Chapter 68: 68. Chapter 68: Li Shoucai Wants Meat

68. Chapter 68: Li Shoucai Wants Meat

"Sorry, Aunties. I had something to do at home recently and was really busy, so I didn't have time to come." Jiang Wei explained politely while taking a few snow cakes out of the ice cabinet and handing them to the women.

These women were all regular customers who bought snow cakes. Jiang Wei was very polite to the loyal customers of her snow cakes.

"So it was something at home. We thought you stopped selling snow cakes because of those hooligans last time."

Upon hearing this, the women breathed a sigh of relief and added: "It's good that the family business is finished. Little Lady Jiang, you must come every day. Otherwise, my grandson won't be able to eat your snow cakes and will make a fuss at home endlessly."

"I will try my best."

Jiang Wei didn't make a promise.

After all, she didn't know if she would be unable to come here to sell snow cakes because of other things later.

Jiang Xiaoxiao, who was on the side, collected the copper coins handed over by the women while silently sighing in her heart. If only they had a shop in town, otherwise, rushing to town from the village every day would also take a long time...

But buying a shop in town must cost a lot of money, right?

It would be more realistic to buy a horse carriage. A horse carriage runs faster than an ox cart, and a horse carriage has a cabin, which has good safety and concealment. Otherwise, sitting on an ox cart with others every day, she would have to be on guard against some gossiping women asking questions about everything.

Jiang Wei brought more snow cakes today, and they were almost sold out by the Shen hour. Jiang Xiaoxiao looked at the sky; it was probably around four or five in the afternoon.

The mother and daughter packed up the stall and took the ox cart home.

Arriving home, Jiang Wei wasn't in a hurry to boil the ice cream and snow cakes to be sold the next day, but led Jiang Xiaoxiao to the mountain together.

There were two things to do on the mountain today: one was to see how the villagers' ditches were being dug, and the other was to check the traps set yesterday.

On the hillside, the villagers were divided into two teams. One part was sweating, digging the ditches with one hoe after another, and the other team was using dustpans to transport the soil out of the ditch. The division of labor was clear, and some children were also helping on the side, picking up branches and stones. Compared to yesterday, they were clearly much more familiar with the work, and the speed was much faster.

Jiang Xiaoxiao noticed Zhao Dasao's two daughters at a glance. The eldest daughter was twelve, and the younger daughter was eight. Both were thin and skinny, with sallow complexions, suffering from severe malnutrition.

Compared to other children who played on the side after working for a while, the two sisters appeared particularly quiet. During this period, they hadn't rested, as if they only knew how to bury their heads and work hard.

Jiang Xiaoxiao sighed in her heart. Zhao Dasao's two daughters were so well-behaved and would help their mother with work. On the contrary, Zhao Ergou had completely inherited the style of his father, Zhao Wulai. Besides being gluttonous and lazy like his father, he also bullied others by relying on his power.

The Li Zheng, who was responsible for supervising the work, saw the mother and daughter and walked over with a smile, saying: "Xiaoxiao's mother, thanks to the wild boar meat you distributed to everyone yesterday, everyone ate meat and is digging the ditches especially hard today!"

In less than a day, more than half of the ditch had been dug. According to this progress, it would be finished after digging for another day tomorrow.

By then, the spring water would flow down along the ditch, and the crops in the fields would be saved!

Jiang Wei smiled and didn't speak.

Li Shoucai, who was on the side, pricked up his ears and listened for a long time before he understood. So the wild boar was hunted by his third brother's wife, but why didn't his mother explain it to him, and instead let him go directly to the Li Zheng to ask for it?

Fortunately, he hadn't had time to go yet, otherwise, he would have been laughed at by others.

After thinking about it, Li Shoucai dropped the hoe in his hand, walked up, and frowned: "I say, Third Sister-in-law, you are, after all, the wife my third brother married into the house. Why didn't you send some to Father and Mother when you hunted the wild boar? Do you know that this is unfilial?"

"Unfilial?" Jiang Wei sneered coldly. "May I ask who you are?"

"You! Third Sister-in-law, how can you pretend not to recognize me?!" Li Shoucai said angrily, and simply turned his head to Jiang Xiaoxiao on the side, starting to play the relative card: "Er Ya, look at your mother. Our old Li family has raised her for so many years, and she pretends not to know me after the family was divided. Look, is this appropriate!"

Jiang Xiaoxiao resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Is there something wrong with this guy's brain? The family has already been divided and the kinship broken, and he still wants to use morality to kidnap her mother and her! Moreover, her mother had been working hard and complaining without a word like an ox or horse in the old Li family for these years. Who knows who raised whom!

She didn't want to say more and directly pulled Jiang Wei's hand to leave. "Mother, let's go check the traps."

"Hey! Er Ya, how dare even you not listen to me!" Li Shoucai wanted to chase after them but was stopped by the Li Zheng.

"Don't call out randomly. What Er Ya, Er Ya? That is Xiaoxiao. She is surnamed Jiang now and has long had nothing to do with your old Li family." The Li Zheng said in a calm tone. "Don't mess around either. Hurry back and dig the ditch. You didn't come yesterday, and I haven't settled the account with you yet!"

Upon hearing this, Li Shoucai became a bit cowardly, completely losing the tough look he had at home yesterday. "Li Zheng, it's not that I had something to do at home..."

"Don't fool me. You have something to do? The crops in the fields are about to die of drought, and no one is taking care of them. What do you have to do that is more important than digging ditches to divert water?" The Li Zheng scolded with a serious face, not giving the other party a chance to fool him, and directly drove the person back to dig the ditch.

Li Shoucai could only sheepishly go back and pick up the hoe again.

Several men working on the side saw this and showed expressions of mockery: "Didn't come yesterday and only came to dig the ditch today. I'm afraid it's not for those two jin of wild boar meat, right?"

"Hmph, not working properly either, thinking about that wild boar meat all day. Xiaoxiao's mother came and he couldn't wait to go up and ask for wild boar meat, not doing much work, and I don't know where he got the face?"

……

"What are you all talking nonsense about? I really had something to do yesterday, that's why I didn't come!" Li Shoucai heard this and immediately retorted with a red face.

But no one believed him, and everyone looked at him with sarcastic eyes.

Li Shoucai was so angry that he squeezed the handle of the hoe tightly. For a moment, he really wanted to drop the hoe and not do it, and go straight home.

But fortunately, he endured it.

Last night, he had finally managed to get his parents to agree to give up supporting his eldest brother's studies. He absolutely could not give up so easily!

The two sisters, Chunmiao and Chunya, who were burying their heads and working on the side, heard about the wild boar meat and couldn't help but swallow their saliva.

They came to work early in the morning, and no one came to deliver food to them at home. At noon, they only gnawed on two vegetable bran cakes, which weren't filling, and their stomachs had long been hungry. Now hearing the words "wild boar meat," their stomachs were even hungrier...

Zhao Dasao caught a glimpse of her two daughters' thin faces and said with some heartache: "Chunmiao, Chunya, if you are tired, take a rest."

"Mother, I'm not tired. Let my sister rest." Chunmiao shook her head. She was already twelve and counted as half an adult. Her sister was only eight, young, and couldn't handle so much work.

Chunya pursed her dry lips and also wanted to shake her head like her sister and say she wasn't tired, but as soon as she opened her mouth, her dry lips cracked, which was very painful.

Zhao Dasao hurriedly took the water bag and fed her a few sips of water, while comforting her: "Chunmiao, Chunya, you have worked hard today. When I go back tonight, I will cook the remaining jin of wild boar meat for you to eat..."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 69 =====