"Besides this silver, what else did our family get today?" Xiao Qi tilted his head and blinked his large eyes, pretending to think. "So people who ordered our sweet potato seedlings even left a deposit."
Lian Manman smiled. They had originally planned not to accept any deposit, but so families insisted on giving it for their own peace of mind. After so thought, Lian Manman and her family decided it was alright to keep the deposits. The amount of the deposits wasn’t much, after all; the real money would co next year from the sale of the sweet potato seedlings.
As for today’s events, the silver they earned was actually a minor matter.
"Xiao Qi, think about it, how did those people treat us today, how did they treat our parents? Was it like this before?" Lian Manman then asked with a smile.
"Oh, there were so many people at our house today, a lot of them I don’t even recognize. They treated us... very well. Those stewards from the rich families, they called our parents Fourth Master and Fourth Lady, and they even called Seventh Young Master." Xiao Qi laughed, "And those strangers, they were all eager to call our parents ’uncle’ and ’aunt’... so many people praised our family, praised our father."
"That’s right," Lian Manman smiled.
"After this incident, everyone knows our family is honorable, and they all began to respect us," Wu Lang said.
"Indeed, I still feel warm and fuzzy inside," Lady Zhang added.
"A person lives for their reputation, and money can be earned endlessly. If our words and actions can earn us respect, that’s what makes life interesting," Lian Shouxin said. However, in this one day’s ti, subtle changes had occurred on his face and in his deanor, akin to shifts in temperant and aura.
"With today’s events, we have earned face and reputation for our family. Even if we remain tenant farrs, none dare to look down on us or provoke us lightly. Our family is now one of prestige," Lian Manman said with a laugh.
Indeed, they might not have earned a lot of silver today, but they had gained prestige, as well as people’s gratitude and admiration.
This was a trendous intangible asset, especially in such a social environnt. Corn had already, and would continue to, bring them wealth, while sweet potatoes had garnered them a rare reputation and prestige across this vast land.
Lian Manman was right; afterward, whenever there was a significant event in the village or soone was needed as a witness or to diate and resolve issues, people would co to ask for Lian Shouxin. At such tis, he would sit as an equal with the Lizheng and the village elders, and sotis his word even carried more weight than theirs.
They sold nearly half of the sweet potatoes, and the rest needed to be arranged.
The family picked out a hundred jin of high-quality sweet potatoes, loaded them onto a small ox cart, and delivered them to Jisheng Hall.
Wang Youheng refused to accept so many and later insisted on paying, but the Lian Manman family declined.
"Brother Youheng, these aren’t for you. We’re giving these to Imperial Doctor Wang," Lian Manman said. "Brother Youheng, you can eat these sweet potatoes or save so for seeds. If you don’t save them for seeds, just let us know next year, and we’ll bring so out for you when we’re planting our sweet potato seedlings."
Wang Youheng’s family also had fields, so naturally, they planned to plant so of the sweet potatoes.
Besides Wang Youheng’s house, they prepared another portion to send to Wu Jiaxing’s house. They didn’t give much to the Wu family, just two baskets. Lian Shouxin made an arrangent with Wu Yugui that next year, they could take as many sweet potato seedlings as they needed from their house.
"We can’t forget his grandfather either," Lian Shouxin reminded Lady Zhang.
"Yes, I’ve already figured it out. We shouldn’t be sending these back and forth. Next ti his uncle’s family cos to the market, we’ll give them the sweet potatoes. For next year’s sweet potato seedlings, we’ll prepare so extra for them," Lady Zhang replied.
Lian Manman nodded in agreent. The village where Zhang Qingshan lived, Back Mountain Village, bordered the mountains, had lots of hilly terrain and little yield for other crops, but it was perfect for planting sweet potatoes.
"And for the Upper Room, his grandpa and grandma, let’s get them ready and send them over later," Lady Zhang added.
The larger sweet potatoes were to be saved for planting seedlings next spring, but the smaller ones, although tinier in size, were in no way inferior in flavor and were even juicier and tastier than the larger ones.
Lady Zhang, assisted by Lian Manman, Lian Zhizhi, Wu Lang, and Xiao Qi, spent half a day selecting them.
"Let’s send two baskets to the Upper Room. His grandpa, his grandma, and the whole family there can all have a taste... Then we’ll take these two baskets back as well. As for Chunzhu’s Wife and the other families that are close to us, we’ll give each of them a bit. Not much, just enough for everyone to have a taste," Lady Zhang instructed one by one.
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