Reborn in Dunhuang, I am farming and doing business in the desert

Chapter 12 Fetching Water
"I know, mother, don't worry, I haven't told anyone else." Shen Zhao is not stupid, how could he tell these to outsiders?

Even to her parents and brothers, she had no intention of showing the small bronze mirror to them.

But I have to earn money in a short period of time to save my elder brother's life. As for what to do in the future, I can only make plans later.

Zhang Shanyue looked at her daughter for a while and sighed softly: "A Zhao, mother knows that you want to make money to help your elder brother, but our family has no roots or foundation, and making too much money will also be a disaster."

Shen Zhao frowned.

She disagreed with her mother.

If having too much money is a disaster, then having no money can be fatal to the entire family.

In two years, the imperial court will issue a general amnesty, and the Xue and Qin families will be pardoned and return to the capital the following year.

The Qin family is financially weak, and they have no capable relatives in the court to lend them a helping hand, so even if they manage to escape from his hands, it is not a big deal.

The only threat to him was the Xue family, because Xue Lingyao's uncle was the son-in-law of Princess Chengyang and was beheaded for defamation. As soon as Xue Lingyao's family returned to the capital, they were taken care of by Princess Chengyang.

Princess Chengyang also had Xue Lingyao adopted by her deceased daughter and son-in-law, making her their adopted daughter.

Therefore, she wanted to get rid of Qin Yi and Xue Lingyao before the two families were pardoned.

As for the consequences of killing them, he was prepared to use money to atone his sins, and then take his whole family out of the country to the Western Regions, where there might be another opportunity.

The second option is to use millions of dollars to donate a title for his father, and then use the money to atone for his sins. In this way, he will still be a free citizen, and his family will not be implicated.

His father was a village headman with an open-minded personality and liked to make friends. If he got a title, he would definitely not be in danger in the future, and his descendants would be protected. Who would dare to provoke him easily then?

In my previous life, my family was not rich and had no money, but I still met with misfortune, didn’t I?
First, his eldest brother died, and then his second brother got into trouble after he followed Qin Yi to the capital. It was said that he injured his superior with a sword and was sentenced to death.

After losing two sons in succession, his parents were so sad that they died of illness before he could return.

If the family had money at that time, at least they could have used it to atone for my second brother's sins. In that case, not only would my second brother have survived, but my parents would not have died of despair.

"Mother, I will be more careful in the future, don't worry." Shen Zhao hugged his mother and rubbed his head against hers: "When we have money, we will move to the county town and open a shop in the city. No matter how much money we make, no one will dare to covet it."

Zhang Shanyue patted his daughter's head and sighed, "That's easy for you to say. We will still be garrison soldiers even if we go to the county. Once the imperial court goes to war with the Xiongnu, they will only send merchants to the battlefield first."

Shen Zhao:.
It seems like you can't avoid the fate of guarding the border, right?
Zhang Shanyue sighed for a while, and suddenly asked: "A Zhao, is that the only winter clothing you can buy? Are there other clothes? Like the ones we wear here?"

Shen Zhao nodded: "Yes, there are, but they are very expensive. We can buy them for ourselves, but it would not be cost-effective to sell them."

She wanted to buy cloth and cotton to make clothes and sell them, but the cost was very high and it would take time to sew them by hand.

I don’t have time to do all that right now, so it’s better to pack up the old clothes I bought, which is convenient and profitable at the same time.

When she has enough money saved, she might consider selling cloth and boots.

If he had further plans, he would like to open an inn next to the official road, specializing in selling items from the Bronze Mirror World and doing business with Western merchants traveling to and from the Central Plains.

By then, the family could spend money to hire servants to work for the shop, and hire strong men to protect the family. I believe that my mother would no longer say that making a lot of money would be a disaster.

Zhang Shanyue was silent for a moment, then sighed: "Forget it, just take it easy. If anyone says anything, I'll help you fix it."

After a pause, he continued, "Ah Zhao, next time you come up with something, tell Ah Niang in advance to avoid arousing suspicion."

"Yeah." Shen Zhao smiled and hugged his mother and said coquettishly: "I knew that mother would help me."

Zhang Shanyue shook her head helplessly. After a while, Shen Heng came back carrying two buckets of water. He saw the wheelbarrow in the yard and was amazed: "What kind of wheelbarrow is this? Why does it only have one wheel?"

Shen Zhao demonstrated his own experience and taught him how to use it: "This is called a wheelbarrow. We can push it to get water, and we can also transport food and grass in the future."

Our family has a lot of farmland, about 40 to 50 acres. Every year after the harvest, my parents and brother would carry the crops back home on their shoulders.

Although we occasionally ask others for help, we still need to prepare enough food for people to eat.

It’s not that Shen Zhao is stingy. The people he invited are all big eaters, and it’s considered polite if each of them eats five big bowls of food in one meal.

In addition, the family has to buy fish, slaughter sheep and prepare dishes. After a busy farming season, 10% of the season's food will be consumed.

"So that's how it is? It really saves a lot of effort. I'll go carry water now!" Shen Heng was so excited after trying it out that he put the rope on the cart around his neck, pushed it and walked away.

Shen Zhao grabbed him and said, "Don't worry, put the bucket in the basket first, and put our two buckets in there too."

Then he went to the kitchen and took out two wooden barrels, and tied a rope to the cart frame: "Let's go!"

This rope is for her own use. When the time comes, her second brother will push from behind and she will pull from the front. It should save effort.

Halfway through the journey, Shen Heng kept asking, "Who did you borrow this car from? Let's buy one for our family tomorrow."

"This is what our family bought." Shen Zhao replied.

"Where did you buy it from?" Shen Heng's eyes twinkled with stars as he began to ask questions.

Shen Zhao: "I bought it from a Hu merchant. Now, watch the road and make sure the wheels don't hit the rocks."

"Oh, I'm being careful."

The brother and sister chattered all the way and soon arrived at the Jinshui River.

After several days of wind and sand, the water in the Jinshui River has become slow and turbid, but many villagers still come here to fetch water.

Shen Heng picked up a bucket and went to the river to fetch water, and asked his sister to watch over the wheelbarrow to prevent anyone from messing around.

After a while, a few young men came over and touched the unicycle, their eyes and faces full of envy.

"Wow! What kind of car is this?"

Shen Zhao ignored them and just watched Qin Yi and his sister and Xue Lingyao and their brother carefully not far away.

That's right, they also came here to fetch water. It seemed that only Qin Yi was carrying two buckets of water, while the Xue siblings and Qin Shu were only holding a small water jug.

They seemed to have fetched water and were about to go back when they met Shen Zhao.

When the men looked at each other, Qin Yi was the first to frown, and he walked past the wheelbarrow with a load of water on his shoulder, expressionless.

Qin Shu glared at Shen Zhao fiercely and followed his brother closely.

Next came the Xue siblings.

Xue Lingyao first glanced at Shen Zhao, and her eyes were quickly attracted by the cart.

She paused and asked softly, "A Zhao, where did you buy this car?"

(End of this chapter)