On the wedding day, I was broken off, so I remarried his uncle

Unlike the dilapidated outside the door with no trace of life, when Song Xile approached the courtyard, he found that it was a completely different world.

A martial arts training ground was built in the center of the courtyard, with some simple martial arts equipment placed around it, such as swords, spears, swords, and halberds. Although they are a bit old, one can still see signs of having been frequently used.

The two followed the two brothers into the main room, which was simply furnished with only a wooden table and a few stools.

Qiao Er asked the two to sit down and asked with a smile, "Where are you going to escort the convoy, young lady?"

Chen Yunyou did not answer the question first, but frowned and asked: "Excuse me, but when was this escort agency opened?"

When Chen Yunyou saw the escort agency, he felt something was wrong. He had lived in Nanyun County for so many years and had never heard of an escort agency here.

The Qiao brothers knew that the other party did not trust them. After all, anyone who saw their family in this state would have some doubts in their hearts, not to mention such an important matter as escorting a caravan.

Qiao Er wanted to speak, but Qiao Da raised his hand to stop him. He said frankly, "It's like this. My brothers and I have been escorting for seven or eight years. We just moved here last year. In addition, our escort agency is not in a conspicuous place, so you may not know it!"

Qiao Da could see that the person in front of him was not someone who could be easily fooled. If he let his second brother fool him casually, he was afraid that the business that had come with great difficulty would be ruined.

Chen Yun nodded, accepting this statement.

He thought for a moment and continued to inquire: "I looked at this escort agency and it seems that there are no other escorts. Are there only two of you here?"

Qiao Da knew very well that if he didn't dispel the concerns of the people in front of him, then the business would probably not be done.

He did not hide too much, nodded and said: "I think you can see that the reason why our escort agency is so deserted is not only because of the remote location, but also because we are short of manpower. There are indeed only two of us brothers in this escort agency."

Originally they could barely make a living by escorting nearby caravans, but now there are fewer caravans. The two brothers hesitated for a long time, thinking about whether to move their family.

But relocation is not easy. If there were only two brothers, it would be easy. But there is a whole family living in the backyard, with elderly and children. How can they move?

The reason they chose to come here was because of the house in front of them. At least they had a place to live and they didn't need to spend extra money to rent a yard.

As the two were talking, the door was suddenly pushed open and a young woman walked in. The woman had a pretty face and a graceful figure, with a hint of worry between her eyebrows.

She carried a basket in one hand and held a jumping child in the other.

After the little boy ran back home, he saw Qiao Da standing at the door. He cheered, broke free from his mother's hand, and happily rushed into Qiao Da's arms, shouting that he wanted to be hugged.

When the woman saw that there were guests in the main hall, she paused for a moment, then took a few quick steps, took her son's hand, and was about to take him away, "Ah Jin, dear, Daddy has guests here, come back with mom first!"

The little boy seemed to have just noticed the two people sitting in the main room. He stared at Song Xile curiously with his bright eyes.

Song Xile smiled at him, and the little boy shyly threw himself into his mother's arms and was carried away by the woman!

Qiao Dazhao smiled apologetically at the two men, "I am still young, please forgive me."

At this moment, he no longer had any hope for this business. These two people were still unwilling to explain the reason, and he was probably still not trusting them. He sighed helplessly in his heart.

He thought that if this continued, one of him and his second brother would have to go out and find a way to make a living. If they continued to guard the escort agency, the whole family would be doomed.

Song Xile originally had some doubts about whether to hire these two people, but just now she saw the doting look in Qiao Da's eyes when he caressed his son, and the tenderness when he looked at his wife, all of which could not be fake.

How bad can a man be who can love his wife and children?

Song Xile then said directly: "It's like this, my husband is going to the prefectural city to take part in the prefectural examination, and I want to hire two people to escort us there. I wonder how much your escort agency charges?"

When Qiao Da and Qiao Er heard this, they immediately sat up straight, thinking that there was hope.

Qiao Da looked at the clothes the two were wearing and didn't dare to offer too high a price. He thought for a while and said, "This round trip will take eight days. How about four taels of silver? But you two will be responsible for the food and accommodation along the way. Of course, we are not picky and will eat whatever is available."

The couple looked at each other, and Song Xile nodded to Yun You.

She calculated in her mind that it would be less than three hundred coins per person per day, which was acceptable.

So Chen Yunyou nodded, "In that case, let's sign a contract first."

Qiao Er ran back to the house happily and took out some pen and ink. Since they were in business, they had these things ready at home.

After the two parties signed the contract and paid two taels of silver as a deposit, they agreed that the two brothers would wait for the two people at the city gate at noon the next day.

After Qiao Da personally saw the couple off, he went to the backyard with the silver.

Under the loquat tree in the backyard, an old woman was sitting under the tree mending clothes. From time to time, she looked up at her little grandson who was squatting at her feet playing with ants.

The two brothers of the Qiao family strode to the backyard, and Qiao Er shouted happily: "Mom, we got the business." After that, he handed the two taels of silver he had just received to the woman.

The woman waved her hand and said, "You can't go out without money. Just keep it for yourself."

"Mother, we will be provided with food and drink when we go to the capital, and we will get the other half of the reward when we come back. You can keep this money for household use, right?"

"Then give it to your sister-in-law. She bought all the things in the house!"

Qiao Er thought it was fine. His mother had difficulty walking, and his sister-in-law would be responsible for all the purchases for the family. He was about to give the money to Xia, "Sister-in-law, keep this money!"

Xia paused and suggested, "I still have five taels of silver, which is enough for our current expenses. However, the price of grain in our county is getting more and more expensive. Even the price of ordinary rice has risen to fifteen cents per catty."

"Since you are going to the city, why not take a look at the current grain prices there? It is upstream of the river, so the damage to the crops there is definitely not as severe as here. If the grain prices are cheap, you might as well buy some from there. It will be more cost-effective than here, right?"

Qiao Er felt that what his sister-in-law said was right. They went there once during the Chinese New Year. At that time, the drought had just begun to show and their grain prices began to rise, but the grain prices in the capital city remained stable.

It is possible that the grain price in the capital has not increased much. Even if it has increased, it is not as much as in a small place like theirs.

Qiao Er couldn't help but look at his eldest brother.

After thinking about it for a while, Qiao Da nodded in agreement.

Nowadays, they have fewer jobs that can make money, and they would like to spend every penny carefully. They would rather save money and endure a little hardship.

What's more, they have mules, so it won't be difficult to carry back several hundred kilograms of food.