W Chapter 86
by VolareHe also listened to Ling Xing’s suggestion and cooperated with peddlers. Many small orders added up to a huge market.
The number of people helping out in the village slowly increased. So far, except for the few families that had conflicts with the Shen family, almost every other household had a woman or ge’er helping Xu Youfang with work to earn money.
Those few families didn’t dare to cause trouble, with Village Chief Zhu keeping an eye on them.
At the same time, they also hinted that if they behaved honestly, they would have a chance to help them plead with the Shen family later.
They had to give them hope to truly stabilize them.
The ge’ers and women of Xiao Liucun were earning money at their doorsteps, and the villagers saved more money this year than in previous years.
With an extra income in the family, the men felt better when they went out to work than in previous years.
Everyone wanted to find work close to home, but the town was small and the jobs were limited.
Xiao Liucun had always been suppressed by other villages, and they generally couldn’t get the better jobs in town.
If they wanted to earn more, they could only go to the county town to do hard labor.
For dockyard work, they generally provided accommodation, with twenty or so people sleeping in a large dormitory, and bedding had to be brought by themselves.
But no one brought bedding, as it would be stolen as soon as it appeared.
The men who came to do hard labor simply wove a simple straw mat to block the cold wind at night.
Grilled sausage was a popular snack all year round, and the sweet soup shop was also preparing to launch new products to facilitate customers’ purchases.
Volcanic stones needed to be shipped by boat. The dockyard was Qin Tengfei’s territory. Seeing that it was from Ling Xie Sweet Soup Shop, he directly ordered someone to send it to the shop.
This saved them from sending someone to pick it up.
The manager guarding the dockyard wanted to curry favor and wouldn’t do the hard labor himself.
He shouted at the porters and called two people to carry the wooden box filled with volcanic stones and go with him.
The porters at the dockyard were paid by the piece, and a round trip counted as one piece, so no one wanted to speak up.
But if no one responded, the manager would get angry, and everyone would suffer.
Fang Jiaxing and Fang Jiahe brothers were pushed out when everyone was silent.
The two stood there uneasily, not wanting to go at all, but even more afraid to go back.
The manager saw someone come out, and his expression softened a lot.
He didn’t look at them much, just ordered the two to carry the wooden box and follow him.
It was quite a distance from the dockyard to Ling Xie Sweet Soup Shop. After walking for more than two quarters of an hour, the Fang brothers were panting.
It wasn’t until they approached the two-story shop that they slowly recovered. This was a grand and luxurious building that they had never seen in Yunxia Town.
Now they were covered in sweat, ragged, and panicked to step on the clean ground, always feeling uneasy.
The two dared not look around, for fear of making mistakes.
Then they heard the manager who brought them over actually changed his cold attitude, even with a bit of flattery, and called out, “Ling Proprietor, are you well?”
The Fang brothers were sensitive to the surname Ling.
Their Fang family had declined, and now they couldn’t even eat their fill. They had to stretch every penny, and it was all related to Ling Xing.
But since Zhao Erbao and Zhao Sancai joined Chu Tiand, attacked the Shen family, but injured Ling Yue. They were caught by the people from the yamen and imprisoned. Their family didn’t dare to have any bad thoughts.
Later, Fang Xiuxia remarried, but her husband was a drunkard who beat people all day long.
The couple fought as soon as they opened their eyes, and Fang Xiuxia ran back to her mother’s house to cry from time to time. The family was also exhausted because of her affairs and had no intention to think about anything else.
However, no matter how poor the Fang family was now, it was much better than the Zhao Ping family.
Since the fermentation formula was made public, Zhao Ping’s business had deteriorated day by day. He was not a good person, and neither was his business.
Customers had other options and would no longer buy his buns.
Later, he was led to learn gambling, forcing Zhao Old Lady to sell the courtyard for him to gamble.
His wife, Zhu Qiuyue, couldn’t stand it and wanted a divorce.
Zhao Ping didn’t care, only saying he would divorce if he got money.
It was said that Zhu Qiuyue’s divorce money was given by her current husband.
Zhao Ping gambled away his family, but he didn’t care.
Zhao Old Lady couldn’t survive and went to her second son, begging for a long time before entering the door.
Her life was not easy, but Zhao Fan still gave her a bite to eat and a place to sleep.
Zhao Old Lady didn’t dare to say anything, for fear of being driven away if she opened her mouth.
The Fang family knew how Zhao Ping was now, and they were also sighing.
They believed the saying that heaven was watching what people were doing. They privately suspected that the person who led Zhao Ping to gamble was related to the Shen family or Ling Xing.
After all, people were gambling in Tu Hai’s gambling house.
The more they thought about it, the more frightened they became. Their family didn’t have much power or rights, and they didn’t dare to have any crooked thoughts.
Moreover, the Shen family was now the richest family in the village, leading the whole village to earn money, and their status was equal to that of Village Chief Zhu.
To oppose the Shen family, even if the village chief didn’t speak, the other villagers who helped the Shen family would tear their family apart.
The villagers knew that Ling Xing was doing business in the county town. But no one in the village knew where he was doing it and what he was doing, except for the Shen family.
The Fang Jiaxing brothers heard the surname and had guesses in their hearts, but they found it unbelievable.
In the end, they couldn’t help but look up.
Standing in the magnificent shop that they dared not approach were two familiar people.
It was Ling Xing and Xie Qingya.
Fang Jiaxing and Fang Jiahe were shocked and speechless.
They only knew that Ling Xing was doing business in the county, but they didn’t expect the business to be so big. Even the fierce manager of the dockyard was kind to him!
Moreover, Wang Juan was also here, looking much richer than when he was in the village.
After the Fang brothers recognized Ling Xing, they were even more careful, not daring to let Ling Xing see their appearance.
With their intentional avoidance, Ling Xing didn’t notice the two.
Even if he saw them, they were too thin now, and they were much older and more vicissitudes. They looked completely different from before, and it would take time to recognize them.
The Fang brothers returned to the dockyard to continue carrying goods. Perhaps they were thinking about things, Fang Jiaxing didn’t pay attention and flashed his waist, lying on the ground unable to move.
They didn’t have money to see a doctor. Fang Jiahe took half a day off and carried the person back home to recuperate. He rushed back to the county town overnight, and he had to continue carrying goods the next day to earn money.
Back home, Fang Jiaxing told the family the whole story of his injury when they asked.
He was too shocked by Ling Xing’s business, lost his mind and didn’t pay attention to his feet, stepped on a small stone, and twisted his body.
The goods were heavy, so he flashed his waist.
The Fang family couldn’t believe it when they heard that Ling Xing had a two-story shop in the city.
They heard that Xie Qingya was also there, doing business with Ling Xing, and looked much richer. The Fang family looked at each other.
“Don’t tell anyone about this. The Shen family didn’t say it, they probably don’t want the villagers to know.” Fang Jiaxing reminded.
The Fang family nodded and said they knew, but there was no airtight wall in the world.
It was always unbearable to keep such a fresh thing from being said when chatting.
Anyway, it wasn’t a bad thing. Zhou Caihua was the first to not be able to bear it. When chatting with the old ladies, she mysteriously said, “Do you know what Shen Da’s husband is doing in the county town?”
A word attracted seven or eight old ladies to come over, their eyes full of curiosity, asking her in unison, “What are you doing?”
“It will scare you to death to say it.” Zhou Caihua lowered her voice, “People opened a two-story shop, and they are taking Wang Juan to make money in the county!”
“Wow! Two stories high! How grand it must be!”
“Goodness, and he is taking Wang Juan to make money? That Ling ge’er is affectionate enough.”
“Don’t you be talking nonsense, how can he be so rich?”
Zhou Caihua hummed and said decisively, “My two sons saw it with their own eyes, how can it be fake? Believe it or not.”
The old ladies looked at me and I looked at you.
They all believed it.
This matter, it is really not good to talk nonsense.
Zhou Caihua reminded: “By the way, don’t tell this to everyone. Just you know. The Shen family probably doesn’t want us to know.”
The old ladies agreed repeatedly.
Turning around, they spread the word, and at the end, they did not forget to remind, “Just you know about this, the Shen family doesn’t want people to know.”
In sentence after sentence of “Just you know”, it only took a day for the villagers of Xiao Liucun to know that Ling Xing had a large two-story shop in the county town, and he also took Xie Qingya to make money together.
Now many families began to use their brains.
The Shen family’s prosperity began after Ling Xing married into the family. Earlier, they vaguely heard that Ling Xing was capable and led the family to do business.
Now he is doing such a big business in the county town, and he is also taking his friends with him. So rich and affectionate, he is really rare.
If Ling Xing was their family member, that would be great.
Thinking about it carefully, Ling Xing has been a widower for almost two years. He was only husband and husband for three days. Being a widower for so long is completely enough.
Once the mind becomes active, it can no longer be suppressed.
Even if Ling Xing does not have such a big shop in the county, his previous business in the town is real.
In any case, he must have money in his hand.
No matter how little money, it is more than they have.
Many people had ideas and began to ask matchmakers to propose marriage to the Shen family.
Shen Hui had been gone for a long time without any news, Xu Youfang was worried in her heart.
She forced herself not to think too much, put a bamboo basket on her legs, sat at the door of the main room, basking in the sun, while pruning the velvet flower shapes.
“Oh, Aunt Xu is busy?”
The person outside had a loud voice, mixed with joy. Xu Youfang looked up, a little strange, “Matchmaker Tian?”
Matchmaker Tian waved her handkerchief and responded with a smile, “Hey! Aunt Xu has a good fortune. Today, I’m here to propose marriage for your family!”
Among the Shen family men, only Shen Hui was not married, and Shen Hui had gone astray, taken a fancy to his brother-in-law, and was unwilling to marry others.
Xu Youfang had already accepted this result, and no longer asked people to propose marriage.
Since Shen Hui said to the outside world that he would continue to take the imperial examinations and would not consider marriage before the provincial examinations were over, no one had come to the Shen family to propose marriage.
Matchmaker Tian’s appearance really made Xu Youfang unable to understand.
Could it be that she was here to propose marriage for Xiao Wu? Xiao Wu was twelve years old, and indeed many ge’ers of this age in the village had begun to be looked at.
“Didn’t I say that my second son is not considering marriage for the time being? My Xiao Wu will wait two years before saying anything. Matchmaker Tian, this trip is not a coincidence.”
Matchmaker Tian exclaimed and quickly waved her hand, “It’s not for your second son and Xiao Wu, it’s for your Ling ge’er!”
Xu Youfang was stunned, and the half-pruned velvet flower in her hand fell into the bamboo basket, stained with a layer of fluff.
“What did you say?”
“Who asked you to come?”
Xu Youfang’s voice grew louder and louder in shock. Matchmaker Tian didn’t hide it and said a person’s name.
Xu Youfang couldn’t help but say angrily, “That Wang Daying’s family is so poor that they are ringing, and he is already in his twenties, and his mother still raises him like a three-year-old baby. He can’t take care of himself without his mother. Are you introducing such a person to my Xing ge’er?”
Matchmaker Tian also felt it was inappropriate, but she couldn’t resist Mother Wang giving her a basket of eggs and half a pack of sugar cubes.
She also said that no matter whether it succeeds or not, the things are hers. Moreover, the worse the front, the better the back can be set off. Otherwise, she would not say this sentence to ask for scolding.
Matchmaker Tian did not refute anything, nodding in agreement, “Yes, yes, Aunt Xu is right.”
“What about Liu Si, the fourth son of Liu Fifth Master, how is Liu You?”
Xu Youfang continued to frown, “He is a widower!”
That means she also couldn’t look upon him.
Matchmaker Tian rolled her eyes. She received more things from the Liu family than from the Wang family, so she persuaded with a sentence, “The Liu family is considered rich in the village, and they are also on good terms with the village chief’s family. Liu Si is a widower, and that Ling ge’er is exactly a widower. It is also considered a good match.”
With a “pop” sound, Xu Youfang put the bamboo basket heavily on the ground, “Matchmaker Tian, if you say these words again, you don’t have to come to my Shen family’s door in the future.”
Her family did not lack matchmakers, and they were not afraid of offending a matchmaker.
Matchmaker Tian could not hold her face. The status of matchmakers in the village was high, and no one dared to offend them, for fear that the matchmaker would interfere and the family would not be able to find a good marriage.
Xu Youfang was the first to dare to raise her voice like this to a matchmaker, but the matchmaker could do nothing about her.
A fire rose in Matchmaker Tian’s heart, and she thought of the Shen family being different from what it was in the past.
She could not treat them with the same attitude and mentality as other families. This fire was suppressed by her.
On the contrary, for fear of making Xu Youfang unhappy, Matchmaker Tian quickly pulled out a smile to apologize, “Oh, I can’t speak. Aunt Xu, don’t be offended.”
“I still have one person…”
Before Matchmaker Tian finished speaking, Xu Youfang got up and pushed the person out.
How could she dare to listen? If the second son knew that she had proposed marriage to Xing ge’er while he was away, this bastard might do something outrageous.
“My Xing ge’er’s marriage will also be temporarily put aside. Matchmaker Tian, be careful on the road. I won’t send you off.”
After closing the door, no matter how the person outside knocked on the door, Xu Youfang would not open it.
Alas, what is all this about!
The appearance of Matchmaker Tian also made Xu Youfang think more.
Now her second son is stubborn, and she doesn’t know what Xing ge’er thinks.
It has been almost two years since the eldest son left, and it is time to ask Xing ge’er whether he is willing to remarry.
If Xing ge’er wants to remarry someone else, then on the second son’s side, she can only find a way to stop him.