Chapter 178 Two Villages Walk More
The head of the village and Shen Zhi and their group soon arrived at Erdan's house. Erdan had just chopped a bundle of firewood from the mountain. His little face was flushed with heat and he was drinking cold tea in big gulps. His grandmother was looking at him with a distressed look on her face.
"Erdan, Grandma Zhou," Shen Zhi shouted as he entered the room.
"Hey!" Erdan jumped up happily when he saw Shen Zhi and ran to her.
"Sister-in-law, we are here to harvest potatoes. Erya said that your family has no strong labor, so she asked us to help harvest them." The head of the village came in and explained.
"Well, thanks to Erya, Shen also came to help harvest a lot of potatoes from my family." Zhou smiled and led everyone to the warehouse where the potatoes were stored.
Qin Hao and Qin Zheng helped to weigh the weight, which was 8,500 kilograms. Erdan's family had little land, but they still had an income of more than 40 taels of silver.
Zhou was extremely happy; she had never seen so much money in her life.
"Erya, you didn't lie to me, did you? How do you have so much money? You can't let yourself suffer losses." Zhou still couldn't believe it, so she asked.
Shen Zhi smiled and shook his head: "No, it's all based on the market price, don't worry."
"That's good, that's good. Thank you so much, Erya." Zhou was so excited that tears were about to come out.
"Grandma Zhou, this is what we should do. If you need any help in the future, just ask." Shen Zhi said.
"Yes, of course." Zhou nodded repeatedly.
"Auntie, don't worry, it's all at this price. Our villagers have made a lot of money today." Qin Zheng looked at Zhou's nervous expression and couldn't help but explained with a smile.
Hearing this, the stone in Zhou's heart finally fell, and a grateful smile appeared on her face: "Oh, that's good, that's good! Thank you!" As she said that, she held Erya's hand tightly and expressed her gratitude.
Shen Zhi said with a smile: "Grandma Zhou, these are all grown by your own hard work, and they are worth the price. And don't worry, I have already found a market for these potatoes, and I guarantee that I will not lose money. I will make a lot of money with these potatoes in the future."
After hearing this, Zhou nodded repeatedly, her eyes full of emotion: "Thank you so much, Erya. If it weren't for you, how could our family have such a good life?"
Then, Zhou hesitated for a moment as if she had thought of something, and then whispered to Shen Zhi: "Erya, grandma is thinking of sending Erdan to the clan school. While grandma can still live for a few more years, we can plant more potatoes for a few more years so that he can learn to read." After saying that, Zhou looked at Shen Zhi with an inquiring look.
Shen Zhi was surprised to hear this. She didn't expect Zhou to have such an idea. After all, in ancient rural areas, studying was not an easy thing. However, she still nodded in agreement: "Of course it's a good thing. Erdan should also go to school. Our village raised funds for our own clan school last year because of selling ice jelly. It's much cheaper for our villagers to go to school than in other places."
Erdan almost jumped up with joy when he heard this. He had long wanted to go to school like other children in the village, but because of his poor family conditions, he had never had the opportunity. When he heard the news, he could not believe his ears.
Shen Zhi looked at Erdan's excitement and couldn't help but touch his head: "Erdan, I'll bring you a set of pens, inkstones, and paper tomorrow. I bought these for Lantian at the beginning of the year, but I bought too much and they have been sitting idle at home."
"Thank you, Sister Erya!" Erdan shouted excitedly with a gleam in his eyes. He will definitely cherish his time at school.
On the way back, Shen Zhihe said to the head of the village: "Grandpa head of the village, there is something I want to discuss with you. The villagers of Shenjia Village have planted a lot of potatoes just like our village. My third uncle has already informed them that their village will transport the potatoes here to sell tomorrow. At that time, I would like to ask the two uncles to help collect them. I will pay the two uncles for their work then."
Qin Hao and Qin Zheng looked at each other. They didn't expect Shen Zhi to pay for their work, so they both waved their hands to refuse.
"Second girl, what do you think of your uncle? He charges you for just keeping accounts. We are from the same village, so there is no need to bother about such a small matter." Qin Zheng said with a smile.
"Yes, I happen to have nothing to do tomorrow. I will go tomorrow anyway." Qin Hao also patted his chest and said.
Shen Zhi was moved when she heard this. She knew that this was how the people in the village were, helping each other without caring about gains and losses.
"Thank you both uncles. I don't know how to thank you for all your help." Shen Zhi said sincerely.
"Second girl, don't be polite. We are all from the same village, and it is only natural for us to help each other." Qin Zheng waved his hand to show that he didn't care.
"Yes, that's nothing. If you need our help in the future, just ask." Qin Hao also agreed.
Shen Zhi nodded, her heart full of gratitude. She felt that she was lucky to live in such a warm village. At the same time, she secretly decided to send some clothing materials to the children of these two uncles one day. After all, people should give and take, and the relationship can only last long.
The next morning, my great grandfather and his family came with the villagers of Shenjia Village. Some carried the loads, some used mule carts, and some used ox carts. Shen Zhi also sent servants from Bibo Villa to drive horse-drawn carriages to help. Fortunately, all the goods were transported in one trip.
The head of Shenjia Village and Qin, the head of Shitou Village, had known each other for many years, and it was his wife who arranged the marriage between Zhou and the head of the village.
This time, the two of them greeted each other happily as soon as they met, "Brother Qin, our Shenjia Village is thanks to the potato seeds from your village. Now the potato harvest is great, and we ordinary people don't have to worry about going hungry anymore."
"Haha, this is the result of everyone's joint efforts. In the future, our two villages can visit each other more often and help each other!" Qin Lizheng replied with a smile.
"That's great, of course. On behalf of the people of Shenjia Village, I would like to thank you. If you need anything in the future, just let us know and we will do our best to help." Shen Lizheng said gratefully.
"You're welcome. It's what we should do. Our two villages have always helped each other. I remember when there was a severe drought, the mountain spring behind your village had not dried up yet, and people from all over the place ran to your village to fetch water. Not only did your village not stop them from going, it also sent people to maintain order. How many lives were saved by those mountain springs back then? Our village also went to Shenjia Village to fetch water many times." Qin Lizheng waved his hand.
Then, they began to discuss this year's potato harvest, with joy on their faces.
Next, everyone began to weigh and count in an orderly manner. With yesterday's experience, today's efficiency was greatly improved.
Shen Zhi also took a rough look. The potatoes they dragged over were specially picked to be large and without wounds, and the dirt on the outside was also wiped clean. It seems that the villagers of Shenjia Village are all good people, and there is no sneaky or cunning one.
Today we harvested more than 800,000 kilograms of potatoes. Shenjia Village is smaller than Shitou Village and has relatively less land, so it is good to have more than 800,000 kilograms.
Shen Zhi paid everyone the money from selling potatoes. Everyone had the same expression as the villagers of Shitou Village yesterday. They didn't expect to get so much money. The least amount was 20 taels, and the most was from my great grandfather's family, who received 350 taels. They came to see the harvest in person, and planted all the idle land without any worries, and also planted a few acres of land from my third uncle's family.
Shen Zhi didn't expect to meet someone from Shenjia Village the next day after the money and goods were exchanged.
The villagers of Shenjia Village came again the next day. This time they carried a freshly slaughtered pig. Many villagers carried baskets of eggs, some brought a few feet of cloth, and some brought mountain products. In short, they brought as much as they could to express their gratitude.
Shen Zhi was flattered and insisted on taking the villagers to eat before going back. The village head called all the men, women and children in the village to come and help, and cooked several tables of dishes in a big pot. Everyone had a lively meal as if it were a party.