Chapter 32: Mind your own business
There are three families living relatively close to Qianhuan's home. In addition to the Zhang family and the Xie family, there is another family with the surname Liu. The Liu family sent 120 kilograms of chestnuts.
Qianhuan's family bought a total of 525 kilograms of chestnuts from these three neighbors, and now only had 1537 coins left out of the 1012 coins.
The eldest daughter-in-law of Mrs. Xie was a gossipy woman. When she found out that her mother-in-law had earned 85 cents by selling chestnuts at Liang Laoer's house, she immediately told the people in the village about it as if to show off. The other villagers were a little skeptical at first.
"One penny per pound of chestnuts? Are you kidding us? We all know what the situation is with Liang Laoer's family. How could they afford to buy your chestnuts at one penny per pound?"
The villagers spoke with disdain, obviously not believing what the eldest daughter-in-law of the Xie family said.
"It's true. I saw my mother-in-law bring back 85 copper coins. How could it be false?" The eldest daughter-in-law of the Xie family tried hard to make everyone believe her.
Seeing that she didn't seem to be lying, everyone believed her immediately and was very envious.
"Please ask Liang Laoer if they still need chestnuts. If they do, remember to call me. We can still pick dozens of kilograms of chestnuts from our trees." One of the villagers said to the eldest daughter-in-law of the Xie family.
"Yes, yes, call us too. I have a few chestnut trees at home, but usually no one eats them."
Seeing this, everyone agreed and begged the eldest daughter-in-law of the Xie family to go to Liang Laoer's house to inquire about the situation. They also wanted to sell the chestnuts at home.
"This..." The eldest daughter-in-law of the Xie family was suddenly speechless. She had originally told this matter to make everyone envy her family for making dozens of coins from selling chestnuts, but who knew that everyone would ask her to ask Liang Laoer.
Just when she was in a dilemma, Old Lady Xie came out from the yard and glared at her daughter-in-law with displeasure on her face.
She turned around and looked at the villagers and said, "If you want to sell chestnuts, go ask them yourself. Liang Laoer didn't say he would buy them, so how can I ask my wife to go and ask?"
When the villagers heard what Old Lady Xie said, they all walked away embarrassedly. After sending away the group of villagers who were gathered at the gate of the courtyard, Old Lady Xie began to teach her eldest daughter-in-law a lesson with some disappointment.
"Can you control your mouth? People say that wealth should not be shown to others. This time, you only sold 85 copper coins, but you were so eager to show off in front of everyone. If I hadn't sent them away for you, I wonder how you would have ended up."
"Mom, I get it. I promise not to talk nonsense next time." Mrs. Xie quickly bowed her head and admitted her mistake.
"Oh..." Old Mrs. Xie sighed. Her eldest daughter-in-law was good in every way and was hardworking, but she was a gossiper and could not keep anything to herself. She admitted her mistake now, but she would make the same mistake next time and she had no way to deal with her.
Naturally, what the eldest daughter-in-law of the Xie family said to the villagers also reached the ears of Zhu, who loved to listen to gossip.
In the evening, Liang Laoer sat at the table and cut small slits into the chestnuts, while Liu cooked dinner and Qianhuan helped to light the fire. The family of three divided the work and cooperated with each other, which was very warm.
When the meal was ready, the family of three gathered around the table to eat dinner.
At this time, at the Liang family's old house, Liang's family and the two elders were also eating dinner around the table.
"Dad, Mom, have you heard? My second brother and his family bought chestnuts from the families next door today. They're selling for one penny per pound."
While eating the brown rice in the bowl, Zhu told her parents the news she had heard in the evening.
"Who told you that?" Old Man Liang obviously didn't believe what Zhu said.
"Everyone is talking about it. Several families next door have sent chestnuts over and have even received copper coins. This second brother is really ungrateful. He didn't even inform his own family first about such a good thing. Otherwise, the several old chestnut trees in front of our house would have produced at least 100 to 200 kilograms of chestnuts. It was outsiders who took advantage of it." Zhu complained dissatisfiedly about Liang Laoer.
"This second son must be crazy. In the past, if there were merchants coming to the village to buy chestnuts, they would buy them for one cent per two kilograms at most, and sometimes even for several kilograms. If he was buying from his family, it would be fine as he would keep the wealth within the family. But he actually paid one cent per kilogram to others?" Upon hearing this, Old Lady Liang blamed her second son.
"That's right, mother. Isn't my second brother's leg still not healed? Where can he get the money to buy chestnuts?" Zhu added.
"It must have been bought with the one or two taels of silver that Qianhuan got back from Jiang Lin. These prodigals refused to give it to Zhong Gong and just spent it recklessly. They don't know how to live frugally."
Old Mrs. Liang said this with great sorrow, as if it was her money that was wasted.
"Is it possible that my second brother's family is short of money and wants to buy chestnuts to take home as meals? Otherwise, why would he buy so many?" Boss Liang asked suspiciously as he looked at the family.
"Why do you care so much about them? We have separated. It's none of our business if we can't make ends meet."
Zhu glared at Boss Liang unhappily, calling him stupid in her heart. What would happen if her father-in-law heard this and softened his heart, and asked them to help her second brother's family?
"Boss, go check on your second brother's house tomorrow. If they really have no rice to eat, go home and get 30 kilograms of food to send to them. It's not a bad thing to eat chestnuts every day to fill their stomachs. The rice will be harvested almost next month, and 30 kilograms of rice will be enough for them to eat for a while." Old man Liang still felt sorry for his son.
"Dad, my second brother's family still has food. When they moved, they had more than 70 kilograms of food left. It's only been a few days since they moved out. How could they have eaten it all? His father, don't you think so?"
Zhu looked at her man, secretly kicked him under the table, and signaled him with her eyes to answer.
Zhu even knew how much grain was left in Liang Laoer's family, which showed that she usually kept an eye on these things.
"Yes, Dad, I was the one who loaded the food onto the truck and took it to my second brother's thatched cottage. They have only moved there a few days ago, so it's impossible for them to eat it so quickly. Don't worry." Boss Liang was telling the truth.
"Since their family is not short of food, I feel relieved. Boss, you must remember that we all have the surname Liang. Even if we have separated, we are still a family. No matter who among the brothers has difficulties, we must learn to help each other and overcome the difficulties together." Old man Liang said to the boss earnestly.
"If Qianhuan hadn't broken off the engagement and affected Wenzhi's studies, Dad wouldn't have separated your second brother's family and gone out to live on their own. Your second brother has difficulty walking now, so you should help their family more often." Old Man Liang continued to instruct the old man.
"Hey, Dad, I get it." Boss Liang wanted to help his brother, but he had a tiger wife at home, so he couldn't do anything.
"Wenyong, Wenzhi, did you hear that?" Old Man Liang looked at his two grandsons and said.
"Grandpa, we understand." The two brothers nodded repeatedly.