Goldfield
Chapter 94: The Donkey Car

When Brother Liu came out of the guesthouse, he saw that Xiaocao was still standing there. He raised his eyebrows and asked, “Thank you very much for your help today — is there anything else you need?

Xiaocao took out a piece of copper coin from his embroidery bag and raised it towards him, “Brother Liu, this is the rest of the money from buying all the ingredients, this is take..”.

The food table only needs half of the pork belly catties, one catties of pork legs, five duck egg yolks, fish they catch themselves, and dried tofu and cabbage of little value. Overall, it only takes about one tael and three hundred copper coins to prepare an entire meal.

However, Brother Liu did not extend his hand to receive the money. He looked at his hand nonchalantly and said, “No need! The price of one food table in Zhenxiu Restaurant was at least thirty to fifty taels. When you count them, I'm the one who makes the profit! Thank you for helping me retain my huge clientele! ”

Xiaocao happily returned the money to his wallet and patted his bulging pockets. He grinned, “What are you thanking me for? I'm so glad I could help you! This is not the beginning anymore, Brother Liu, you should go and do what you need to do. ”

By making a few dishes, he could earn at least one tael. He hoped this type of business could happen several times a month! When he thought of Brother Six's important client who rewarded him with five taels, Xiaocao felt even more dizzy and excited. Not only did he make enough money to pay for his younger brother's school fees, he, but also have the leftovers to buy at least two sets of clothes for everyone in her family and materials to make some warm blankets!

“Cao’er, what happened that made you so happy?” As Yu Hai pushed the wheelbarrow, he noticed that his daughter sitting on top would occasionally giggle from time to time, which left him perplexed. For the past half a year or so, her youngest daughter seemed overly sensitive and mature. Sometimes he felt like there was an adult soul living inside his thin and stocky body.

XIaocao looked around them before he took out a large piece of silver from his breast pocket. He waved the money in front of his father and said, “See! What do you think this is.. ”.

“Is it silver? How big, the price must be about five taels right? ” A surprised expression appeared on Yu Hai's face as he questioned him, “Cao’er, where did it come from?”

“An important client Brother Six gave it as a gift to me. He said that the food I made was even tastier than the best restaurant in the capital! ” Xiaocao's face shone with pride, and if he was a child, his tail would point straight up.

Her youngest daughter rarely showed her childish side, so Yu Hai chuckled, “Of course, my Cao’er is the best! If I didn't know better, I would believe that the Food God has entered your body! ”

“Hee hee! It doesn't matter whether the Food God is with me or the blessing of the Fortune God, as long as I can make money then it doesn't matter! In about two more days, do you think Brother Qian Wen will go home for a break? Tomorrow is the day of the market at the pier. We have to buy some cloth and cotton and make Little Shitou into two new sets of clothes.. ”Xiaocao blabbed happily and words flowed from his mouth nonstop. Seeing that he was happy and excited, Yu Hai simply nodded and agreed with everything he said.

With Yu Hai pushing, the way home of over twenty kilometers seemed not as long as before. The two of them rested at the halfway point, and Xiaocao rolled up his father's trouser leg and began massaging his injured leg with a trained motion. He felt as if his father had worked too hard to walk and said, “Dad, we have about seven to eight taels now. What if instead of getting new clothes and blankets, we get a cow cart instead? ”

Yu Hai wiped the sweat on his face and drank a mouthful of sweet and delicious water that had previously been boiled. He felt as if all the fatigue in his body had quickly dissipated. Xiaocao had specially prepared water from the mystic stone for his father to carry, so it was only natural that the effect would be like that.

When he heard his suggestion, he laughed, “Seven to eight taels is just enough to buy an ox alone. If we wanted the cart to carry it, even if we provided the wood, it would still require an additional few hundred copper coins. The money that our family has today is almost enough to buy a donkey cart. ”.

“The donkey is faster than an ox, so it might be better if the donkey pulls the wagon! Dad, how much is a donkey worth? How about we buy a donkey and then have Third Mother's Uncle help us make a donkey cart. Within a few days, the vegetables at home were ready for sale. If we had a donkey cart, wouldn't it be easier to take it to the market? ”

In his previous life, it was rare to see a donkey, even in rural areas. He could vaguely remember that his family had kept a donkey when he was young. He was even carried by his father as he drove a donkey cart to go to the city market!

Yu Hai felt his heart beating fast at the idea. The plots of land in the front and back yard are already lush and verdant by growing green vegetables. After growing for more than twenty days, the produce will soon be ready to be picked and sold in the market. If they did not have a cart, they would have to rely on someone transporting vegetables on foot to take them to the city. It will be a pretty hard effort!

“A male donkey should weigh about four to five taels. If we add on the cart, I think Cao’er will not be able to wear new clothes then.. ”Yu Hai caught a glimpse of his daughter's worn out clothes and patched with a hint of guilt. The weather was getting warmer but none of her children had neat clothes to wear. As a father, he disappointed his children.

“This is no problem. If we spend all the money, we can make more later! We still have to buy donkeys first, so in the future, whether we go to the dock to sell cooked food or go to the city, it will be much easier for us to travel! ” The corner of Xiaocao's mouth curls into a grin and a feeling of pleasure flows into his heart — soon his family will become the owner of the cart!

“Good! When we send Shitou to the academy in the city, we can easily stop by the cow and horse market to take a look. If there is a suitable animal there, then we can buy it! In the future, when Little Shitou went to the city, we could drop her off and pick her up easily using the donkey carriage. Your mother will be relieved too! ” Yu Hai made the final decision and could not be swayed by the idea of getting a donkey cart!

For the next few days, the entire Yu Family was busy with their duties. Xiaocao and Yu Hai went to the dock in the morning to sell their boiled food. During that time, Little Shitou would bring her older sister, Xiaolian, to the pond behind their house to catch fish. Lady Liu spent her time at home working on sewing a few pieces of clothing for her youngest son. He had seen that the neighboring boy, Qian Wen, was now wearing a long robe. So he imitated that style and made a long, indigo blue robe for his son.

That's actually pretty funny. Xiaolian had gone to the dock for about four to five days now, but none of the customers at the dock realized the two girls were different people, except Brother Six. Little Shitou said that Brother Six seemed to be very surprised when he came once to buy pickled fish, but the man did not say a word.

Xiaocao and Xiaolian were a pair of identical twins. In the past, Xiaocao had a sickly constitution and its growth was stunted from birth. His body was thin and weak, and he had a pale pale complexion. On the other hand, Xiaolian had been following her mother doing housework for many years. Although his body was also thin, it had a strong foundation and his skin was more tanned. It was still easy to tell the two girls apart, even if they were not standing right next to each other.

Nowadays, a lot of things have changed. With a small holy stone by his side every day, Xiaocao was slowly nourished by his strength until his body was strong and healthy. He had even grown quite tall in the past half a year and had almost caught up with Xiaolian, who was previously half a head taller than him. As for Xiaolian, she had washed her face every day with the mystical stone water. Moreover, everything he ate and drank had been touched by that stone water. Thus, her previously somewhat rough and tanned skin had turned into soft and bright skin.

Now if one glanced at the two of them, there was almost no difference between the two. However, those who were familiar with the two girls could still see the difference. Xiaocao's eyes were always brighter than Xiaolian's, from time to time, would show a funny and silly expression …

From what Shitou said, it seemed like Brother Liu, whom he had only seen a few times, could tell the difference between him and Xiaolian with a single glance? Xiaocao was somewhat confused by this scenario.

However, he quickly put those thoughts to the back of his mind as other ideas came to the surface. Since they could earn nearly three hundred copper coins a day, the entire family worked busily with an optimistic outlook into the future.

Time passed quickly until the day Qian Wen returned to rest. In this period of time, likely due to the influence of the transmigrator who founded the current dynasty, all schools in the country used a modern schedule: five days of study with two days of rest. In addition to the people who rent apartments in the city to live in, most of the other students live in dormitories. On the first day of the week, classes begin at 7am, and on the fifth day, classes end at 5pm. This means those who live near the house can spend three nights and two days there!

Yu Hai deliberately brought some boiled food to the Qian Family as he called out to them. She wants to ask for their guidance and get help in determining what Shitou needs to bring to school and other details.

When Qian Wen found out that Little Shitou had been accepted into the academy on the recommendation of the principal, she felt happy simultaneously for the boy and a hint of envy grew in her heart. The principal of Rongxuan Academy was the most famous scholar of his generation. All the students in the academy wanted to enter the school based on his reputation.

However, the principal rarely taught beginner classes. In fact, even middle and upper-level classes were rarely endowed by his presence. The Great Yuan scholar only provided pointers and trained students who were close to participating in the metropolitan civil examination.

If one could attract the attention of the Great Yuan Scholar, then getting first place in the examination would not be difficult at all. Graduates from the academy who had reached first to third place in the imperial examination were all personally mentored by the headmaster himself.

Little Shitou is just six years old but is smart and eager to learn. He often came to Qian Wen's residence to learn to read and write characters. The little boy learned quickly and needed only one or two repetitions before he could remember. Qian Wen would never have expected that the boy would be so lucky that the principal would recognize his talent when selling food on the dock …

The early morning of spring was cold in the air. The branches of the willow trees by the roadside had already started to become soft and supple. Sometimes one could see some green strands among the withered grass. All of this combined start to make people feel like spring has finally arrived.

In the days when Old Zhang did not deliver firewood to the city, he could always be found at daybreak at crossroads with ox carts. The rides are offered to some villagers who need to go to the city and the ride fee is one copper coin per person. Old Zhang could make money from this.

Normally, it was considered a good day if he could get around ten to eighteen copper from his ride services. Most of the villagers were frugal and did not want to spend that one coin, so they mostly used their own feet to go to the city.

Today is the end of two days of rest for students. There were several children in a nearby village who were all studying at a school in the city. Although most of them were not at Rongxuan Academy, having scientific talent alone was enough to make their parents proud. Families who could afford the school fees certainly did not lack one copper coin to ride the ox cart. So, all parents who were very fond of their children would always spend copper coins to let them hitch a ride to the city whenever Old Zhang did not transport firewood.

Old Zhang was flabbergasted as he looked at Yu Hai and his two children beside Qian Wen. He asked curiously, “Dahai, are you going to go to town to check your feet?”

Yu Hai's entire face was wrapped in happiness as he shook his head, “No, Uncle Zhang. My leg is healed. Cao’er and I will take Shitou to the city to go to school! ”

“He went to town to study? His annual tuition was quite a lot, not your family. ”Zhang old did not continue his thinking and only looked sympathetically at Yu Hai.

Yu Hai's expression did not change and continued to smile brightly, “Academy told us that we can delay the payment of the first two months of tuition. After a few days, when my legs really improve, I will go hunting in the mountains. So, won't I get the tuition? No matter how hard or heavy, I can't hold back my children! ”

“You still dare to go up the mountain ?! Last time you came back, you were all bleeding! It really frightened all the villagers! who knows what's in those mountains? The less you go the better! ” Old Zhang begged Yu Hai to reconsider due to worry.