This time we entered a ferry called Qianjin Village. There was a stone sign at the entrance of the village with the three characters "Qianjin Village" engraved on it. It should be a prosperous village. Huo Xi thought.
The two families rowed the boat into the ferry at Qianjin Village and saw two people repairing the boat at the ferry. They looked like a father and son, so they hurriedly rowed over to say hello.
The man heard their purpose and enthusiastically led them into the village.
Huo Erhuai, Qian Sanduo and others were greatly relieved. The two adults were in the front chatting with the man named Zhao Liang, while Huo Xi and Qian Xiaoxiao Qian Xiaoyu followed his son Zhao Ji and said a few flattering words.
Ask about the situation in their village.
Zhao Ji was about the same age as Qian Xiaoyu. Seeing that the three boys looked tired and their clothes were patched, and heard that a strong wind and rain overnight had damaged their boat and lost all their food, I couldn't help but sympathize with them.
His family's boat was also blown by the wind last night, but the village ferry was a shelter from the wind and was not damaged much.
His family has about thirty acres of fertile farmland, and after paying the grain tax every year, there is still a lot left over. The autumn harvest is coming soon, and new grain will be available, and the old grain has not been used up yet.
When Huo Xi heard that his family had a surplus every year, he felt disturbed.
It seems that if you have money, you still have to buy a few acres of farmland. The weather in the south of the Yangtze River is good, the water is fertile, and every farmer with farmland can have enough to eat without worrying about going hungry.
Zhao Liang and his son led Huo and Qian's family into their home, served them tea, and then led them to the warehouse to see the grain.
Huo Xi took a look around the Zhao family's courtyard and saw that the courtyard was large, with many houses and brick houses on one side of the river. There were vegetable plots, chicken and duck coops, and cowsheds in the courtyard. It seemed that the family was living a very prosperous life.
Sure enough, Huo Qian's family didn't need to go into the village to look for food anymore, they just bought enough food at Zhao Liang's house.
Although it was last year's old rice, it was cheaper than the broken rice bought at the grain store. I paid them six cents per pound.
That's why we talk about mutual benefit. They sell to grain sellers who collect the grain, and the grain sellers sell to grain shops, and the grain shops sell to customers. This adds two layers of middlemen.
Those who sell are happy, and those who buy are happy too.
"Brother Zhao, thank you so much. We wanted to buy some food along the way, but it was not going well." Huo Erhuai and Qian Sanduo thanked them directly.
"Yeah, others thought we smelled fishy and wouldn't let us enter the village!" Qian Xiaoxia was still a little angry.
"Who said it? Our mud legs still smell like mud. If you are out of food, come to our house to buy it. We can sell it to you at a higher price than the food sellers. It is convenient for everyone." Grandma Zhao's family was very warm.
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Huo Xi stood next to her and said a bunch of words of thanks. Grandma Zhao was so happy that she praised her sweet mouth and took her to look at the vegetables.
Huo Xi was a lovable person, and she was always around to fawn over her, so Grandma Zhao said a lot of things to her without asking her questions.
I heard that she also had an eldest grandson living in Hebo who was eating from the government. Huo Xi praised her even more, saying that she was good at raising children. The flattery made Grandma Zhao very happy, and she felt pity for her at such a young age.
Floating in the river with my family.
Huo Xi's little calculation was going on in her heart. She planned to make good friends with this family.
I picked a lot of vegetables from her small vegetable garden and saw that she had mung beans, soybeans and peas, so I asked Huo Erhuai to buy some too. Two large baskets were filled to the brim, as well as three large pumpkins and two more
Cured meat.
The prices were very cheap. Zhao Ji's mother and grandmother almost gave them half for sale and half for free. Huo Xi was very moved.
Before leaving, Huo Xi, Qian Xiaoyu and Qian Xiaoxia each held a big pumpkin, bowed to Grandma Zhao and Aunt Zhao to express their gratitude, and were given more food by her mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
"If you don't have enough food, come to our house to buy it. It's expensive for you to go to the food store. If you want to eat vegetables, come and buy them." Grandma Zhao told them earnestly while holding on to the door frame.
"Hey, I remember. Grandma Zhao, come back. I will bring you fish and shrimp next time."
"No, no, no, I'll leave it for you to eat. We have a boat at home."
But Huo Xi made up her mind to make good friends with this family. She only had one hand free to wave goodbye to her mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
The Zhao family's father and son used carts to help transport the rice grains to the two ships before returning.
Huo Erhuai and Qian Sanduo looked at the backs of his father and son and sighed repeatedly.
"There are still many honest villagers. This family is a person you can make friends with."
"Yes, the Zhao family is of good character, and it is rare that the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are harmonious. If I had known we would have come here in the first place."
Huo Xi looked at the boat full of grain, vegetables, and two large buckets of water that Zhao Ji had helped carry, and felt satisfied. She said to Huo Erhuai, "Dad, if you don't have food in the future, go to Qianjin Village to buy it. Just go to Zhao Ji."
Go home and buy it.”
Huo Erhuai nodded: "Okay." This family is really a good person. Those two baskets of vegetables cost almost nothing. This trip saved them a lot of copper coins.
Qian Xiaoxia got on the Huo family's boat and competed with Huo Xi to eat the fried soybeans that Grandma Zhao had given her. From time to time, she threw two of them into her mouth and bit them loudly. She looked at Huo Xi and said, "Looks like I'm still going to follow."
Your family buys grain from the village, and my family saved a lot of copper this trip."
The first two trips to buy food were not going well, so he wanted to turn around and leave, not wanting to be criticized. Unexpectedly, he met the kind-hearted Zhao family in another village.
Huo Xi'ao proudly raised her chin towards him: "Follow me from now on. I'll save you more money to buy salted duck."
"Okay!" Qian Xiaoxia responded and threw two more beans into his mouth. He didn't take it seriously at all.
Qian Xiaoyu turned his head and glanced at Huo Xi intently.
When we returned to the ferry where the boat stopped, the other two boats buying grain had returned early. They didn't buy much. Seeing that Huo Qian's family had bought a lot of goods, including vegetables, they all used money to buy them.
Of the three large pumpkins, each of Huo Qian's families kept one, and the other was cut up and sold to each family. Huo Xi kept two pieces of bacon for himself.
Qian Xiaoxia wanted it, but his mother was reluctant to spend the money. She said she had fish and shrimp to eat every day, but she still wanted to eat meat, so why not go to heaven! He was so angry that he secretly planned to wait for the Huo family to cook meat, so he could come over and have a bite.
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Seeing that the price of grain was cheap, each family bought a lot of it and hoarded it. Huo Xi only left a hundred kilograms for the family and sold them all.
After dividing the food and vegetables, everyone cooked dinner and had a full meal.
The noises of various households and the sounds of children playing around were heard again in the surrounding areas. After a heavy storm overnight, although each household suffered losses, they still came here several times every year. Rain or shine, the fishermen were used to this kind of life.
What else can I do if I’m not used to it? Is it hard to live with it or something?
Huo Erhuai took advantage of the darkness to lower all four shrimp and crab pots. He also chose a river channel and blocked a night net. It rained heavily all night and the water has risen a lot. Fish, shrimp and crabs should be relatively small.
Easy to catch.
If you can catch more, you can also sell it for more money.
After rowing back to the ferry, the boats that set off night cages and night nets also returned to the port one after another.
After Huo Erhuai tied up the boat, the family put the oilcloth around the shelf in the cabin, and then covered it with two layers of oil felt. The cabin was warm and the wind could not enter.
Yang was afraid of freezing Huo Nian, so he burned a few more charcoal in the cabin.
Before going to bed, the family baked Huo Nian's diapers and counted the money spent today.