The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 107 - 96 Trade (Additional update for 45000 recommendation votes from Yun Qi)

Chapter 107: Chapter 96 Trade (Additional update for 45000 recommendation votes from Yun Qi)

Manbao let out a sigh of relief, then stepped onto a large clod of earth and loudly instructed everyone to line up.

In these past few days, everyone had grown accustomed to lining up to get their bread, so they subconsciously stood in line, bowls in hand, moving forward to get their soup.

Not everyone’s bowl was destined to contain a piece of meat, as Zhou Wulang had said, it was all down to luck.

Chopped green onions had been added to the soup, and Zhou Wulang had also put in quite a bit of salt—it was genuinely delicious. After taking a sip, everyone, despite feeling a bit regretful for not getting a slice of meat, didn’t complain.

After all, it was only two wen.

When Zhou Sanlang finally arrived fashionably late, Manbao hopped over, guided him to the side of the donkey cart, and handed him one of Ms. Qian’s pancakes from this morning, saying, "Third Brother, eat this, eat this."

Zhou Sanlang had been doing physical labor all morning, his own provisions were cold, and the water he’d saved was even colder, so he hadn’t eaten much. Starving as he was, he didn’t stand on ceremony with his younger sister, abandoning the cold, hard bread and biting into the pancake instead.

Then he slurped a mouthful of soup and felt warmth rising from his stomach, warming his heart, lungs, and stomach. He exhaled cheerfully and beamed at Manbao.

Seeing Third Brother enjoying his food so much, Manbao swallowed eagerly and asked while squatting alongside him, "Third Brother, is it tasty?"

Zhou Sanlang took another sip of soup, bit into the pancake, and nodded vigorously, "Delicious."

Manbao swallowed twice more in quick succession.

Seeing her so delighted, Zhou Sanlang held out his bowl to give her a sip of soup and tore off a piece of pancake, dipped it in the soup, and offered it to her, asking with a smile, "Tasty, isn’t it?"

With her mouth stuffed full, Manbao’s eyes sparkled and shone brilliantly.

Bai Shanbao appeared from somewhere, now squatting next to Manbao, watching intently.

Zhou Sanlang couldn’t help but laugh heartily. He was always honest and his voice was usually quieter than others’. Among the six brothers, he was the least noticeable, but at this moment, watching the two adorable, snow-skinned children squatting in front of him, waiting to be fed, Zhou Sanlang felt his spirits lift.

Bai Shanbao also took a sip of soup and found it very tasty as well.

His cheeks flushed, he felt it was even better than what they had at home.

So, not satisfied with just one bite at Zhou Sanlang’s, he grabbed Manbao and ran over to Zhou Wulang.

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang were swamped with work.

Ever since they sold the first bowl of soup, the line of customers had grown. With limited time for rest, they were quite hurried.

Zhou Liulang handled the money, while Zhou Wulang served the soup. Although the work wasn’t heavy, both brothers were sweating, and Zhou Wulang even felt his hand growing tired.

The dozen or so laborers who had initially just wanted to squat and enjoy the aroma of the bread eventually couldn’t resist anymore. They went to the side where people were buying soup. Upon seeing that some bowls contained a slice of meat or a chunk of radish,

and considering they had hot soup while their own bowls held cold water,

one of them, after another struggle with the cold bread, suggested, "Let’s buy a bowl ourselves, it’s just two wen, not that expensive."

"Just one bowl then?"

Those who had come to labor were the poorest, but even they carried some money with them. Not for anything else, but just in case they fell sick—you had to be able to let the yamen runners inform your family to send someone to replace you, right?

The runners wouldn’t pass on a message for free, and sometimes a few coins could mean your life.

So in the end, all the laborers joined the queue, making Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang even busier.

Upon finally seeing Manbao come over, Zhou Liulang pulled her to them to take the money, and he went to help Fifth Brother.

Taking money wasn’t difficult at all, just receiving intact coins and making sure there were two was enough.

Even the curious Bai Shanbao and Bai Erlang came over for a try.

They found taking money to be quite fun, too bad it was just with copper coins and they didn’t need to give change, otherwise, it would have been even more enjoyable.

All the laborers bought a bowl of soup to drink. The two yamen runners came in last, and upon seeing them, Zhou Wulang smiled, served them two full bowls of soup, and pushed their money back, saying with a laugh, "How can we accept your money—just the fact that you allowed us to take care of my older brother here, we’re already more than grateful."

Zhou Wulang had been frightened by Luda earlier, a feeling that was mysterious and profound. He just knew that if he had let Luda scoop his own soup, chaos would have ensued.

At that moment, he realized that relying just on Third Brother doing manual labor here and him and Sixth wasn’t enough; he needed to find more strength to protect them.

Eating from people softens their words, and taking from people shortens their reach, from Manbao giving sugar to the runners these past few days to be able to roam around here freely, Zhou Wulang knew that these two runners could be won over with kindness.

It was just two bowls of soup, after all, made with their own stuff.

Zhou Wulang made it sound very appealing, and the two runners, quite satisfied, didn’t decline and took the soup, nodding contentedly when they saw that not only did their bowls have meat slices, but also radishes.

What remained was the best part of the soup at the bottom of the pot.

Zhou Wulang served Bai Erlang and Bai Shanbao first, then Daji, Bai Shanbao’s family servant. After all, they had used his donkey cart, so he ought to offer him a bowl of soup, right?

Only after this did Zhou Wulang divide the rest of the soup among his siblings, making sure Manbao’s bowl had the best bits, of course.

Manbao was overjoyed, joining Bai Erlang and Bai Shanbao with her bowl to drink together.

The Bai brothers had also brought their own fine provisions, which were much fancier than the pancakes Manbao had brought.

They even had small white buns.

Though already cold, Zhou Wulang had toasted them over the fire until they were a little golden brown. They seemed unappealing to the eye, but Bai Shanbao found them delicious, far tastier than eating at home.

Bai Erlang also found them delightful, savoring every bite with the meat soup, and then the three children shared their food with each other.

Manbao divided her pancake into three portions, and Bai Erlang and Bai Shanbao also gave some of their toasted buns to Manbao.

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang didn’t join the children’s fun but instead took a bowl of soup and squatted next to their Third Brother, occasionally watching over them.

"Third Brother, there’s a little left in the cauldron, finish it up later."

Zhou Sanlang nodded. Looking around and seeing others were at a distance, he asked in a low voice, "How much meat did you buy? Selling for just two wen, will you break even?"

Zhou Wulang also lowered his voice to give him the rundown, "The bones come without meat, and we sealed the deal for ten wen. We spent another ten for a jin of fatty pork, and we brought the radishes and scallions from home. We bought the salt, but we didn’t use much..."

As Zhou Wulang did the math, the profit became clear and he said, "We’ve earned at least one hundred and fifty wen. Third Brother, this business is doable."

Zhou Sanlang was relieved, "Then you’ll be back tomorrow?"

"Of course," said Zhou Wulang without hesitation: "It’s been hard to find such a good business."

Despite Zhou Wulang having done a lot recently, the only thing he had truly earned money from, by his own merit, was selling flower baskets.

Now that he had found another source of income, he certainly wasn’t going to let it go.

Zhou Sanlang was pleased. While he was in service, it was a comfort to know that his brothers could do business nearby—he received care and was also able to take care of others.