The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 724 - 713: Useful

Chapter 724: Chapter 713: Useful

Bai Shan said, "Because Luojiang County doesn’t have a vehicle rental business."

Zhou Silang fell silent.

Yizhou City does have vehicle rental businesses—what is it exactly? Well, it offers services like hiring or renting vehicles.

Luojiang County is very small; generally, people hitch rides by waving down carts on the main roads or at the city gates, negotiating a fare if they’re headed in the same direction, and then climbing aboard for a ride.

Of course, that’s also referred to as a vehicle rental business.

Previously, Zhou Silang had thought that such arrangements constituted a vehicle rental business, and there were even brokers specifically for that purpose.

But it wasn’t until he got to Yizhou City that he realized this wasn’t the case at all.

A true vehicle rental business occupies an entire street, with a line of different vehicles—ox carts, mule carts, donkey carts, horse carts—available for hire or rent, whatever you need.

For shorter distances, you could traverse within the city, but for longer ones, if you even shouted about going to the Western Regions, there would be someone bold enough to take the order. As long as you could afford it, they would even hire escorts for you.

Of course, there were cheaper options too; small business owners who couldn’t afford their own vehicles would rent or hire them as needed.

Bai Shan didn’t know about this at first, but Zhou Silang and Zhou Lijun had both looked for work at a vehicle rental business and had excitedly recounted the experience at home, storing the details in his memory.

So now he said, "Using a single cart for the return journey is too inefficient. Even if we add your family’s ox cart, having so many people to guard just two carts isn’t economical. It would be better to spend a bit of money to rent more carts, and do the business in one or two rounds to get the money in hand."

Manbao nodded repeatedly; she had the same idea.

Zhou Silang felt conflicted, thinking the cost unnecessary, yet also feeling that they were right—what if they were robbed again?

Guarding just two carts with so many people clearly cost more.

Before he could resolve his dilemma, Manbao had already pushed him back onto the bed, saying, "Don’t worry about these things. Just focus on healing your mind; I’ll take care of everything."

It wasn’t just her, actually; Bai Erlang and Bai Shan were helping her calculate costs too, along with Zhou Lijun, who was fairly familiar with the wages in the city, having searched for jobs for several months.

As for the cost of renting vehicles, Zhou Lijun said, "Junior Ms.Qian, I’ll go ask at the vehicle rental place later."

"Don’t bother asking about horse carts, they’re bound to be expensive. Inquire about the ox carts and mule carts instead."

Zhou Lijun agreed and then asked, "Should I ask our father to come over and bring the carts and workers back? Otherwise, what if they run off with the carts?"

Bai Shan: "... The carts will have the rental company’s mark on them. Where could they possibly run off to? We just need to hire workers who have families here in Yizhou City."

Manbao said, "We should still write to Big Brother first, so they can start collecting the wheat seeds. That way, as soon as the carts get there, they can bring back the seeds."

Nobody disagreed with this plan.

Manbao began to write the letter.

Since Zhou Silang was injured, the letter could only be delivered by someone else. Daji had contacts in a trading company, directly took the letter, found someone, and ensured it would reach Qian’s Restaurant in Luojiang County by the next day.

Before Junior Ms.Qian even received the letter, Zhou Silang began to worry. It was, after all, a large sum of money, and he had initiated the business deal. How could he simply stop worrying about it?

So, after consuming medicine for three meals and contemplating all night, he still sought out Manbao the next day, saying, "It’s fine if you want to hire people from the city to go back, but don’t just hire anyone off the streets. I just remembered, we’ve always been low-key about our wheat seed business, and if we bring these strangers back to the village, if they learn where our wheat seeds come from and the prices, will we still be able to do this business?"

Manbao looked stunned for a moment and, scratching her head, asked, "So, what should we do?"

"I have a few friends who are trustworthy and I’m certain they won’t steal the business from us or betray us," Zhou Silang paused, then continued, "And then there’s Chen Erlang; he and his brothers are capable too. Didn’t you say you were treating his wife? What’s wrong with her?"

Manbao replied, "Yes, I even went to Jishi Hall to give her acupuncture yesterday, and I gave her some pastries as thanks for their help in saving you. I’ve left the rest for when you’re better, since I can’t exactly invite them for a drink."

Zhou Silang said, "Chen Erlang is someone who repays kindness; I think he can be trusted. You don’t know, but when we first met, they actually thought about robbing me."

Manbao’s eyes widened, but Bai Shan was not at all surprised. He had asked Chen Erlang some extra questions earlier, and when they became evasive and a bit sheepish, Bai Shan had already guessed something was amiss.

"They were dressed in tattered clothes, many without shoes, clearly refugees. Such people could steal a horse, lose their identification papers, and vanish without a trace. They could discreetly sell the horse elsewhere and then change their names and start new lives," Zhou Silang explained. "I was scared to death at that moment, but luckily, I was quick-witted. I told them if they saved me, my family would reward them handsomely. I then claimed that I had a younger brother studying in the prefectural school, a sister who works as a doctor at Jishi Hall, and a brother-in-law who’s an officer in the military..."

Bai Shan: ...

Manbao: ...

At that time, Zhou Silang was under immense stress. Even with a head wound, his mind and eyes were incredibly sharp. He could feel Chen Erlang hesitate upon hearing his sister worked as a doctor at Jishi Hall.

Although he didn’t know why, that did not stop Zhou Silang from immediately extolling his sister’s virtues, elevating her to a nigh-celestial being exclusive to heaven, nonexistent on earth.

Then Chen Erlang asked for his name, to which Zhou Silang replied, "My surname is Zhou; I’m the fourth in my family, so you can call me Zhou Silang."

He added, "My youngest sister is ranked eighth at home, named Zhou Man. Not only Jishi Hall but ask around in Yizhou City, surely someone knows her. Do you know about Ji Family’s young master’s fall from the horse where he lacerated his belly? My sister saved him."

Then Chen Erlang took him back to Yizhou City, heading straight for the small courtyard. Aunt Rong, upon seeing him, was startled and ushered him in quickly. Chen Erlang and his group became very restrained, treating Zhou Silang with great respect from then on.

Zhou Silang didn’t mind the fact he almost got robbed by Chen Erlang and his gang. Instead, he found Chen Erlang’s instant change of heart upon hearing about Manbao to be quite admirable. So he said to Manbao, "Take good care of his wife. If they can’t afford the medicine, you pay for it, and we’ll deduct it from his wages later."

Manbao: ...

Bai Shan promptly pulled Manbao outside, "Let’s go. If we’re going to hire people, we have to negotiate properly. Do we need to buy some gifts? After all, they did save Fourth Brother Zhou."

Manbao suggested, "Let’s send them some rice and flour; those are the most practical for them. And some medicinal herbs too."

Zhou Silang watched them go, calling out several times, but they ignored him; he ached all over and hesitated before deciding not to get out of bed.

Forget it; after all, when it came to being clever, he was no match for them. They surely wouldn’t be taken advantage of.