Chapter 68: Rushing to Meet the Deadline
Zhang Pandi quickly waved her hand upon hearing, "That’s too much, it doesn’t need to be so much. We said twenty cents before, so twenty cents it is."
For the mother and daughter, twenty cents each per day for twenty days amounts to eight hundred cents, a considerable sum for them.
"I said fifty, so it’s fifty. You’re married now, are you not listening to your big sister anymore?" Zhang Zhaodi said fiercely. "Since we were little, the three of us sisters were never looked upon favorably because we’re girls, unable to carry on the Zhang Family lineage, doing the most and eating the least. Perhaps because of this, our feelings have always been the closest. I fed our second sister her first spoon of rice soup, and I held the third sister’s hand and taught her to walk. Which one of you wasn’t raised by me? A few years back, my days weren’t easy either, and I couldn’t help you both out. Now that my days are better thanks to my daughter’s fortune, I won’t just stand by and watch you lead hard lives. Unless over time, neither of you wants to listen to your big sister anymore."
"Big sister, we listen to you," Zhang Yingdi said.
"Chunni and I also listen to you," Zhang Pandi choked up.
"That’s good then." Zhang Zhaodi continued to make arrangements. "The reason I told them twenty cents in front of them is just to keep your wits about you so that you have some money saved for yourselves."
The mother and daughter set aside thirty cents each, totaling sixty cents for two people, and after twenty days they could save up one thousand two hundred cents, also known as one tael of silver plus two hundred cents.
For a mother and daughter who had been working hard without even touching money in the Jia Family for years, this was a large sum and their reason to stand tall.
The recently rented room was still unlivable, and they had to make do by squeezing in for shelter first. Aunt Li next door asked Zhang Zhaodi if she’d like to stay over at her place. Zhang Zhaodi gratefully accepted, then squeezed in with Aunt Li herself, letting Zhang Pandi and her daughter live in her room. Su Yaoguang and Jiang Jing continued to sleep in their room, while Zhang Yingdi and her husband temporarily squeezed into the woodshed.
Early the next morning, Jiang Jing drove the ox cart to pick up the previously ordered porcelain jars with Zhang Zhaodi. By the time they returned, Su Yaoguang had already started working with the others.
By morning, the wall was already built, and Su Yaoguang settled the wages. At this point, the villagers looked at Zhang Zhaodi and her mother as if seeing a God of Wealth, treating them warmly and attentively.
That afternoon, Carpenter Li’s apprentices delivered a newly made bed, placing it in the rented room. The villagers noticed the commotion caused by Su Yaoguang and her mother and began to inquire what they were up to. Su Yaoguang didn’t hide it and simply said she picked up a job and was too busy to handle it alone, so she invited family to help.
"Yaoguang, auntie’s just idling at home, and you know how quick-fingered and nimble she is. Why not let auntie help out?"
"Auntie is truly a warm-hearted person," Su Yaoguang said emotionally. "Earlier, I considered hiring people from the village, but considering everyone has their own things to do, if I ask them to help out for free, won’t it disrupt the farmwork? I felt embarrassed to ask and sought the help of my own aunt and cousin, after all, being family, they wouldn’t charge me."
"Helping for free?" The aunt froze. "Even for relatives, they shouldn’t help for free, right?"
"Auntie, this is a small business, where do I get the money to pay wages? It’s just a little help from my relatives, providing meals and lodging is already nice enough, how could I possibly pay?" Su Yaoguang looked hopefully at the aunt, "Since auntie said so, then later..."
"I suddenly remembered there’s work left unfinished in the field, so I’ll get going. You guys carry on." The aunt bolted away as if treading on wind-fire wheels, running like being chased by a dog.
Standing beside, Zhang Zhaodi laughed and said, "I was worried you couldn’t handle these clingy folks, but it turns out I underestimated you."
"She wants to make money, then let her give up. No one’s stupid, who wants to work for free when there’s no money to be made?" Su Yaoguang said, "There’s no need to say unpleasant things to offend people."
Su Yaoguang was not calling for help, but Aunt Li was. Aunt Li was responsible for procuring floral materials, mobilizing eighty percent of the villagers. The remaining twenty percent were either unable to climb the mountain or had conflicts with Su Yaoguang and her mother, unwilling to lower themselves and eat food provided by the mother and daughter.
"Good heavens, where did this big horse-drawn cart come from?" A woman in the village said in surprise, seeing the approaching cart, "Isn’t that Yi Huan’s mother?"
Zhong Lanhua was sitting outside the cart, with a young attendant driving. Upon hearing the village woman’s shocked voice, a look of pride appeared on Zhong Lanhua’s face.
"They said Zhang Zhaodi’s mother and daughter bought an ox cart before, but look at Jiang Family’s, now that’s real skill—buying a horse-drawn cart outright. A cart like this trades for ten ox carts."
"Both Zhong Lanhua and Jiang Yihuan are skilled in embroidery, and they sell their works in town whenever they attend markets. The embroidery workshop in town loves their craft and prices their works very high."
Zhong Lanhua spotted Su Yaoguang and Zhang Zhaodi up ahead, signaling the attendant beside her to slow down, specifically to show off in front of Zhang Zhaodi.
"This cart is nice," Su Yaoguang said with a smile, "With such a cart, you might need a valet for driving it, otherwise, who’s going to steer the cart?"
Zhong Lanhua was taken aback.
Finding someone to drive the cart became a problem.
She couldn’t very well buy a valet for a single cart, not to mention the money to buy one, it’s hardly economical to have another mouth to feed.
Besides, this cart wasn’t acquired for free; the funds came from the son of the Horse Market steward who loaned them, which they had to pay back.
Zhong Lanhua initially thought the young guy might pay for them, thus winning Jiang Yihuan’s favor. However, it turned out he was shrewd, only willing to loan the money, never saying it was a gift. She ended up having to write an IOU with her fingerprint pressed on it.
"Mom, let’s go home," said Jiang Yihuan from inside the cart.
The attendant drove Jiang Yihuan and Zhong Lanhua home, collected his due, and then left.
"Darling, why didn’t we think about who would drive the cart when we bought it?" Zhong Lanhua said, "This cart now ends up sitting unusably; that’s a real waste."
"It’s no big deal, we seldom go out anyway. When we do need to, just ask one of the village uncles to help drive it, offering two or three cents as a tip should do."
With the cart bought, how could they not hire someone to drive it? An unmarried young lady can’t very well sit in front and drive it herself, can she? As for Zhong Lanhua, she certainly wouldn’t drive it. She always loved to enjoy life without exerting herself, having her drive the cart was less practical than buying a valet for it.
"Huan’er, this horse needs feeding. Go get some grass to feed it," Zhong Lanhua ordered, "If you don’t feel like going, find a guy to do it."
Upon saying this, Zhong Lanhua remarked, "That’s right, with so many young men in the village showing affection towards you, get them to drive our cart in the future."