It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

As expected, the next day, in addition to the apricot jam that had been reserved by the villagers, there were still fifteen cans left in the house.

"Azhi, can you carry all these to the county town?"

As Song Zhi loaded the goods, she explained, "Grandma, don't worry. We'll take the ox cart all the way here. We'll meet Xiao An's grandmother and her family outside the county town, and we'll leave them there. We'll all be sold anyway!"

The house next door is still in the final stages of construction, so someone needs to stay at home to cook.

Hearing her granddaughter say this, Mrs. Wu swallowed her words that she was going to suggest that her daughter-in-law send them there.

"That's fine. If you can't move it, just hire a porter. The cement road in our village will be finished today. After you finish your work in the village, I'll ask your eldest brother to take you to the county town."

After that, she picked up the heaviest backpack and sent the three siblings to the village entrance to take the ox cart.

Now all the roads in and out of the village are paved with dirt and cement roads, which are flat and smooth. The barefoot children in the village now like to play on them.

The reason is very simple. When you walk on such a smooth road, whether you are running or sitting, you will not feel uncomfortable.

The little kids playing on the road saw Song Zhi and her group coming and shouted for them from a distance.

They followed Song An and Song Huan chattering, asking questions in childish words.

For example, "Xiao An, are you guys going to the county town again? Is it fun in the county town?"

"My dad said there are blue-eyed men with curly beards in the county town who specifically kidnap children..."

A group of children chirped like birds in the woods all the way, and accompanied the people to the village entrance until they got on the ox cart.

Then they ran back like a swarm of bees to continue playing in the mud.

When the ox cart was about to reach the county town, Song An pointed excitedly at an open space under the city wall and said, "Sister, I saw grandma and the others."

After saying this, he didn't care that he was still sitting on the ox cart. He immediately sat up straight and waved happily to the crowd.

As the ox cart slowly approached, Xue also saw her grandson on the cart. The three of them happily pushed the cart to meet Song Zhi.

As soon as the two sides met, Song Zhi took the initiative to call someone, and then said with a slight apology: "We are a little late, and we kept you waiting."

Seeing Song Zhi's strange sense of peace, Xue Shi waved her hand nonchalantly, "We just arrived too. Ah Zhi, where do you think is the best place for us to set up our stall?"

Song Zhi pointed to an open space far from the city gate and said, "Let's go there. Originally, that was where people outside the city set up stalls to sell vegetables. Now that the entrance fee has been abolished, that place has become empty."

"Besides, that place is right next to the official road. Merchants have to pass through that road. We are right next to it and won't block the traffic. It's perfect."

Xue looked in the direction of Song Zhi's finger and immediately agreed.

The old man's wife originally wanted them to set up the stall here on the city wall, but she was always afraid that if they got too close to the city, they would be driven away by the police again, so she waited and wanted to hear what Azhi girl had to say.

Before leaving, her daughter specifically told her to seek Azhi's advice as much as possible on anything related to setting up the stall.

Don't look at her young age, she is a good hand at business.

Xue was also a person who would listen to advice, so she immediately asked her daughter-in-law to push the cart to the open space.

When he turned around, he saw three children bringing three full baskets of goods, and he hurried forward to help.

The group stopped at the place Song Zhi mentioned.

Song Zhi asked them to set up the stall first. Seeing that it was still early, Song Zhi said to Xue, "Grandma, you guys set up the stall first. I'll go into the city to deliver the goods. I'll leave these ten jars of apricot jam with you. I'll come back after I deliver the goods."

Xue nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, "Okay, Ah Zhi, you go ahead and do your work. It will take us a while to set up the stall."

So Song Zhi asked Song Cheng to stay and help, while she took her younger sister into the city to deliver the goods.

After delivering all the goods, the two sisters were walking out of the city. Song Zhi passed by a stall that helped people write letters and suddenly thought of something.

So Song Zhi stopped and spent three cents to ask the other party to write a simple little sign.

After the ink dried, Song Zhi took the small sign of "Summer Cooling Drink" and went out of the city to meet up with Xue and others.

At this time, the temporary stalls had been set up, and the tables, chairs and benches were in place.

Passersby on the official road would look at this place curiously, but no one would stop to look.

After waiting for half an hour and no one came to the door, Wang couldn't help feeling anxious.

She said worriedly, "Mom, it's been almost half an hour, why aren't there even a single customer?"

Mrs. Xue was also a little anxious, but she was obviously more composed and just asked her daughter-in-law to be patient.

When Song Zhi brought her younger sister to the tea stall, they saw two people with serious expressions.

When the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law saw Song Zhi, they seemed to have found their backbone and quickly told Song Zhi about their current predicament.

Song Zhi comforted the two of them, saying, "It's still early, and the sun isn't too strong. We can all still bear it. Let's wait a little longer, don't be anxious."

After saying this, she took out the simple sign she had just written. "I don't have glue right now, otherwise I'd stick it on the wooden board and it would be a striking sign. Others would know at a glance that there's a summer drink here!"

Xue took it carefully with both hands and thanked him repeatedly.

At the small tea stall, the originally solemn atmosphere instantly disappeared with the arrival of Song Zhi.

.....

Less than a mile away from the county town, a team of carriages and horses was heading towards Qishui County.

Qian Zixu slumped in the carriage like a wilted vegetable leaf, with his arms and legs spread out in a completely ungraceful manner.

The originally gorgeous clothes he was wearing were now wrinkled. Mingyue, the servant sitting beside him, was holding a palm-leaf fan in his hand.

While constantly fanning his young master, he replied, "Young master, we'll be in the county town in another cup of tea!"

Hearing this, Qian Zixu, who was originally listless, instantly became energetic.

He suddenly sat up, lifted the car curtain and looked out, "Really? Are we finally arriving?" At this moment, his tone was full of surprise.

Seeing his young master's happiness, the servant quickly put away his fan and pointed ahead, saying, "It's absolutely true, young master! Look at that faint outline of the city wall ahead, isn't that Qishui County?"

As the convoy got closer, Qian Zixu looked in the direction indicated by Mingyue and saw the tall city wall.

As a pampered second-generation, Qian Zixu had never experienced such hardship since he was a child.

They had to sleep in the open air, travel day and night, and either sleep in simple post stations or in the bumpy carriages. They couldn't eat well or sleep well.

He clapped his hands happily and said, "I've finally made it!"

However, Qian Zixu didn't realize at this moment that he was too happy too early.