newbobooks Chapter 46 Encountering Ginseng
Chapter 46 Encountering Ginseng
Aunt Li thought that she had indeed worked for so long, it was time to pay her wages.
“Okay, Jiaojiao, this is the account my wife kept. Look, the groceries cost about 850 coins. Considering that everyone worked 24 days a week yesterday, at 15 coins a day, that's 360 coins per person.”
Aunt Li handed Song Jiaojiao the account book that her daughter-in-law, Sun Meihua, had kept. Song Jiaojiao saw that the account book was recorded in an orderly manner. Although the handwriting was not very good, it was still quite good for the countryside.
"Sister-in-law, you're doing great! Your handwriting is so neat; you could be a bookkeeper in town!" Song Jiaojiao praised.
"Hey, isn't Meihua's father an accountant? She learned a little from a young age. He only asked for her for your brother Fugui because he saw that Meihua could do accounting, thinking that they could support each other in the future." Aunt Li's leisurely pride rose up. She had to inquire from various sources to find out about it.
“Auntie has a good eye. How about this, Sister Meihua will get the same wages as you. That will come to a total of two taels, eight mace, and ninety cash.”
Song Jiaojiao thought that keeping accounts would take time each time. This was not the era in which people could go to school. In this era, being able to recognize one's own name meant that one came from a well-off family. In an era where everything favored men, there were basically no women who knew how to keep accounts.
"Then I'll thank Jiaojiao on Meihua's behalf," Aunt Li said with a smile as she accepted her wages.
"Of course, Auntie. Maybe we'll need Sister Meihua's help sometime in the future," Song Jiaojiao said with a smile. Once the workshop is up and running, we'll definitely need someone to manage it, and Sister Meihua might be a good choice.
"No trouble at all. Just let me know if you need anything. With Jiaojiao by my side, I'll never suffer any losses."
Aunt Li had always wanted to follow in Song Jiaojiao's footsteps. Think about it, what young woman could build such a large house in less than a month, buy a carriage, and hire farmhands? Aunt Li had a strong feeling that Jiaojiao's future development would definitely not stop there.
"Jiaojiao, now that the wages are settled, I'm going to get back to work." Aunt Li said, about to leave, but Song Jiaojiao called her back before she could even start.
"Auntie, I need to trouble you with something. The house is all repaired now, and I'm thinking that a good day is when we can move in. The sooner the better, since this place is really too small."
Aunt Li thought for a moment and saw that Song Jiaojiao's family was indeed quite large, so it was time to move as soon as possible. "The eighth day of the eleventh lunar month is a good day, but it's a bit rushed. The day after tomorrow, or the tenth day, is also good. It depends on which day you choose, Jiaojiao."
"Then let's go with the eighth day. We're going to town tomorrow, so we can buy some meat and vegetables." Song Jiaojiao still wanted to move in as soon as possible, so she chose a date that was closer to home.
“Okay, I’ll come to help as soon as possible,” Aunt Li said.
"Okay, we'll have to rely on you then." After saying that, Aunt Li went to get busy. Thinking that she still had to deliver green peppers tomorrow, Song Jiaojiao took her basket and headed into the mountains.
Wang Hefan saw Song Jiaojiao preparing to leave and was about to follow when Song Jiaojiao stopped him. "Hefan, I'm going to the mountains. Go to Wang the stonemason and order another stone tool, the same one as last time. Then, go with Xu Da to cut some long logs to build a frame, and we also need a lot of bamboo to make drying racks."
Hearing Song Jiaojiao's arrangement, Wang Hefan had no choice but to give up the idea of following Song Jiaojiao. "Okay, Mother, you should come back soon too."
After saying that, he went to the village. Song Jiaojiao breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Wang Hefan leave, since she had to go herself to find a suitable place to move the green peppers.
He turned and went up the mountain, thinking as he walked. He realized that he would need a lot of manpower to find seeds in the future, and he would have to form his own caravan. He wondered if he should send Wang Hefan to learn martial arts, since he couldn't let such a big guy go to waste.
We'll need to hire an accountant, or a female accountant. Mu Qing will also need to learn how to read. Of course, it would be best if she could read. Mu Xue is not young anymore, and she won't suffer if she can read. We'll see if we can find a Taoist priest when we go to town sometime.
Lost in thought, Song Jiaojiao unknowingly arrived deep in Qingshui Mountain. Seeing that there was no one around, she put the green peppers she had picked from her spatial storage into her basket.
Looking around at places she didn't recognize, she decided to wander around and maybe find something interesting.
The most common plant around was kudzu. Song Jiaojiao didn't plan to dig it up; she just found a small one and put it in her space. After walking about 500 meters, a different plant caught Song Jiaojiao's eye.
A dark green plant stood in an open space, with seven branches forming a circle, each branch bearing five leaves. Song Jiaojiao recalled a video she had stumbled upon, which said that plants like this might be ginseng. There were a few other plants nearby, but they were all quite small.
When Song Jiaojiao saw this, she quickly climbed down to prepare to dig. Remembering that digging for ginseng required tying a red string, she tore a piece of cloth from her clothes. Although it wasn't red, it was better than nothing. She used a machete to cut a piece of wood and shaved it into a thin slice. Then she carefully and slowly began to dig into the soil.
Ginseng usually grows in soft sandy soil, so digging it is a slow process to avoid damaging the roots. There are also many tree roots and stones. It took Song Jiaojiao an hour to dig out this one ginseng. Although it took a long time, it was intact. Looking at the ginseng in front of her, which was about the size of a radish, she didn't know how old it was, but it looked good and would definitely fetch a good price.
Song Jiaojiao put the dug-up ginseng into her space and started digging up the remaining few. She didn't dig them all up, thinking she should leave some. Song Jiaojiao wasn't as careful with the rest. After digging them up, she planted the small ginseng in the soil. Before she could even stand up, she was kicked out of the space. It seems she's going to upgrade. I wonder what surprises this upgrade will bring.
Song Jiaojiao carried the green potatoes on her back and walked home. Before she even reached the door, she saw many villagers carrying sweet potatoes on their backs and walking towards her house.
"You sell sweet potatoes too?"
"Yes, didn't Wang Gao and the others sell some yesterday? I washed some to try too."
"Me too. I washed 200 jin to test the waters. I don't know why Song Jiaojiao is collecting so many sweet potatoes."
"Who cares what she does? If she's willing to buy, we'll just sell. This price is much better than in town."
"That's true, let's go."
......
Hearing the villagers' conversation, Song Jiaojiao figured there would be quite a few people there today, so she quickened her pace and headed back.
Sure enough, when they arrived at the courtyard gate, they saw quite a few people inside. Xu Fang and Mu Qing were helping to weigh the sweet potatoes, while Sister Mei Hua was keeping track of the accounts, waiting for Song Jiaojiao to come back and pay.
"Jiaojiao, you're back." Aunt Li called out when she saw Song Jiaojiao return, and all the villagers in the yard looked at Song Jiaojiao.
Some were surprised, some were puzzled, but as long as Song Jiaojiao returned, they could get the money.
When Song Jiaojiao saw that everyone was looking at her, she immediately felt like she wanted to find a place to hide. Socially anxious people really don't want to be the center of attention.