Chen Xiaobei drove the cart a long distance before suddenly slapping his head, "Feng Xiaoyue interrupted me, and I forgot the main business."
He then thought again that Cao Yuanxiang's reason for buying wild chickens at a premium wasn't an urgent matter, it was just to satisfy his curiosity. He could ask next time.
Chen Xiaobei made a turn and stopped to buy some vegetable seeds. This time, he mainly chose oilseed rape, a leafy green vegetable. This type of vegetable grows quickly and can be on the market in ten days, allowing the villagers to see the results quickly.
After buying the seeds, he turned around to find Feng Xiaoyue.
When he drove the donkey cart to the dilapidated temple, Feng Xiaoyue, along with Xiaomu, Yanzi, and others, were struggling to move their belongings out.
Looking at their meager possessions, Chen Xiaobei suddenly felt a sense of shared misfortune. It was similar to his own belongings in Hetou Village.
Xiaomu and the others each had a worn-out bag on their backs, likely containing clothes. Besides that, there were some torn mats and quilts, and a pile of bowls and a pot.
A third of the bag of rice delivered a few days ago had also been consumed.
With so many children, having eaten a third in several days, it was likely they weren't eating much each day, mostly just thin congee. Yet, even so, the daily consumption was not small.
Chen Xiaobei guessed that most of the wages Feng Xiaoyue earned from doing odd jobs were spent on food.
This was no wonder why she couldn't afford medicine when she got sick.
Seeing Chen Xiaobei arrive, the children immediately cheered.
Even Xiaomu, who usually shied away from Chen Xiaobei, now had a smiling face and sweetly called out, "Brother Xiaobei."
The bedding was loaded onto the donkey cart. Feng Xiaoyue then called for the children to climb onto the cart, while she sat down close to Chen Xiaobei.
Chen Xiaobei took the initiative and said directly, "Miss Xiaoyue, I know there's a town called Xiaojia Town not far from here. Why don't you go there and have a look?"
Hearing Chen Xiaobei's words, a flicker of hope flashed in Feng Xiaoyue's eyes. "Okay, I'll listen to Brother Xiaobei and go to Xiaojia Town."
Her immediate agreement surprised Chen Xiaobei a little.
Of course, this might also indicate that Feng Xiaoyue herself didn't know where to go.
It was only a little over ten li from the county town to Xiaojia Town, about half an hour's walk.
Xiaojia Town was quite large.
At a crossroads, the directions of east, west, south, and north all had a lot of people coming and going.
Chen Xiaobei led Feng Xiaoyue and the others to walk along all four directions first.
On both sides of the road were inns, restaurants, and various shops, which looked quite prosperous.
But prosperity was irrelevant to them. Instead, it brought a problem: where would such a large group find lodging?
After looking around, they finally found a dilapidated courtyard on the north side of the town.
The word "dilapidated" could not even begin to describe this courtyard!
The courtyard gate was long gone, and several parts of the surrounding wall had collapsed, leaving only a low foundation less than half a person's height.
Of the two main rooms and one side room inside, the main rooms were missing doors and windows, revealing several dark, gaping holes.
The side room was even more open, visible from one end to the other.
Fortunately, the roofs were still intact.
Even such a dwelling made Feng Xiaoyue and the others extremely excited.
Indeed, considering the times, it was already difficult for them to have a place to shelter from the wind and rain. What more could they ask for?
The bedding was unloaded, and Feng Xiaoyue and the children thanked Chen Xiaobei profusely again.
Chen Xiaobei waved his hand, "No need to be polite. Hurry up and settle in. I have to go home."
With that, he jumped onto the donkey cart, flicked the reins, and the little donkey began to walk forward with a "deer, deer" sound.
As the donkey cart moved forward, Chen Xiaobei looked around at the shops on both sides, wanting to see if there were any new discoveries.
Along the road were inns, restaurants, teahouses, and bun shops.
There was even a rouge shop, a silk shop, and a general store.
What surprised him the most was the presence of a blacksmith shop.
This town had quite a complete range of industries.
Of course, this also indicated indirectly that the traffic of people coming and going through the town was very large, enough to support all these shops.
By the time Chen Xiaobei returned to Hetou Village, it was past noon. Cui Hongyu greeted him with a worried expression, helped him unload the cart, and tied the donkey to a tree in the shade at the entrance.
Chen Qiao'er, on the other hand, quickly ran out from the yard with a bowl of water.
"Brother, brother, drink some water."
Chen Xiaobei took the bowl and drank it down in one gulp.
Cui Hongyu cautiously asked from the side, "Husband, why are you back so late today? Did something happen?"
Chen Xiaobei did not hide anything and told her about meeting Feng Xiaoyue.
Cui Hongyu sighed with emotion upon hearing this.
"It's hard for a weak woman to raise so many children!"
Indeed, Chen Xiaobei looked at Chen Qiao'er. It was hard enough for him to raise one. Feng Xiaoyue was truly a remarkable woman.
After lunch, Chen Xiaobei hurried to find Lidong and the others without taking a rest.
At the foot of Qingniu Mountain, Lidong and the others had already made the thatched hut look presentable and arranged for two people to guard it.
According to Lidong's plan, two people would guard in shifts of half a day, from morning to noon, and then another two from noon to afternoon, rotating in this manner.
There were now forty to fifty members in the village guard team, so each person would only get a turn every few days. Overall, it would not interfere with their normal work and life.
Today was the first day of duty, so Lidong, as the captain of the village guard, led by example and was on guard himself.
Upon seeing Chen Xiaobei arrive, there were greetings exchanged.
Chen Xiaobei found a shady spot and sat down, picking up a twig. "Brother Lidong, I want to dig a pit by the fish pond. The pit should be three feet long and three feet wide, and about a foot and a half deep." He gestured as he spoke.
After hearing his explanation, Lidong couldn't help but laugh. "This little bit of work, we're guarding Qingniu Mountain here. We can do it for you when we have time, free of charge."
Chen Xiaobei shook his head. "No, you can't just not charge me because I'm the village head. After digging the pit, I still have other things to do."
"Alright, since you've said so, then we'll go by market rates. How many laborers do you need? I'll arrange them for you right away." Lidong was not being polite.
Chen Xiaobei said in a deep voice, "There are two things to do right now. One is to go with me to Qingniu Mountain to carry back some chicken manure. You need to explain to them clearly that this is a dirty and arduous task, but I'll pay double wages."
"The second one is easier. I need some weeds that need to be dried." Su Dan Novel Network.
After hearing Chen Xiaobei's explanation, Lidong and the two duty members of the village guard were dumbfounded. What were all these tasks?
If they were to collect chicken manure, it could perhaps be explained as fertilizer for the vegetable patch. But what was the meaning of cutting grass and drying it?
However, no matter what, as long as there was money to be made, the employer could ask them to do whatever they wanted.
"Okay, I'll go arrange it for you now."