Transmigration: A Farm Girl’s Brocade
Chapter 257 - 172: New Year’s Gifts_1

Chapter 257: Chapter 172: New Year’s Gifts_1

After a rain in autumn, the cold sets in, and by the end of October, the temperature dropped suddenly, making the bleakness of fall all the more palpable.

The farm work in the fields was pretty much done, and the farmers, now having some leisure time, were looking for odd jobs to earn a little extra to ensure a comfortable year. This time of year was the best for hiring short-term laborers.

The Qian family’s third wife and the Wan family were both looking to hire short-term laborers to dig ponds. Because many workers were needed, not only did people from the nearby Huaxi Village, Darong Village, and Erliu Village come, but also people from neighboring towns.

The third wife’s family hired over sixty people, while the three other families hired fifteen people each. Along with this, they hired Madam Hua and a few other women to specifically cook for those digging the ponds. The families pooled their money together on a per-laborer basis and gave it to Madam Hua, who was responsible for all matters concerning food purchase and preparation. The food was cooked at her house, and once ready, it was carted to the work site.

Meanwhile, as the pond-digging was in full swing, the lotus roots in the Qian family’s third wife’s lake had also grown old and ripe. It was the best time for lotus roots, sweet and glutinous in flavor; as soon as they were harvested, they were taken away by Jinxiu Embroidery Workshop to be sold. In fact, the tender lotus roots had already started to be harvested in mid-August, but in small quantities.

Perhaps the water quality in her lake was better, for the lotus roots were larger, sweeter and had a better yield than those grown by others.

Over the course of the season, her six-mu lake produced more than 16,000 jin of lotus roots with more still in the lake, waiting to be harvested before New Year’s, projected to be a few thousand jin more. Altogether, this could amount to a harvest of more than 20,000 jin of lotus roots.

Because the quality was good, they sold for slightly more than others, at about five wen money per jin. Along with the fish from the lake, this could bring in a profit of more than 120 taels of silver.

Upon seeing the third wife’s family’s income, the big and second houses also felt that buying land and digging ponds had been the right decision.

Wan Dazhong was overseeing the pond digging at the west end of Huaxi Village and not only ran to the Qian family’s third wife’s house for lunch and dinner, but he also made trips to their house almost every now and then. If it wasn’t for drinking water, it was to use the latrine, then he would chat with Qian Sangui for a bit, steal a glance at Qian Manxia and after spending less than a quarter of an hour, he would hurriedly head back.

Qian Yixiu teased with a smile, "Uncle Wan, you might as well just sit in my house and not move, and let Brother Huang Tie watch over your pond digging. Like this, you spend more time on the road than you do at my house, and it’s so tiring. What if you drink too much water and can’t reach your field before needing the latrine again? Then what?"

Next to her, Qian Manxia’s face turned bright red with embarrassment, and she stomped her foot, scolding, "Yixiu, you’re talking nonsense again, I’m going to tell our mother on you."

Wan Dazhong, on the other hand, smiled good-naturedly, saying, "No, no, if that happens, I’ll just come back, Uncle Wan is not afraid of getting tired."

Seeing his agreeable demeanor, Qian Yixiu covered her mouth and laughed out loud, then added, "Uncle Wan is happy in his heart, of course he isn’t afraid of the tiredness."

Upon hearing this, both Wan Dazhong and Qian Manxia turned their cheeks red and sneaked a look at each other, then quickly turned their gazes away.

This was the vexing thing about ancient times, even if a betrothed man and woman were deeply affectionate, they had to follow decorum, and were too embarrassed to even speak more than a few words to each other.

However, seeing my little aunt’s tender young face filled with the sweetness of love still felt somewhat incongruous. After all, she had just started the second year of junior high, hadn’t she?

Entering the winter months, Qian Sangui began to feel unwell again, although it wasn’t as serious as in previous years when he would be bedridden and unable to move; he just couldn’t go outside, and spent his days indoors wearing a thick cotton robe and a fox fur hat, warming himself by the charcoal stove.

Now, with Old man Cai in charge, many decisions were made by him, and only when it was of utmost importance would he go and report to Qian Sangui.

The Qianxiang House was once again organizing the stuffing of sausages. Although sausage had become a common food in many places, the best-tasting ones were still those made by Qianxiang House.

Following Qian Yixiu’s suggestion, Uncle Li improved the packaging of the sausages made by his family, branding them as "Li’s" sausages. They didn’t just make sausages but also dry-cured bacon. Once made, Jinxiu Embroidery Workshop would help with the sales. Naturally, the distribution in Capital City was managed by Shopkeeper Cui, while in the province’s capital, it remained the responsibility of Song Mansion.

Jinxiu Embroidery Workshop had now established a long-term trade partnership with Song Mansion.

This time, when Shopkeeper Cui returned to the Capital City, he brought not only sausages but the Qian family also gifted Duke Mansion with several hundred jin of lotus roots. As a gift for the New Year, they also sent Zhang family, Song Mansion, and Di Mansion four hundred jin of lotus roots each, and one hundred jin of sausages and dry-cured bacon each.

Qian Yeejin personally took a leave of absence to deliver the New Year’s gifts to Song and Di mansions.

Zhang family and Song Mansion happily sent back gifts, which were items such as cloth and educational supplies. The economic value of their return gifts was a bit higher than what the Qian family had sent.

Sir Di was not at the mansion, but the house manager, knowing Qian Yijin was Sir Di’s "little friend," not only graciously accepted the New Year’s gifts but also sent back gifts of equal value.

However, two days later, Old Woman Di had one of her maids find Jinxiu Embroidery Workshop in Xishan County, saying the household very much enjoyed the sausages and lotus roots they had received and wanted to buy more. She also handed over five wen money to Qian Hua.

Looking at the five wen money in his hand, Qian Hua thought for a moment, then had someone bring fifty jin of sausages and two hundred jin of lotus roots to them. Immediately after, he hurriedly sent someone to inform Qian Sangui that he had conducted a bad piece of business.

Upon hearing this, Qian Sangui instructed the messenger to go back and tell him he was right to do as he had, despite the loss this deal had incurred.

The young Yijin was conflicted. He didn’t know whether he should mention to Sir Di that what his mother had done was too much. Although it was just a little food and wasn’t worth much money, even giving it away wouldn’t be considered bribery. But it surely wasn’t good for Sir Di’s reputation.

Yixiu advised, "Sir Di is so clever, he must know about his mother’s actions and will decide how to handle it. It’s not a lot of stuff, and it can be seen as a gesture from us." He also said, "Old Woman Di probably still holds the old countryside notion, thinking that five wen money equals five hundred wen money, which can buy a lot of things. She didn’t mean to pay so little for so much, and if Uncle Qianhua had given her goods just worth five wen money, the old lady wouldn’t have been upset."

After hearing this, Yijin felt a bit better. After all, Sir Di was his idol, and he didn’t want the idol’s mother to tarnish his idol’s reputation.

A few days later, when Sir Di returned from Capital City, he quickly learned about the matter and sent his aide, Mr. Wei, to Jinxiu Embroidery Workshop to find Qian Hua. Mr. Wei, smiling, said that the sausages and lotus roots were very delicious and thanked them for their kindness. He also gave a red envelope for Yijin in advance for Qian Hua to pass along.

On the twentieth of the twelfth lunar month, the private school closed for the holiday, not to reopen until the twentieth of the first lunar month in the new year.

Yijin wanted to stay overnight in the county town to experience life as a resident there. Yixiu had long wanted to stay in that residence but had never managed to do so.

Seeing the young boy’s desire to stay there, he became eager as well, tugging at Cheng Yue’s skirt, expressing his wish to join his brother. However, seeing the red rims around their young mother’s eyes, he reluctantly raised both hands in surrender.

Wan Dazhong said he happened to be going to the county town to buy New Year’s goods, so he took the young boy with him, along with Qian Yishan.

After playing in the county town for three days, the young boy returned, bringing back an old man with him.