Chapter 53
53 Invitation
After Chen Yaohui and Madam Li entered the house, they saw the village chief sitting in the courtyard and weaving a bamboo basket. Chen Yaohui walked to the village chief’s side and told him what Madam Li had said. He looked at the village chief anxiously and said, “Father, do you think this is true?”
After pondering for a moment, the village chief sighed and said, “I’ve heard about it in the past. It’s just that our terrain is high and we won’t be drowned. The places that are affected by floods are all downstream.”
Chen Yaohui and Madam Li heaved a sigh of relief when they heard that. The couple laughed happily. “Aiya! It scared us to death. Since that’s the case, what’s there to be afraid of?!”
The village chief looked at the two of them as if they were fools. “What are you afraid of? When others don’t have any food, you would be afraid of robbery! When people are hungry to a certain extent, they can do anything.” When the village chief saw Chen Yaohui and his wife’s worried and afraid expressions, he couldn’t bear to see them like this. He turned to comfort the two of them. “Don’t be too afraid. There might not be a natural disaster! Don’t believe the words of those grain merchants. They can’t wait for a natural disaster. This way, they can get rich.”
Madam Li nodded. “That’s true. When those grain merchants collect grain every year, they would lower the price. When the grain reaches their hands, they can earn a large sum of money easily.”
Seeing that the two of them didn’t seem to care, the village chief was worried that they didn’t know how to save. “Just in case, you still have to mix in more mixed grains to eat and save more food.”
“Got it.” After Chen Yaohui and his wife heard that they wouldn’t suffer a disaster, they returned home in a good mood. Madam Li told them about Xiaoyu fetching water. Chen Yaohui waved his hand and said, “Forget it! If it rains heavily, will we have to carry water out again?”
Li Yu decided that she had to store some water no matter what. After Li Mei and the others left, Li Yu washed the remaining ten sauce jars at home and filled them with water to store in her space.
Li Yu entered the space and took a look. She saw that the items inside would automatically be sorted and stored. Li Yu felt that her space was really a rare treasure.
The next day, Madam Li, Madam Ma, and more than ten other women that Li Yu did not know came to Li Yu’s house to work. Madam Li told Li Yu what the village chief had said. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief when they heard that and calmed down to hurry up.
In the blink of an eye, it was December. Li Yu and Zhou Jia’s bag business was booming, but there were also many merchants who followed suit. However, Zhou Jia’s shop was the first to sell bags and already had a stable customer base. Also, their style was the best.
When the twelfth lunar month arrived, Zhou Jia asked Ji Xiang to send a message to tell Li Yu to ask the female workers to stop work on the 23rd of December and go back to prepare for the new year.
On the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, Li Yu began to prepare the New Year goods. Li Yu went to the mountains. When she came back, she made the pheasants and hares she had hunted into roast meat. Then, she went to Butcher He’s house to buy an entire pig. With the pork, she made roasted pork trotters, roasted pork ribs, and cured meat.
She cut meat into slices, in a certain proportion, with salt, chili powder, white wine, rock sugar, fennel, wood incense.. and pickled the meat in a basin.
Li Yu brought Zhaodi along and taught her how to use bamboo slices to scrape the fat in the pig intestines clean until only the outer layer of the intestine was left. She went to the bamboo forest and found a bamboo tube about the size of an intestine. She sawed it into a small bamboo tube that was more than an inch long and two inches long and used the bamboo tube to store the sausages.
As Zhaodi filled the sausage, she asked Li Yu curiously, “Cousin, I’ve never seen my mother make this sausage. Did Aunt teach you?”
Li Yu could only reply, “Yes! Your aunt taught me.” Li Yu gently squeezed the filled sausages tightly and tied them with cotton thread to dry them on the bamboo rack. Then, she hung the cured bacon, preserved pork ribs, and preserved pork trotters on the crossbar in front of the stove and slowly smoked them.
On the eighth day of the twelfth month, they cooked Laba Congee. Li Mei and Madam Qian cooked two full pots of Laba Congee and sent it to the helpers and Zhou Jia. They also brought back jars of Laba Congee. For two days, Li Yu and her brother’s mouths were filled with the taste of Laba Congee.
On the 22nd of December, Zhou Jia and Ji Xiang came to Li Yu’s house at midnight. Butcher He also came with an entire pig’s worth of pork.
Zhou Jia cupped his hands and smiled at Li Mei and the other dozen or so female workers. “It’s going to be the new year soon. It’s been hard on you these past few months. In order to express my gratitude, I’ve prepared a small gift to thank everyone.”
Li Mei was amused when she heard that. “Logically speaking, we should be thanking Mr. Zhou for letting us have a good year this year!”
Madam Li smiled brightly and said, “That’s right! Mr. Zhou, will there be any more work next year?”
“Yes, everyone is going to start work on the eighth day of the new year. Then, we’ll officially start work on the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the new year.” Zhou Jia took the red packet from Ji Xiang. “This is the red packet for everyone.”
Zhou Jia gave the red packets to a few people and asked Butcher He to cut a strip of meat weighing four to five catties for each of them.
Everyone was so happy that their mouths could not close. They bowed to Zhou Jia gratefully. “Mr. Zhou, thank you. We’ll definitely work hard next year.”
Butcher He packed his things and said with a smile, “It’s good for you to sit in the house. You won’t be exposed to the rain or the sun. At the end of the year, the boss will still give you a new year gift.”
“Yes! We thought the job was good too. That’s why we wanted to continue next year.”
Everyone happily took the red packets and meat back. Ji Xiang brought the gifts for Li Yu into the house. Li Yu saw cloth, gift boxes, and a few furs.
Li Yu looked at Zhou Jia in embarrassment. “Mr. Zhou, you’re too polite. You even sent so many things over.”
“It’s just a little token of appreciation.” Zhou Jia smiled at Li Yu. She was still wearing a dark thin cloth dress. Her exquisite facial features looked handsome. Zhou Jia couldn’t help but gaze at Li Yu’s cherry-red lips again. He hurriedly waved the account book in his hand and said with a smile, “After working hard for a few months, it’s time for us to split the dividends.”
Li Yu looked at Zhou Jia with a smile. “Alright! After working so hard for so long, we can finally see the harvest today.”
The two of them entered the central room and sat down. Zhou Jia took out the account book and said to Li Yu with a smile, “We started selling bags in the middle of October. Today, we’ve been on the market for two months and have a few days left. There are still a few days before the break. I’ll calculate the rest with you after the new year. In these two months, apart from the capital, we’ve earned more than 9,000 taels of silver. The two of us can split 4,530 taels of silver each, not counting the remaining bags in the few shops.”
When Li Yu heard this, she also smiled happily and thanked Zhou Jia sincerely. “Thank you, Mr. Zhou. If you hadn’t used a few shops to promote these bags, we definitely wouldn’t have earned so much money. I really don’t have to worry about working with you.”
Seeing Li Yu’s happy expression, Zhou Jia was also overjoyed. He looked at Li Yu with a smile and subconsciously softened his voice. “I’m very happy that I didn’t let you down. It’s great that you’re satisfied.”
Li Yu avoided Zhou Jia’s gaze and looked down at the account book. “I still have to thank you.”
Zhou Jia looked at Li Yu’s evasive expression and knew that Li Yu had discovered his joy in her. He looked at Li Yu and smiled. “Then I have a small wish. Can Miss Li help me fulfill it?”
Li Yu looked up at Zhou Jia and smiled. “Mr. Zhou, let me hear it.”
Zhou Jia looked at Li Yu. “Can we not be so polite in the future? Let’s address each other by name. Also, I want to invite you and Ah Qing to Green Mountain City for the Lantern Festival, okay?
Li Yu thought for a moment and smiled brightly. “I’ll call you Zhou Jia from now on. You can also call me Xiaoyu. Also, why do you want to do it at the Lantern Festival?”
Zhou Jia smiled at Li Yu. “Because that day is my birthday. I want to spend it with you.”
Li Yu asked in confusion, “Where’s your family? Aren’t they accompanying you?”
Zhou Jia lowered his head and replied in a low voice, “Two of my closest relatives are gone. The others are all people who want me dead.”