Chapter 63: Sky-High Price

  The carpenter was found by Ye Qi Shu, and it is said that he is from a side branch of the Ye family, so Qizhen calls him brother.

  The carpenter looked very young and shy, just over twenty years old, but Uncle Ye Qī said he did a good job.

  Lu Yuan is a diligent person. Ye Qiushu brought Carpenter Brother over and instructed him for a couple of sentences before heading out to the fields, leaving Lu Yuan in charge here.

  Usually being restrained, Ye Luoyu didn't have much time to play with the other kids, but now seeing Zhen'er was like finding a companion, and he happily came over to chat.

  "Zhen'er, little sister, when are you moving? Do you want your brother to help you?" Ye Luyuan said with a careless tone, holding a small yellow cucumber in his hand and taking a bite.

  Zijin also figured out his temperament, which is a half-big-not-small kid who loves to learn from others and pretend to be mixed up, attracting girls' attention. His nature is still very kind. However, with a father like Ye Qiu, no matter how bad the son is, he can't go too far.

  "Worry-free Master calculated for me last time, the day after tomorrow is a good day to move. If Brother Road Far doesn't have anything on, I'll trouble you to come and help me out." Why not use free labor?

  "Alright, no problem, I've got it covered," Ye Luoyu said with a confident pat on his chest.

  Qizhen'er couldn't help but laugh when she saw him patting his thin body loudly. The carpenter brother looked at him with a hearty smile and jokingly said, "Lu Yuan brothers, you've got to keep your word, we'll come to supervise on the day of the move."

  Ye Luyu's face turned slightly red as he was teased by the carpenter, but fortunately his dark complexion didn't show it much. "Brother Carpenter, you're not being very kind to me like this, be careful or I'll tell your wife."

  This joke made the carpenter's face red. Qizhen'er was afraid that the carpenter would be embarrassed, so she privately pulled Yelufar and asked him, only to find out that this carpenter had just gotten married recently, and it was a honeymoon period, his skin was thin, and he couldn't bear to be teased by people.

  Ye Qiushu left Ye Luyuan here, of course not to let him idle around. Zhen'er also made use of this free labor without being polite. She and Hu Zi were scraping mud, tidying up, while Ye Luyuan was in charge of sweeping and dumping ash.

  The carpenter measured the size of the door and house, determined how big to build, and then left. This is how carpentry works: if you provide your own wood and the carpenter only provides labor, they will work at your home. This is for clarity and to avoid future disputes, as some people's homes have good wood. If the carpenter is responsible for both materials and labor, they will measure the size and go back home to work on it, and the sawdust can be used as a good fuel for the stove.

  Qizhen's family didn't have anyone who could help her cut trees on the mountain, so she had to package both labor and materials for the carpenter. Fortunately, this carpenter was introduced by Ye Qiushu, and the price he asked for was quite reasonable.

  After finishing the new house, Qizhen began to worry about the housewarming party. Her stove was newly installed and she didn't know how it would perform when cooking for so many people. It wasn't an easy task. Moreover, she had very little money on her, and she wasn't sure if it was enough to host the party. Even if it was sufficient, after this meal, there would be no more food left for the next day.

  She usually goes to pick wild fruits, and there are only about twenty fruit trees. The mountain is deserted, the trees grow luxuriantly, but the fruits are not many. She has picked several times before and after, and there are not many fruits left. Thinking of the unexpected discovery last time, Qizhen thought it should be around harvest time.

  That morning, she thought of going to the market again and went to pick some fruits. She took a detour along the way and looked at the mountain valley, with a satisfied smile on her face. After finishing the housewarming party, adding these things, her new life really began.

  All the fruits on the tree were picked and barely filled a basket. Qizhen'er carried it to the market.

  Ye's family has been busy lately, and Qi Zhen'er didn't feel comfortable leaving Hu Zi with them to take care of, so she had to bring him along herself. Fortunately, Hu Zi was a well-behaved child, and when he saw things at the market, he wouldn't make a fuss about wanting them.

  Today's market is really lively. Along the way, there are vendors selling all sorts of things, but the more lively it gets, the more uncomfortable Qi Zhen feels inside.

  She walked along the street and saw two vendors selling wild fruit, three families selling peaches, one family selling apricots, and another family selling watermelon. Watermelons were still a luxury item at that time, so not many people bought them, but those wild fruits, apricots, and peaches could only be sold for 1 or 2 cents each.

  Wild fruit is just for freshness, when there are few fruits, it's still worth trying, but now that there are many fruits, who would pay to eat this. A few days ago, she sold well, just because the timing was good, now that there are many fruits, she doesn't have any advantage anymore.

  Found a vacant spot, Qizhen'er pulled Huizi to sit down and hawk their wares. After more than half a day, no one came to ask about them, Zhen'er was somewhat disheartened.

  As the weather got hotter, there were fewer people on the street. Qizhen also didn't want to wait any longer, so she packed up her things and left.

  She plans to go to Mount Song Temple today, and when they left at the beginning, they were afraid of being discovered by Liu's family, so neither of the siblings dared to pay their respects to their parents. Now that things have settled down, she wants to set up a longevity tablet for her parents in Mount Song Temple, light a long-life lamp, pray for her parents to live well below, and tell them that they are living well now and will be even better off in the future.

  The tiger cub's legs were short and he couldn't walk fast. Zhen Er took care of him all the way, intentionally slowing down her pace. It was just like going out for a stroll, except that the sun was a bit too strong.

  Halfway through their journey, Hu Zi was getting tired and couldn't walk anymore. He licked his dry lips and pulled on Zhen Er's hand, saying "Sister, I'm thirsty."

  Qī Zhēnér was also a bit thirsty from the sun, and she should have brought some water when they went out. She looked up at the sky and said: "Hǔ Zǐ, let's eat some fruit first and hold on for a while, when we get to the tea shop, I'll buy you some tea."

  The little tiger didn't make a fuss, took the fruit and wiped it on his clothes, then quietly started eating.

  It had been a long time since it rained, the sky was dry and the earth was parched, as if the ground was going to be roasted. At this moment, a horse carriage ran by, stirring up a cloud of dust, making Zhen'er's brother covered in dust from head to toe. Qi Zhen'er couldn't help but curse silently in her heart.

  Arriving at the teahouse, Qizhen didn't hesitate to order two bowls of tea and two steamed buns to fill their hunger. The teahouse owner still had some impression of Zhen and greeted her with a smile: "Little girl, are you here looking for someone again?"

  Qizhen'er shook her head and said sweetly, "Grandpa, this time it's going to the temple." She looked at the quiet shop and asked, "Is Grandpa free today?"

  The owner of the teahouse sighed, shaking his head: "This business is not fixed, if many people pass by, my teahouse will be good, if few, it's like today."

  "There will definitely be many people at the temple fair." said Qizhen'er.

  The teahouse owner smiled and said, "It's better during the temple fair, but this temple fair isn't every day, is it? If I had to say, just passing by a large merchant group would be good." Looking at Qi Zhen'er as if she didn't understand, the old man kindly explained to her: "When I first chose this location for my teahouse, it was because of its good position. Look, going south leads to the county town; going east leads to the prefectural city; and going north for a while is Mount Song Temple. With so many people coming and going, how could business be bad?"

  Qī Zhēn'er secretly admired the old boss in her heart, thinking that he was truly clever and had grasped all the advantages of timing, location, and harmony. She praised him, saying: "Grandfather is really good at doing business."

  The owner of the tea shop smiled humbly, "This is just a small business, I don't expect it to make a lot of money, as long as it can provide for my basic needs, that's enough."

  Just as they were talking, a large team of horse-drawn carriages stopped outside the teahouse. A middle-aged man who looked like a steward entered the teahouse, glanced around and saw that there was only Qizhen and her brother, didn't pay much attention to them, and directly said to the teahouse owner: "Shopkeeper, our madam wants to rest here for a while, don't need you to prepare tea or anything else, just tell the little maids what to do. Also, clear the room." After finishing speaking, he went out of the door, probably to report to that madam or something.

  The tea shop owner looked at Qi Zhen and her brother with a apologetic expression, they had also heard the previous conversation, which meant that they were going to be driven out. The tea shop owner was not bad to them either, besides, they had no reason to block others' path to wealth. Qi Zhen packed up their things and prepared to pay for the tea.

  The owner of the tea shop waved his hand and asked the guests to leave. He was already very embarrassed, how could he still have the face to collect their money?

  Qī Zhēnér saw that the boss wasn't taking it, and didn't dwell on it much. If they delayed because of this little tea point, when Mrs. came in and saw the sister and brother, she would blame the boss.

  Qizhen'er and Hu Zi had just walked to the door when they ran into a young master, about 12 or 13 years old, wearing silk clothes, accompanied by someone who looked like a servant boy, walking in while chatting and laughing. Qizhen'er was afraid of bumping into a noble person, so she took Hu Zi aside to avoid them, waiting until the people entered the house before leaving.

  Qizhen'er had just walked a short distance when she heard someone calling out: "Hey, the one with the basket on her back."

  Qī Zhēn ér didn't notice at first, until someone grabbed her arm, then she realized that the person was calling her.

  "What's wrong with you, little girl? I called you, why didn't you respond?" The young servant complained.

  Qizhen'er glanced at the young man's hand grasping her arm, saw that he was not paying attention, exerted some strength and pulled her arm out of his hand.

  That little fellow was a head taller than Qizhen, and standing up could see the things in the basket. He picked and chose, saying: "What's this thing? Can it be eaten?"

  "Hey, here comes another one who doesn't know the goods." Qizhen's heart was delighted, and she didn't mind the young man's recent rudeness. She put down her basket and said, "Young brother, try some of this wild fruit, it's sweet."

  That little fellow didn't disdain it, took one and wiped it clean, then bit into it. After finishing, he nodded and said: "Hmm, the flavor is actually not bad. What's this fruit called? How much does it sell for?"

  Qī Zhēnér heard this question and was so excited that she almost jumped up, thinking that the fruit would not be sold after all, but unexpectedly, someone wanted it.

  Looking at this line of people, they don't seem to be short of money. Should she make a big profit? But that wouldn't be good. What if it's the young master and his wife from a wealthy family in town who came to the temple and offended someone important, leaving behind hidden troubles, which would be really bad later on.

  Qizhen's heart was tangled, but she didn't expect her mouth to blurt out the price unconsciously. It wasn't until that little fellow shouted in surprise that she came back to herself.

  "What? One or two silver coins per catty?"