178 Chapter 178: The Great Drought Continued
Qin Xiaoyao smiled and looked away from her eldest sister-in-law. She then turned to look at Big Girl Li and Liu Xiaomei.
“You guys should go back too. Also, Eldest Sister-in-law will be coming over to help in the future, so you don’t have to come over in the morning.”
Big Girl was also pregnant, and Qin Xiaoyao didn’t pay Liu Xiaomei any salary.
It wasn’t good to make others work for nothing.
Since her eldest sister-in-law was here, she was not short of manpower for the time being.
Liu Xiaomei looked at Big Girl Li.
When she saw Big Girl Li nod at her, she agreed to the proposal.
Then, she left with Big Girl Li.
After the two of them left, Qin Xiaoyao took half a basket of bean sprouts and went to look for Madam Liu and Song Que.
“Mother…” Qin Xiaoyao called out to Madam Liu from a distance.
Madam Liu turned around and saw her daughter-in-law coming over with her youngest son, their faces full of smiles.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“I’ll leave this half basket of bean sprouts here. If someone comes to buy bean sprouts later, you can weigh it for them straightaway!” As she spoke, Qin Xiaoyao brought over the bean sprouts and the scale.
“Sure!” Madam Liu quickly answered.
“A few people said they would come over to sell eggs and buy bean sprouts later!”
“That’s great. If we can get enough eggs, you don’t have to go to the market to collect them anymore later on,” Qin Xiaoyao responded with a smile.
“How can it be enough? How much can our neighbors bring? I will still have to go to the market later to collect some more!”
“Alright then! Then let’s have breakfast first!” Qin Xiaoyao continued.
Xiaomei and Yun’er had already prepared breakfast. After eating, everyone would have to go back to their own jobs.
Madam Liu immediately said, “Good! Then I’ll bring my breakfast out to eat here!”
During this time, people were still coming to their house, so she had to keep an eye on them.
Qin Xiaoyao’s eyes flickered.
“Why don’t we all have our breakfast here? It’s cooler in the courtyard anyway.”
Madam Liu thought about it and felt that it made sense, so she agreed.
Thus, the whole family ate breakfast in the courtyard.
During their meal, there were people who came to buy water, buy bean sprouts, sell chicken eggs, and so on. They were able to serve these people without delay.
After the meal, Liu Daniu, Big Girl Li, Liu Xiaomei and Qin Dahu arrived one after another.
After Qin Xiaoyao distributed the goods and settled the accounts with Liu Daniu, she got busy with her work again.
Wang Xiaomei followed her, pushing the handcart out of the courtyard.
After Madam Liu and Song Yun cleaned up the kitchen, they also carried the bamboo backpacks and went out into the street.
Things finally quietened down in the Song family’s compound.
In the end, after Madam Liu left, another neighbor came to buy bean sprouts and sell eggs.
Song Que came out to serve him.
After buying and selling the goods, he went back to his room and wrote a new notice before instructing Song Ye to stick it on the door.
In the future, the family would only sell bean sprouts and collect eggs during the four sessions when they sold water. They would not do business at any other time.
When Madam Liu came back and learned of this news, she expressed her approval.
Otherwise, it would be a headache if people kept coming to disturb them from time to time.
After a while, Qin Dazhuang arrived with Qin Erhu.
After greeting Madam Liu and Song Que, the two of them started to get busy in the courtyard.
On the other side, after Qin Xiaoyao delivered the goods to the Mansion and Restaurant, she went to the lumber shop.
She bought a handcart full of materials and pulled it home.
Then, she helped Qin Dazhuang and Qin Erhu with the construction work.
As a result, by noon, the frame of the shed was more than half completed.
“Alright, we’ll stop here for the morning. I’ll get your big brother over in the afternoon. We’ll be able to finish this job before dark!” Qin Dazhuang said to Qin Xiaoyao as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.
“We’ll be leaving now. It’s hot outside. Hurry and go inside!”
“What’s the hurry? I’ll go get some hot water for you two to wash up. Rest a while first before leaving!” Qin Xiaoyao said hurriedly.
She didn’t ask them to stay for lunch since she didn’t even have time to cook.
Right now, the kitchen chores were done by Xiaomei with Yun’er in tow.
The two little girls could only make some simple dishes. They were not up to the task of cooking the more challenging main dishes.
“No need! It’s the same if we go back and wash!” Qin Dazhuang immediately refused her offer.
“That’s right. After washing up, I’ll still be drenched in sweat later when I leave this place!” Qin Erhu chimed in.
“Your eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law should be done with the food by now. We should go back for lunch.”
Only then did Qin Xiaoyao not hold the father and son back and allow them to leave.
After the two of them left, Qin Xiaoyao went to the kitchen to get some hot water.
...
Then, she washed her face, wiped her arms, and so on to cool herself down.
Thereafter, she rested for a while before going to the kitchen to help bring the food to the hall.
After setting up the table, Qin Xiaoyao went to the tree under the scorching sun to call Madam Liu and Song Que for lunch.
“I’ll keep watch. Mother, you go eat with Hubby first. After you’ve eaten, you can come and swap places with me,” Qin Xiaoyao said.
It was almost 12:45 pm, and there were only three people in the queue. One person was enough to keep watch.
Just as Madam Liu was about to protest, Song Que spoke first.
“I’ll keep watch. You guys go eat.”
“How can I allow this?” Qin Xiaoyao was the first to object.
“The sun is so hot. You won’t be able to stand it. Be good and go back to eat with Mother. Then go back to your room after eating,” she said.
Madam Liu was very surprised to hear this, but Song Que felt quite awkward.
Er… her daughter-in-law was genuinely concerned about her eldest son, yet… Why did Madam Liu feel that these words sounded a little strange?
...
After Madam Liu gave him a strange look, Song Que felt embarrassed instantly.
“Ahem. I told you to go eat, so just go.” Then, his face clouded over.
Seeing Song Que’s darkened face, Qin Xiaoyao finally didn’t argue back again.
“Alright, Hubby. Then I’ll come and swap places with you after lunch,” she hurriedly said.
After she finished speaking, she reluctantly left with Madam Liu.
Only after they had gone far away did Song Que raise his head and look at Qin Xiaoyao’s departing back profile.
The corners of his mouth curved up into a smile discreetly.
The blessed and happy days passed by quickly, and it was late August in the blink of an eye.
In the past month, there was still no rain.
The crops in the fields had long withered and died, and there was almost no harvest this autumn.
After the water in the paddy fields evaporated, cracks appeared on the ground, forming ugly crazed patterns.
The nearest river to Mountain Spring Town, River Ringwaters, had almost dried up.
At this point, the price of grain in Mountain Spring Town rose again.
The price of brown rice and coarse flour had risen to seven copper coins per catty.
According to Qin Dazhuang, this price was the same as the price during the drought more than 20 years ago.
The high grain prices had driven up the prices of some other necessities in the town. This caused the common folks to feel uneasy.
At the same time, over at the Wang family’s residence in Brook Falls Village.
“Boo hoo hoo! Master, I was wrong about what happened in the past! Just let me stay!”
“It’s not that I don’t want to get the money back. They won’t give it to me!”
“Now, the water source at the Qian family’s village is almost dry. The village chief made arrangements and told the families to prepare to move out of the village. Brother and Sister-in-law are not willing to take me with them.”
“I have no choice but to come and look for you!”
“On account of the fact that we’ve been husband and wife for more than 20 years, and I’ve also given birth to Dashan and Xiaomei for you, let me stay! Boo hoo hoo…” Madam Qian sat on the ground and hugged Wang Laoshuan’s thigh, crying piteously.
The current Madam Qian looked nothing like the woman who left Brook Falls Village back then.