Chapter 58: Brothers

Sitting in a horse-drawn carriage for the first time, Cao Xiangnan still felt a bit of novelty. He didn’t have to hobble from south to north and then from north to south with his crutches. He could finally rest for a while.

They went to the grain store, back to the same one where they had bought rice before. This time, they wanted a full five hundred catties of rice at once. The grain store owner had promised them last time that if they wanted more than five hundred catties of rice, they could discuss the price again. This time, they ordered five hundred catties and also pushed the price down to the lowest point, so low that the owner didn’t even want to do business with them anymore.

Cao Xiangnan simply bought an extra bag of rice to take home to eat. Eating coarse grains every day, he wanted to taste something refined too. If his family wasn’t short of money in the future, he wanted them to switch to eating rice as their staple food.

Since the store had flour, he also ordered a bag.

When it came time to pay, he felt the pain in his flesh, wishing he could just take the goods and leave without paying. Of course, he just wished that, but he still had to pay obediently.

“Our stall is by the docks. Boss Zhu, take some time to try our food. I guarantee that once you eat it, you’ll never forget the taste.” In a short time, Cao Xiangnan had become familiar with the grain store owner. At the end, he even took the opportunity to promote their stall.

“Okay, okay, okay, I’ll go take a look tomorrow.” Boss Zhu wouldn’t have become so fat if he wasn’t a foodie. He couldn’t resist food at all.

Their carriage couldn’t carry so many things back at once, and they still had to buy some other things. Fortunately, Boss Zhu said he would arrange a carriage to send them back, which couldn’t have been better.

Afterward, they went to buy other things, which highlighted the benefits of having a carriage. They bought things along the way and directly put them in the carriage, and even he didn’t have to hobble around with his crutches.

They prepared more things today than yesterday, but they finished selling and closing up at about the same time as yesterday, so naturally they earned more money than yesterday. After cleaning up the stall and loading everything onto the carriage, they went back to Caojia Village.

The grain store’s rice delivery carriage also went back with them. The two carriages ran ahead, while the ox cart behind was slower and lagged behind.

Fortunately, his house was at the end of the village, and the location was remote. He didn’t have to worry about the neighbors seeing them coming and going. The carriage went around the side of the village and took a small road back to his place. Their ox cart had also been taking this road these days to avoid attracting the attention of the villagers; otherwise, they would be too eye-catching.

The villagers would likely find out about their business sooner or later, but the later they found out, the better, and their ears could be cleaner for a few more days.

“Whoa!” Cao Gang pulled the reins, and Blackie stopped.

Cao Xiangnan had named the horse Blackie. When he called out Blackie’s name, Blackie snorted at him several times, very dissatisfied with the name that wasn’t handsome at all.

Hearing the sound outside, the door of the yard was opened from the inside, and three children ran out, shouting “A-die, A-mu” (Dad, Mom) as they ran. They were happy to see their returning A-die and A-mu.

Sun Bailian followed behind, standing at the door, watching his returning husband with a smile on his face.

The big black horse snorted, and Cao Gang gave a low shout, immediately quieting it.

Suddenly, the three children stood there, not daring to come forward.

Qi Wanfeng got out of the carriage and reached out to pick up his little An’an. Having been away from his child for a day, he missed him dearly. Hearing the child call out “A-mu” again and again, his heart softened. He rubbed his face against the child’s face, met the child’s bright black eyes, smiled, and said, “An’an is good. A-mu will help move the things down first.”

“A-mu, An’an is very good.” An’an looked at his A-mu like a little adult.

Qi Wanfeng couldn’t help but smile and put the child down. An’an didn’t run around but stood sensibly by his A-mu’s feet, like a little tail. Wherever A-mu went, he followed, even helping A-mu carry small things.

Cao Gang’s two children didn’t have such good treatment. Cao Gang reached out and patted the heads of his two sons, glancing at his wife standing there, signaling her to come and take the children away so they wouldn’t get in the way here.

“…” Sun Bailian.

The grain store’s helper delivered the rice, carried the grain down from the carriage, and drove the carriage away without even drinking a bowl of water.

Seeing the tall black horse, Sun Bailian asked, “Newly bought?”

Cao Gang nodded, acknowledging with an “Mm.”

After carrying the bags of rice inside, Cao Xiangnan remembered that he didn’t have a place to store the rice. Cao Gang next to him said, “I have a few large vats at my house. I’ll use the ox cart to pull them over for you later.”

So, this problem was temporarily solved.

His yard didn’t have a stable, so he had to build another shed. Fortunately, his yard was big enough, and that end of the dilapidated house was empty. They only used one end. “Build a shed in this location?” Cao Gang asked.

“Okay.” Cao Xiangnan was thinking about when they could… he rubbed his chin back and forth, when they could tear down this house and rebuild a new one. All he lacked now was money; he didn’t lack anything else.

The two discussed building a stable. Cao Gang started working as soon as he spoke, building it for the horse to live in tonight.

“Bailian, I’ll go cook the vegetables. You watch the children.” The rice in the pot was already cooked, and the vegetables were all chopped, just waiting to be stir-fried. Qi Wanfeng said to Sun Bailian.

“Okay.” Sun Bailian nodded.

The three children curiously watched the tall horse. Sun Bailian coaxed the three little ones to go outside and pull grass to feed the horse. The children were happy to hear that and went outside to pull grass. He followed behind to watch the children. The heavy work was left to the men in the family.

The ox cart following behind returned half an hour later, carrying the things back to the yard. Sun Ji and Cao Dapeng stayed here to help build the shed. A horse shed was quickly built.

“I won’t stay. My family is waiting for me to go back.” Sun Ji refused Cao Xiangnan’s offer to stay, knowing that his family was waiting for him to go home.

“Okay, then I won’t keep you,” Cao Xiangnan said.

Sun Ji and Cao Dapeng left together, heading home.

It was still early, and the villagers were just starting to make dinner.

Sun Ji carried half a catty of pork home. His old A-ma (Grandma) was cooking in the kitchen. He took the meat into the kitchen and gave it to his A-ma, “A-ma, I bought half a catty of meat to bring back. You cook it for everyone to eat.”

After selling everything and closing up, when he followed them to the pork stall to buy things, he saw that there was still some meat left on the stall. Thinking that his family hadn’t eaten meat for a long time, he bought half a catty of the leftover pork, which was cheaper.

“You child, why waste this money?” Sun A-ma took the meat. Seeing her grandson bring back meat after working all day, she felt both sorry for her grandson and reluctant to spend the money, but she was also happy that her grandson was thinking of them and was filial and sensible.

Over the years, she hadn’t blamed the dead one, who had burdened the whole family, but had eventually left. The family’s good farmland had all been sold, and the remaining few acres couldn’t grow much. Life was difficult now, but her children and grandchildren were filial, so she didn’t feel bitter even when life was hard.

“A-ma, I’ll earn a lot of money for the family in the future. Our family will eat meat every day in the future,” Sun Ji said with a smile on his face. “Good, good, good. A-ma will wait for you to earn a lot of money and buy meat for us every day,” Sun A-ma also smiled and said, “Why did you come back so early today? Your A-die went to the fields and hasn’t come back yet. Your A-ye (Grandpa) is in the house. Go see your A-ye. I’ll go cook the rice.”

When the Sun family’s dinner was ready, Sun Fu (Father) Sun Yanshan also returned from the fields. Seeing his son, who had returned home earlier than him, Sun Fu asked him about today’s business.

He hadn’t hidden the fact that he was going to set up a stall to sell food with his cousin from his family. When his A-die asked him about today’s situation, Sun Ji concealed some things that shouldn’t be said, but he told the truth about the stall business.

Sun Ji had seen today that a lifetime of farming didn’t earn as much money as doing business. He had now made up his mind to follow Cao Xiangnan in doing business, so at least the people in his family wouldn’t have to go hungry and would have food to eat.

After dinner, the father and son sat together. Sun Ji, remembering the task that Cao Xiangnan had given him, asked his A-die if he wanted to sell river noodles in the village. He briefly told his A-die about the business, that the more he sold, the more he would earn, and that he could earn a few copper coins even if he couldn’t sell that much.

Since no one was selling it in the village right now, the food was still fresh, and he could earn some money in the village.

“This is also a good occupation. I’ll give it a try. If I do well, it can add some income to the family.” Sun Father Sun Yanshan’s black hair was mixed with a lot of white hair. His face didn’t look too old; in fact, he was only in his thirties, not yet forty.

In those years, because of the one lying in bed, he had spent all the family’s savings. He had even sold a few acres of the family’s best farmland to exchange for money to buy medicine; otherwise, the family wouldn’t have had such a hard time. He also felt guilty.

“I’ll go ask Xiangnan if it’s okay, A-die. You wait for my news.” Sun Ji stood up happily and strode out without saying a word.

Sun A-ma, who had just walked out of the house, saw her grandson leaving again and asked her son sitting there, “Why did Sun go out again?”

“He has something to do and will be back soon,” Sun Yanshan said, his eyes still watching the direction his son had left.

After eating dinner, Sun Bailian and Cao Gang took the two boys home. Cao Gang went back and pulled the ox cart, carrying over the large vats for storing rice. On the road, he met Sun Ji, who was also going to Cao Xiangnan’s house. The two went over together.

“Brother Sun Ji, did you come to find me for something?” Everyone worked together to put the newly bought rice into the large vats, so they didn’t have to worry about the mice stealing it at night. Cao Xiangnan asked Sun Ji.

“Oh, it’s like this. I came over to ask my A-die,” Sun Ji told Cao Xiangnan about wanting to take river noodles from him to sell and asked him if it was okay. After listening, Cao Xiangnan pondered slightly before saying, “It’s not impossible.”

But if it became known now, the people of Caojia Village would know that he was doing these things, and there would definitely be a lot of trouble coming back.

“How about this, let’s not sell it in our village first. Have your A-die carry it to other villages to sell first.” There were also peddlers walking through the village selling goods, but most of them sold small items, and very few sold food. Cao Xiangnan thought for a while and said, “I can give him river noodles and sauce, however many river noodles your A-die can sell. As for the price, I’ll give your A-die the lowest price.”

Thinking of Sun Ji’s family’s situation, Cao Xiangnan was giving them a convenience. He said, “Have your A-die come take them to sell first and settle the bill with me at the end of the month.”

So, what he was doing was essentially giving the goods first and then settling the bill monthly.

“Okay, I’ll go back and tell my A-die. Thank you, brother.” Sun Ji reached out and patted Cao Xiangnan on the shoulder, his face showing unconcealed joy. At this moment, he really regarded Cao Xiangnan as his own brother.

“What’s there to thank? We’re all our own people,” Cao Xiangnan returned a pat to Sun Ji’s shoulder.

Cao Gang, standing to the side, also had a faint smile in his eyes. He knew before that his wife and Qi Wanfeng were close, and he wasn’t too familiar with Cao Si Lang. Now that the people of the two families were together and familiar with each other, he found that Cao Si Lang was a person worth befriending.

So, the matter was settled.