Chapter 41 Deer Saddle
Jiang Cheng brought his two younger sisters to his second brother. Seeing that his basket full of water chestnuts was almost sold out, he asked, "You don't need me to stay and help."
"No need." Jiang Quan waved his hand and said proudly: "I can do this on my own."
It was his first time doing business alone, and he was doing it so smoothly. He felt he had a sense of accomplishment, and naturally he didn't want his elder brother to interfere with him again.
Jiang Cheng handed a glutinous rice dumpling to his younger brother: "This is what Ying Bao left for you."
Jiang Quan was not polite. He took it and peeled off the mulberry leaves, bit off half of them, and said to his little cousin with a smile: "I'll buy you a little whistle later."
Yingbao:......
She doesn't want to blow the whistle.
After returning from the market, Yingbao stood under the apple tree and was lost in thought.
It has been almost two years since the apple trees were planted. Both trees are already one foot tall, but they have only grown without blooming, which makes Yingbao very depressed.
What went wrong?
How about waiting for dad to come back and ask him to hire someone knowledgeable to take a look?
Alas, ignore it for now and wait until we move to Nanshan. The first thing now is to find ways to make more money.
At noon, Jiang Quan came back from selling water chestnuts, poured his money bag on the table, and counted the money with his elder brother.
"A total of five hundred and sixty coins, hahahaha, I'm rich." Jiang Quan was so happy that he started to divide the money with his fingers.
"Yingbao and Dani and Erni found these water chestnuts together. Let's give half to the three of them."
Jiang Quan pulled half of the money out.
"Li Dao and Li He also helped pick cattail leaves to wrap water chestnuts, so let's give them twenty...ten coins each."
Jiang Quan pulled out another twenty coins.
"Give me another fifty cents for grandpa and grandma."
He took out another fifty cents.
"I also give fifty cents to my mother-in-law, and the rest is mine, hahahaha."
Jiang Quan put the remaining 160 Wen into his arms and laughed.
When he looked up, he saw his elder brother looking at him with a dark face.
"Where's mine?" Jiang Cheng asked.
"Yours?" Jiang Quan wrinkled his nose, "But you didn't do anything?"
Jiang Cheng: "I'm counting the money."
Jiang Quan:……
I want to punch the wall with regret.
He curled his lips and reluctantly counted out ten coins from his share and pushed it over. He gritted his teeth and said, "Here you go! Count, money, fees!" Hum!
Jiang Quan quickly put his money into his pocket and put everything on the table into his purse. Then he went out to greet Dani, and they went to the house of his second and third uncles to share the money with Yingbao, Erni.
Fourteen-year-old Jiang Cheng didn't mind the lack of money, so he picked up the ten coins one by one and locked them in the cabinet.
The next day,
Yingbao put a rope around Yoyou's neck, touched its head and said: "Yoyou, I will take you to the town, you must be obedient and don't run around."
Yoyo looked at the little master with big watery eyes.
"Don't panic when you see a stranger. I'm always by your side." Yingbao patted its neck.
Youyou lowered her head and humped the little master, then tilted her head and rubbed it.
Yingbao understood and took out a handful of Wudingzhi and fed it to it.
When Jiang Sanlang heard that his daughter was going to town to wear a deer saddle, he immediately dropped everything to take her there.
"You, a little baby, will be bullied. Dad can just take Youyou there."
Our deer looks majestic, half as tall as a man, and the antlers on its head are beginning to grow. It is estimated that it will grow into a ferocious deer next year.
Such a large live deer could be worth twenty or thirty taels of silver when sold to the county town. Many people with evil intentions might take risks for such a large sum of money.
Therefore, I must not let this little baby girl go, even if she is accompanied by her first cousin and second cousin.
Ying Bao shook her head: "Hey, you will be scared when you go to crowded places. I will follow it and be good. Dad, let me go with you."
"Okay." Jiang Sanlang picked up his daughter and prepared to put her in the backpack.
"Dad, I'll ride you."
When Yingbao trains Youyou, she will occasionally ride it for a walk, so as long as Youyou is not running, she can sit on it steadily.
Jiang Sanlang put his daughter on the deer's back again and warned, "Be careful, don't fall down."
"I won't fall." Ying Bao sat firmly on the deer's back, and her father held the rope as she walked toward the town.
Cross the stone arch bridge, pass through Xichen Village, and follow the dirt road to the official road.
The official road passes through the middle of the town, one end leading to Qinchuan County, and the other end leading to Yuzhou.
The father and daughter came to the harness shop, and the tall and majestic deer instantly stunned the two clerks.
Even the shopkeeper ran out and marveled, "I have lived for fifty years, and this is the first time I have seen such a tall deer. No wonder you need a saddle."
Saying this, he asked the boy to come over and measure the size.
When Youyou saw a stranger approaching, she stepped uneasily and hid behind Yingbao.
Yingbao comforted it, took out a handful of wheat from her pocket and fed it to its mouth.
Yoyo then calmed down, lowered her head and licked a dozen grains of wheat from her little master's hand.
The boy handed the recorded measurements to the shopkeeper, then stood aside and looked curiously at the doll and the deer.
The shopkeeper touched the deer's back and said to Jiang Sanlang: "Although your deer is big, its backbone is thin and cannot bear weight, so a cowhide saddle is not suitable. How about making one from sheepskin?"
Jiang Sanlang nodded: "Okay, this deer is not meant for adults to ride. It is only for the children of the family to ride on occasionally. Please be sure to do it safely, the shopkeeper."
"No problem." The shopkeeper thought about it and went to the house to look for materials.
Jiang Sanlang waited for a while and asked: "When will you be ready, shopkeeper?"
If it takes too long, he and his daughter won't wait.
The shopkeeper took out a few pieces of leather and threw them on the ground, saying, "I'll cut them now, very quickly, within an hour or two at most."
Jiang Sanlang looked at the sun. It was probably early in the morning, so he could wait a while.
He sat down on the stool brought by the clerk, while Ying Bao looked around.
There were no shops near the harness shop. There was only a straw shed not far away, and someone set up a stall selling pork under the shed.
By now the pork had been sold out, and the butcher and his son were packing up to go home.
Tu Da took off the iron hook hanging on the wooden frame and threw it into the big basket. He also put a few knives in and then picked up the basket.
His fifteen-year-old son Tu Xiong didn't want to go back, so he said, "Dad, you go back first. I have something to do and will go back later."
Tu Da glared at his son and warned: "Don't run around with your little friend. If you cause any trouble again, I will beat you to death."
"What trouble can I cause?" Tu Xiong touched his nose: "I go to the mountains to hunt birds with Chen Sansheng, what trouble can I cause?"
Tu Da snorted, picked up the burden and left.
When Tu Xiong saw his father walking away, he smiled and shouted from behind a haystack: "Don't come out yet."
Two young men of seventeen or eighteen years old, one tall and one short, came out from behind the haystack, both with beef tendon slingshots on their waists.
"Are we still going to Beishan?" Tu Xiong asked.
The tall, thin man had a sharp face. He said with a smile: "Where are you going to Beishan? Look over there..." As he spoke, he pursed his lips in the direction of the saddlery shop.
Tu Xiong turned his head and looked around, wondering: "What are you looking at?"
"Deer." He said with a smile: "Then you can't see a big deer pestle there?"
"I saw it earlier, what are you doing?"
"What do you think?" He put his arm on the shoulders of his pockmarked short companion, his eyes twinkling.
Tu Xiong suddenly realized, narrowed his eyes and said with a bad smile: "Brother Thirty, don't you have any bad ideas?"