Chapter 40: Zhao Xiaodou 1/4

Jin Xiaoye brought back so much meat mainly because Li Qingzhi had brought home fifty taels of silver, and also because her business was doing well.

Before, Jin Xiaoye mainly waited for jobs in the county town by sailing her boat, helping to deliver goods or people. But now she didn’t do that anymore.

Now she mainly sailed her boat around, selling flower heads and some other items.

After selling flower heads in nearby villages, she roughly knew what goods the people in the village needed. After that, Jin Xiaoye prepared various goods on her boat every day and went to those villages to sell, while also buying some things from the villagers to sell in the county town.

In addition, she bought some scrap cloth and had the women in the county town who knew how to sew process them into various small items, which she sold to people near Chongcheng County or to those small merchants on the dock.

There were many small merchants in Chongcheng County. They would rent a boat or share a boat with others, load local goods onto it, and sell them elsewhere, then buy goods from elsewhere.

Jin Xiaoye went to them to sell her flower heads. Most of these people ignored her, but some bought some goods.

Since Jin Xiaoye didn’t have many goods on hand, she sold almost all of them.

In the evening, Jin Xiaoye said to Li Qingzhi, “At first, when I asked them if they wanted to buy flower heads, I felt very nervous. After asking a few times, I got used to it, and later, I knew how to persuade them!”

“You’re really amazing.”

“It’s not that I’m amazing, it’s because of Master Zhu. The stories you tell to Damao and Ermao about Master Zhu, I find them very reasonable!” Jin Xiaoye said.

Every night before bed, Li Qingzhi would tell stories to Damao and Ermao, including stories about Master Zhu.

Master Zhu was really skilled in business and had a thick skin. For example, when he started his small business, in order to sell the goods in his hands, he went door-to-door, smiling even when he was rejected…

Li Qingzhi would tell these stories to Damao and Ermao before bedtime, and they would listen with joy. Jin Xiaoye remembered them and even learned from them.

Li Qingzhi found that Jin Xiaoye had a strong learning ability and was enthusiastic about making money… she was very suitable to be a merchant.

Jin Xiaoye chatted with Li Qingzhi for a while about Zhu Qian’s experiences, then said to Li Qingzhi, “Ah Qing, help me come up with some flattering words that I can memorize. I’ll use them when doing business in the future.”

Of course, Jin Xiaoye knew how to praise people, but she hadn’t read many books and didn’t know many flattering phrases.

Li Qingzhi, on the other hand, was different. Jin Xiaoye remembered that when Li Qingzhi helped her sell flower heads, he said many pleasing words all at once. After she learned and used them, the people who bought flower heads from her not only bought more but also felt very happy afterwards.

“Okay.” Li Qingzhi began to help Jin Xiaoye think of flattering words, which Jin Xiaoye then memorized.

Early the next morning, Jin Xiaoye got up to cook.

She picked some vegetables from the field, sprinkled some salt on them, and then cut a few slices of meat to put on the steamer rack, which served as breakfast for the day.

As soon as she finished cooking, Jin Dajiang and his wife brought Jin Xiaoshu over.

Jin’s mother saw the steamed vegetables and white rice in the pot and felt distressed again, “Xiaoye…” White rice and meat again early in the morning?

“Dad, mom, Xiaoshu, come and eat.” Jin Xiaoye called her family.

Jin Xiaoshu sat down naturally, but Jin Dajiang and Jin’s mother refused to eat and kept declining until Li Qingzhi began to persuade them. Only then did they sit down to eat, but they still refused to take any meat, only picking up some vegetables.

Seeing this, Jin Xiaoye divided the meat so that Li Laogen wouldn’t keep picking up the meat, and her parents wouldn’t dare to take any either.

After the meal, Jin Xiaoye pinched two rice balls to take with her for lunch.

Actually, they could totally afford to buy food in town now, but Jin Xiaoye felt it was unnecessary to spend that money.

After Jin Xiaoye left, Zhao Laonan came with his son, Zhao Xiaodou.

In the countryside these days, there weren’t many fair-skinned people, so naturally, Zhao Xiaodou was a little black boy.

On the contrary, Li Damao and Li Ermao, because they had been following Li Qingzhi to Zhu’s house for more than two months, playing indoors all day, not only gained some weight but also looked much fairer and cuter, which made them even more likable.

“Xiaodou!” Li Laogen was very happy to see Zhao Xiaodou. He took out two coins from his pocket and gave them to Zhao Xiaodou, “Xiaodou, Uncle will buy you some candy.” When Li Laogen went to Zhao Laosan’s house to freeload and eat, Zhao Xiaodou was just a toddler. At that time, in order to stay at Zhao Laosan’s house, Li Laogen would play with Zhao Xiaodou all day. So when he left later, Zhao Xiaodou was particularly reluctant to let him go and pulled him to stay.

“Xiaodou, say thank you to Uncle.” Zhao Laosan said.

Zhao Xiaodou immediately thanked Uncle.

Li Laogen was overjoyed and asked again, “Xiaodou, do you want some rice crust? Uncle will get it for you!”

The rice in the pot had already been eaten, but there was some rice crust left. Li Laogen used a shovel to take half of it and gave some to Zhao Lao San, then divided the rest between Zhao Xiaodou and Li Damao and Li Ermao.

Li Damao and Li Ermao were already full and not very interested, but Zhao Xiaodou was very happy to eat.

As for Zhao Laosan, he naturally favored Zhao Xiaodou, his own son, more than his stepchildren. As for Zhao Laosan’s wife, since all three children were hers, she treated them all equally. But she couldn’t ignore the fact that her ex-husband’s parents were still alive, and they lived next door, where her ex-husband’s brother also lived. For the Zhao family, Zhao Laosan’s stepchildren were considered part of the family, but they favored the children from their side more. There were quite a few conflicts in the Zhao family, but they were all minor matters, such as Zhao Lao San sneaking to buy buns for Zhao Xiaodou without buying them for his stepchildren, or Zhao’s grandmother sneaking cakes for her own children and not giving any to Zhao Xiaodou. There were no major problems, and Zhao Lao San’s stepchildren still called him “dad” and treated Zhao Xiaodou fairly well.

“Brother, I can’t eat anymore. Do you want this?” Li Damao was already full and didn’t want to eat rice crust, so he asked Zhao Xiaodou.

“Yes!” Zhao Xiaodou took the rice crust from Li Damao’s hand and ate it.