I trade in both worlds

The mushrooms in the baskets were obviously drier than those on the mats on the ground. She saw that most of the mushrooms in the baskets were hazel mushrooms, with only a small number of morel mushrooms and flower mushrooms. She first poured the mushrooms in the two baskets together, and then took them to the kitchen door to sort them.

Xu Jin saw it, walked up and said, "Sister-in-law, I'll help too."

Seeing that their elder brother (uncle) wanted to help, Xu Zhun and Xu Qiwei also ran over and shouted, "Sister-in-law (aunt), let's come too."

Niu Niu was squatting next to the rocking cradle playing with stones. In the blink of an eye, her uncle and brother all ran away. She was unable to react for a moment and could only blink and look at Chen Erya.

Chen Erya waved to Niu Niu. Niu Niu hesitated for two seconds, turned around and sat down on the ground to continue playing with stones. She didn't want to walk. She had just walked from home and had walked a long way. She was very tired.

Seeing Niuniu playing by herself, Chen Erya looked at the cradle again, and seeing the two children playing by themselves, she refused, "No, no, if you all come to help me, what about Niu Dan and Tian Tian?"

"Move them here, we can work and watch them at the same time." Xu Zhun said, scratching his head.

Pinching his round face, Chen Erya continued to refuse: "Thank you, but we can't move them here because they can get some sun. Also, the mushrooms need to be handled with care. If they are slightly heavier, they will be damaged and we won't be able to sell them at a high price."

Xu Qiwei actually just wanted to play and didn’t want to look after the children at all: “We will be careful.”

"Let's go and look after Tiantian and Niudan." Xu Jin pulled Xu Qiwei back.

Without the children to disturb her, Chen Erya worked very efficiently. It didn't take long for her to sort the mushrooms on the four dustpans and put them back in the sun to dry. The mushrooms on the two mats on the ground were the bulk. Fortunately, more than three quarters of them were hazel mushrooms, so it was quick to sort them.

She cleared out two corners of the mat to place the sorted morel mushrooms and flower mushrooms, found a straw hat from the west room, put it on, moved a small stool, sat next to the mat and started sorting.

After a while, Xu Jizong's family came over. Chen Erya moved a stool for them and said, "Why are you here? Did you guys rest so soon?"

Aunt Xu sat down with a stool and started to sort the mushrooms: "I took a nap. I didn't feel like working in the afternoon anyway, so I just came over and watched."

"You've been tired for the whole morning, so just rest at home." Chen Erya said as she worked, "These mushrooms look a lot, but most of them are hazel mushrooms, so it's pretty quick to sort them out."

"It's okay. I feel much better after a good sleep. Xuxu hasn't woken up yet?" As soon as Second Aunt Xu finished speaking, she heard Xuxu reply, "I'm up."

Second Aunt Xu looked up at the sleepy Xu Xu and said, "Are you still asleep? Did we wake you up by talking? Why don't you go back to sleep for a while?"

"No, I'm almost asleep. If I sleep any more I'll be sleepy at night." Xu Xu sat on the doorstep, staring blankly at the mushrooms, and suddenly said, "Uncle, let's go buy a cow tomorrow."

Xu Jizong was stunned for a moment, stopped what he was doing, looked up at Xu Xu and asked, "Why did you think of buying a cow?"

Xu Xu scratched his head, thought for a while and said, "In fact, I wanted to say this during the summer harvest. If you have a cow, your work will be much easier. Besides, the clan leader and Sixth Grandfather are the only ones in the village who have cows. If you buy a cow, you can take passengers to the county town on weekdays. One round trip every day, you can make a lot of money in a month."

Xu Youyin's eyes lit up, and he immediately said excitedly: "I can also help people unload goods, and the income is also considerable, not less than what I earn when I go out to build houses for others."

Xu Jizong, who had never thought that his family could buy a cow, fell silent, lowered his head and didn't know what he was thinking, but his hands continued to sort mushrooms and he didn't say a word.

Aunt Xu looked at him and knew that he was moved. She looked at Xu Xu and asked, "Xu Xu, do you know how much a cow costs now? We don't have much money at home. We have to save some for emergencies, and we can only spare about four taels."

Xu Jizong glanced at Aunt Xu in surprise, but when he thought about the small amount of savings at home, his restless heart was forced to calm down again.

Xu Xu smiled and said, "Adult cows should weigh between 4 and 6 taels, and calves should weigh between 2 and 3 taels. If you don't have enough, just take it from me first, and then pay me back when you have more money."

"How can that be possible?" Xu Jizong objected as soon as he finished speaking: "It's already difficult for you to raise four children alone. How can I use your money? It doesn't make sense."

Second Aunt Xu also agreed, "Xu Xu, your second uncle is right. We should do as much as we can with the money we have. There is no point in borrowing money to do things. The autumn harvest is coming soon. Once we sell the grain, we will have money to buy it."

Xu Xu said with disapproval on his face: "Uncle, Aunt, the prices are getting worse day by day. The prices after the autumn harvest may not be the same as they are now."

"In just a few months, is it possible that the price can go up?" Aunt Xu said in disbelief.

"Hmm..." Xu Xu thought for a moment and said, "Let me put it this way. For the past few decades, we have been in a period of war and chaos, and prices have been extremely high. After the establishment of the new dynasty, prices began to be suppressed. However, in the past two years, everyone's lives have stabilized, and incomes have begun to increase. Prices will definitely rise appropriately."

Xu Youyin also has a deep understanding of this: "Yes, two years ago, when building a house, one cent could buy two bricks, but now it costs three cents to buy two bricks. Before the summer harvest, the brickyard said that the price may increase a little next year. In the past, it was 15 cents a day to work, but now it has risen to 18 cents a day."

Come to think of it, it is true. When Xu Youyin raised wages before, they were just happy. Although it was only one cent each time, the number of increases increased and the number of staff increased, so the labor costs were also considerable.

Labor costs have increased, and prices will certainly go up as well. Aunt Xu doesn't have such a concept. The main reason is that the price of grain is controlled by the court. It has risen and fallen in the past two years, but the increase or decrease will not exceed three cents, so they don't feel it deeply.

Second Aunt Xu sighed deeply: "No matter how you look at it, we farmers are the ones who suffer the most. We can't sell our grain at a high price, but the prices of goods keep rising. We work hard all year round, but the little we earn is not enough to cover our daily expenses."

Xu Xu didn't want to continue this complicated topic, because he didn't really understand it either. He just intuitively thought that prices would definitely go up in the next few years, so it would be better to buy some large items now, so that he could make a profit by selling them in the future when he needed them urgently.

Thinking of this, Xu Xu had another idea and started to get excited: "Second Uncle, Second Aunt, let's go buy some cows tomorrow. I'll pay for the remaining cows..."