Goldfield
Chapter 100: To Stop by

When they came out of the city, Yu Hai saw someone selling hot cakes and he bought some. Everyone in the family was already used to Xiaocao needing food at this time. By the time they get home, they may have already missed meals. His daughter may be dying of starvation.

Xiaocao sat on the donkey wagon with his back pressed against a bag full of cotton. His feet dangled on the side of the wagon as he chewed on the delicious hot cake. He looked relaxed and satisfied.

“Brother Dahai, Xiaocao !! I saved you both, come quickly! ” Outside the city gate, Madam Fang has been waiting in Old Zhang's ox cart for a while. It seemed like his business was going well today as the basket in his hand was completely empty. Both eggs and live chickens have been sold out.

Old Zhang gaped in astonishment as he saw Yu Hai leading the donkey wagon. He knocked on the tobacco pipe on the side of his wagon rod and sadly, “Ah, Dahai! Where did this donkey cart come from? Did you really buy it ?? Not that I'm trying to criticize you, but when you buy a donkey, you have to choose a plump and healthy one... This donkey, are you sure you can keep it alive? ”

Yu Hai smiled, “Uncle Zhang, although this donkey is skinny, he is quite lively. I was previously able to spend a few days with someone who was an expert in veterinary medicine, and when I saw this donkey did not have a critical disability, I was able to, I knew that it would be fine after taking care of her for a few days. If the donkey is not thin, how can I get it at a good price and cheap? ”

The old Zhang then asked how much they spent on donkeys and chariots, and Xiaocao told him that they only spent three taels. The old man nodded his head, “Three taels for all this is not considered expensive. It would probably cost the same amount of money to commission a donkey cart. Even if the donkey can not survive, you will not lose too much.. Brother Dahai, did you buy this donkey car for. ”.

Whenever Old Zhang did not transport firewood to the city, he would bring people from the village to the city for a fee. On a good day, he could even earn twenty to thirty copper coins. When he saw Yu Hai's donkey cart, the first thought that came to his mind was, ‘Did Yu Hai try to cut off my business by bringing people into the city? After all, a donkey cart must be faster than a cow cart. ‘

Xiaocao smiled and hurriedly dispelled his fear, “Grandfather Zhang, isn't Shitou studying at the school in the city right now? With a donkey cart, it would be much easier to visit it. We also grow some vegetables in our front and back yards. In the future, it will be easier to sell such vegetables in the city by cart. ”

When Old Zhang heard the little girl blabbering about this and that but did not mention anything about using the donkey cart to bring people into the city, he was able to dispel her worries.

On the way home, Yu Hai was afraid that making the skinny donkey work too hard would exhaust him, so he firmly refused to sit on the wagon. Despite all his efforts, Xiaocao was unable to convince him. He only managed to make her compromise and had her sit on Old Zhang's ox cart. The donkey was very perceptive and blindly followed the ox cart from behind. Other than a slight break in the middle to give the animal a mystical stone water drink, contrary to Yu Hai's fear, the donkey did not faint from exhaustion.

The Xiaocao family lived at the foot of the Western Mountains, so they had to cross more than half of the village when returning from the city. The news that the Yu Hai family had bought the donkey cart had spread throughout the village before the two of them even went home.

Madam Li staggered with her large legs as she ran back home. When she told her mother-in-law what she found, she also added her own decorations. After his failure, the last time he tried to scheme against the second branch, he had learned his lesson. This time, she decided to make her mother-in-law attack the second branch by stating that her father-in-law subsidized them. They had only separated themselves from the main family for a short time, so how could they buy a donkey cart ?!

When Madam Zhang heard Madam Li's accusation, her thin brows instantly wrinkled, “They bought a donkey cart? You certain? ”

Madam Li nodded her head angrily and replied, “I'm very sure. The whole village already knew so they just hid it from us! Mother, just think about it, one donkey costs about five to six taels. When Second Sister-in-law separated from the family, her legs were also injured, so how could she get the money to buy donkeys and carts? Maybe Dad personally.. ”.

Madam Li did not explain any further than that point, but Madam Zhang clearly understood what she meant. The old woman said hesitantly, “I am in charge of all the money in the house! If you say that the old man has about a dozen copper coins in his hand, it is to be believed. However, if you say that he has some taels to subsidize the Second Son, then I guess that is impossible! ”

When Madam Li saw that her mother-in-law was not as angry as she wanted, she started to become anxious, “Mother, if not for Father personally subsidizing them, she started to become anxious, second Sister-in-law's family wouldn't even have enough food to eat. How could they possibly have the money to buy a donkey cart? We've been catching fewer fish lately, but what about before? When Second Sister-in-law's legs were still good, she always gave the money she made from selling the hunted to Father. If he does not give it all to you and has about eight to ten taels in hand, maybe.

“Ah, what !!” When Madam Zhang thought that the old man was secretly giving money to the Second Son family behind his back, anger overflowed within him until it exploded. He violently threw his stitches from his hands into the basket and shouted, “I think it's suspicious that Second Son didn't make a fuss when we separated the family! Apparently he had smeared the old fool down below! It's okay, they have to spit out whatever they swallowed before !! ”

Madam Zhang angrily stomped onto the road leading to the Xiaocao family home. Madam Li grinned proudly as she shook her fat waist from behind. When Yu's eldest brother, Yu Lichun, the eldest daughter-in-law, Madam Liu, saw the facial expressions of the two women as well as the direction they were heading towards, he knew they would cause trouble for Yu Hai . As he silently cursed in his heart, he rushed back to the village to find Old Yu, who was playing go.

Madam Li gazed towards the wooden basin filled with smelly pig intestines and could only remember when the last time she tried to cause trouble for them, just to make himself fall into trouble instead. When he returned home, he had washed his clothes stained with dirt several times. However, as often as she washed it, she always felt a disgusting smell stuck to her shirt. Madam Li suddenly realized that the pig's intestines were in Xiaocao's hands, which were facing her with a faint smile on her face. The woman hurriedly retreated until she was behind Madam Zhang, covered her nose, and said, “When can't mom come to visit? Are you telling me that we should make an appointment just to come to Second Sister-in-law's house? ”

Madam Zhang hastily snorted, “I heard that the Second Son family has hit the jackpot and recently bought a donkey cart. As her mother, shouldn't I come to congratulate you? ”

Suddenly his facial expression changed, “Second Son Wife, tell me the truth! How could you spend so much money on that old man? I'm wondering why your branch so easily agreed to separate families! Apparently you guys have another trick, eh !!! I tell all of you, if you don't tell me where the old geezer is hiding the money, I swear I will make your life hell !! ”

Madam Liu was surprised by the accusation and hurriedly replied, “Mother, what do you mean? Where do we get money from him? When we separated from the family, we only got two taels and we also borrowed some money from my mother's family. Everything is spent on repairing the house. Dad doesn't have any money in his hands. Others may not know how much money there is in the house, but how could you not know? ”

“Looks like I don't know where the money is !! If it wasn't for the old geezer giving you money secretly, how could you all earn enough money in such a short amount of time to buy a donkey cart? Look at you, one paralyzed, the other sick, and the rest are little children! ”

When Madam Zhang found out that a donkey wagon cost about five to six taels, she felt like her heart had been taken away, dripping with blood. Every day the old man and his eldest son went to catch fish, but the number they caught was less than before. The amount of money they make is barely enough to cover family expenses. How long had the old man secretly kept those five to six taels ?!

Madam Liu has a gentle personality, so she obviously cannot argue with Madam Zhang. He was so emotional that tears almost washed his face. He secretly tried to explain, “Mother, the money we used to buy donkeys was all obtained from Xiaocao who sold boiled pork head meat and pork intestines on the dock. If you don't trust me, go to the dock and ask around. Everyone knew about our boiled meat, which was sold for one copper coin. ”

Xiaocao patted his forehead and wailed inwardly, ‘Yes my goodness, Mother! You're too honest, aren't you? In just a few sentences, you basically sold our whole family, ah... ‘

“One copper coin for a serving of meat? Second brother-in-law, who are you trying to pull the wool on, ah? A pig meat is about twenty copper coins. At that price, how many pieces of meat can you get for one copper coin? Not enough to taste! From the outside you look very honest and sincere, but who would have thought you were trying to trick Mom! ” Mistress Li had an expression of self-satisfaction on her face as she cynically commented on the side.

“Oldest sister-in-law, I'm not trying to fool Mom! If you use seasoning to boil pork intestines and meat from a pig's head, it tastes quite good. We could earn around twenty to thirty copper coins a day ..if not for this, our entire family would have starved to death by now … “Madam Liu is not entirely naive and does not tell the truth to them: that they actually produce about two hundred to three hundred copper coins a day.

However, obtaining twenty to thirty copper coins per day was enough to make Madam Zhang and Madam Li salivate in envy! Madam Zhang inched a little closer to the wooden basin filled with dirty, disgusting, only suitable for feeding dogs, pig intestines but was pushed back by their foul smell. He sneered and said, “Which person would buy something so disgusting and smelly? Do you think this old lady is stupid and easy to fool? Even if you earn around twenty to thirty coins a day and spend nothing on food or drink, it is still not enough to buy a donkey cart after only saving for ten days! ”

Yu Hai had been in the backyard putting a donkey under the shed. When she heard the commotion, she quickly walked over and calmly said to Madam Zhang, “Mother, we bought a seriously ill donkey to the point of almost dying. The previous owner did not want the animal anymore, and we only had to pay enough money to pay for the cart. We only spent a total of about three taels. If you don't trust me, you can go to the backyard and have a look around.. ”.

At the back of the house, Little Grey lay comfortably on the ground under the sun after drinking more mystical stone water. From Madam Zhang's point of view, he could only see an extremely thin donkey and almost no meat on it lying listlessly on the ground. He thought it clearly did not have the energy to even stand up and, thus, he began to somewhat believe Yu Hai's words.

However, he could not come here just like that without gaining the advantage he could obtain. His eyes turned as he said, “Second Son, ah. Your family is able and hardworking to be able to make twenty to thirty copper coins a day. But you don't even know how to help other family members. Your mom and dad barely have enough food to eat, but you're wasting money buying a sick donkey that's about to die. Are you not afraid of others accusing you of not being filial ?! ”

Xiaocao wanted to laugh in anger and could not keep his mouth shut as he replied, “Grandmother, don't forget that we've separated families! When we parted, we only got three plots of sandy soil, two taels, and a broken old house that wasn't even livable. In addition, when we parted, we had a written contract that explained it very clearly. Every year, we only need to give you five hundred catties of grain or one tael and five hundred coins. Grandma, we haven't even planted sweet potatoes yet, how can we help you? ”

Madam Zhang greedily kept the three hundred taels that had risked her life for Yu Hai, but was not the least bit embarrassed as she confidently asserted, “Can't we sell pork offal for money? Then just give us the recipe of boiled pork head and pork offal. Don't hide it from us. Even though we were separated, we were still a family. Better to give us an advantage than to let outsiders know.. ”.

Xiaocao felt somewhat helpless. They are trying to decide their only chance of survival! He was overjoyed inwardly as the weather today was colder as all the vegetables in the back garden had been covered with straw mats. Otherwise, if Madam Zhang and Madam Li saw them grow up, they might want to lay their dirty hands on them. Clearly, there was nothing these two women would not do.