Chapter 21: Let’s Go to the County

This trip to the county was truly worthwhile. Xiao Jinyu obtained the information he sought, and Xie Jiu’er not only secured a job but also rented a house.

“Everything is ready except the east wind.”

Xie Jiu’er locked the front door, tucked the key into her bosom, and muttered with a troubled expression. Xiao Jinyu paused, “What do you mean? You’ve rented a house, and the monthly wages from cooking for the Zhu family will be enough to support your mother and Wuyang. What else is there to worry about?”

“We don’t have a cart. How are we going to transport the meat and taro to the county? Food is so scarce now; we can’t just leave it in the village and let others take advantage of it!”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jinyu looked into the distance, “Let’s go back to the real estate agency. They should have a cart. Let’s see if we can rent one for a day.”

Xie Jiu’er looked at the half tael of silver left in her hand with a bitter smile, “This is all the money we have left. I don’t know if they’ll even rent to us.”

Xiao Jinyu pursed his lips, “We’ll only rent the cart, not the oxen. We should still have some money left.”

Xie Jiu’er considered this. “The taro and the jar of meat are heavy. It’ll be difficult to transport them all the way to the county.”

“Let’s figure out how to rent a cart first!” Xiao Jinyu walked towards the real estate agency again.

Seeing the two return, the real estate agency owner thought there was a problem with the house. “What’s wrong?”

Xiao Jinyu bowed slightly, “We need to move some belongings to the county, but we don’t have a cart.  Could we rent a cart from your agency for a day?”

The real estate agency owner looked troubled, “We only have one cart, and we use it ourselves. It’s not normally for rent.”

“I know, but we really have no other choice. Without a cart, we can’t transport our things to the county. Besides, we don’t need a horse or oxen, just the cart.”

Seeing that the real estate agency owner remained silent, Xiao Jinyu continued, “We’ve signed a six-month lease for the house, but we’ve only paid for two months. If we can’t get our things to the county and end up not staying, you’ll lose two taels of silver. Even though the war is over, this winter will be harsh. Few people will come to the county to rent houses, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Alright, our cart is a passenger cart, clean and tidy. Give me half a tael of silver.  Tomorrow, when you return the cart, I’ll inspect it. If there’s no problem, I’ll return half the silver. That’s the lowest price.” The real estate agency owner, worried they would find the price too high, stated the price firmly.

“Okay.”

Xie Jiu’er agreed. The two pushed the cart quickly out of the city.  They wasted quite a bit of time. Xiao Jinyu pushed the cart on steeper roads, and Xie Jiu’er pushed on flatter ones.  They hurried as much as they could, but by the time they reached the village, it was completely dark.

Zhou shi stood anxiously at the entrance, her feet numb with cold. Seeing her daughter return, she quickly ran down, “Why are you so late! Mother thought you had encountered trouble on the road. I was scared to death.”

Xie Jiu’er replied while pushing the cart, “Mother, it’s alright. Let’s talk inside.”

Zhou shi helped her push the cart into the courtyard before asking belatedly, “Where did you get this cart?”

“We rented it in the county.” As soon as Xie Jiu’er entered the house, Zhou shi quickly served the meal.

“We didn’t need to spend that money!”

Seeing that her daughter hadn’t brought back the things she took to the city, Zhou shi realized she had exchanged them for silver, which was then used to rent a cart.  She was immediately heartbroken.

“Mother, Brother Xiao’s wounds are almost healed, and he’s leaving.”

She pouted, continuing, “Also, the villagers will probably return in a few days. If we stay with Big Uncle and the others, we won’t have a good time. So, I used the money from selling things today to rent a house in the county and a cart for a day. We’ll leave tomorrow, before Brother Xiao leaves, to move to the city to avoid any unforeseen problems.”

Hearing that they were going to the county, Zhou shi became anxious, “My foolish daughter! Why didn’t you discuss this with Mother beforehand? The county isn’t a place for us! It’s terribly expensive. We don’t have the money.  Life will be difficult in the village, but at least we can survive.”

Xie Jiu’er was shivering from hunger, her head dizzy.  She quickly ate a few mouthfuls of rice before feeling less dizzy. “Mother, don’t worry, I found a job in the county.  The monthly wage is one tael of silver—just cooking for someone. It’s easy. With that one tael, our monthly food and drink expenses are covered. We’re able-bodied; we can easily earn the half tael for the rent. We can manage.”

Hearing that her daughter had found a job so quickly, Zhou shi felt slightly relieved, but she was still worried, “But Mother is clumsy and unskilled. You’ll be cooking for others, but I won’t be able to earn even half a tael.”

Xie Jiu’er laughed. Her mother was too anxious. “Don’t worry, I’ll figure out what kind of work we can do. You just follow my instructions. Once we get through this winter, things will get better next year. We survived the war; our lives will definitely improve.”

Wuyang listened eagerly. He had never left this mountain village since birth and didn’t know what the outside world was like. He looked forward to life in the county.

Zhou shi looked at her two children helplessly. After calming down from the news about the county, she remembered her daughter’s earlier comment about Xiao Jinyu leaving. She turned to him, “Ah, you’ve helped us so much during this time.  I’ll miss you when you leave.”

After finishing his meal, Xiao Jinyu thought about leaving for the county tomorrow, “It’s too rushed. Let’s leave a little later tomorrow morning. I’ll go to the mountains and hunt some game for you.”

Xie Jiu’er put down her chopsticks, “We need game, but don’t keep it for us. Sell it in the county! In this cold winter, everyone is short of food and clothing. It will fetch a good price.”

Xiao Jinyu didn’t understand, “Everyone is short of food now.  It’s better to keep it for ourselves. Selling it isn’t worthwhile.”

Xie Jiu’er sighed, “Brother Xiao only thinks about our future food, but have you considered what you’ll eat and where you’ll sleep when you’re out there, exposed to the elements? We don’t have any money left here. If you’re going out, we need to prepare travel expenses. We can leave in the afternoon tomorrow; we’re not coming back. Half a day is enough for a one-way trip. But you need to hunt more game; otherwise, the travel expenses won’t be enough, and you’ll suffer on the road.”

Xiao Jinyu shook his head, “A grown man can take care of his own food.  I’ll keep some for lodging and leave the rest for you.”

Xie Jiu’er couldn’t persuade him, so she stopped arguing, “Once you’ve hunted and we’ve exchanged it for silver, we’ll talk. No one ever dislikes having more silver.”