The new book of the burning prairie star

"Mom, we're back." Yang Xiaohua shouted from a distance before she even reached home.

"Why did you come back so late? You couldn't sell anything, so you came back when it got dark." Xiao Zhang thought that the cold noodles were not selling well, so the brother and sister came back so late.

"What? The cold noodles were sold out a long time ago. I came back late because I went out to buy things needed for tomorrow and also went to Wenhua Academy to meet Master Zhou." Yang Xiaohua was overjoyed and handed the small bamboo basket containing copper coins to Xiao Zhang.

"So many copper coins." Little Zhang was a little surprised. In the old Yang family house, Zhang was the one who managed the money, and she had never seen so much money at once. Yang Taishi worked in the town and earned 500 coins a month. The eldest son almost caught up with him in just one day.

"That's not too much. One pound of flour can make six bowls, and each bowl costs eight cents. Ten pounds is less than half a tael of silver." Yang Biao felt that little Zhang was too easily satisfied.

"Mother is already very satisfied." Little Zhang was afraid that her eldest son would be too radical, so she wanted to teach him a lesson, but seeing Yang Biao's tired face, she held back. "Brother Biao, you must be hungry. Come, eat first."

"My mother and I have been waiting for my brother and sister to come home for dinner." Yang Lin felt that next time he should also go to the county town to help sell cold noodles.

"Little brother, if mom is home alone, what should we do if someone comes to bully her? You are a little man, can you protect mom at home?" Yang Biao felt that with little Zhang's sullen personality, especially in the past two years, she would not ask for help even if someone came to bully her. It would be better if someone was at home. Although Yang Lin was young, he would run out to call for help if the situation was not right.

"Yes!" Yang Lin straightened his chest proudly. Yang Biao touched his hair with satisfaction. "That's right. We have two men in our family. You are responsible for protecting mom at home, and I am responsible for making money outside."

"And what about me? I'm responsible for washing dishes and collecting money for you." Yang Xiaohua quickly raised her hand.

"Yes, and our Xiaohua can do it too." Xiao Zhang praised with a smile.

After everyone finished their meal happily, Xiao Zhang asked her eldest son to go to the house and rest. Yang Biao was indeed tired today, so he didn't say anything.

When Yang Biao woke up the next day, he felt that the muscles in his arms were sore as if they were crushed by heavy objects, so he gritted his teeth and got up. I have to make more cold noodles today. My body can't stand making too much, so I'll try to add ten kilograms. I'll run around the yard outside my house for a few days, and then start running around the village to exercise my body after I get used to it.

So he went out of the yard and jogged, "Brother Biao, why are you up so early?" The headman's wife was old and had very little sleep, so she got up early in the morning and went to her own vegetable garden to pick vegetables, and met Yang Biao who was exercising.

"Good morning, auntie from the village head," Yang Biao stopped and greeted politely.

"What's going on? Why are you running so early in the morning?" The headman's wife saw him running and thought something had happened in his family.

"It's okay, just move around."

"Oh, if there is anything wrong at your home, just come to my house and call for help. There is always someone at home."

"Okay, I understand. Thank you, Auntie Lizheng."

"What are you thanking me for? You've been so polite to your aunt all day long." The headman's wife scolded him while she took some vegetables from the basket and put them in Yang Biao's hands. "The vegetables you planted are still small, but these aunt's family planted too many, and we can't eat them all."

Yang Biao quickly took it with both hands, knowing that her family would not be able to finish it all, and they could take it to the town to sell it for money. She was kind-hearted and wanted to help his family, but she was also concerned about her reputation as a scholar, and was afraid that she would accidentally hurt the child's self-esteem.

"It's too much. The village head's wife, please take some back. You have more family than us." Yang Biao hugged the dishes in his arms and used his free right hand to hold down the hand of the village head's wife who was about to take more dishes.

"Okay, then auntie will go home and make breakfast first." Seeing that he insisted, the headman's wife gave up her plan to continue distributing the food.

"Auntie, slow down." Yang Biao watched her walk away with a smile before turning around and taking the vegetables home.

"Brother Biao, who gave you the food?" Little Zhang just came out of the house. She must have just woken up and was combing her hair.

"I met the head aunt outside, and she gave it to me." Biao Biao placed the vegetables next to the well in the yard, then drew water from the well and began to prepare the cold noodles.

"You're finally here?" When the big man saw Yang Biao driving the mule cart to the dock, he hurried forward to help take down the tables and chairs and put them in place. Yang Biao thanked him and started to cut the cold skin and mix the sauce.

"Give it to him first, and let them all have a taste." The big man waved his hand and asked Yang Biao to pass the first bowl of Liangpi he had just mixed to a skinny man next to him who looked to be about 18 or 19 years old. He pointed to the five people gathered around him and said, "They are all my childhood friends from the same village. They all work as porters at the dock. They heard me talk about Liangpi and wanted to try what it tastes like."

After a busy period, Yang Biao realized that his arms were so sore that he couldn't lift them until he found that the cold noodles were sold out.

"How long can you rest at noon?" Yang Biao sat weakly on the stool, put his head on the table, his arms hanging straight down, leaning on the table with his face sideways and asked the big guy.

"How long you can rest depends on how many ships are pulling cargo at the dock. If there are many cargo ships, you will have to continue carrying cargo in the time it takes to eat a bowl of noodles." The big man walked to the stool next to him, sat down and said. "Are you injured while working? Let me massage you to relieve the pain." After saying that, he grabbed Yang Biao's left arm and started massaging it without further ado.

Seeing Yang Biao grimacing in pain, he hurriedly said, "My childhood friend's arm hurts from carrying a bag, and he comes to me for help to relieve the pain." After a while, he put down his left arm, grabbed the right arm and continued to knead it.

Yang Biao felt like dying of pain and wanted to ask him to stop, "That's enough...that's enough." Seeing that the big guy had no intention of stopping, he could only distract him. "How long have you been working at the dock?"

"I just came here last winter." During the conversation, Yang Biao learned that the big guy looked like he was in his thirties, but he was actually only two years older than him, sixteen years old this year, and his name was Shuanzi. The skinny young man was called Shunzi, nineteen years old this year, and had worked at the dock for two years. He was the one who brought Shuanzi from the village to work here.

"How much do you get paid for carrying bags per day?" Yang Xiaohua asked after washing the dishes and stacking them in a bamboo basket.

"That's uncertain. It depends on how much cargo has arrived. There are few ships arriving at the dock today, so only two cargo ships have arrived." Shuanzi and the others looked at each other, feeling a little helpless. "I only have 26 coins today."

"Shuanzi is very strong and can carry three bags at a time." Shunzi said, and his childhood friends all looked at Shuanzi with envy.

Shuanzi slowed down his pace in carrying the bags because he saw that there was not much cargo at the dock today, so that others could also make some income today.

Yang Biao knew that the workers at the dock were paid on a piece-rate basis, one cent for each piece. Every time you carried a few bags off a cargo ship, you would take a few small pieces of wood and put them on the vehicle used for transportation. You would then exchange them for a few other small pieces of wood that belonged to each cargo owner. The workers would then have to keep them away themselves. After they had finished carrying the cargo on the ship, they would then go to the cargo owner's house to settle their wages with the small pieces of wood.