Chapter 209

Not only Hu Wenhua and Hu Butcher couldn’t resist, but also no one in Shanshui Village could!

After hearing Fan Jin explain the wage, they plunged into the heated oil pot, instantly causing an uproar!

“Young Jin, did you say it’s 100 wen per day? Did I hear correctly?” This price is unreasonably high.

“Are you sure it’s not 100 wen per trip?” After all, a trip is only four or five days, so 20 wen a day would be normal.

“Old man, can I go too?” He’s only 58 this year, not even sixty.

“I’m stronger than my head of the household. It’s no problem pulling a cart weighing several hundred catties. Can I go?” That little skinny guy, she can handle three by herself!

…

Bai Ziqian hadn’t expected a day’s work of 100 wen, and nearly burst his head fighting for it.

Before he came, he thought it wasn’t peaceful outside. These people wouldn’t go for their own safety. On the way, he was still thinking about how to persuade them, completely unaware of the scene before him.

Fan Jin bent down and quietly explained to Bai Ziqian, “Your grandfather is particularly sensitive to money. Since he proposed this price, he must believe it will attract people.”

Bai Ziqian’s admiration for his father suddenly surged, inadvertently raising him to a higher level!

Bai Manshan, deeply asleep: “Hmm, body and mind relaxed, roll over and continue sleeping.”

Fan Jin stood straight and explained to the people in front of him, “You all know it’s not very stable outside. This wage includes the risks you might encounter, like bandits or injuries. Think it over and let me know.”

Zhang Jinniu raised his hand and shouted loudly, “With this wage, I’m more of a bandit than the bandits!”

“What instability? Without money, I’m even more unstable!”

“I’ve thought it over, I won’t say anything else, count me in.”

…

Fan Jin thought of Bai Manshan’s saying that more is better, and he counted the people in front of him.

Including their own vehicles, there were at most twenty. It’s impossible for one person to pull or push a cart all day; they simply couldn’t handle it. At least two or three people needed to take turns.

Moreover, while some pulled carts, the others could hold big knives to guard them.

One cart required **ten people. For the villagers of Shanshui Village, each family would need at most two people.

Except for Zhang Tuzi and Uncle Ding’s families, he selected two people from each household.

The selected ones were very happy, especially those with two people per family were even more satisfied.

To earn a tael of silver in just one trip, who wouldn’t be happy!

Uncle Dazhu and Uncle Erzhu were happy but also slightly dissatisfied.

Uncle Er didn’t pull any strings, picking his dad and the third and fourth Zhu’s family, otherwise their family alone could earn two and a half taels of silver in just one trip!

When the two uncles came over this time, they didn’t take advantage of Uncle Er’s family, and they had to send away quite a few things from their parents and grandmothers.

Their parents really failed to make ends meet, making the already poor family even worse.

Uncle Er still didn’t take good care of his own family.

But they dare not show it.

Uncle Er has always looked gentle and easygoing, but he’s actually much harder to deal with than his parents, and he doesn’t know how to change.

Now that they’ve barely earned a couple of taels of silver to fill the gap in their family, they can’t afford to offend Uncle Er.

Though not much, a tael of silver can buy coarse salt, enough for the whole family to eat well for several years!

Times were tough, and life was hard. They had to come out and earn this hard-earned money.

Fan Jin glanced at his two nephews, knowing what they were thinking, and calmly looked away.

They earned their money through labor, he wouldn’t give them a hard time, but he wouldn’t give them extra care either.

After registering the people, he also arranged with families who had carts to borrow them.

In the village, as long as it wasn’t for personal use, everyone was willing to lend carts. A simple request would suffice, no money or gifts required. Of course, it was the same when others asked to borrow.

In the past, there weren’t so many carts and wheelbarrows. It was only after last year when times were better in the village that everyone chose carts when purchasing household items.

But Fan’s family hadn’t had good days before. They hadn’t purchased any household items at all.

Fan Dazhu and Fan Erzhu were separated to different families.

The two knew Uncle Er and Aunt’s way of doing things and knew they could withdraw if they didn’t agree. They kept silent.

After setting the departure time for tomorrow, Fan Jin and the three men went back.

In every household in the village, women began to make dry rations for the men to take on the road.

Women were good at making dry rations, and almost everyone could make them.

Wang Guifen originally planned to scoop buckwheat flour. Thinking of her two younger brothers-in-law going, she hesitated and instead took a gourd ladle to scoop white flour.

When her sister-in-law Zhang Hui saw it, she felt a little distressed. “Sister-in-law, buckwheat flour is fine. Just add some crushed peanuts, salt, and sesame later. It will be fragrant and filling.”

“Keep the white flour for Changlin at the academy. His place is not like our village; eating too poorly will be laughed at by his classmates.”

Wang Guifen felt a pang in her heart. Changlin was her child, and all good things and money in her family had been reserved for him, without a single word of complaint from his two younger siblings.

“It’s fine. The two younger brothers-in-law will earn more on the long journey. The white flour will be for them first. As for Changlin, he has told me before that since he can study, he has already taken too much from his younger brothers and sisters, and there is no need for him to eat well.”

Zhang Hui smiled and took the gourd ladle from Wang Guifen’s hand, adding buckwheat flour into it. “A student doesn’t need to eat too well, so the two uncles don’t need to eat too well either; now that he occupies his younger siblings, when he changes his mind later, his younger siblings will benefit from his decision.”

Their family wasn’t like Fan’s, where their ancestors were wealthy, had fields to sell, and provided for Fan’s reading and writing. They relied entirely on hard work, so they had to be cautious.

It’s not easy to support a student, and now that times are good, it’s good to have mixed white flour.

Wang Guifen nodded softly, feeling really blessed to have such good sisters-in-law.

If it were someone like Sun Jinhua, she was afraid she couldn’t do as well as she could!

In the kitchen, Zhao Lan had already started a small fire to roast peanuts and sesame first.

Zhang Hui went to help crush the roasted peanuts into crumbs, while Wang Guifen slowly stirred over the small fire in the pot.

Roasting flour was the most common and convenient dry food. Roasted flour is dry and easy to preserve, not easy to mold, and can last a long time. It is more suitable for taking out than bread and cakes.

It’s also convenient to eat. You can grab it and eat it directly, or cook it over a fire, or brew it with boiling water. When paired with other foods, it can be brewed thinner. When you want to be full, you can brew it thicker.

Wang Guifen kept stirring, not daring to relax, for fear of burning it. She kept stirring until the flour turned slightly color, and there was a strong food fragrance, then she took it out to cool.

The fragrance of roasted flour attracted all the children playing in the courtyard, clamoring to eat.

Wang Guifen smiled and brewed a small bowl for each child, causing them to cheer happily.

On the other side, Sun Jinhua scooped out the black flour directly into cloth bags and reminded her two sons, “Eat sparingly!”