“Daniu is so good.” People of Zhao Fugui’s age liked children, so seeing Wang Daniu, he couldn’t help but smile.

When he looked at the contents of the basket, he was happy. In the basket was a large teapot filled with black tea and a palm-sized cake.

The cakes made by people in Hexi were quite simple; they were sweet or salty with brown sugar in the sweet ones and salt in the salty ones. Most common people put salt in it.

The price of brown sugar was not cheaper than salt, and it took a lot of brown sugar to make it sweet, but only a little bit of salt . . . Zhao’s cake was made with salt and green onion, making it taste almost like green onion bread.

It’s estimated that when the water was heated, the cake was still hot, so Zhao Fugui drank a mouthful of tea and cake in satisfaction. Next to him, Butcher Jiang took a sip of the water he had brought, which had long since gone cold and sour.

In the past, it had always been him who had tea and something to eat. But now, his days were actually not even comparable to Zhao Fugui!

Zhao Fugui looked at Butcher Jiang, his mood quite complicated. In the past, Butcher Jiang looked very energetic, but since then, he looked much older . . . However, it was not easy for him to talk to them about the current situation of their two families . . .

They both rested for a while before silently going back to work.

The Zhao family did not have much land, and Zhao Fugui was used to working, so he wasn’t worried that he would not be able to finish. Seeing that the time was almost up, he tidied up and went home.

His wife had cooked a meal and wouldn’t eat until he went back early.

Zhao Fugui had left early, but Jiang Butcher remained in the field.

On one hand the work in the field was endless, but on the other hand, the house was in such a mess he didn’t want to go back there.

Now, that his two daughters-in-law were pregnant and had stopped working, his sons could not be counted on them. Finally, all the work had fallen on their two oldest children and his youngest daughter, who was not yet married.

Thinking of these two sons, Butcher Jiang couldn’t help but sigh. His youngest son found work in the county town, but it was said that all kinds of expenses were very high. He said he would bring money home, but he was not able to do it yet. While his second son . . .

At the beginning, he bought twenty silver worth of kelp and salted fish. Although he sold some in the village and later sold some on the street, he did not sell above his investing capital, and after the summer, some of the kelp and salted fishes had gone bad! So as not to waste it, their family recently ate only kelp and salted fishes every day, which made him feel sick when he smelled it.

But there was nothing he could do about it;; he could not waste so much food at home. No matter how much he didn’t want to eat it, he still had to eat it.

Thinking of the things piled up at home and then thinking about his second son, Butcher Jiang felt depressed for a while.

In fact, if he just couldn’t get his capital back, although Butcher Jiang felt sorry for the silver he still thought it was fine. At least, Jiang Chengwen only lost ten silver from the forty he had given him from money they got from selling land.

However . . . Jiang Chengwen, who failed to do business this time, was not reconciled and wanted to try it a second time. These days, he had been running outside the house all the time.

Butcher Jiang went home in a very bad mood, and as soon as he returned, he saw the village matchmaker, Mrs. He, come out of his house.

After entering the door, Butcher Jiang frowned and asked, “What is Matchmaker He doing here?”

“She came to ask about my little girl,” old lady Jiang said.

Butcher Jiang was stunned and then remembered that it was about time for his little daughter to marry.

In the past, their family pampered Jiang Xiaomei. Although they also asked her to work, they only asked her to do some light work, but now. . .

In more than a half a year, Jiang Xiaomei’s hands and face had become much thicker.

They could still talk about Jiang Xiaomei, but he didn’t know if they still could talk about good people.

Butcher Jiang was worried when he saw his second son, Jiang Chengwen, coming from outside with a happy face.

When butcher Jiang saw his smiling face, he was furious. But old lady Jiang was, on the contrary, very happy, seeing her beloved second son return. She was overjoyed. “Chengwen, you’ve finally come back!”

“Father, Mother!” Jiang Chengwen called out and then he couldn’t wait to say, “Mom, Dad, I found a good business outside this time. I will definitely make a lot of money!”

Butcher Jiang had little trust in this son at this time, so he said, “Don’t talk nonsense!”

But old lady Jiang believed in her son. “Really?”

“Dad, you don’t need to pretend anymore.” Jiang Chengwen said, “They want to do big business, and that business could really make money. If I hadn’t had a good relationship with them and they lacked capital, they wouldn’t let me be involved at all!”

Jiang Chengwen talked a lot before finally saying, “By the way, I don’t have enough money in my hand. Mother, please bring me some more!”

“Don’t you have nearly thirty silver in your hand? Why is it not enough?” old lady Jiang asked.

“Stinky boy, don’t make a fool of yourself. It’s all a fraud!” Butcher Jiang frowned.

“Dad, they’re all rich people, so how could they be scamming money?” Jiang Chengwen had his mind set, recognizing it as a good business that would make a lot of money.

The family was suddenly in an uproar again, and Butcher Jiang was so angry that he finally insisted that he would not give any money. After saying that, he immediately went back to his room and did not want to see Jiang Chengwen again.

Jiang Zhen and Zhao Jinge knew nothing about the things happening in Hexi. However, since they left the capital, they missed their hometown more and more, which made them eager to return home.

However, the speed of the fleet at this time . . .

No matter how anxious Jiang Zhen was, he could only go back slowly. Fortunately, they didn’t encounter any trouble along the way. The only thing that made him entangled was . . . Zhao Jinge belly was getting bigger and bigger.

In the first four months, Zhao Jinge’s belly could not be seen at all, but after four months, it gradually began to swell. The baby’s movement also became more and more apparent. Jiang Zhen also realized more and more clearly that he really wanted to be a father.

When departing from the capital, figuring that they might not be able to eat vegetables on the way, Jiang Zhen had someone find dirt and wooden boxes and planted some green cabbage in it.

These two kinds of vegetables were easy to grow. Even if they were planted on ship, they would grow well. They were something that only Zhao Jinge could eat.

Liu Qianqian and Zhao Lingxi stood at the bow of the ship and looked at the lush vegetables planted on the bow of the ship next to them. They were frowning, feeling depressed.

“Why is Zhao Jinge so lucky?” Liu Qianqian couldn’t help but say.

“Yes, why is his life so good?” Zhao Lingxi could not help sighing. He and Liu Qianqian had a bad relationship and were constantly competing with each other before. However, since being rescued by Jiang Zhen, they were both rejected together, so their relationship grew closer and closer.

“I don’t know what Jiang Zhen will ask us to do in the future,” Liu Qianqian said again.

“After all, he will not sell our bodies.” Zhao Lingxi knew that many of Jiang Zhen’s subordinates were interested in them. However, when Jiang Zhen gave orders, those people did not dare to do anything to them.

As they were talking, they saw Zhao Jinge came near the planted vegetables on another ship.

Now that the weather was getting colder and colder, Zhao Jinge changed into thick clothes, so his belly could no longer be seen.

After looking at the vegetables planted on the bow, Zhao Jinge pulled some vegetables out and gave them to Cook Li, asking her to cook them.

“Why did her ladyship pick so many vegetables today?” Li looked at the vegetables in front of her and asked in some surprise.

“We are almost home, so it doesn’t matter if we eat it all.” Zhao Jinge stood up and said with a smile.

In order to travel fast, they did not frequently make a stop to replenish supplies. But every time they stopped, Jiang Zhen would buy some vegetables to plant. However, even though Jiang Zhen planted vegetables, he did not eat them himself but asked Zhao Jinge to eat more instead.

Jiang Zhen didn’t eat any fresh chicken, but he kept it for him. Now that they would reach home in two days, he always let Jiang Zhen eat with him.

The meal that evening was so rich that Jiang Zhen glanced at Zhao Jinge and began to eat with a smile.

After dinner, they lay side by side on the bed with Jiang Zhen reading a book to Zhao Jinge. The book he read to Zhao Jinge was Qionglin Early Childhood School, a set of enlightenment books read by people in that era.

But what was embarrassing was that, as he read it, he couldn’t explain some parts clearly . . . Fortunately, Zhao Jinge could not understand even more. If there were any problems, he could just muddle through it.

As for being fooled . . . He said that reading a hundred times had its own merits, and so he read it a few more times . . .

That was reasonable. Jiang Zhen had read too much, and he really had some interest in reading it out loud. Of course, that was also because there was nothing else to do on this ship except for reading.

After studying for a period of time, Jiang Zhen put the book down and began to touch Zhao Jinge’s belly while speaking. In fact, in addition to reading it to Zhao Jinge, he also read to the child in Zhao Jinge’s belly. Although he didn’t know much about pregnancy, he had heard that pregnant women require prenatal education.

Since he couldn’t play music for the child in Zhao Jinge’s belly, he read books instead. His voice shouldn’t be too bad. Maybe if he read it like this. . . he could also make the baby in Zhao Jinge’s belly remember his father’s voice before he was born.

Thinking in this way, Jiang Zhen touched the belly of Zhao Jinge again. “Son, I am your father. When you come out, I will take you for rides on a horse.”

When he was in the capital, the Zheng family gave him a carriage and a horse. Jiang Zhen loaded them into the ship and brought them back to the south.

Zhao Jinge couldn’t help smiling when he looked at Jiang Zhen like this.

Jiang Zhen told him that the child in his belly could hear the voices outside, so thinking this way, he was happy to see Jiang Zhen care so much about this child.

Two days later, the fleet arrived in Hecheng County and stopped at the Zheng family’s private docks.

There are a lot of goods on board. In fact, it would be better to go to the Fucheng to sell the goods first, but whether it was Jiang Zhen or Zhao Jinge, they wanted to go home.

When ship was docked at the Zheng family’s dock, Jiang Zhen, Zhao Jinge, and the men Jiang Zhen took to the capital all got off the boats. Jiang Zhen’s carriage was also taken off the ship.

The depressed horse on the ship looked very happy after they landed.

“This time, we can take a carriage to return. The villagers will be very envious.” Jiang Zhen looked at the carriage and turned back to Zhao Jinge.

Nowadays, having a carriage was rarer and showed one’s capability more than having a BMW in modern times!

Jiang Zhen himself was not a person who liked to show off, but Zhao Liu absolutely liked to show off. If they went back in a horse-drawn carriage, they would certainly be able to give Zhao Liu a lot of face, so she would be able to show off in front of the neighbors.

“This carriage can’t get to our village,” Zhao Jinge said.

“What?” Jiang Zhen was puzzled.

“There’s a bridge on the way to our village, and that bridge can’t be crossed by this carriage,” Zhao Jinge said.

After Zhao Jinge’s words, Jiang Zhen remembered that there was such a thing. From Hecheng County to Hexi Village, you have to cross the river. There was a bridge on this river; it was a kind of stone arch bridge with steps, and such a bridge couldn’t be crossed with a carriage . . .

It seemed impossible to drive a carriage back home. It seemed they would still need to take a small boat home . . .

Jiang Zhen and his men went up on the boat, and their group slowly headed towards Hexi.

 

Edited by: Faro

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