stingy landlady

Chapter 43 The Vegetable Eating Incident

Gui Xiang exclaimed in surprise, "Father! Did our family earn an extra day's worth of land here?"

Dazhu exclaimed, "That's why Uncle Zhou is so experienced! Dad still has a lot to learn!"

Previously, Father only thought that bribing officials was enough; he simply gave them money. He had no idea about the order of giving, when to give, what to say, or what he wanted in return!

Guizhi laughed and said, "Dad! There's a lot to say about this! Let's just learn and apply it as we go! Anyway, now that we have Grandpa Zhou and Uncle Zhou in our family, they'll definitely think of us in the future!"

Dazhu laughed too: "Dad's just being stubborn! People should do what they're suited for!"

Guizhi continued, "Father, Mother! Tomorrow morning, first prune all the bok choy from our garden and give it all to Xiangmanlou. Also, Manager Qu specially added fifty catties of shepherd's purse and twenty catties of wild garlic!"

Dazhu asked, "Did you tell your Uncle Zhou?"

Guizhi said, "I told you! I was worried that they would go to water the fields early in the morning and there would be no one to help me pick the vegetables. After washing them, I would have to tie them into bunches so they would be easier to carry and less likely to rot."

"Dad! Mom! We need to buy several more baskets, big and small. Like those baskets Dad gave away today, will we ever get them back?"

“What are you taking! We’ve already given away so much, do we need a few more baskets? Let’s buy a few more!” Li Shi chimed in.

In the morning, Guizhi listened to the birds' clear and melodious chirping; it was another bright and sunny day! She noticed that the vegetables the old man had planted were about the same size as her own garden, and she could pick some greens to sell tomorrow.

Madam Zhou has already come over to knead the dough, and Dazhu has already gone to the vegetable garden at the east end to pick vegetables. The old man and the fourth son took Dabao to water the fields.

Seeing Lin Xiaoyun come out, Guizhi called out in a good mood, "Good thing you left early! Lin Xiaoyun! Go and herd the cattle and horses!"

Lin Xiaoyun was warmed by the sudden greeting: "I'll walk with you and help you lead the horse. You stay there and watch over things; I need to go water the wheat!"

"This morning, let's start by picking vegetables and thinning out all the bok choy in the garden!"

The crisp sound of osmanthus wafted over and reached the ears of Zhao, who was opening the door. She had been craving the bok choy for a long time, watering it every day and hoping it would grow bigger and bigger so she could eat it as soon as possible.

Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Hearing Guizhi go to pick the vegetables is like hearing heavenly music. We all sow our seeds around the same time, so we can pick our own now!

I did it on a whim, grabbed a basin and went to the vegetable garden to pick some greens.

Thinking of the old man and woman praising her for doing chores without being told, Zhao felt full of energy. She continued until she had chopped a pot of vegetables, thinking that if she couldn't finish them today, she would chop more tomorrow before stopping.

When the three old men returned from watering the fields to eat, the side dishes were washed clean and served on the table, along with a bowl of soybean paste.

Everyone was very excited.

Erzhu sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), his leg still covered in medicine. "Oh! Finally, I can eat some vegetables! Honey! Where did you cook these? I have to try them first."

He picked up some baby spinach with his chopsticks, dipped it in the sauce, and ate it, exclaiming, "Delicious! Delicious!"

"Father, Mother, you should try some too!"

The old lady muttered, "It must taste delicious! It's been almost half a year, and there hasn't been a single green vegetable in sight! How could it not taste delicious?"

The old man also took a bite of the greens with sauce: "We can eat greens so early this year, thanks to Dazhu!"

The fourth son and Mrs. Sun remained silent, happily eating in quiet contemplation.

Zhao boasted, "I only remembered this because Sanya mentioned thinning vegetables! These vegetables are planted close together, so they grow bigger after thinning!"

The old man listened thoughtfully.

The old lady said, "Shouldn't shepherd's purse and wild garlic be in season by now? Taozhi went to dig for wild vegetables, but I didn't see any."

Taozhi said aggrievedly, "Grandma! Everyone in the village is saying that Old Yang's family has gone crazy from poverty! The whole family went to dig up shepherd's purse and wild garlic. They've dug up all the nearby plants!"

The old lady said doubtfully, "Logically speaking, this shouldn't be the case! His family owns a mill, and their conditions are quite good in the village."

Sigh! Every family has its own troubles! How other people live is their business! Let's eat!

After dinner, Guizhi went to the old house excitedly. They were eating there, and on the table were some green vegetables that Zhao had picked that evening. Everyone enjoyed them!

When Zhao saw Guizhi, she asked, "Sanya! Have you eaten? Did you pick some bok choy today? Did you eat enough? These bok choy are delicious!"

When Guizhi saw the vegetables on the table, she was touched, her eyes flashed, and she said, "Second Aunt! My family couldn't bear to eat the bok choy! We sold it all!"

Then he said to the old lady and the old man, "Grandpa, Grandma! We couldn't bear to eat the vegetables we planted today, so we sold them all. Twenty coins a pound. We planted them a day earlier, thinking you could plant them tomorrow too! My father asked me to ask you if you're selling vegetables tomorrow?"

One sentence and everyone stopped eating.

The old lady asked Guizhi in disbelief, "Twenty coins a pound? Not two coins a pound?"

Guizhi nodded: "Grandma, it's twenty coins a catty. My family picked fifty catties today and sold them for one tael of silver!"

Everyone looked at the side dishes on the table; every bite of these dishes cost money!

The old lady was stunned for a moment, then suddenly exploded:

"Zhao! You spendthrift! Why are you so greedy? Will you die if you eat one less bite? Everyone else eats the same dishes, and you eat the same dishes too! You always compare everything to your older brother! You always want to be the best at everything!"

The old lady was so angry she couldn't speak.

“This house can’t accommodate you anymore! Go back to your parents’ house tomorrow! We’re letting you stay here tonight because we’re being kind and considerate! Otherwise, in any other house, we’d kick you out immediately, no matter what!”

The old lady was so angry she refused to eat. Pointing at Zhao, she told her to get out immediately. Seeing her was like seeing a pile of hard-earned money disappear!

Guizhi was worried that the old lady was getting on in years and might have a stroke or something if she got too angry!

He quickly went to pat the old lady's chest and comforted her.

"Grandma, don't be angry! Let them eat it! It's a bonus! We'll sell as much as we can tomorrow. The bok choy is still growing, and we'll have more to sell in a few days!"

The old man lost his appetite, put down his chopsticks, and pushed his bowl further into the table.

"Fourth brother! You've worked all day, it's time to eat! If you don't eat tonight, it'll rot by tomorrow. What a waste!"

He turned around, picked up his pipe, and started smoking.

The fourth brother looked around and said, "Second brother, your leg isn't healed yet! Hurry up and eat!"

Da Bao, we still have to work tomorrow, eat up!

"Wife, eat for our son's sake!"

Seeing that the old lady had calmed down, Guizhi quickly said, "Grandpa and Grandma! It's late, I'm going home!"

The old man nodded, while the old woman remained silent.

Guizhi ran home quickly.

"Father, Mother! Second Aunt picked some bok choy to eat today! We've had it for two meals! With so many people, it must have weighed about ten pounds! It costs two hundred coins!"

Li opened her mouth and asked, "Your grandma let her pick them? They're so expensive!"