The daily life of a space tycoon raising children, doting on his husband, and farming.

Chapter 73 Taken advantage of

Shang Wan exchanged a glance with Lu Chengjing, raising an eyebrow to silently ask for his opinion.

Lu Chengjing was also observing Liangliang, and nodded slightly to Shang Wan.

Shang Wan then looked at Xiao Huan and Shi Tou. Neither of them had any objections; they would listen to their sister and brother-in-law.

Thus, the four reached an agreement. Shang Wan pointed to He Si and said, "If it doesn't interfere with your work, you can come along, but you have to take good care of the children yourself."

He Sizhi was overjoyed and repeatedly assured that Liangliang was very well-behaved and would not run around or touch things. He would take good care of the child.

To express his gratitude, He Si recommended a brick kiln in the suburbs of Xicheng to Shang Wan. The red bricks fired there were of good quality and reasonably priced, and there were discounts for buying in bulk.

If Shang Wan and his party wanted to visit the brick kiln, he could have his apprentice lead the way.

"No need, I know where it is."

The brick kiln and the place where Zhang Da bought tiles last time are not far apart; just ask around there and you'll find it.

After the two parties agreed on the materials needed, Shang Wan promised to buy the materials as soon as possible and have Shi Tou pick up He Sizhi and the other three.

After leaving the He family's house, the group took an oxcart straight to the brick kiln. After some haggling, they finally agreed on a price, only to be told that the brick kiln did not deliver the goods to their door.

Stone's face fell immediately. He had to move bricks and tiles. When would that take?
"Alright, stop looking so glum." Shang Wan patted the boy's shoulder. "I have a way."

Stone asked curiously, "What method?"

"Kid, don't ask so many questions." Shang Wan abruptly changed the subject. "I think we could buy an oxcart. We'll definitely be going to town quite often in the future, and we can't keep borrowing from the Zhang family every time, can we?"

Xiao Huan said, "Sister, buying an oxcart will cost a lot of money."

To put it bluntly, the small portion of their current wealth came from Shang Wan's earnings and from pawning the jade pendant; the rest was all taken from the Lin family.

The things brought back from the Lu family were good, but they all had the Lu family's emblem on them. If they were sold for money, the officials would come knocking on the door the next day.

Without a legitimate source of income, it's like sitting around and eating away your savings.

Building a new house costs money in every aspect, and Xiao Huan is really worried.

Shang Wan was aware of her family's situation and thought to herself that if she had known this would happen, she would have won more at the casino.

However, she dismissed the idea after only a second.

While it's tempting to get something for nothing, the risks are also huge. Their current family has virtually no risk tolerance, so they can't afford to be reckless.

She said, "Let's go take a look first. If it's too expensive, we won't buy it. We can rent it when we need it."

A moment later, the brick kiln manager drafted a contract for Shang Wan to review. Since Shang Wan couldn't read, she handed it to Lu Chengjing.

After carefully reviewing the document, Lu Chengjing pointed out two unclear points and asked the steward to make corrections.

The manager chuckled dryly and glanced at Lu Chengjing several times. Following Lu Chengjing's instructions, he drafted a new contract.

Lu Chengjing looked at it carefully again, and only after confirming that there were no problems did he say, "You can sign it."

Shang Wan then handed over the deposit to the manager, and the two parties signed a contract.

The manager said, "A batch of red bricks, about four thousand pieces, will be available in three days. Just bring the contract to pick them up then."

Shang Wan nodded, "Okay, I'll come back in three days."

The steward personally escorted Shang Wan and her party to the door.

Shi Tou took out the prepared fodder to feed the cattle, and only after the cattle had eaten most of it did the group get back onto the oxcart.

"Sister, shall we go straight to the carriage shop now?"

Shang Wan glanced at the sky and said, "Let's go take a look, and buy some things at the West Market while we're at it."

Stone agreed and drove the oxcart towards the city. Yuanyuan sat in her father's lap, swaying back and forth with the oxcart for a while. Her eyelids began to droop, and she started to snore softly while holding her milk bottle.

Shang Wan gently took out the milk jug and covered Yuan Yuan with a cloak.

"Xiao Huan, how much goat milk is left?"

Xiao Huan shook the large bamboo tube. "It can probably fill another milk jug."

Perhaps because she hadn't had milk for several days, Yuanyuan drank goat milk with great gusto as soon as she tasted it, gulping it down like water.

The more you drink, the more you urinate. If Shang Wan hadn't noticed quickly, Lu Chengjing's clothes would have been almost soaked with her urine.

Shang Wan said, "I'll go buy some more later."

Xiao Huan said, "Sister, we don't have any ice at home, so the goat milk won't keep."

Shang Wan said, "I have a way to preserve it."

Seeing that she wasn't going to continue, Xiao Huan didn't ask any further questions, figuring she'd probably get the same answer as Shi Tou anyway.

……

Traveling by carriage and horse.

After seeing the veterinarian out, the middle-aged man returned, plopped down on the straw mat, looked at the old yellow ox lying on the ground, and sighed deeply with a worried expression.

He spent eight taels of silver to buy the ox, and with the custom-made oxcart, the total cost was twelve taels of silver. It's only been two months; he hasn't even recouped his investment yet, and now he's so sick he can't even stand up?
Even the veterinarian can't do anything. Are we supposed to just wait for the cow to die, slaughter it, and sell the meat? How much money could we make from that?

The middle-aged man felt terrible about the loss, and a cloud of worry hung over his head. How was he going to explain this to his father-in-law when he returned?
"Boss, boss, good news!" The waiter rushed in excitedly.

"Can't you see I'm annoyed?" The middle-aged man glared at him, looking like he'd beat up the guy if he gave him false information.

"Master, this is really good news. Four customers have come to buy an oxcart from us, saying that it doesn't matter if the ox is a little old or the cart is a little worn out."

The middle-aged man frowned, "Where am I going to buy an oxcart..."

He paused, his gaze falling on the old ox, his eyes suddenly brightening, and the worry on his head dissipating.

The waiter grinned so wide his mouth almost reached his ears. "Boss, isn't this good news?"

"Not bad, I won't beat you up, kid." The middle-aged man's brows relaxed, he stood up, patted the grass clippings off his buttocks, and said to the waiter, "Hurry up and bring the customer over."

The waiter glanced at the old ox still lying down and hesitated, saying, "Boss, why don't we think of a way to get the ox to stand up first? Otherwise, even if the price is cheap, customers won't buy it if they see it's a sick ox."

"What sick cow? This is clearly a healthy cow in its prime, just with a leg injury. It'll be able to stand up in a couple of days." The middle-aged man argued confidently. "If they can't stand up after buying it, that's because the injury worsened and wasn't properly treated. What does that have to do with us?"

Guy: "..."

"At most, I'll give them a discount." The middle-aged man's mind was racing, determined to rip off the sucker who came to his door.

Seeing that the waiter was standing still, the middle-aged man kicked him, but the waiter dodged it skillfully and quickly went to invite the person in.

The sucker who came to buy the oxcart was none other than Shang Wan and his group.

The waiter introduced, "Sir, this is the owner of our carriage and horse company."

Shang Wan looked at the middle-aged man. He had a fairly decent appearance, but there was a thuggish air about him. His eyes were darting around, and he didn't look like an honest man at all.

The middle-aged man was also sizing up Shang Wan and the other three, his gaze mainly falling on the wheelchair where Lu Chengjing was sitting.

These days, poor families can't afford wheelchairs.

He became even more certain that the four were easy targets, and felt that he would be doing himself a disservice if he didn't fleece them handsomely.

We've started climbing the rankings this month! Thank you all for your monthly votes and recommendations~ Mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah!
(End of this chapter)