The Whole Village Thrives After Adopting a Lucky Girl

The incident of the second daughter of the Chen Family jumping into the river didn’t cause much turmoil, and the villagers soon forgot about it.

Now, what the people of West Village are most concerned about are the mushrooms from East Village, as well as the bamboo sheds they’ve built.

So, the villagers of West Village came to visit East Village in small groups, asking questions from time to time.

But the villagers from East Village, being cunning now, didn’t want to pay much attention to the people from West Village. They often brushed them off with a few words, excusing that they were too busy to answer, essentially driving them away.

But the people from West Village weren’t easily discouraged, trying various ways to sneak a peek. The more audacious ones even ran to the Jiang Family to learn from them, but ended up being turned away at the door.

One day, a large mule cart drove into the village, followed by a few servants riding donkeys.

After the coachman inquired about the residence of Jiang Sanlang, he drove the cart straight to his home.

“Is Jiang Sanlang home?”

Zhou Mao jumped down from the mule cart and called out in front of the bamboo fence gate.

Jiang Sanlang happened to be at home picking cotton seeds, so he rushed out to answer the door upon hearing the sound.

“Oh! It’s Steward Zhou, what a rare guest.”

Jiang Sanlang saluted Zhou Mao with a clenched fist and invited him and his entourage into the house, offering them seats.

Chunniang quickly got up to boil some tea in the kitchen.

Zhou Mao glanced around Jiang Sanlang’s house but didn’t comment, simply lifting his robe and sitting down on a broken stool.

Rolling up his sleeves, he chuckled, “Your golden mushrooms have been sun-dried, right?”

“Of course.” Jiang Sanlang also smiled, “Steward Zhou, your timing is perfect.

We’ve got everything ready.”

As long as he goes out and calls for them, the villagers are likely to bring the golden mushrooms and snow mushrooms.

“What about the premium ones? How many did you collect this time?”

Zhou Mao mainly came for the premium ones this time, which were already selling for fifty taels of silver per tael in the Prefecture City, even more valuable than century-old ginseng.

This is still due to the fact that not many people know about it. If those aristocratic families knew, their trading firm would be swarmed with servants and the price would surely skyrocket.

Of course, he wouldn’t let the Jiang family know about these matters.

“We’ve produced twelve catties of premium ones.” said Jiang Sanlang.

Out of these twelve, five catties were from his own home, three each from his elder brother and second brother, and two from his father. The ones planted by his daughter Yingbao weren’t included in this.

“Only twelve catties?” That was too little.

Zhou Mao was somewhat disappointed, “Bring them here for me to see.”

Well, twelve catties it is, at least it’s better than none. Alas, going back, there’s not even enough for a few distinguished guests to split.

The head of the trading firm alone would reserve three catties, not to mention other distinguished guests. They were all waiting for him to bring back the premium golden mushrooms.

Jiang Sanlang carried two big baskets out of the house and placed them in front of Zhou Mao.

Zhou Mao picked them up and sniffed at them one by one, fearing that Jiang Sanlang might have mixed in some fakes.

Jiang Sanlang didn’t mind him and simply watched quietly on the side.

Yingbao also came out of the house, followed closely by the two twins.

After checking the premium mushrooms, Zhou Mao instructed his clerk to weigh them.

After finishing weighing the premium golden mushrooms, Zhou Mao asked again, “Don’t you also have premium snow mushrooms? Why didn’t you bring them out?”

Jiang Sanlang chuckled, “Actually, the premium snow mushrooms have already been reserved by others.”

“What?” Zhou Mao was displeased, “I say brother Jiang, this isn’t fair. We agreed that I would come and pick them up, not even needing you to make the trip, and now you’ve reserved the premium snow mushrooms for others?”

Jiang Sanlang laughed, “But Steward Zhou never said we couldn’t sell to others. Besides, we didn’t make a formal contract. Of course, we’d sell to whoever offers the highest price.”

Zhou Mao was so angry, he wanted to curse Jiang Sanlang but didn’t dare to. He only snorted and asked, “How much did they offer?”

Jiang Sanlang didn’t inflate the price too much, saying, “They gave five taels of silver for one catty of premium snow mushrooms.”

“What?” Zhou Mao gritted his teeth, and eventually cursed, “You, you swindler, you dare cheat me!”

Jiang Sanlang calmly said, “They did give that much. Steward Zhou, you may think it’s expensive, but others don’t.”

Zhou Mao, frustrated, spun around on the spot. Finally, he gritted his teeth, “Fine! I’ll also give five taels. Get the Xue’er out quickly and remember they should be premium quality. If there’s even one fake piece, you’ll be in for it!”

Jiang Sanlang then went back into the house and fetched two baskets of Xue’er, “There are eight jin in total here. I can only give you half, the other half has to be reserved for the other customer.’

Upon hearing this, Zhou Mao instantly rushed over, grabbed the two baskets and left, muttering, “Keep dreaming!”

He then ordered the young assistant to weigh the mushrooms quickly. After they were weighed, he had them carried to the mule cart and told one of his servants to keep an eye on the baskets.

Yingbao, observing her father’s cunningness, was completely amazed.

Ah, she needed to learn more from her father. His skill in deceiving people would be very useful in the future.

Next, it was time to weigh the common golden mushrooms.

Jiang Sanlang had grown five hundred plants, as did both Jiang Dalang and Jiang Erlang. The elder Jiang had grown two hundred, and so had Jiang Cheng. Even Dani and Erni each had grown one hundred plants.

In the future, they’re likely going to keep this quantity.

“The golden mushrooms weigh fifty-two jin eight liang. The Xue’er weigh twenty jin,” the young assistant reported.

Zhou Mao took out an abacus and began calculating. “In total, that’s three hundred and thirty-seven taels, plus five hundred coins.”

It was the highest sale in history, and Jiang Sanlang couldn’t help but smile.

Zhou Mao knew that the Jiang family didn’t accept silver notes. This time, he had brought along plenty of silver ingots, some of which were large twenty tael ingots. He had more than enough to pay for this.

After moving the golden mushrooms and Xue’er onto the cart, Zhou Mao went to inspect Jiang Sanlang’s bamboo shed and pet the big deer in the yard. Surprised, he asked, “Brother Jiang, are you selling this big deer?”

“No, this is my daughter’s deer. No amount of money can buy it.”

Zhou Mao shook his head regretfully and was about to leave when Jiang Sanlang said, “Please wait, Steward Zhou. There are more golden mushrooms and Xue’er in our village that haven’t been moved over.”

Zhou Mao blinked, about to come up with a cunning plan, but Jiang Sanlang quickly said: “They also went to the trade office last time and know the purchase price.”

Zhou Mao sighed, not entirely giving up, he asked, “Are there any premium ones?”

“No. Only our family has premium. It’s not easy to care for them; others can’t grow it.” Jiang Sanlang mercilessly crushed his hopes.

“Oh.” Zhou Mao felt disappointed, and waved his hand, “Well, then tell them to hurry up and bring them over. Time is money.”

At this point, Yingbao had already run out to call for the lady next door, Wang Er’s grandmother, and asked Wang Er’s son to notify other families.

Soon, Jiang Sanlang’s house was bustling with activity.

Villagers flocked to bring their own golden mushrooms and Xue’er.

Yingbao sat on the fence of the deer pen with her two younger brothers, dangling their legs and watching the streams of people.

Among the group of men, a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law pair stood

out.

The older woman was around fifty years old, the younger one was in her twenties, they looked delicate and attractive, with thin brows and bright eyes. Their fragile appearance showed they were easy to bully.

This was Chen, the clan leader’s second wife, Mrs. Tang and her young daughter-in-law, Mrs. Shao.

Mrs. Tang was holding a small baby boy, about two or three years old, just a bit older than Yingbao’s younger brothers. He had a shaved head with tufts of hair in three places and thin brow lines, looking a lot like his mother Mrs. Shao.

Mrs. Shao was carrying a large bamboo basket, filled with around a hundred dried golden mushrooms.

Mrs. Tang walked over to Yingbao, carrying her grandson, and took several pieces of hard candy out of her pocket to put in Yingbao’s hand, and also gave two each to the twins. She smiled and said “These are made by grandmother, they are very sweet.”

Yingbao thanked her: “Thank you, Grandma Tang.”

The two brothers also learned to say: “Thank you, Grandma Tang.”

Mrs. Tang patted Yingbao on the head, smiled and said, “Next time, Baobao, bring your brothers to Grandma’s house, I will make a lot more delicious food.”

Yingbao nodded, “Okay.”

Mrs. Tang’s smile widened. She introduced her grandson to Yingbao: “His name is Chen Bozhong, his nickname is Yaoyao. Yaoyao, say hello to Sister Yingbao.”

Yaoyao blinked his small, almond-shaped eyes and obediently said, “Sister Yingbao.”

Yingbao couldn’t help but touch his tufted hair and responded with a small laugh.

Xiaojie and Dawu became jealous, tugging on their sister’s arm from both sides, not letting her touch any other kids..