A lady selling chickens nearby saw a young woman leading an ox and pulling a cart of firewood, with a little girl on the back of the ox. She stood up curiously.
When he got close, he said: "Little lady, this cart of firewood is quite enough. Others carry it on their shoulders, but I have never seen it being sold by using oxen to pull firewood. You have oxen at home, so you should be able to live a good life."
Not bad. Isn’t it easier to pull an ox and do some work of pulling people to deliver goods than to collect firewood? I also brought a few children to sell firewood.”
Several villagers squatting on the ground nearby also looked up at her.
"This cow does not belong to my family, but is borrowed from the neighbor next door. Even if I collected firewood, I couldn't carry it back to the city, so I just brought some more on one trip to sell."
The people next to me couldn't help but nod their heads after hearing this.
Look at this cute little girl. She has to carry a load of firewood to the city to sell. Even if she sets off at starry night, she probably won't be able to reach the city at noon. She might be crushed halfway through the process.
It must be that the man in the family is gone, so such a delicate woman and her child are allowed to come out to sell firewood. Which of the firewood sellers is not thick-waisted and round-armed? But no woman is seen selling firewood.
The villagers in that episode kindly pointed out several shops to her, including where there were restaurants, where there were food shops, which street had many blacksmith shops, where there were many houses, etc.
Qiao Mingjin thanked these kind people again and again before putting her daughter down from the cow's back.
Just as she was about to tell her nephews and others to guard the place, she went to ask herself. The cow was not allowed to wander around in the market.
As soon as I gave some instructions to a few children, I saw a mother who looked like she was in charge coming to buy chickens. She came up to take a look at such a large cart of firewood.
"You little lady, you have a lot of firewood in this cart. You have cows and you are selling firewood? Isn't it enough to cook more of the land at home?"
Qiao Mingjin then smiled and said that the cow was not his own.
Seeing that the person was interested, he said: "This aunt must be the mother in charge of a wealthy family, right? I wonder if firewood is needed in the house? I still have some pine hair here, which is the best for starting a fire. I wonder if the aunt has it?"
interest?"
Seeing the man watching around the car, he added: "We, mother and daughter, went out before dawn, and it took us several hours to reach the city, and we didn't even bother to drink water. If my aunt is interested, I can give it to you."
Let’s set a price. My home is far away and I have to rush back before dark.”
That mother indeed came out to buy it from the mansion.
After hearing what Qiao Mingjin said, he glanced at her and said, "You do have some sense. It must not be easy to take care of several children. It's a long way, and I'm afraid it will be dark on the way back. But we already have a fixed one in our house.
The firewood collector delivers firewood on time every day..."
Qiao Mingjin was a little disappointed.
She also knew that large mansions usually had fixed firewood deliverymen who would come to the door at regular intervals.
Just as she was disappointed, the mother said again: "But there will be a wedding event at home in a few days, and some guests will come, and some people will stay overnight. I'm afraid we will use more firewood than usual to boil water and vegetables."
Some. I’ll give you fifty cents for the load of firewood, and five cents for the two bags of pine wool. A total of fifty-five cents, what do you think?”
Qiao Mingjin felt a little unhappy.
Her firewood is thicker than others, and it is made from branches she pulled from the tree, which is more resistant to burning than twigs. Besides, her two bags of pine hair are packed tightly, and one bag has more firewood than other people's two bags.
.
Mingqi was a raking lint person. She knew how much lint was packed in a bag, so she whispered: "Auntie, you can take a look. My sister packed more lint hair than others. She can't even press it down."
Mingheng also followed suit, saying that his firewood was thicker than others and that it was all chopped.
The mother pressed on the sack, and sure enough it was so tight that she couldn't press it down. The cart of firewood was also tied tightly with hemp rope, and was chopped roughly and neatly.
Then he said: "Seeing that your family doesn't have a head, if you want a young lady to make a living, please give me ten more coins."
Some people nearby had done business with the mother in front of her, so they said to Qiao Mingjin: "My mother is a real person this week. You have to rush back with a few children, so just sell it. It's too late to stay here.
The return trip was delayed again.”
Qiao Mingjin nodded.
She has never sold firewood before, so this price for a load of firewood must be the same.
I waited for the mother to buy some chickens and other things, then led the cow and followed her.
Mingheng and Mingqi were very discerning and rushed forward to help Zhou's mother get it.
My mother was very happy that week and praised the two of them several times.
Xiao Wan'er was still sitting on the back of the cow, looking around with her eyes all the way.
The three siblings, Qiao Mingjin, were led to the back door of a high-walled compound. The cows couldn't get in, so Zhou's mother went in and asked someone to move it. Soon the car was empty.
Qiao Mingjin took the money and counted ten copper coins from the rope and handed them to Zhou's mother.
That week, her mother glanced at her and pushed her back.
Said: "I also come from a poor family. It's not easy for you to raise a child alone. It must be difficult at home, otherwise you wouldn't have brought such a young child out in the cold and starry night. I usually have a lot of money, but
I'm short of these ten pieces of money from you. Take them and buy some delicious food for your children."
Qiao Mingjin was moved after hearing this.
I just thought that the people in the big houses all wanted money to buy roads, and I didn’t want there to be such people. So I took my daughter’s hand and thanked Zhou’s mother again and again.
That week, her mother learned that Qiao Mingjin still had several carts of firewood like this, so she said she would send three more carts, each with two sacks of pine wool. After three carts, she might not be able to take care of her anymore.
Because there are already regular people delivering firewood in the mansion, and they are all led by the maids in the mansion, so it’s hard to leave someone else’s job.
After hearing this, Qiao Mingjin thanked her again and then left.
The three siblings looked at the sixty-five copper plates hanging on the hemp rope and were very happy.
This was what the three of them had earned after a day's work. They even found a way to get the remaining two carts of firewood. They could pick up another cart and sell it to Zhou's family.
The twins smiled happily at Qiao Mingjin with similar smiling faces, and Xiao Wan'er also looked at her mother and smiled.
Qiao Mingjin wrapped the bunch of copper plates with a piece of coarse cloth and put them in the bag. He said to the three of them: "Let's find a place to park the car. Sister will take you to go shopping and buy you delicious food."
The three of them nodded after hearing this.
The three of them drove the oxen to a carriage and horse station at the city gate, and spent two cents to store the oxcart. They added another penny to have someone help feed the cattle with fodder and water, and then walked around the city.
stand up.
Qiao Mingjin carried a bag with pancakes and water on her back, holding Wan'er in one hand, followed by Mingheng and Mingqi on the left and right.
It was already noon, and the three children were also hungry. They were all visiting Qingchuan County for the first time. Qiao Mingjin couldn't bear for them to eat dry and hard pancakes anymore. So she found a small noodle shop and ordered a bowl of salmon for each of them.
It cost two cents for noodles with shredded pork, and she ordered a bowl of plain noodles for two cents.
The three children were very sensible and wanted to exchange their noodles for Qiao Danjin's. Qiao Mingjin was very pleased and symbolically took a spoonful of each person's bowl and asked them to eat quickly, and the three of them buried their heads in eating happily.
For Qiao Mingjin, this noodle is not very delicious.
But for the three children who came to the county for the first time, it was the best food.
The three children ate happily and the sound of sucking noodles was very loud.
Qiao Mingjin looked at it, and felt an unspeakable sourness in her heart...
Xiao Wan'er couldn't eat a big bowl by herself, so she patted her belly and said she was full after eating half of it.
Qiao Mingjin started eating the remaining noodles she had, and then shared her bowl with Mingheng and Mingqi. The four of them were all a little stuffed.
People in this era actually think that although the noodles are not very good, the portions given are quite sufficient and the bowls are big.
After eating, Qiao Mingjin took the three of them for a walk on the street.
The three children looked around curiously, while she was behind thinking about what to buy.
ps: Thanks to "Yueshang Ruoli" and "Welcome Books" for the reward.
