87 Dividend
Zheng Yongyan was a little surprised by this answer. “You’re from the same sect? Why haven’t I heard of this before?”
Wei Chiyu said indifferently, “There are many things you don’t know. Do you still want to read your palm?”
Zheng Yongyan had a reluctant look on his face. He looked at Zhou Xiaoli and finally said, “In that case, let’s do it.”
Thus, Wei Chiyu took Zheng Yongyan’s hand and began to make things up.
Zhou Xiaoli drove the donkey cart and glanced sideways at the two of them.
She saw two men, one with a cold and domineering appearance, and the other a weak scholar, holding hands and talking. This scene…
Zhou Xiaoli could not help but let her imagination run wild.
However, the two of them did not notice Zhou Xiaoli’s strange gaze. At this moment, one of them was talking passionately while the other was listening attentively.
After listening carefully, Zhou Xiaoli heard Wei Chiyu sprout nonsense about Zheng Yongyan. He told him to study hard and not have any distracting thoughts. By doing so, he would be able to fulfill his wish. His future wife was a young lady from a wealthy family, gentle and pleasant.
Zheng Yongyan listened seriously and asked excitedly, “Really?”
Wei Chiyu nodded and lied in all seriousness. He said without blushing, “Of course. You don’t believe me?”
“Yes, yes.” Zheng Yongyan nodded. It seemed like he really took his words to heart.
Then, he asked, “What about this one? Is this related to my career? What’s my career like? Can I get into the academy?”
Wei Chiyu coughed and sat up straight. He said with a serious expression, “Don’t be too greedy. You can’t be too comprehensive in divination. If you reveal too many heavenly secrets, I’m afraid something will happen. It won’t be good for you.”
Upon hearing this, Zheng Yongyan’s face was filled with regret at being cut short. However, it was obvious that he believed Wei Chiyu’s words and did not dare to ask further.
Zhou Xiaoli, on the other hand, could not hold back her laughter.
When he found out the truth in the future, Zheng Yongyan would probably know that Wei Chiyu was lying to him today.
Although she had only taken a quick look just now, she could tell that Zheng Yongyan would have many admirers. His relationship path in the future would not be smooth.
According to the birth date he had just reported, it was not certain if his wife would be a gentle person. It was in fact destined that the other half of his life was someone who was strong in character.
If nothing unexpected happened, Zheng Yongyan would probably be a henpecked man in the future.
However, Zhou Xiaoli did not say anything.
It was not good to say everything out, especially when it came to fate. It was better to let nature take its course.
The three of them chatted along the way home. Before long, the donkey cart entered the village.
As for the matter of Zhou Xiaoli’s gambling of stone and earning a large sum of money, the three of them reached an agreement before entering the village that no one would tell anyone.
“This is a secret between the three of us. Remember, keep it a secret.” After entering the village, Zhou Xiaoli did not forget to remind them.
Zheng Yongyan had a righteous expression on his face. “A gentleman never goes back on his word. Although I won’t lie for you, I won’t be a long-tongued person either. Don’t worry about this.”
Zhou Xiaoli nodded. She trusted him on this point.
Although Zheng Yongyan was a little arrogant and did not get along with her,
he believed in the ways of a gentleman and claimed that since he had read the books of the sages, he would be a gentleman and would not be petty.
The donkey cart slowly entered the alley and soon arrived at the entrance of the house.
Although they had been making sugar for the past few days, Lin Xiujuan and the others kept their guard up. When they made sugar in the courtyard during the day, they would lock the door from the inside.
Therefore, when they arrived at their house, the door was tightly closed.
“Mother, aunties, we’re back,” Zhou Xiaoli stood at the door and called out.
As soon as she finished speaking, the wolf cub howled and clawed at the door.
Immediately after, Zhang Lan and the others spoke happily.
“Ah, Little Li and the others are back!”
“Open the door!”
…
Immediately after, hurried footsteps approached the door. With the sound of the bolt being removed, the door was opened.
Zhang Lan and Liu Yan welcomed them with happy smiles. One of them called for the three of them to enter the courtyard first while the other went to help rein the donkey cart in.
Zhou Xiaoli bent down to pick up the wolf cub and followed the others into the courtyard.
Lin Xiujuan and Yonggui’s wife were stirring the beetroot water in the pot. When they saw them enter, they smiled and greeted them.
Lin Xiujuan: “Little Li, you’re back. How is it? The county is lively, right?”
Liu Yan closed the door and walked back to the courtyard. She smiled and said, “Look at you. That’s the city. Shouldn’t it be lively?”
After saying that, the few of them laughed.
Just as Zhang Lan tied the donkey and before they could even unload the things in the cart, there was another knock on the door.
Then, Liu Liangcai’s voice rang out.
Lin Xiujuan immediately said, “Aiya, they’re back from purchasing the beetroots!”
Liu Yan had not gone far and was not far from the door. She immediately walked over and opened the door.
Sure enough, Liu Liangcai had a pushcart full of beetroots at the door.
“Good lord, that’s quite a lot.”
Seeing the large pile of beetroots on the cart, Liu Yan exclaimed in surprise. At the same time, she turned to the side and let Liu Liangcai push the cart in.
Liu Liangcai said, “That’s right. The villagers in that village grew it sparingly. Every family doesn’t have a big harvest and hence, many families keep them for themselves to eat and aren’t willing to sell them. In one morning, I was only able to purchase these from three families.”
As Liu Liangcai spoke, he pushed the beetroots into the courtyard. Zhang Lan hurriedly brought him a bowl of water to drink.
Hearing this, he said, “It looks like it’s quite a decent amount. I’ll purchase more in the afternoon.”
On the other side, the sugar in Lin Xiujuan and Wang Yuncai’s pot was almost ready.
Zhou Yu said, “It’s almost noon. Coincidentally, everyone is here. After cooking these two pots of sugar, everyone can rest and drink some water. At the same time, let’s settle the money for our first sugar sale.”
Hearing this, everyone was excited.
Zhang Lan and Liu Yan smiled and went to the kitchen to distribute the cold green bean tea to everyone. Just then, the two pots of sugar were ready.
Today, Zheng Yongfu’s three-year-old daughter, Zheng Lingling, was brought over. She had fun with Zhou Xiaoyu and the other two children.
At this moment, when she heard that she was going to have green bean tea, she jumped happily.
After Zhang Lan gave each of the four children a bowl of green bean tea, she directed them to sit in the shade of the tree in the courtyard to drink.
The four children were also obedient. They lay on the rocks under the tree and drank happily.
The adults from the three families gathered around the table, drinking green bean tea while waiting for Zhou Xiaoli to report the good news.
At this moment, Zhou Xiaoli walked out of the back room with the ledger book. After sitting down, she asked, “Uncle Liu, how many beetroots did you buy today? What’s the price?”
Liu Liangcai immediately put down the bowl and took out a piece of paper from his pocket. On it was the purchase details that he had recorded.
Because he couldn’t write, there were all kinds of diagrams drawn with charcoal. Fortunately, he could understand them.
“Hm, I’ve bought beetroots from three families. The first one is a little more than 43 kilograms so let’s count it as 43 kilograms. The second one is 40 kilograms, and the third one is 67 kilograms. The price is still a copper coin for one and a half kilograms. Hence, the total is 100 copper coins.”
Zhou Xiaoli wrote it down as she listened.
Then, she took out the money made from selling the sugar today and smiled. “This is the money we earned from selling the sugar we made these few days. It’s a total of 10 taels and 110 copper coins.”
As soon as the words left her lips, everyone was surprised at it.