The happy little days of the Ye family

There were not many people entering the city in the afternoon, and there were only a few people queuing up to enter the city. Tang Xiaojing, who was queuing up to enter the city, looked up and happened to see Father Ye driving the donkey cart out of the city gate.

"Uncle Harvest." Tang Xiaojing waved to Father Ye.

Father Ye drove the donkey cart to Tang Xiaojing's side and said with a smile: "Going into the city at this hour, have you caught another wild boar in the trap?"

Tang Xiaojing said cheerfully: "The wild boars are all on the mountain opposite, but I caught a fat deer weighing more than 30 kilograms, and there were also five big rabbits weighing six or seven kilograms."

Father Ye: "That's very good. Your mountain is worth buying. You can rely on the prey and herbs on the mountain to eat and drink."

Tang Xiaojing: "I also learned this from Uncle Fengshou. Uncle Fengshou and Grandpa Ye are the ones who have the foresight."

Father Ye said proudly: "That's right, this mountain has constant yields and can guarantee harvests despite droughts and floods. If you take good care of it, the harvest will be no worse than paddy fields, and you can leave something for your children and grandchildren in the future."

Tang Xiaojing also thinks that buying mountains is a good deal. In recent years, the country has been prosperous and the people are peaceful. Not to mention the high price of paddy fields, they are still unavailable.

In the past two years, the imperial court has vigorously encouraged land reclamation. Barren mountains and wasteland are cheap and tax-free in the past few years. Tang Xiaojing is now saving money to buy a second mountain.

Now Huangshan can be exempted from tax for five years. It is hard to say whether this policy will still exist in five years. Five years of tax can save a lot of money.

Although Tang Xiaojing doesn't have enough money now, he is also paying attention to the unowned barren hills in the village. It would be great if he could find another mountain like Stone Mountain that is rich in small animals and grows herbs.

Seeing that it was Tang Xiaojing's turn soon, Father Ye patted Tang Xiaojing's shoulder and drove the donkey cart back humming a ditty.

Tang Xiaojing had just entered the city when a middle-aged man in stylish clothes who was in front of him took the initiative to talk to him.

"This little brother, I am the housekeeper of Wang Yuanwai in the county. Wang Yuanwai will have an important banquet in three days. Can you get a live deer and some live rabbits over here the day after tomorrow?"

Tang Xiaojing shook his head and said: "Steward Wang, I can't guarantee what will be caught in this trap. It's even harder to keep deer and rabbits alive."

"The deer on my oxcart is still alive. How about, Shopkeeper Wang, take the deer back and raise it for two days? There's nothing I can do about the live rabbit."

Tang Xiaojing dragged the deer out of the bullock cart and took out the basket containing the rabbit for Butler Wang to check.

Butler Wang saw that the deer was still struggling desperately, and it was indeed quite fat. It should be no problem to raise it for two days, so he nodded with satisfaction.

Then he looked at the rabbits in the basket. Several rabbits had already died, but they were still fresh and would be suitable for tasting dishes later.

Butler Wang said cheerfully: "I want both the deer and the rabbit. Come with me to Wang's house and identify the door. If you have any good delicacies in the future, you can send them directly to Wang's house."

Tang Xiaojing was very happy and quickly responded: "Thank you, Butler Wang."

Butler Wang took Tang Xiaojing into the Wang family's backyard through the back door. Butler Wang asked Tang Xiaojing to wait at the door of the kitchen, and then entered the kitchen.

After a while, Butler Wang came out with a man dressed as a cook. The man inspected the deer and hare and nodded to Butler Wang.

Steward Wang and Tang Xiaojing said: "The deer is still alive, so let's collect it at 22 cents per pound. The rabbit is still fresh, so let's take it at 13 cents per pound."

This price is higher than the price at the Liang Family Restaurant, so Tang Xiaojing naturally agrees, as he can get at least a hundred more coins.

Xiao Si and the cook on the side quickly weighed the deer and hare.

"Steward Wang, the deer weighs 35 kilograms and the hare weighs 32 kilograms in total."

Butler Wang did not need an abacus and immediately calculated the money, "The deer has 770 coins and the hare has 416 coins, a total of 1186 coins."

Butler Wang gave Tang Xiaojing two pieces of silver, one was one tael and the other was two cents.

"Here is one or two cents. The extra four cents will be considered as the hard work you brought here."

Tang Xiaojing saw that Butler Wang was spending a lot of money and there was an important banquet three days later, so he asked more questions.

"Steward Wang, I wonder if you can collect dried bamboo fungus, dried bamboo shoots and dried mushrooms here?"

Hearing that there was bamboo fungus, Butler Wang became more energetic and asked, "How many dried bamboo fungus do you have here?"

Dried mushrooms and bamboo shoots are plentiful in the house, but bamboo fungus is not often available. It would also be nice to add bamboo fungus stewed chicken to a banquet.

Tang Xiaojing: "My unmarried wife's house has two hills. There is a large bamboo forest on the mountain. I picked a lot of bamboo fungus. I don't know the exact amount, but it should be around twenty or thirty kilograms."

Butler Wang looked at Tang Xiaojing happily: "You can send 25 kilograms of dried bamboo fungus over tomorrow morning."

This dried bamboo fungus is considered a relatively precious delicacy. In addition to being used at banquets, it is also used as a New Year's gift at the end of the year.

Tang Xiaojing asked in a low voice, "Steward Wang, how much does the bamboo fungus cost per pound?"

After all, this is something belonging to the Ye family. Ask him clearly before he can go back and talk to Grandpa Ye.

"On weekdays, the price in the dry goods shop is 220 Wen per catty. You came here in time, so I'll give you 230 Wen per catty. But if the dried bamboo fungus is not good, I don't want it."

Tang Xiaojing also saw it when the Ye family was drying bamboo fungus. The quality was very good.

Tang Xiaojing patted his chest and assured Butler Wang: "They are all picked on the mountain at home. Every flower is large and in good condition."

When Tang Xiaojing drove his cattle cart through North Street, he saw two familiar figures in front of a stall. After a closer look, he saw that they were Ye Donglin and his second cousin.

The second cousin was giggling while selecting things at the stall, while Ye Donglin peeked at the little girl carving in front of the stall.

If necessary, Tang Xiaojing quietly parked the bullock cart not far away and secretly observed the two of them.

The last time he touched river clams in the valley, Tang Xiaojing could tell that his second cousin liked Ye Qingqing's good sister. Tang Xiaojing was more interested in the little girl Ye Donglin was peeping at.

Tang Xiaojing followed Ye Donglin's gaze and looked at the little girl. She had a face with oval seeds and big eyes. She was about the same height as Ye Qingqing. She was a delicate beauty. No wonder his uncle couldn't walk after seeing her.

Ye Donglin and the little girl should know each other. Although the little girl is doing wood carving, she talks to Ye Donglin from time to time.

Tang Xiaojing looked familiar to the mother and daughter setting up the stall, and then looked at the various wooden hairpins, wooden combs and small wooden toys displayed on the stall, and then remembered that she was the eldest daughter of Carpenter Wang's family.

The Wang family's mother and daughter have run a stall on North Street for many years. A few years ago, when his mother was still here, his mother would often come to the Wang family's stall to look at hairpins or buy small toys for him.

If he remembered correctly, there were six people in Carpenter Wang's family, Carpenter Wang's father, Mr. Wang, Carpenter Wang, Carpenter Wang's wife Li, his eldest son Wang Lichun, his eldest daughter Wang Chunyu and his youngest son Wang Lixia.

Carpenter Wang's family is in a village near the county seat. Carpenter Wang and his eldest son Wang Lichun often come to the county to do carpentry. In their free time, they make small wooden things for Wang Chunyu and his daughter to set up a stall in the county.

The Wang family's financial situation is not bad. I heard that they still have several acres of paddy fields and a donkey cart.

But these were all a few years ago. Tang Xiaojing planned to help his uncle secretly inquire about the current situation of the Wang family.

The eldest girl from the Wang family looks to be about thirteen or fourteen years old, and she doesn't know if she is engaged or not.