Chapter 36: Joy 1/3

When Li Qingzhi arrived with Li Damao and Li Ermao at the riverbank next to Zhu’s house, Jin Xiaoye was already there.

As for Grandma Jin… she was collecting snails again.

“Grandma, we’re leaving,” Jin Xiaoye called to Grandma Jin when she saw Li Qingzhi, gesturing for her to come aboard.

Grandma Jin boarded the boat agilely and immediately spotted the stools and wooden planks Jin Xiaoye had bought. “I knew you must have made some money. You’ve started setting up a household already!”

Jin Xiaoye replied, “These were bought with Ah Qing’s earnings. He earns a silver coin every day!”

Grandma Jin glanced at Jin Xiaoye and said nothing.

At this point, Li Qingzhi also boarded the boat and saw the wooden planks and stools on board.

After learning that Jin Xiaoye was going to buy a bed, he had been looking forward to it. But now… was this the bed Jin Xiaoye bought? It was not quite what he had imagined!

But thinking carefully about their situation… they only had two rooms in their house, and they stored a lot of grain in the room they lived in. If they bought a big bed, there would be no place to put it.

So what they really needed most was a house?

Now that he had money, he could just add two more rooms.

Building a house… building a brick and tile house would cost a lot of money, but building the type of house they currently lived in wouldn’t cost much, and it wouldn’t attract attention.

Once they had extra rooms, they could let the two children sleep in another room!

He could also buy some furniture to decorate the house, as well as a kitchen. Since they had money now, they could easily buy another pot.

At first, Li Qingzhi just wanted to buy a bed so Jin Xiaoye wouldn’t have to sleep on the ground, but now… he found himself wanting more and more.

But decorating his own home was something that could easily become addictive.

Since the apocalypse, Li Qingzhi had lost his relatives and didn’t have a fixed abode.

Now, he finally had a home.

Li Qingzhi really wanted to give the banknotes to Jin Xiaoye right away. He knew that Jin Xiaoye would be very happy when she saw the banknotes.

But with outsiders present… it was better to wait.

When they returned to Miaoqian Village, Li Qingzhi and the children were surrounded as soon as they got off the boat, all of them coming to buy head flowers.

Some hadn’t bought them before, some wanted to buy more, and some wanted to buy them as gifts for relatives and friends.

Jin Xiaoye parked the boat and said with a smile, “I brought back a lot of head flowers today, some of them are even new styles. Come to my house, and I’ll take them out for you to choose.”

After greeting everyone, Jin Xiaoye and Jin Xiaoshu carried the wooden planks and stools and headed home.

Even Li Qingzhi helped carry some firewood.

Seeing these things, the villagers couldn’t help but say a few words: “Xiaoye, are you going to make a bed?”

“Xiaoye, your family’s life is getting better and better!”

“Xiaoye, let me help you carry some.”

…

The crowd followed Jin Xiaoye to the Li family’s house and started talking about the Yao family.

“Xiaoye, did something happen to the Yao family? Today, both Mr. Yao and his wife went to the county town with Yao Zhenfu, but they came back before the afternoon.”

“It seems like Yao Zhenfu didn’t go to school.”

“The Yao family looks worried, maybe Yao Zhenfu did something he shouldn’t have.”

“Xiaoye, you row a boat to the county town every day, do you know what’s going on?”

…

“I have no idea, I’m busy rowing a boat for people! How about this head flowers? I think it’s pretty.” Jin Xiaoye didn’t answer, instead, she kept promoting her head flowers.

Jin Xiaoye had some guesses about the Yao family’s situation but didn’t plan to tell anyone.

She didn’t like others talking about her family’s affairs, so naturally, she wouldn’t talk about others’ affairs either.

But when she closed the door at night and talked to Li Qingzhi, that was another matter. She quite liked talking to Li Qingzhi about these things.

The villagers knew Jin Xiaoye’s personality, and since they hadn’t learned anything from her, they couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

“Xiaoye, let me take over, and you can go eat,” Li Qingzhi said when he saw that Jin Xiaoye was surrounded and didn’t have time to eat.

“Okay.” Jin Xiaoye went to eat, and Li Qingzhi took over selling the head flowers.

Li Qingzhi liked chatting with people, but he didn’t say much. He mainly played the role of a “straight man” in the conversation.

“I can’t believe that happened!”

“That’s terrible!”

“Sister-in-law, you really know a lot!”

..

In the midst of chatting, Li Qingzhi also didn’t forget to sell head flowers: “Miss, the red head flower is vibrant, and the yellow headband is grand. It depends on what you like.”

“You’re so beautiful, you should buy a couple more.”

“Auntie, your skin is fair, this flower will complement your complexion.”

“Sister, when you wear this flower, you look several years younger.”

…

Li Qingzhi was very popular among the women in the village. When Jin Xiaoye finished eating and came out, she found a group of people surrounding him. Some of them had already bought head flowers and hadn’t left yet.

Jin Xiaoye silently remembered the words Li Qingzhi used to promote the head flowers, planning to use them when selling head flowers tomorrow.

Today, she didn’t need to use them! Jin Xiaoye called Jin Xiaoshu to help her tidy up the house and set up the bed.

When Li Qingzhi heard the movement and turned his head, he saw Jin Xiaoye tidying up the house and setting up the bed quickly and skillfully.

She worked quickly and efficiently, cleaning the house spotlessly, with glistening sweat on her black and red face… Li Qingzhi’s heart couldn’t help but beat faster.

As the sky gradually darkened, those who had been chatting with Li Qingzhi reluctantly left.

Li Laogen had already bathed the two children, and Jin Xiaoye had rearranged the house.

Seeing this, Li Qingzhi planned to invite Jin Xiaoye to bathe by the river together and tell her about the one hundred taels of silver.

However, at this moment, Mr. Yao arrived: “Xiaoye, do you have a moment? I need to talk to you about something.”

“I have time. What’s the matter?” Jin Xiaoye asked.

“Xiaoye, let’s talk outside,” Mr. Yao gestured towards the vegetable garden outside.

Jin Xiaoye didn’t object and followed Mr. Yao outside.

Mr. Yao sought Jin Xiaoye’s advice because he didn’t have anyone else to discuss matters with. His parents only raised him, and he only had Yao Zhenfu… Whenever there was a problem, he had no one to consult with.

As for why he approached Jin Xiaoye… he understood her well, and she wouldn’t gossip about their family affairs to others. Plus, compared to other villagers, Jin Xiaoye was knowledgeable!

Mr. Yao sighed and explained how Yao Zhenfu had been cheated out of money by Xuniang, and what happened when they went to find her today.

After learning about Xuniang’s situation from Yao Zhenfu yesterday, Mr. Yao and his wife took Yao Zhenfu to the county town early in the morning to find Xuniang, hoping to negotiate and see if they could avoid compensation or reduce it.

However, Xuniang didn’t show up, and as for Xuniang’s husband… he insisted on a hundred taels of silver.

Mr. Yao explained everything to Jin Xiaoye and asked, “Xiaoye, what do you think we should do?”