The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 490 - 479: Plan (Bonus - for the birthday of "Luo Qing")

Chapter 490: Chapter 479: Plan (Bonus Chapter for the birthday of "Luo Qing")

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang were still in shock. They were quite familiar with Shi Xiaoen because in recent years, whenever their family had a good rooster, or someone in the village bred a beautiful, strong, and fierce one,

they would take it to the county town to sell to Shi Xiaoen.

Or when they took the money Manbao entrusted to them to buy meat, they would go to the gambling house street to find those involved in cockfights and buy the miserable roosters from them.

However, they generally looked for acquaintances, and these so-called acquaintances were people who had conducted business with Eldest Master Shi.

Through repeated interactions, they became even more familiar with each other.

Like when Zhou Wulang and the others went to the city to sell ginger and yams, they would also sell some to Shi Xiaoen, so even if they initially didn’t know who the famous Eldest Master Shi of the county town was, they later came to know.

The Shi Family wasn’t the richest or the most powerful in Luojiang County, but they were certainly among the ones at the forefront.

They could never have imagined that Eldest Master Shi, known for his generosity, would be cornered by the gambling house to collect debts and even consider selling his shop for a mere fifty taels.

Zhou Wulang sighed, and the string of people following behind him couldn’t help but sigh as well.

Zhou Silang, holding a bundle in his arms, also sighed.

Manbao turned to look at her nieces and nephews and said, "You all see, this is the consequence of gambling. No matter what, you are not allowed to become gamblers in the future."

Everyone nodded in agreement, then they unanimously glanced at Zhou Silang.

Zhou Silang: ...

Zhou Silang coughed lightly and changed the subject, "Actually, I was also tempted just now. If I could buy a shop for a hundred taels, that would be a big win. But thinking about it, there were so many people there at the time; we probably couldn’t outbid them, and we didn’t have enough money with us either."

Manbao asked, "What do you need a shop for?"

"There’s a lot you can do with it, not to mention, just renting it out, you can get an income of one or two taels a month, right? Or in the future, if Second Brother wants to sell something, he can use the shop instead of having to sell it on a street stall exposed to wind, sun, and rain."

Zhou Silang said, "And we could sell our family’s things too, like yams and ginger, right there in the shop. That would be great."

Manbao thought for a moment and said, "It’s a pity there are no shops in our village; otherwise, I could let my sister-in-law open a restaurant there, and I could eat her cooking all the time."

Zhou Silang: ... "Why does it have to be in the village, can’t you open one in the county town?"

"I wouldn’t be able to eat there if it’s in the county town."

Zhou Silang then became less willing to talk with Manbao.

Although they felt regretful, they had no money on hand, so they quickly led everyone back to Zhou Erlang’s place and gave some money to Zhou Liulang to buy some steamed buns for them to eat.

Second Son sat next to his father, excitedly telling him what they had done that day and incidentally mentioned the incident with Eldest Master Shi.

Zhou Erlang’s heart stirred, "A shop originally worth a hundred and eighty taels, now only a hundred?"

Second Son nodded.

Zhou Erlang looked at Zhou Silang and asked, "What’s the shop like?"

Zhou Silang said, "Second Brother, don’t even think about it. Someone has already made an offer, and many were competing for it. When we left, the price was still climbing. Anyway, it’s certain that it can’t be bought for a hundred taels."

Manbao curiously asked, "Second Brother, Fourth Brother, why do you both so wish to buy a shop?"

"If not a shop, what else should we buy?" Zhou Silang said confidently: "Wulang and Liulang’s marriages won’t cost that much, and it’ll be some years before Datou and the others need to take wives. So, the money at home might as well be used to buy a shop, whether for renting or personal use."

Zhou Erlang nodded, "Wulang is also of age now. After this year’s Double Ninth Festival, the Land Officer will come to the village to distribute the land uniformly, so our family won’t lack land, and nobody in the village is going to sell any. So what else can we buy apart from a shop?"

Manbao had never considered these things, so she was dumbfounded for a good while before saying, "You can use it to buy meat to eat."

The two brothers: ... "Manbao, besides food, can you think of anything else?"

"Anything else?" After thinking for a moment, Manbao said, "Save the money for Datou and the others to go to school, right? Mother always says I can’t be an official, but Datou and the others can."

"They can’t. They couldn’t compare to even one of your fingers when it comes to studying, so how could they pass the exam to become an official?"

Datou and Zhou Liulang had gone to buy steamed buns, but Second Son was there, so he spoke for Datou, "That’s right, Auntie, we don’t want to go to school. We only need to learn from you."

The group was in the midst of an enthusiastic discussion when Zhou Liulang returned, holding big bundles of lotus leaves. Upon opening them, there were steamed buns inside.

Manbao happily took one in each hand.

Her appetite had grown even larger now, and eating two steamed buns was nothing to her.

"Fourth Brother, do you think Eldest Master Shi’s shop has been sold?"

"It must have been, weren’t there a lot of bidders just now?"

Zhou Liulang couldn’t help but burst into loud laughter, happily saying, "There were quite a few. When I went to buy buns, they were still haggling over the price, which had been inching up to a hundred and twenty taels."

"By the time we bought the buns and returned, they had started fighting," Zhou Liulang continued with a laugh: "Apparently, someone bid a hundred and thirty taels and no one contested, but he regretted it himself and didn’t want to buy it. So Eldest Master Shi’s shop still hasn’t been sold, and the gambling house people are pressing them to either pay up or mortgage the shop."

Zhou Silang felt a pang of regret, then said, "He definitely wanted cash on hand, it’s a shame we don’t have any."

Manbao asked, "Would you dare to buy it if you had the money?"

"Of course, it’s rare to find such a bargain. Shops in the county town aren’t easy to come by because people rarely sell them," said Zhou Silang. "How often do you find not just a shop for sale, but one with a decent location and almost half the usual price?"

Manbao then touched her cloth bag and asked, "Aren’t you afraid of getting beaten by father?"

"Father won’t beat me," Zhou Silang said. "Buying a shop is just like buying land. It’s property investment."

Manbao reflected, "So as long as it’s property investment, father will be happy..."

"Not necessarily. If you spend the money poorly, father won’t be happy; he’ll be... cough cough, you know."

Manbao then tugged at her cloth bag, "I have a hundred taels!"

"We know you do, but isn’t yours also at home?"

Manbao clutched her cloth bag and didn’t speak.

Zhou Silang looked at her bulging cloth bag and exclaimed, "Hey, why do I feel like your cloth bag is much puffier... Wait, does this mean you’re...?"

"Fourth Brother, let’s buy it, and then let Fourth Sister-in-law open a restaurant to make money," said Manbao.

"Sure!" Zhou Silang excitedly grabbed Manbao to go find Eldest Master Shi. But when they arrived, the crowd had long dispersed, and even the debt collectors had left.

Out of curiosity, Zhou Silang approached and asked, "Eldest Master Shi, did your shop sell?"

"No, it didn’t sell."

"Then, do you still wish to sell?" Zhou Silang said. "A hundred taels!"

Shi Xiaoen lifted his eyelids to look at him and said, "Not selling it anymore. My father helped me pay off the debts, so there’s no need to sell the shop anymore."

Zhou Silang then felt somewhat disappointed and said, "Eldest Master Shi, if you ever want to sell the shop at a low price again, just let me know. I’ll definitely come to see it, and I’ll definitely buy!"

Shi Xiaoen: ... How eagerly does this man hope for me to lose wealth and run into misfortune? Usually, ancestral property like this is only sold when one is truly desperate; otherwise, who would sell it?

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