Chapter 30: Rowing 1/3

Today, after Li Qingzhi took the two children to the county town, Jin Xiaoye made a pot of rice at home. She used to not make much plain rice, but recently Li Qingzhi brought money home every day… so now she made it every day.

The feeling of hunger wasn’t good, and she didn’t want to go hungry if she could eat her fill.

After finishing breakfast, Jin Xiaoshu arrived, and she walked with Jin Xiaoshu to find the old boatman who wanted to rent out his boat.

They asked around as they walked, and it wasn’t until midday that they finally found the man and saw the boat.

This old boatman didn’t have much land at home; he only had a little over an acre of paddy fields, and the grain he grew wasn’t enough for his family to eat. Fortunately, when they divided the family property back then, his father gave him a boat. He could make ends meet with this boat.

The old boatman had a son and two daughters, both daughters were already married, and his son was already married with children. A few years ago, he intended to hand the boat over to his son and retire at home, but his son accidentally got injured when he was being forced to do labor and later died from a fever that wouldn’t go away.

Luckily, his son left behind a grandson, so he continued to support the grandson by rowing the boat. However, he injured his back while helping the people he hired to move goods a while ago and couldn’t work anymore.

He couldn’t row the boat anymore, so he wanted to rent it out.

The rent he asked for was low because his boat was quite old, and also because his nephew and the brother of his daughter-in-law both had their eyes on the boat and wouldn’t allow others to rent it.

After understanding the situation and checking out the boat, Jin Xiaoye decided to rent it.

The old boatman’s nephew and the brother of his daughter-in-law both wanted the boat, which was indeed a bit troublesome. The people in the village where the old boatman lived were intimidated by these two, but she was from a different village.

The old boatman’s nephew and the brother of his daughter-in-law—could they still come to her village and cause trouble?

Jin Xiaoye quickly negotiated the rent, agreeing to pay every ten days starting from today, and then took the old boatman’s boat away.

During this period, the old boatman’s nephew came to her door, but Jin Xiaoye wasn’t afraid at all. “I’m from Miaoqian Village, my surname is Jin. If you have any complaints, you can come to Miaoqian Village and find me!”

After saying this, Jin Xiaoye added, “I have several brothers on my mother’s side, and my eldest uncle works in Xiang Army!”

The old boatman’s nephew didn’t dare to cause trouble again.

If someone from the same village wanted to rent a boat, he could go to their house and make a scene or cry, but it was different for someone from another village. The people in the village wouldn’t help him with this matter, and he wouldn’t be able to contend with Jin Xiaoye, a local bully from Miaoqian Village, by himself.

As for why they were stopping Jin Xiaoye from leaving now… the people from Miaoqian Village would definitely come to them for revenge if they were wronged here.

Anyway, Jin Xiaoye successfully took the boat away.

Jin Xiaoye had long wanted to do business by rowing a boat. She has loved money since she was a child. When she was young, she would eagerly help when her father went to prepare for banquets, just to learn some skills.

But her father didn’t have many skills, and Miaoqian Village already had her father, so she couldn’t take over his work.

At that time, she thought the most powerful person in Miaoqian Village was Mr. Yao. She also wanted a boat like Mr. Yao’s to earn money.

Because of this idea, she observed how Mr. Yao rowed the boat.

After she got married, she even wanted to learn how to row a boat from Mr. Yao, but because she was afraid that people would gossip about her and Yao Zhenfu, she deliberately kept her distance from the Yao family and ultimately didn’t learn.

Although she hadn’t learned, she would ask Mr. Yao or other boatmen about rowing techniques when she was on a boat before… Once on the boat, Jin Xiaoye started rowing directly.

This kind of small boat could be rowed with oars or pushed with bamboo poles.

Jin Xiaoye planned to figure it out today and try to make money tomorrow.

Jin Xiaoshu had never rowed a boat before. After getting on the boat and seeing Jin Xiaoye start rowing directly, she asked curiously, “Sis, when did you learn how to row a boat?”

Jin Xiaoye said, “I’ve never learned.”

“Even though you don’t know how to row, why did you rent a boat?” Jin Xiaoshu was a bit puzzled.

“So what if I don’t know? I’m sure I can learn!” Jin Xiaoye was very confident. “If it weren’t for Damao and Ermao not having anyone to take care of them, and you being too young to go out with me, I would have rented a boat to try it out long ago!”

Jin Xiaoshu said, “Damao and Ermao can be taken care of by Mom…”

“For a day or two, Mom can help me, but she definitely won’t want to do it for long, or she might not dare.” Jin Xiaoye snorted lightly.

She knew her mother too well.

Her mother was extremely soft, she just went along with whatever others said without any opinion of her own, and she was especially afraid of her grandmother.

As for her grandmother… she didn’t want her married-out daughters and granddaughters to come back and take advantage of the Jin family.

In her grandmother’s eyes, asking her mother to help take care of Damao and Ermao would be taking advantage of the Jin family, and she definitely wouldn’t agree.

Of course, if she gave her money, that would be another matter… If that were the case, her grandmother might even fight to be the one to take care of her children.

But she had the most money on hand at most four taels, how could she afford to be so extravagant?

Jin Xiaoshu smiled awkwardly. His mother really couldn’t handle things. When he was bullied when he was young, he never expected his parents to stand up for him. He would just cry in front of his sister, and then his sister would take him to seek justice.

Because of this, he always wanted to help Jin Xiaoye in the past few years, but he was only sixteen years old this year, and even younger before. He couldn’t help much at all. At most, he could help when Jin Xiaoye was giving birth, catching some small fish and shrimp for her to eat.

Jin Xiaoye wasn’t proficient in rowing the boat. The boat was wobbling along, but she had a smile on her face. “Xiaoshu, if I can earn money by rowing a boat, I can buy a few more acres of land! Your brother-in-law can read and calculate quickly. Damao and Ermao can learn from him, and in the future, they might even be able to find a job in the county town!”

“Okay.” Jin Xiaoshu nodded happily.

Jin Xiaoye continued, “When we make money, we’ll go to the restaurant in the county town for a meal. You can even build a big house and not live with them anymore!”

Listening to Jin Xiaoye describe the beautiful future, Jin Xiaoshu felt very motivated.

The two of them continued to row the boat while heading towards the county town to meet Li Qingzhi.

However, their boat rowing skills were not good, and they arrived a little late. They happened to hear Yao Zhenfu complaining about the chicken Li Qingzhi had given him.

Jin Xiaoshu and Jin Xiaoye had gone out after breakfast and hadn’t eaten a second meal until now. They were already starving, so hearing someone complain about the chicken given by the Zhu family was hard to take…

Yesterday’s chicken was so delicious! Jin Xiaoshu had never eaten such delicious chicken before!