Chapter 169 - Chapter 169: Chapter 165: Farewell_1

Chapter 169: Chapter 165: Farewell_1

Translator: 549690339

Afterward, Wei Zhan instructed his uncle to send someone to town to buy a selection of children’s toys such as clay rattles, wooden spinning tops, bamboo dragonflies, etc., to distribute among the village children.

He separately bought writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones to give to Huzi, Yuanbao, Dani, and Yingbao.

Wang Xian also prepared twenty bolts of cloth as a thank-you gift for Jiang family’s hospitality toward Wei Zhan.

Old man Jiang, unable to refuse, had to accept it.

Early the next morning, the Jiang family escorted Wei Zhan to the carriage. Seeing Lady Wen with her two daughters sitting in a mule cart, laden with numerous baskets of dried golden ears, seeming to leave with Wang Xian and his party, Yingbao was relieved.

Good riddance!

Yingbao did not want to entangle herself with a woman who might be the female lead from a story, lest her own family end up being trampled underfoot.

The village’s harvest of golden ears was extremely low this time, and for some unknown reason, Steward Zhou hadn’t come to purchase them. So, all the golden ears in the village were sold to Lady Wen.

All in all, it totaled just over forty catties. Lady Wen surprisingly bought them at a price of ten taels per catty, leaving the villagers incredibly delighted.

However, since Lady Wen did not have cash, she issued an IOU of more than four hundred taels under the name of the Wen family, and had Clan Leader Chen bear witness.

Though the villagers were somewhat perplexed, they didn’t hesitate to accept it, given Lady Wen’s active involvement in providing education in their community.

As for the Jiang family, they did not sell their golden ears. Firstly, they didn’t have much, and secondly, they were waiting to see what Steward Zhou would do.

Business requires trust. If Steward Zhou turned up and found no golden ears on sale, it would surely give the people of Chen Village a reputation for being untrustworthy.

All the golden ears from the Jiang family were stored in Yīngbao’s cave, so she had no intentions of selling them to Lady Wen Lin.

At last, the carriage brought by Wang Xian began to move away.

Wei Zhan was crying at the carriage window, making the women from the Jiang family teary-eyed.

“I will come back very soon Wuuu. Huzi, Yuanbao, don’t forget me.”

Huzi was crying loudly, chasing the carriage a long way off.

His relationship with Wei Zhan was the closest because he had always lived and ate with him and had come to regard him as a brother.

Seeing Huzi chasing after, Wei Zhan cried even harder. Had it not been for Wang Xian holding him tightly, he would have jumped off the carriage and refused to leave.

Seeing this, the women from the village sighed heavily and watched the carriages gradually disappear into the distance.

A few days later, near the end of December, Jiang Liu sat in the corridor with her three daughters-in-law and granddaughters, basking in the sun while they sewed. She murmured:

“The sacrificial ceremony is almost here, ah, this year our ancestors must be going hungry. We used to have a pig’s head, a sheep’s head, or at least a couple of chickens and fish for the offering, but now, most of our livestock was taken by the bandits. Even the village’s old ox was killed by the damned thieves for meat. What do we have left to offer our ancestors?”

Zhou said, “If there is no other way, we still have a few chickens. We can kill one or two to offer as a sacrifice.”

“That won’t work. We only have a few chickens left. We are expecting them to lay more eggs in the spring to hatch chicks. We can’t kill them.”

Jiang Liu directly dismissed this suggestion.

During this period, the household had spent quite a lot of money, especially Jiang Erlang and his brother’s families. They were building a house, buying daily necessities, and making necessary furniture, almost completely depleting the family’s silver reserves.

Dani and his wife volunteered to contribute their silver to buy things for the family.

Luckily, Jiang Erlang’s family had managed to recover quite a bit of grain, which was enough for the whole family to eat until next year’s summer harvest. This saved them from having to buy grain from outside the county, unlike other villagers.

With the sacrificial ceremony close at hand, the offering for the ancestors was indispensable.

Now, whether talking about livestock or even chickens, ducks, or geese, there were very few left, and even if money was offered, none could be bought.

“Why don’t we go fishing? Didn’t we catch a lot of fish last year? Whatever is left over can be smoked for later,” Dani suggested to his grandmother.

Jiang Liu brightened, “Yes, your uncles are the best at fishing. We can ask them when they return and see if they have time.”

It wouldn’t be a dishonor to present a big fish as an offering to the ancestors. After the ceremony, they could smoke the leftovers, which could last until next spring.

In the afternoon, when Jiang Erlang and his brothers returned, they heard their mother’s suggestion. “Erlang, the sacrificial ceremony is coming up. Are you planning to go fishing?”

Jiang Sanlang: “We’ll see when the time comes.”

Fishing requires bait, which was always prepared by his daughter. He didn’t know if she still had that kind of bait.

“What do you mean, ‘we’ll see’? The day after tomorrow is the start of the twelfth lunar month. We should start preparing early.”

Jiang Liu said, “Your father mentioned it to me early in the morning. The situation at your uncle’s place is not good. His house has been burned down, he has no money left. If it were not for the food we sent to him a while ago, his whole family would have to beg for food.

So, your father volunteered to be in charge of the sacrifice offerings.”

Jiang Sanlang scratched his head and resignedly nodded, “Alright, I’ll try to find some time to handle it.”

Upon returning home, he took off his mud-covered outerwear and replaced them with a clean cotton garment.

“Where are Baobao, Xiaojie, and Xiaowu?” Jiang Sanlang didn’t see his children, so he asked casually.

Chunniang set the dirty clothes aside and served her husband a bowl of porridge.

“They are in the room doing their writing.” Chunniang sat down opposite the table, “Mother said that we should do some more fishing for the New Year’s sacrificial offerings. What do you think?”

“Sure, I’ll go fishing.” What else could he do?

Jiang Sanlang thought while drinking his porridge.

He remembered that his daughter used gold nugget pieces mixed with wheat bran as bait last time. Maybe he could do the same?

Fortunately, they still had some premium gold nuggets at home. He could use those with poorer quality for a try.

Early next morning, Jiang Sanlang brought a bucket of prepared bait to his elder brother’s house.

“Big Brother, we’re planning to gather some people for a group fishing trip today. Are you coming too?”

How could Jiang Dalang refuse? He quickly nodded, “Yes, I’m going!”

“Great, I’ll call out to Second Brother.”

Jiang Sanlang shouted in the courtyard, “Second Brother! Are you coming fishing?”

Jiang Erlang immediately responded, “Of course! When do you plan to set off?”

“Now. I’ll go home and get the fishing net and rope. You guys just need to bring a couple of fishing spears.” Jiang Sanlang soon left.

When the people of East Village saw Jiang Sanlang going fishing again, lots of them followed along.

Even many women and children followed to join in the fun.

Jiang Sanlang’s homemade bait worked extremely well. With a couple of tosses, fish would quickly swim over for the food.

The villagers screamed with excitement, scooping up fish with baskets. Surprisingly, quite a few fish were caught.

The three Jiang brothers had an impressive haul; they had more fish than their baskets could carry.

The commotion by the river attracted people from West Village and nearby villages.

The West Villagers took advantage of the moment when everyone was distracted and also secretly started fishing. Unexpectedly, they managed to catch quite a few as well.

This action was akin to poking a hornet’s nest, causing a large number of people to return home for their tools.

Soon, the banks of Chuanhe River teemed with people, slowly moving along with Jiang Sanlang’s pace.

By the time the East Villagers realized what was happening, it was too late to stop others from joining in.

“You really have no shame! Stealing our fish!” An East Villager couldn’t hold back and cursed.

A West Villager retorted, “Whose fish are they? This river belongs to everyone. Everyone has a share in the fish. If you can fish, why can’t we?”

“Then why don’t you go fish somewhere else? Why are you following us?”

“There’s enough road for everyone. I can go wherever I want. It’s none of your business.”