Wang family small peasant girl

Chapter 9

The old and young men of the Zhou family all carried cotton loads on their shoulders, and drove seven or eight miles to Beitangji, and took a boat to Bailidu on the market. Bailidu was facing the Jiuqu River. There were many freighters and merchant ships. In Paxiang, all goods entering and leaving have to rely on this Baili Ferry, so fish and dragons are mixed on the ferry, which is extraordinarily noisy and noisy.

Zhou Laishui and the brothers of the Zhou family laid down their burdens at the ferry, and while waiting for the boat, they met many fellow villagers who came later, all carrying cotton burdens, and they also went to Changyuan Town. When it came to Zhou's family, they were all very kind, and while talking and laughing, a boat came over, and everyone helped each other carry the burden, and boarded the boat together.

The boat went down the river, and the villagers kept chatting and laughing along the way. Zhang Yun leaned against Zhou Laishui, listening to everyone's warm words, looking at the natural scenery on the river bank, and the gentle breeze blowing by the river, so it was quite relaxing.

When the boat approached the embankment of Changyuan Town, the villagers went ashore with the same help as when they came. Zhou Laishui had already been here a few days ago, so he was the most familiar with the way. As soon as he landed, he asked the villagers to follow him. , Everyone carried the burden bent by the cotton, creaking and following all the way.

Zhou Laishui ordered Zhang Yun to follow him closely, and took the lead for about half a cup of tea. In fact, he was near the shore, and he could see the long shed with people coming and going from a long distance ahead. Everyone hurried over. After the long queue, rest your burden.

Zhang Yun followed Zhou Laishui and stopped to rest. Looking at the long queue in front of him, he saw cotton loads resting around each of them, and the baskets filled with cotton filled the entire open space. Looking forward, he could see Under the long shed, there is a thick and long scale beam like an arm hanging. There are seven or eight poles. Next to each steel scale, there are hired workers in rough clothes and straw sandals, helping to carry the baskets to the scale, and the scale supervisor will report the number. There are long tables next to the scales, and the people at the desks will register the numbers. The outside of the long cases is where the money is settled. After the cotton farmers have checked the scales and registered, they will go there to collect the money. Of course, they must also dress as officials The yamen servants were guarded, and some yamen servants wandered around, monitoring and patrolling inside and outside. On the innermost side of the long shed, there was a long table with carved patterns. Drink tea and chat.

Zhang Yun looked around casually, and when he was looking back curiously, he saw the wooden sign outside the long shed and wrote "Cotton Collection Office of the Weaving Bureau". Zhang Yun suddenly understood that the cotton was purchased by the imperial court. Under the collusion of government officials, it is no wonder that cotton prices have gone from bad to worse.

Regarding the dark political situation, ordinary people like Zhang Yun can just curse a few words in their hearts. As for turning the situation around, she really can't do it.

Zhang Yun murmured for a while, the team quickly moved to the front, seeing that it was almost Zhou's turn, at this time a sudden change occurred in the shed, she looked up, and saw a person walking outside the shed at some point The leader of the team was an official in his fifties. Seeing that he was lean and straight, and walked into the long shed with a calm and cold face, he seemed to have a bit of official authority.

After the cold-faced official came in, the several officials who had been drinking tea and chatting all stood up to greet him, but seeing him wandering around, looking at the situation in the long shed, he went to the long case, picked up the booklet and looked through it. He put down the brochure and walked into the team, interviewed several cotton farmers at the front of the team, and then went back to the long shed with his brows furrowed.

Zhou's family and Zhang Yun watched curiously through the crowd. The official asked the cotton farmers, but he couldn't hear clearly.

After the officials entered the long shed, they ordered the suspension of cotton weighing, and then led the previous officials out of the shed to discuss. When the officials returned to the long shed, about two quarters of an hour had passed. The crowd in line was already in a commotion. All of them are in a state of anxiety, wondering what the current situation is and whether it will affect the cotton price and the amount of cotton harvested.

However, the answer was soon revealed, and it was good news. When the supervision officials announced that this year, the price of seeded cotton rose to [-] yuan a load, and that of seedless cotton rose to [-] yuan a load. The cotton farmers outside the long shed All of them cheered, each of them was so excited that their mouths were crooked with joy, and the Zhou family was no exception. Zhang Yun was also grinning so happily that his mouth almost reached his ears.

In this happy atmosphere, cotton weighing was in full swing again. The cotton picked by the Zhou family was soon to be weighed. After the 24 baskets were weighed one by one, the registered number was more than eight dan, which was more than 800 catties. After the calculation, they can get 22, 22, and [-] Wen. How could they know that even the extra zeros were calculated and given to them, giving them [-], [-], [-] Wen?

The Zhou family left the long shed happily with a large sum of money. "Father, it's still early, let's go shopping in the street." Everyone walked out of the shed with empty baskets, Zhou Ping was the first to speak with a smile on his face.

"Third brother, did your daughter-in-law order you to buy materials to make new clothes?" Zhou Shan used to love to joke, but now that such a happy event happened, he became even more cheerful and began to tease his brother .

Zhou Ping scratched his head with a smile, and said, "Second brother, are you lying under the window of our house and listening to the wall?"

This remark made everyone laugh, and the villagers who had finished weighing and settled the money also gathered around them and laughed, and a young man in his 20s jumped out from the crowd, holding Zhou Ping's shoulder and laughing He said: "Pingzi, don't pay attention to them. There's nothing to be ashamed of. I'll go with you. My wife also ordered me to buy new materials and go back after I get the money. Let's go early and don't waste time." Then he pulled Zhou Ping away.

The folks burst into laughter again, but the laughter ended. There were also many people who had to go shopping on the street, so they called their friends and friends to go together.

"Boss, second child, you should also take the little ones for a stroll. If you have anything to buy, just take some back. I won't be with you young people. You know the old Wang tea shop in front of you. I'll sit there and drink. Sip some tea, you can just look for it over there later." Zhou Laishui gave some instructions to his sons, and went to Lao Wang's tea shop together with a few old people in the village.

Zhang Yun naturally walked to Zuoping Street in the town with his uncle, second uncle, and cousin.

Zuoping Street is the busiest street in Changyuan Town. The reason why this place is so lively is because there is a market here. Changyuan Town has a market every five days, so there must be a market every five days. Today is exactly the tenth day of the Lunar New Year. Well, the Zhou family chose this day, more or less because there is a market in the town, thinking that they can take the opportunity to go shopping, so that they can buy some daily necessities to go back.

Zhang Yun was in the countryside when he was a child, and he often went to the market with his mother and grandma. Naturally, she knew the excitement of the market. Walking on the streets of the market, she suddenly had a feeling of being there again, and she seemed very cordial. .

Zhang Yun followed his uncle and cousins ​​through the bustling crowd, thinking in his heart that the ancient times should not be underestimated. Along the way, many farmers carried vegetables, melons, fruits, firewood, surplus grain, and those Home-made eggs, fish caught in the river, wild game hunted in the mountains, fresh vegetable oil, bacon cured in the old year, etc. are sold, all of which are local products from the farm.

Vendors setting up stalls are also much more special, and can be seen everywhere, selling cloth, oiled paper umbrellas, small jewelry, bottles, dishes, incense candles, porcelain statues, etc. There is a fortune-telling booth that can make all kinds of human figures and animals, and there is also a grandmother with a basket, selling some embroidered shoes made by herself, tiger-head shoes for children, tiger-head hats, and sachets The purse is extremely finely embroidered, and there are more restaurants, noodle shops, tea stalls, and various food stalls.

The uncle and the second uncle gave instructions all the way to let Zhang Yun choose, as if she could buy whatever she wanted, but she mostly went to the stall to look at the freshness, so she didn't buy anything, but she couldn't eat all the way. It's true that there are so few snacks, her mouth is full of greasy food, and her belly is full.

Along the way, the cousins ​​also didn’t buy anything, and the uncle and the second uncle mostly bought daily necessities, such as porcelain bowls, clay pots, scissors, incense candles, etc. My uncle bought a silk flower headband, and after bringing it back, it can also make his daughter-in-law happy.

When they were shopping, Zhang Yun found out that there was a seller of tooth powder. After asking about the price, a small box of tooth powder cost [-] Wen. Seeing that she likes it, I didn't say anything, and everyone rushed to buy it for her.

Seeing that both of them had to pay, Zhang Yun hurriedly said that there is no need for so much. After several fights, the uncle paid in the end. When she took the tooth powder and put the box into her bosom, she thought that she would be able to brush her teeth in the future Don't mention how happy I am.

After shopping around the market, I basically bought what I needed to buy, so my uncle said: "Just now I saw that there are seeds for sale, let's go over and see if there are any new vegetables to buy back."

The second uncle immediately agreed, and the group went to the stall selling seeds. When they arrived at the stall, everyone knelt down and picked them together. Zhang Yun took a look. There were quite a lot of seeds sold on the stall, and those seeds were piled on top of each other. Then, the old man who sold the seeds warmly greeted them, "Come and see, I'm not bragging, I have been selling seeds for more than [-] years, and the seeds here are the most complete."

Zhang Yun also became interested for a while, thinking in his heart, to see if he could choose some useful seeds, no matter in the vegetable field or in the field, as long as they can bring wealth to the farmer's family.

Because of this idea, when the uncles were selecting seeds, Zhang Yun asked here and there, almost all the seeds that he couldn't recognize. Troubled, I told her one by one, and after asking around, I was a little disappointed. I thought it was complete, but they were all common seeds, which were not rare, and I didn't think of any use value for the time being.

As a result, Zhang Yun inevitably lost interest, so he asked casually, "Don't you have some rare and special seeds?"

The old man looked at Zhang Yun in surprise, pondered for a while, then got up and took out a small cloth bag from a corner. After returning to Zhang Yun, he opened the cloth bag and said, "The little girl wants It's rare, I really have the same one here, it was brought by a wandering monk from Anbao Temple two months ago, and I only got such a small bag, I heard from the wandering monk that these were obtained from a man named Feng Eye lotus, rarity is rarity, but I don’t know what it’s useful for, little girl, do you want it?”

The old man smiled and looked at Zhang Yun after he finished speaking. He wanted to show off in his heart, but he didn't think that he could really sell it. Naturally, no one would buy something that he didn't even know how to use. How could he know, Zhang Yun said otherwise Without saying anything, he said, "I want this, how much is it?"

These words made the old man stunned for a while, but business people are naturally thinking, and of course he would be happy if someone bought it, so he offered the price of twenty copper coins and sold the small packet of seeds.

The uncle and the second uncle didn't ask Zhang Yun too much, they just thought that the little girl liked new things, and after she had chosen the seeds, she paid the twenty copper coins together, and went out of the market without further delay. Lao Wang found Zhou Laishui from the tea shop, waited on the bank until Zhou Ping came back, and everyone boarded the boat and went back together.

(End of this chapter)