732: Chapter 721: Inviting Scorn 732: Chapter 721: Inviting Scorn Zhou Erlang and Zhou Liulang looked over Zhou Silang, then questioned Manbao for a long while before they were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, sure that Zhou Silang’s arm wouldn’t be disabled.
They imdiately thanked the neighbors and packed up to go ho with them.
“Before this, Four only told us you lived in the second alley off Kangxue Street, but didn’t specify which house.
We could only ask around as we made our way here.”
Once they entered the courtyard, Zhou Lijun imdiately poured water for them, and that’s when Manbao finally asked, “Second Brother, how co you’re here?”
After drinking so water, Zhou Erlang said, “How could we not co?
The family was scared to death when we received your letter.
We packed up and set out the next day.
We hitched a ride with a passing caravan for part of the journey, but they went a different way, so we had to walk the rest.
We hurried along and only got into the city today.”
Zhou Erlang continued, “We were worried the whole way.
Your letter was so vague, just ntioning that Four had been robbed, his belongings taken, and he had been beaten, but not how he was.
Mom and Dad didn’t sleep all night, and as soon as it was light, Dad sent to the town to get Sixth and co check on you two.”
Actually, their father’s exact words were, “If anything happens to him, at least let the leaves fall back to the roots; don’t leave him stranded out there.
Manbao and Erya are still young; don’t let Four suffer unfairly.”
The Zhou family was weighed down with worry at that ti, though the Zhou brothers were a bit more optimistic than Old Zhou, thinking that if Four really couldn’t make it, the letter would have clearly stated so.
Still, they were very concerned about Zhou Silang’s condition; after all, it was a robbery, who knew what kind of injuries he had sustained?
Now, reassured repeatedly by Manbao that Zhou Silang’s arm wasn’t going to be disabled, they started lecturing Zhou Silang.
Zhou Erlang scolded, “I’ve told you before, be low-key, especially when it cos to making money.
If you hadn’t blabbed about it, who would know you were transporting wheat seeds?
Could anyone have robbed you then?”
An irritated Zhou Silang retorted, “I didn’t blab.
How was I supposed to know those people would find out what I had in my cart?”
Zhou Liulang then said, “Four, you’re a bit too naive.
If they wanted to rob you, you should have just let them take it.
Were you planning to fight with dozens of them by yourself?
You’re not Daji.”
He continued, “When Five and I fought as kids, you were the one who taught us to run if we couldn’t win.
So why didn’t you run?”
“Exactly,” Zhou Erlang found another reason to scold Zhou Silang, berating him more boldly, “You’re supposed to be the king of Qili Village, yet turned into a good-for-nothing who doesn’t even know the common sense that if you can’t win, you run.
I bet you’ve been made dizzy by the money you’ve made these past six months, haven’t you?”
“Who says I didn’t want to run?
But I had to be able to get away!” Zhou Silang yelled back, “They rushed at and pulled down from the cart.
They threw to the ground and started kicking and punching.
What could I do?
I was about to curl up and play dead, or else they would have beaten to death.”
“Besides, even if I could run, could I have really left?
It’s one thing to not care about the wheat seeds, but could I afford to lose the horses?
Do you know how much a horse costs?
And they weren’t even our own horses.” That’s why Zhou Silang was so keen on keeping the cart safe when he encountered Chen Erlang, who seed inclined to rob him.
Seeing how agitated Four had beco, recalling that his head wasn’t completely clear yet, Manbao quickly spoke up for Zhou Silang, “Second Brother, Sixth Brother, please stop criticizing Four.
Who wants to run into robbers?
No matter how those people found out, the point is they’re bad people.”
“Exactly, exactly,” Zhou Silang said resentfully, “Why don’t you scold the people who robbed instead of scolding ?”
“Who says we didn’t scold them?” Zhou Erlang replied, “We’ve been cursing them the whole way here.
We just finished scolding them before we started on you.”
Zhou Liulang added, “Not just us, Dad and Mom at ho have been scolding them too, very fiercely.
They even prayed to Heaven Master to strike those evildoers with lightning.”
Manbao remarked, “There hasn’t been any thunder in Yizhou City recently.”
Zhou Silang: …
After finishing the small talk, they finally started discussing serious affairs.
Zhou Liulang asked, “Has the family started harvesting the grain?”
“Harvest what grain?” Zhou Erlang exclaid, “Once we found out you were robbed, we couldn’t even eat, let alone think about harvesting.
If it weren’t for the critical ti to harvest yams, privet berries, and ginger, even Big Brother and Third would have co too.”
Zhou Silang imdiately said, “Second Brother, I’ve already found buyers for those herbs.
Please don’t let them be sold off fresh at a low price.”
“I know, Five’s wife knows how to process the herbs; she’s doing it even better than us.
We’ve asked around the pharmacies in the county town, and Manager Zheng said they are better than the ones we made before, so apart from so that Manager Zheng wants, we’ve kept the rest stored to send to you in Yizhou City.”
Zhou Silang finally relaxed, glancing at Manbao to prompt her to bring up the matter of hiring people to transport the grain.
Before, when Manbao had written ho asking them to prepare a large amount of wheat seeds, Zhou Erlang and the others didn’t pay much attention – after all, compared to business, Zhou Silang’s life was far more important.
But now that Zhou Silang was alive and well, the business suddenly beca much more important than Zhou Silang’s well-being.
Zhou Erlang thought for a mont and said, “Buying so much wheat seed all at once, and not on credit – is our family not going to be cleaned out?
Not to ntion that you are also renting carts and hiring people here in Yizhou City.
How much money is that?”
Manbao called for Zhou Lijun to bring the abacus, then started to do the sums for Zhou Erlang, “Second Brother, in a few days it will be winter.
County Magistrate Tang wants to distribute all the wheat seeds before the end of the year, so we have to deliver all the wheat seeds to him before the Winter Solstice.
I’ve calculated…”
Manbao and Zhou Lijun had figured out how many pounds a cart could transport, factoring in the cost of the wheat seeds, transportation by cart and horse, and labor fees to estimate their potential profit.
They planned to transport fifteen carts of wheat seeds in one go…
Zhou Erlang, dumbfounded, asked, “Can we really earn that much?”
Manbao nodded, “Ask Four how much he earns per round trip?”
Zhou Erlang didn’t even need to ask because during the past six months their sibling huddles over finances had been frequent, and he was well aware of approximately how much Zhou Silang earned for a round trip.
“While Four earns more per trip with his own cart than we would renting carts and hiring people, his one trip equates to one cart-load.
How much can we earn from one of ours?”
Zhou Erlang struggled internally for a mont before slapping his thigh and declaring, “Alright, I’ll find a coach tomorrow and go back to talk to Dad and Mom.
Big Brother and I have looked around the nearby villages; finding fifteen cart-loads of wheat seed won’t be difficult, we can get it all together in three days max for you.”
Zhou Erlang then suggested, “So after I leave, wait three days and then go rent carts and hire people.
How about letting Sixth lead them back ho to transport the grain?”
Zhou Liulang nodded, “Let’s do that.
But Second Brother, I’m running low on cash.
Hiring folks isn’t an issue, I know so who will work on credit and wait to be paid after we settle with County Magistrate Tang, but renting carts from the cart house not only requires rent but also a deposit, which can’t be deferred.”
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