Chapter 237: Lack of Firewood
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
She had only collected a hundred over taels of silver, and she called that “a lot of money?”
His wife got satisfied really easily.
“Then… shall we… celebrate?” The woman’s gaze quickly turned villainous.
Song Que’s cheeks turned red when he met her eyes.
He quickly recovered himself and said, “Ahem. I’ll go wash up first…”
After that, he walked briskly into the inner room.
Where on earth was there a woman who behaved like her?
She was really… so outrageous that he found it hard to control himself.
When he heard the woman’s laughter behind him, Song Que could not help but clench his fists.
Should he try reasserting his husbandly authority tonight?
In the outer room, Qin Xiaoyao giggled for a while before she stopped.
Well, she had only wanted to tease her husband.
However, when she saw her husband’s bashful expression, she began to feel frisky and excited.
Therefore, she had better hurry and wash off the stinky sweat on her body.
After that, she could hop into bed and hug her husband!
When she thought of this, Qin Xiaoyao quickly zipped through the door.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
The sheds that Qin Xiaoyao asked for were all completed.
In the past two days, there had been a lot of changes in the town.
The price of grain had risen to 35 copper coins per catty. At the same time, there were more incidences of beggars hurting people and robbery cases soared.
There were even more refugees gathered outside the town, surrounding the town gates, hoping that the government office would open the town gates to let them in.
The entire town was in a state of nervous anxiety.
Despite the weather having cooled down, the morning market ended even earlier.
There were no more night markets at night, and in fact, people rarely ventured out after dusk.
Under such circumstances, Wang Dashan and the Qin brothers were extremely worried.
The bean sprouts that Qin Xiaoyao promised to give them hadn’t even been distributed yet, but the situation had already become so tense.
Their business would not be doing well from now on.
At the same time, the Liu brothers had also found out that Wang Dashan was about to collaborate with the Qin brothers.
After the two brothers thought about it, they approached Wang Dashan and the Qin brothers.
Following that, they went to the Song family’s place to look for Qin Xiaoyao.
They expressed their desire to join the group of people selling bean sprouts and collaborate with Wang Dashan and the Qin brothers to operate this business.
Moreover, the two brothers had already discussed with the Qin brothers and Wang Dashan that they would split up and work in different areas.
Qin Xiaoyao wasn’t surprised to hear this news.
She indicated her willingness to support them.
After that, Qin Xiaoyao arranged for Eldest Sister-in-law Qin to pick out twice as many beans.
Since she had decided to expand her business, she had to take action.
As for the bandit trouble, since Qin Xiaoyao was not sure which day it would happen, she could not wait indefinitely.
Hence, four days later, Wang Dashan and company received the first batch of bean sprouts from Qin Xiaoyao.
The few men had already discussed and agreed on how they would split up the work scope in their collaboration.
After they went their separate ways, they pushed their handcarts to the town center district and the eastern district to begin their door-to-door sales methodology.
Thanks to Wang Dashan who gave them prior training, based on his personal experience of selling firewood door to door, those few guys all knew that they had to knock on the back doors of the big families.
In addition, they also paid attention to the way they spoke.
In the end, after a series of operations, they found that their bean sprouts were actually selling quite smoothly.
Most of the families would buy a few catties when they saw the fresh bean sprouts.
After all, large families had more mouths to feed and needed more food.
Some even made reservations for a few days after learning that they could place orders in advance.
So, after the group of guys had sold out the bean sprouts they obtained wholesale one after another, they were very excited when they returned to the Song family’s house.
They were all discussing the big clients they had met today and the pre-orders they had received.
Qin Xiaoyao was also very happy when she heard this news.
Based on everyone’s requirements, she began to adjust the amount of bean sprouts she was planting.
And so, the Song family’s bean sprout business expanded further.
Before they realized it, it was the end of October.
It had been more than 20 days since the town gates of Mountain Spring Town were closed.
The oppressive feeling in the town was getting more and more severe. During the day, there were fewer shops open for business.
The incidence of individual households shutting their doors also became higher than before.
More beggars were starving to death in the town, and there were some nasty incidents too.
At the same time, the situation outside the town was getting worse.
Riots broke out among the refugees outside the town. Some people were robbed while others were killed.
Occurrences of cooking human flesh and exchanging children for food had already taken place.
There were even some refugees who had organized themselves and wanted to break through the town gates and besiege the town.
Fortunately, the town gates of Mountain Spring Town were sturdy, and the combat ability of the soldiers was better than that of the refugees. Not only did the refugees not succeed, but they also suffered heavy losses.
At the Song family’s residence.
“Sanya, I… don’t want the pay for these few days.”
“Can you… give me a few bundles of firewood instead?” Eldest Sister-in-law Qin twisted her hands and said to Qin Xiaoyao in embarrassment.
Her younger sister-in-law paid her every five days, which came to 200 copper coins.
According to the market price before the town was sealed, 200 copper coins was enough to buy a lot of firewood for the family.
However, there was a severe shortage of goods and resources in town. The town had been sealed for more than 20 days, and every household was short of firewood.
Some families had to resort to starting a fire only every two days.
Even if Eldest Sister-in-law Qin had the money, she couldn’t find anyone to buy firewood from.
Among the people she knew, only her younger sister-in-law’s family had a pile of firewood that seemingly could not run out.
She had to hand it to her younger sister-in-law. She really had foresight.
Qin Xiaoyao was surprised momentarily.
Only then did she realize that she had only been concerned with sending food to her maiden family but had forgotten to give firewood.
“I’ll still pay you. When Big Brother and Second Brother return, tell them to come and take two bundles of firewood each back home,” she said.
It was just firewood. She had plenty at home.
“When the firewood is used up, just get Big Brother and Second Brother to come around and get some more,” Qin Xiaoyao continued.
Eldest Sister-in-law Qin’s heart skipped a beat and she immediately said, “How can I allow that?”
“Why not?” Qin Xiaoyao asked with a smile.
“I have so much in the house. We can’t finish using them anyway.”
The bandit trouble wouldn’t last long.
When the bandit trouble ended and the town gates were opened again, the firewood could be replenished.
Besides, Qin Xiaoyao had indeed overstocked a little too much firewood.
“But…”
“No buts. The temperature has dropped sharply these few days. How can you not make a fire at home?”
“Besides, even if you guys can endure it, I can’t bear to see my father and my nephew suffer,” Qin Xiaoyao said.
It was not good to eat raw and cold food and drink cold water for a long time.
“Alright! Thank you, Sanya!” Eldest Sister-in-law Qin finally agreed, and her eyes were glistening with grateful emotions.
“We’re a family. No need to be so polite!” Qin Xiaoyao replied with a smile.
She paid Eldest Sister-in-law Qin her salary.
After talking to Eldest Sister-in-law Qin for a while longer, Qin Xiaoyao saw her off.
When it was almost noon, the Qin brothers finished selling the bean sprouts and returned to the Song family’s residence.
The bean sprouts were also selling well today. The two brothers talked and laughed as they walked into the compound.
After meeting Qin Xiaoyao, they explained the situation to her.
They also suggested that they come in the afternoon to get more bean sprouts and continue to sell them in the town center district.
After becoming familiar with the bean sprout business, the group of men allocated different areas for themselves and they worked separately.
Qin Xiaoyao was very pleased after inquiring about her brothers’ sales.
She then asked them to send some firewood home..