The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 144 - 133 Communication

Chapter 144: Chapter 133 Communication

Tax collection and such was never the responsibility of the yamen runners who would go to the villages to collect; it simply wasn’t possible, especially since the mountain roads in their area were difficult to navigate.

However, although the yamen runners didn’t go to the villages to collect taxes, there still needed to be public announcements made. This responsibility fell on the Chief.

It was the same old tune. The autumn taxes had to be paid by the end of October. Although there was nearly two months to do so before and after, the sooner it was paid, the more peace of mind they had.

The Zhou Family had prepared their grain tax early and packed it in sacks that they placed on a cart and in bamboo baskets.

This year they had a cart, which made things a bit easier than in previous years.

For safety on the road, the villagers always went to pay their grain taxes together. In the past, only the Chief’s family had a cart, while other families had to carry their grain in bamboo baskets to the county town. Some families, because they had fewer people, even had to hire donkey carts or ox carts for transport; otherwise, running back and forth two or three times might not be enough to move it all.

But the Zhou Family had many able men. Zhou Dalang, along with his three younger brothers, could manage carrying a bamboo basket each quite easily.

Last year Zhou Silang did just that to the county town. At the time, he had just finished helping out at Landlord Bai’s place, and his wages hadn’t been handed over yet. He brought them to the county town and, while waiting in line to pay the grain tax, couldn’t resist. He left the grain with his three older brothers and went off on a jaunt, and that jaunt ended up costing the Zhou Family their savings.

This year, Ms. Qian and Old Zhou didn’t really want Silang to go to the county town, but Manbao made the suggestion. Plus, she promised to keep a close eye on him. Ms. Qian thought about it and decided that one cannot guard against thieves indefinitely, so she let Zhou Silang go. She wanted to see if the lad would gamble again.

Having the cart meant the Zhou Family didn’t need to carry loads anymore, but pushing a cart on the mountain roads was still hard work. So Zhou Dalang thought of taking Wulang with them, so they could take turns. However, since Four and Sixth were both going, the heavy work naturally fell to Four.

Huffing and puffing, Zhou Silang and Third Brother pushed the cart up the slope. Then, Zhou Er took over, "All right, my big brother and I will take it from here for this next downhill stretch."

Zhou Silang: ...They’re doing this on purpose, they must be.

Manbao sat atop the cart. As it went downhill, it picked up speed, and gusts of wind blew in her face. She was so thrilled that she cried out with joy, completely unaware of her Fourth Brother’s plight.

Once the group reached the county town, they split up at the city gate. Zhou Dalang, Zhou Er, and Zhou San went to line up to pay the taxes, while Zhou Silang and the others went to sell goods.

Manbao took the two baskets of ginger directly to Jishi Hall.

Manager Zheng was also behind the counter at Jishi Hall. He had corresponded with Manbao quite a bit over the past half year.

That’s right, corresponded. Initially, it was Manbao who wrote letters to him, and he somewhat obliviously replied. Then back and forth they went until they became pen pals.

Every time Zhou Er or Zhou Wu went to the county town, they would bring him a letter, and then they’d take one back from him. They weren’t far apart, so anything that needed to be said could have been passed through Zhou Er or Zhou Wu, but they had gotten into the habit of writing letters. It turned into a rather wonderful experience.

Before the autumn harvest, Zhou Wu brought Manager Zheng a letter when he came to the county town to sell sugar. She wrote that her ginger was about to be harvested and asked if he wanted to try it, to buy it.

Today, Manbao came to bring Manager Zheng the ginger. It wasn’t to sell, but to give him some to try, and then she recommended, "Big Brother Zheng, if any of your patients want to buy ginger to brew tea, remember to let them know. We have a lot of fresh ginger at home, perfect for making the spiciest and most delicious tea."

Manager Zheng accepted the ginger she offered, nodded in agreement, and said, "I was just thinking of telling you, our pharmacy needs to stock up on dried ginger. Why don’t you leave about ten jin of old ginger to dry for me? I’ll pay you sixty wen per jin for dried ginger. The quality of your ginger is good. If they’re all more or less the same quality, I’ll pay that price for the dried ginger."

Zhou Xi clutched her hands together in delighted surprise, while Manbao nonchalantly agreed, "Sure."

Then Manager Zheng led her out through the pharmacy’s back door and knocked on the door of the next house. An eighteen- or nineteen-year-old lad opened it. Manager Zheng laughed and said, "Here he is, this is the Ding I mentioned to you. His family runs a grocery store, and he is also a peddler. It’s best to sell your ginger to him."

Ding greeted Zhou Silang with a beaming smile, then turned his attention to Manbao and said with a laugh, "Your sister is really cute."

Manbao grinned back and said, "I think so too. Big Brother Ding, how much can you offer for our ginger?"

Ding glanced at Zhou Silang and Zhou Xi, and seeing that they didn’t object to Manbao speaking up, he replied, "Thirty-five wen per jin, including the leaves."

He explained, "Many people are harvesting ginger now, but it’s because your ginger is of good quality that I’m willing to offer this price. I’m only making a few wen profit per jin when I resell it. If you’re willing, then deliver a basket every day to the county town."

Zhou Xi asked, "Can you really sell that much every day?"

Ding replied with a smile, "There are plenty of rich families in the county town. They use ginger in their meat and tea, so ginger is a seasoning. Unlike us country folk, who only have meat during festivals and can’t afford tea—that’s why it’s considered a rarity for us."

Zhou Xi didn’t dare to ask further.

Manbao pulled Zhou Silang aside and whispered, "I’ve asked Manager Zheng, and the ginger outside is quite expensive now, selling between forty to fifty wen on the market. If you can’t make it to sell personally, I think selling to him is the best option."

Zhou Silang didn’t want to miss out on the five to ten wen markup and whispered back, "We can make a lot per jin."

Manbao wasn’t concerned, "Mom won’t agree to let you come to the county town by yourself. Plus, you need to work at Old Master Bai’s place."

This wasn’t great news. Zhou Silang, with his head lowered, agreed, "Okay, sell it. But we’ll only sell one basket today. We’ll take the rest to the market ourselves to sell."

Manbao was fine with that.

After consulting Zhou Xi, the siblings sold half a basket of ginger each to Ding. Money was counted after weighing, and Zhou Xi, with a dazed expression, followed them out with the money in hand.

With the remaining ginger, Zhou Silang took it to the market to set up a stall, Zhou Xi following alongside.

Bmanbao, however, set some aside in another basket, planning to visit another friend.

Seeing this, Zhou Silang stopped setting up the stall, gathered his things, and said, "Maybe it’s an important customer; I’ll go with you guys."

Zhou Wu scoffed, "If we go there with so many people, what if we scare away the young lady?"

Zhou Xi quickly asked, "What young lady?" Aren’t the people who buy vegetables usually adults?

"It’s the county magistrate’s daughter. Manbao has promised to bring her anything good, and they’ve arranged to meet at the bookstore." Zhou Wu had helped deliver the letter last time. Because of the upcoming harvest, he sold Second Miss Fu a hundred pieces of sugar to enjoy over time.

Zhou Wu marveled at how strong Second Miss Fu’s teeth must be, consuming so much sugar without any problems.