The Sweet Little Fulang

　　When Shen Xuanqing picked up two heavy bundles of firewood, Lu Gu's bamboo basket was also full. Seeing that Shen Xuanqing only tied five firewood for him with the short rope, Lu Gu frowned slightly, and opened his mouth to speak.

　　"That's all, many of them haven't been cut, these few can be sold, and also the ones on your back." Shen Xuanqing didn't give him a chance to speak.

　　Shen Xuanqing carried the rope and hatchet on his back, and made a gesture to go home. Lu Gu had no choice but to give up, he carried the bamboo basket on his back, put the firewood on the bamboo basket, held the hemp rope on his chest and went down the mountain.

　　Dahui and Guaizi ran in the front. They saw Shen Yan and the others by the river behind the house on the gentle slope, and ran over.

　　The ducks were swimming in the pond. Besides Wei Lanxiang's big ducks, Lu Gu's seven ducks were also in the pond. Now they were full of feathers, except for their smaller stature, they also looked like big ducks.

　　"Second brother has gathered so much firewood." Shen Yan said after seing the load of firewood Shen Xuanqing picked. When she saw Lu Gu, she went to look at the wild vegetables in the bamboo basket.

　　"Brother Guzi, I also dug some wild vegetables." Shen Yan said, and Lu Gu also saw the pile of wild vegetables on the ground next to him.

　　Shen Yan said again: "Mother is also digging wild vegetables. Go to the town this afternoon and take me to sell them together."

　　"Yes." Lu Gu nodded in agreement.

　　The two of them had to go up the mountain to pick up good firewood for sale. Shen Xuanqing chopped so much that it took a lot of effort to bring them down the mountain. It was still morning when they left, and it was already noon now.

　　"Mother already cooked the meal. Let's go back and eat after Brother Daqing collects the fish cage." Shen Yan squatted down and put the wild vegetables on the ground into Lu Gu's bamboo basket.

　　Together with her, Lu Gu quickly packed the wild vegetables, and pressed them down because there were too many.

      "Sister-in-law, you stand behind, I'll pull it." Shen Xuanqing unloaded the load of firewood on his shoulders, walked to the river to let Ji Qiuyue back up. The river was cold, and it was no joke if she fell.

　　Shen Yaoqing rowed the wooden boat, and the place where the fish cage was placed was actually not very far from the river bank, but it was not summer, so it was not easy to go into the water barefoot.

　　One side of the fish cage was tied with a fine hemp rope, and the cage could be pulled back after the stones pressing on it were removed, so Shen Yaoqing didn't need to put the fish cages one by one into the boat. The wooden boat was small, and it was not easy to put eight fish cages inside.

　　"It's no trouble, this fish cage is not heavy," Ji Qiuyue said so, but since Shen Xuanqing stood up, so she had to give up her seat.

　　The fish cages were in the river all morning, and Shen Yan didn't dare to leave them alone. If someone saw the fish cage rope on the river bank and then pulled it up to take it away, their efforts would be in vain.

　　Fortunately, it was behind her house, not far away. If she was thirsty and hungry, she could run to the backyard wall to shout, and Wei Lanxiang would bring her a bowl of hot water.

　　After the first fish cage was pulled, Shen Xuanqing took a look at the lively fish inside. Due to the characteristics of the fish cage, all the fish caught were small fish, because the big fish couldn't get in. Among them, mostly was the winter and spring fish and the others were some small newly hatched fishes that hadn't grown up.

　　Lu Gu and Shen Yan came over after loading the wild vegetables, took the fish cage and dumped the small fishes on the ground. They both picked the winter and spring fishes and put them into the wooden bucket filled with water, while the small fishes were thrown back into the river.

　　The river water was cold and the fishes were also cold, so the two of them didn't let Ji Qiuyue do it. Besides, there weren't many fish in a fish cage, so they could divide and picked the fishes out with two people only.

　　The winter and spring fish that were caught in the eight fish cages were small, and it was only half a bucket when they were brought home. This small fish was only as long as a human finger. But fortunately, the price was higher, ranging from 18 to copper coins a catty.

　　The winter and spring fish was the best and most tender fresh fish. People who were particular about food would buy some to make soup so their children could grow taller. Therefore this fish could be sold at a price similar to that of pork.

　　After returning, Shen Yaoqing picked eight fishes of the smallest ones, and left them to make fresh soup for the family. After lunch, taking advantage of the fresh wild vegetables and fresh fishes, they went to the town with Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing.

　　Lu Gu carried a basket on his arm, which contained sachets, handkerchiefs and laozis.

　　A cart of firewood was tied firmly with long ropes, and two baskets of wild vegetables were placed on it, the cart was pulled by Shen Xuanqing.

　　Shen Yaoqing was carrying the bucket with fishes, because there was no place for it in the cart. Besides, there were fishes inside, if the cart bumped, the water inside the bucket would spill, so it was better to carry it.

　　The firewood was heavy, even if it was only thin firewood, it was not light. The two bundles of firewood that Shen Xuanqing brought back today weighed more than forty catties. Naturally there would be gaps when stacked together, and it couldn't be compacted.

　　A load of firewood was the cheapest among firewood, rice, oil and salt, and a load of firewood was only forty copper coins. If they were lucky, the firewood in this cart would cost about sixty copper coins.

　　Farmers were like this, they spent the morning to collect firewood and then sold it for less than sixty copper coins.

　　However, the firewood was indeed cheap, but the advantage was that they only needed to chop it, unlike fishing with fish cages, the fishes caught were all based on luck and the will of Heaven.

　　After the beginning of spring, all kinds of shops in the town opened, and there was a lot of people. Lu Gu followed Shen Xuanqing to the streets and alleys, and Shen Yaoqing also hawked together. They sold a lot of things, such as firewood, fishes and wild vegetables.

       People in the town also liked to use sachet, handkerchief, and laozi. Now Lu Gu sold things differently than before. He learned from Shen Xuanqing, now he dared to open his mouth and say that the price was one or two copper coins higher. Shepherd's purse had just showed up now, and it was rare.

        There were some people who sold it for three or four copper coins, two copper coins was not enough for the labor. When others came to ask him, he would say four or five copper coins, and after some bargaining, he would sell it for three copper coins. As long as it was not lower than the price in the market.