The Little Lucky Girl

"Then what else can you exchange for it besides strength?"

The four continued to frown.

"In addition to physical labor, you can also use your mind." Magistrate Tao said slowly, "Think about what advantages you have that others don't have? Especially the three of you."

Zheng Huan and the other two looked at each other, confusion flashing in each other's eyes; Ming Youyou looked at this one, then looked at that one, and said hesitantly: "Can they fight?"

Magistrate Tao couldn't help but knock her on the head, "Isn't the punishment you received severe enough? You still dare to mention fighting. Their advantage is that they have read books and know how to read."

This advantage...the three of them had never expected it. After all, their circle was full of educated people, and they all read better than them.

But Lord Tao's words made everyone suddenly enlightened.

Feng Xu asked excitedly, "Can we become teachers?" Then he shook his head again and again, "Oh no, we won't be misleading the students."

Lord Tao laughed angrily: "You do have some self-awareness."

Lu Tai asked tentatively: "Shall we go sell calligraphy?"

Feng Xu immediately interrupted, "You think you are your grandfather, and you can let others beg you to write for you with money."

Lu Tai said anxiously: "It's not that kind of selling calligraphy. We go to the streets to help people write letters. Each letter can always be exchanged for some money."

Ming Youyou thought about it and shook his head, "No, the county's Wen Xiucai does this, and he can't even support himself, so we shouldn't try to steal his business."

"Why don't we go copy some books?" Zheng Huan thought this idea was pretty sound.

"But if you want to copy a book, you have to buy paper and a pen, which costs money." Ming Youyou said with a pout.

"That's right," Magistrate Tao added, stroking his beard, "If you want to take the book back to copy, you have to pay a deposit to the bookstore owner."

Very good, the road is blocked, the four people are very depressed, "Isn't this going to cost money again?" After all the talk, they are back to the starting point.

"It's not easy to make money, especially the first money, which is even more difficult," said Mr. Tao with an unfathomable smile, as if he knew it but would not tell you, "figure it out yourself."

Magistrate Tao left in the afterglow of the setting sun as the four people saw him off.

"It feels like Lord Tao has become bad." Ming Youyou snorted, and the other three nodded in agreement.

Captain Jin gave them a piece of land. Although he did not force them to cultivate it, he warned them: "If you don't harvest new crops, you will have to eat black steamed bread all the time."

In order to ensure their future food supply, Zheng Huan and his two companions decided to open up a few acres of land first.

They knew that farming was hard, but they didn't expect it to be so hard. Within a few days, blisters appeared on their hands and their bodies were scratched by the sickles.

Several people couldn't sleep at night because of the pain. They lay in bed crying, thinking about quitting the next day.

But the next morning, seeing Jiayi and the others working, and the younger boys in the village also busy in the fields, the three of them could not say anything and silently picked up the sickles.

Ming Youyou was not allowed to go to the fields, so she boiled some hot water at home and brought it to them, then sat down under a tree and watched them work.

Zheng Huan and his colleagues didn't know how to pull the plow. Before the three of them had finished walking one acre of land, they had already fallen many times, and there were several bloody marks on their shoulders.

When they returned at noon, they were too tired to eat. They helped each other to carefully take off their clothes while avoiding their wounds, and then they all lay on the bed to dry their shoulders.

Ming Youyou looked at their wounds, quietly slipped out of the door, and went to look for herbs in the hot sun.

After a while, Lu Tai and the others saw a familiar scene. Ming Youyou took a handful of weeds and smashed them into the bowl.

Zheng Huan was still worried about the bitter green grass juice and asked cautiously, "Are you going to make medicine for us to drink?"

"It's not for drinking, it's for applying on the shoulders."

The three people lying on their backs were relieved. It's okay if it's not a drink, just let her play if she wants to.

Unexpectedly, Ming Youyou's medicine was quite effective this time. The three of them only felt that it was cool when applied to their wounds, which made their originally burning wounds much more comfortable. After a while, they fell asleep with a snore.

In order not to miss the farming season, the three sleepy men woke up, ate a quick meal, and went back to the fields.

Ming Youyou felt sad when she saw them, so she walked along the river alone. Before she knew it, she had crossed the bridge and arrived at the village.

It was still the busy farming season, most people were working in the fields, and there were not many people in the village. There were a few women carrying large and small bags walking back, looking like they were coming back from the market.

"Hey, isn't this the eldest girl from the Ming family?" A woman carrying a basket stopped her and asked.

Ming Youyou looked up and recognized the customer, so she smiled and greeted, "Hello, Aunt Zhang."

"Big girl, didn't you go to the capital with your parents? Are they back too?"

"They are still in the capital." Ming Youyou was afraid that the other party would ask more questions, so she quickly changed the subject and said, "Aunt, I have a real name now, Youyou, please don't call me Big Girl anymore."

"Oh, this name is quite nice," Aunt Zhang said with a smile, "It doesn't sound like it was given by someone from our county. Did you ask someone in the capital to give it this name?"

Ming Youyou listened with a smile, waiting for Aunt Zhang's next words.

Sure enough, the next question came, "How much will this cost?"

"I hired an old scholar to start the business, and it cost me a hundred coins."

"What? So much?" Aunt Zhang was very surprised. "In our county, it costs 20 cents to name someone, which I think is too expensive. This one in the capital is really incredible. Your parents are really willing to spend money."

Ming Youyou blinked, "Then according to what Auntie thinks, how much is not expensive?"

Aunt Zhang thought about it and said with a somewhat unnatural expression: "It doesn't matter what the money is. It's just a name. Just let the elders at home come up with it. Well, Auntie has something else to do. I'll go home first."

Ming Youyou stared at her back thoughtfully.

She turned around and ran back happily, shouting to the three people who had just walked in: "I have thought of a way to make money."

Feng Xu was the most enthusiastic and asked immediately, "Tell me quickly, what is the solution?"

Ming Youyou raised her head proudly, "Let's go and name the people in the village."

"Can this make money?" The three people were surprised.

"Of course. Do you know how much my name cost? A full one hundred coins."

Feng Xu's face was full of disbelief. "Is it true? Giving a name is so profitable? Then I can give a hundred or eighty names a day."

Ming Youyou poured cold water on him mercilessly, "Don't dream, that's because others can earn so much, but you can't."

Feng Xu was not convinced, "Why can't I do that?"

Ming Youyou counted on her fingers and explained, "Do you know why my parents were willing to spend so much money? Because it was in the capital, everything was expensive. And the one who named me was an old scholar with white hair and beard, who looked very knowledgeable. And most importantly, it is said that children named by him will have good marriages in the future."

Then she pointed at Feng Xu and said, "First of all, you are not old, and secondly, you are not a scholar. You don't look smart, and you can't manage other people's marriages. Let alone a hundred coins, even if you pay according to the county's price, no one will give it to you."

Feng Xu's nose was crooked with anger, "Then you still say you can make money?"