definitely rise as appropriate. Third aunt, don't worry."
Mr. Ma has been setting up a noodle stall in the county town for a few months. How could he not know that there is no reason to change the price that has been negotiated.
What's more, the person who will do business with her will most likely be County Magistrate Xu.
How can it be said that selling it to Cao Zhi costs one hundred cents, but selling it to County Magistrate Xu costs two taels.
But she also knew that Li Yuan probably saw her family's difficulties and wanted to supplement them, but was afraid that she wouldn't accept it.
While she was moved, she silently kept this in mind.
Even fortunately, this is just the first step into the courtyard. No matter how large the area is, it is limited, and she doesn't plant that much.
In this way, there is no need for Yuan Niang to supplement too much!
"Okay, then your three siblings and I will go back in two or three days, and I will leave this place to you."
"Um!"
After the two of them said this, since there were no outsiders at home and the door was closed, Mrs. Ma took the opportunity to ask about Li Yuanling's return.
"Yuan Niang, didn't your eldest uncle take your two sisters-in-law to Fucheng, why did you come back? Also, you just said that you almost didn't come back. What happened on the way?"
Cheng Xuejiao, who was silent on the side, also looked at her curiously.
Li Yuan did not hide anything from them and told Wang Can what she learned from Yan Jiao. She even told them about the time when they were stopped and asked for tolls on their way back.
Of course, she didn't say anything about Wang Can and Ling having their clothes taken off. She felt that it was not a glorious thing and there was no need to talk about it everywhere.
As long as the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law know that it's very chaotic and dangerous outside, that's fine.
Sure enough, when Li Yuan finished speaking, Wang Can came all the way back and was asked to pay more than ten taels of toll before he even got halfway. The expressions of Ma's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law changed.
After their noodle stall failed to do well, their daily profits dropped significantly.
When everyone came to eat before, they always ordered noodles, meat sauce and soup, but now they basically don't order soup anymore, and at most they just drink a bowl of water.
And the noodles are just cold noodles.
Just like this, fewer and fewer people came to eat.
Coupled with the hot weather, they don't work all day like they used to. Many times, even if they set up a stall, they only have breakfast and then stop.
Ten taels of silver, based on their current income from the noodle stall, may not be available in a year.
Li Yuan saw that the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were focused on money, so she asked Cheng Xuejiao: "Third brother and sister, I remember that your mother-in-law's family is not willing to go with you. You see, the situation outside is not good now, and the eldest uncle's mother-in-law's family is not willing to leave either. Why? You even came back here specifically, do you want to go back and persuade your mother-in-law’s family? You can’t, just stay here and wait for death, right?”
Cheng Xuejiao shook her head: "I don't want to persuade you anymore! They said they wouldn't leave, and they also said that Mr. Xu is a good official. If it is like what I said, Mr. Xu will not ignore everyone. At worst, he will leave with everyone."
Li Yuan didn't know this, so she was stunned for a moment when she heard this, and then stopped trying to persuade her.
"Okay, anyway, I brought the message here. By the way, Third Aunt, since you have decided to go with us, you can pack up now. The food, the house and so on."
"Well, I'll go to the horse-drawn carriage shop later and ask if I can hire one to go with Miss Su and the others. It will be safer this way."
As she said this, she hesitated and asked Li Yuan: "Mother Yuan, today is already twenty-five, and the results for the government examination should be out, right? Do you know how Zhengzi and the others did in the examination?"
Li Yuan shook her head: "I don't know. I haven't been to the county these days. How about I go to the Yamen to ask about the results of the government examination?"
Cheng Xuejiao immediately echoed after hearing this: "Sister, I'll go with you."
"Okay, let's go!"
In the yamen, Xu Chongguang had fewer and fewer merchants coming and going due to the weather during this period, and more and more wealthy businessmen were walking around. He was so worried that he couldn't eat well, couldn't sleep well, and even had a lot of hair. of falling.
However, he was also very glad that he had listened to Xie Yanzhi's suggestion before. During spring plowing, the people under Liuyun County were notified that they were not allowed to plant rice, but only drought-tolerant crops, such as sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes.
Otherwise, he wouldn't know how to solve the problem of water diversion and irrigation at this moment.
When Li Yuan came over, he rarely squinted for a while, so it was Master Bai who met her.
"Sister-in-law, come here today. Is the watermelon ripe?"
Master Bai is also thinking about watermelon.
For the watermelon money prepared by Xu Chongguang, he fought for it and took out all the money that previous merchants had given him as a gift and participated in 10% of it.
He had heard that Cao Zhi resold a watermelon to the Guo family for four taels of silver.
As for the Guo family, he also got the news that they were selling for ten taels each.
He discussed with Xu Chongguang that since the money he collected was to be sent back to the Xu family to the third prince, it would be better to spend the least amount of money to do the greatest thing.
For example, after spending three to five hundred taels to buy a watermelon, after it is shipped back to the capital, the Xu family will find a way to send it to the palace, or through the third prince to operate it, and then sell it at a high price.
A watermelon costs thirty or fifty taels.
In this way, even if there are only two or three hundred watermelons, they can be sold for thousands or even thousands of taels.
And 10% of his shareholding actually belonged to him and Xu Chongguang, so he sold it to someone from the Bai family at a slightly lower price.
Some of the money from the sale was left to their respective families, and the rest was sent back to them for use.
It can be said that when you make money, it is through your own clever mind, not through corruption and bribery.
Whether they should be good officials or good officials, and whether they should deserve their political achievements or not, there is no conflict between the two. They are still good adults in the eyes of the people.
Li Yuan didn't know Master Bai and Xu Chongguang's total. When she heard what he said, she said: "Your watermelons will be available in half a month. I promise that it will be no less than 500 by then. You just need to prepare the money." I came here today because of the government examination. I wonder if Master Bai knows about this government examination. How many people did we pass in Liuyun County?"
