Chapter 213: Being too clever
The Liu family's old house was allocated 1,000 kilograms, but Qin Yao did not mention a word about the transportation costs.
Old Man Liu and Zhang were grateful and were not in a hurry to settle the money. They would just help more in the future. It was impossible to calculate all these personal relationships.
In the city, husked wheat was sold for twelve cents per pound, and three taels of silver could buy one thousand pounds. Everyone in the old house was very happy.
He and Qiu urgently cleaned up half of their house to store the food.
But Qin Yao had nowhere to put the 10,000 kilograms of grain.
For now, they can only cram as much as possible into their own bedroom, and when they have time for spring plowing, they will build a warehouse.
Liu Bo and Liu Zhong promised Qin Yao that they would take care of the matter.
They specifically told Qin Yao not to worry about meals, she just had to prepare some meat for them and they could cook it themselves when they got back.
Qin Yao felt a little disappointed and thought: Your disdain is so obvious.
In the evening, the two families had a sumptuous dinner prepared by Liu Ji at Qin Yao's home, and then they left with smiles on their faces.
Qin Yao sent everyone out of the old house, watched them enter the village, locked the door, and walked around the rooms in the house again and again.
Seeing the grain bags piled up in the room, Qin Yao let out a sigh of relief and rubbed her chest, feeling relieved and comfortable.
"Madam?"
Liu Ji called softly from outside the door.
Qin Yao left the house and motioned for him to follow, and the two of them came to the main room.
As soon as she sat down, Liu Ji handed her a bill, spread it out, and explained it to her item by item.
Thirty taels of money were used to buy grain, and three cents per catty of wheat, for a total of ten thousand catties.
Two taels of travel expenses, away from home for six nights, a total of 600 wen for accommodation, 400 wen for food, 120 wen for two packages of cakes, 850 wen for investigation fees, and 30 wen left.
After explaining, Liu Ji took out his purse and placed it in front of her, then poured out the money and counted it. There were exactly thirty copper coins.
Everything was perfect, and it would be difficult to find loopholes even if Liu Fei was confronted.
Qin Yao weighed the remaining thirty coins and glanced at Liu Ji with a half-smile, which made his back cold and sweat broke out on his forehead. Then he said:
"You have to take care of your living expenses for March and April. Don't ask me why. You know it clearly."
Why does accommodation cost six hundred wen?
There are only a few high-end inns along the way that can allow him to spend so much!
What kind of pastries cost 120 cents for two packs?
She thought it was at most 40 cents, no more!
And the investigation fee was even more wrong and she didn't want to expose it.
The moment the money was given out, Qin Yao had already included this part in the budget. So when she saw the bill now, she felt no emotion at all.
If her guess was correct, the money Liu Ji embezzled should be about eight or nine hundred coins.
His monthly living expenses in the academy, including paper consumption, were about three hundred coins. She only counted for two months, and regarded the rest as his hard work fee.
A full three hundred coins as a reward for her hard work. No one could be more generous than her.
"Go to sleep." Qin Yao stood up, threw the bill to him, took the remaining thirty cents, yawned, and went back to sleep.
Liu Ji was left alone, sitting on a small stool in the main room, his heart pounding and his fists clenched. He almost fainted from anger because of his cleverness.
If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have even returned the thirty cents!
He had to use the eight hundred and ninety coins he had saved with great effort as living expenses. Why?
Why!!!
It seemed that even the chickens in the yard could feel the tangible black resentment above the main hall, and the clucking sounds became weaker, for fear of bringing bad luck and being killed and eaten the next day.
Dalang led his younger brother and sister out of the shower room. They walked through the main hall very carefully, went into the rooms one by one, closed the doors gently, blocked out the resentment, and then they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Liu Ji stood up with a "humph", blew out the oil lamp heavily, and slammed the door of the main room.
The noise was so loud that he noticed a figure moving in the master bedroom. He rushed back and gently closed the gap that had been opened.
Qin Yao heard a lot of crackling noises outside, and it took a full half minute before things quieted down. She raised a sneer, raised her hand and blew out the oil lamp on the table, then covered herself with a thin quilt and fell into a sound sleep.
The rain in March is continuous and can last for several days at a time, and the sky is always gloomy.
But now that the food has been stored, Qin Yao can prepare for spring plowing with peace of mind.
Liu Ji went back to the academy. He had to register for the provincial examination in May in advance and prepare various supporting documents. He also had to study in the remaining time, so his schedule was fully packed.
Although he knew that he was just going through the motions to earn some experience points, it was still a formal imperial examination after all. Liu Ji had great confidence in himself. What if he got lucky and passed the exam again?
It was a nice thought, but it was precisely this mysterious self-confidence that gave him the motivation to study actively, and he once again became the most studious student in the academy, making Fan Xiucai and others very angry.
And seeing how hard Liu Ji worked, they all had the illusion that he might actually be able to pass the exam.
The children in the family are all in school, so this year the task of cultivating the land falls on Qin Yao alone.
Fortunately, she bought a cow, and since there was not much land, she plowed the field in two and a half days.
This time, Qin Yao only stored water in eight acres of land, and left the other two acres dry.
Two days ago, when she was selecting grain seeds, she found a gourd. When she opened it, she found it was full of watermelon seeds. Then she remembered that she had helped a security company on the road last year, and the leader of the security company gave her a jar of bitter melon seeds.
This is a good thing. Qin Yao, who had not eaten any fruit all year round, immediately decided to set aside two acres of land to grow this.
If you can't finish it yourself, you might be able to sell the rest for a good price.
After all, things are valuable because they are rare. I haven't seen anyone selling watermelons in the entire Kaiyang County.
She just didn't know whether the watermelon varieties were good at this time, so there was an element of gambling involved.
After Qin Yao finished plowing the field, the cow was immediately borrowed by Liu Bo.
When others see this, they feel envious and jealous, and wonder why they don't have a brother as capable as this?
Look at the Liu Laosan couple, one is a prodigal son who turns over a new leaf and starts studying, while the other makes money and kills bandits with great bravery.
The Liu family's old house is next to the couple, and their lives are getting better and better. This year they even have a cow.
The cow belonging to my brother's family and the cow belonging to the village chief's family have completely different feelings when used.
Because Qin Yao had finished plowing the field earlier, there was no need to rush back, and there was no need to work so hard from morning to night.
This way the cows can save some energy and people can have a rest for a while.
It was getting dark. Dalang, Jinbao and others came back from school. If it was still early, they would take their sickles, lead the old cow and take it up the mountain to graze.
I also cut a lot of them and stored them, adding some to it from time to time, as I didn't want to tire it out.
Si Niang and San Lang grabbed Jin Hua with their own books and blank exercise books and taught her how to read.
Jinhua was used to being wild, and since she had never been to school, she spent half of her day learning weaving and sewing with her mother, and the remaining half helping with housework. Then she would go out to play with other children in the village. It was difficult for her to stay patient.
(End of this chapter)