Traveling through time as a peasant girl to turn things around

At daybreak, Old Lady Li went to sell milk as usual. Jia He helped her carry the load, which was two full loads of four buckets of milk.

Li Ru and Wang Min prepared breakfast, and the Chai family's daughters-in-law were all present. Old Lady Li invited everyone to eat and work together. During these few days before the New Year, everyone was together, strengthening their bonds. They wanted to show everyone that they were a family, and that they wouldn't be bullied. Now, no one bullied them, and the village was united.

It was almost breakfast and dinner time, and after the veterans finished their meal, Chen Jun treated them.

Chai Zhen and Jia He and Guo Guo went to the county town. They also called Li Dafa and took two carts of grain and vegetables to sell. Jia Le said he wanted to go with them, so Chai Zhen asked him to catch another cart full of vegetables.

Guoguo sang along the way, and several people listened, Chai Zhen beaming. From time to time, he'd call out, "Gee..." "I'm a little dragon, little dragon, and I have a little tail, little tail. I'm a little dragon, and I have a little tail. I don't know where I came from, and I don't know where I'm going... I have horns on my head, and a tail at the back..." Li Dafa was amazed! But he didn't say anything. Chai Zhen wondered if Guoguo was actually a dragon! He'd have to ask later.

It was still early when they arrived at the county, so they went to the government office to sell their wares. They were used to it. They weren't afraid of a lack of people; soon they'd gather. The spacious area made it easy to set up shop. Jia He and Jia Le knew what to do without Chai Zhen telling them, and Li Dafa followed suit. Chai Zhen took out two scales and set them aside. Guo Guo took out a cotton bag. It was for money, and everyone laughed at her. "Guo Guo is a money-grubber," Jia He said. "Grandpa, it's snowing here. Let's build a tent. We can't stay out in the snow for too long."

By then, the yamen runners had arrived with their belongings. The gatekeeper had noticed and informed the others, who arrived to help set up the tent. Someone brought a table and placed items on it to prevent them from getting wet. Chai Zhen, thinking it through, placed his flour bag on top. Today, only flour was available; other grains were scarce.

Little Milk Bag discussed this with Chai Zhen. "Grandpa, the New Year is coming soon. Let's sell our flour at a lower price so that ordinary people can have dumplings." Chai Zhen said, "Okay, it's a good deed." Guo Guo said, "Just eight cents. Even beggars can have dumplings." "Okay."

Guoguo started shouting, "Delicious, inexpensive white flour, eight cents a pound, eight cents a pound. You can't get a bargain, you can't get ripped off. It's delicious and inexpensive. We have fresh vegetables and fruit. Come buy them quickly, or they'll be gone!" Jiale followed suit, and so did Jiahe. Li Dafa imitated him, and soon they all learned.

Chai Zhen began weighing the goods. A wealthy family bought a bag of flour for four hundred coins. Most people bought half a bag of flour, which Chai Zhen weighed for them. He also weighed several kilograms if they wanted. Jiale, who handled the vegetable weighing, collected the money and gave it to Guoguo. Coins tumbled into the bag, and Guoguo smiled the whole time. A yamen runner helped with the sales. The gatekeeper stayed behind, one person. Zhang Qingshan learned about it and arranged for the kitchen to prepare food and deliver it at noon. He was so busy that he visited other villages every day, asking every household to build greenhouses to grow vegetables, even if several families worked together. He didn't ask those who truly couldn't afford it.

The only option was for the county to provide more support. Zhang Qingshan was clever, and all the yamen runners who had no time left were working to open up wasteland and cultivate the land, which provided income for the county. The entire county was a model county.

Now he was thinking about buying houses and renting them out to make money. Everyone in the yamen could pool their money to buy a house and make money together. He'd learned all this from Guoguo. How much money would be distributed as dividends? Everyone in the county yamen agreed. He could also use the money to help the county's needy. With income from the yamen, Zhang Qingshan's career would be even better. No need to fight in the court, no one to control him. Being a small-time local emperor was something Zhang Qingshan relished. He was content as long as he could manage the county well and ensure the people lived a good life.

……

Guoguo collected money until her hands were tired. "You must be so tired," Chai Zhen said to her. "You sit in the back of the car and have a rest for a while." The little kid said, "Who will collect the money?" "Let your uncle collect it." Chai Zhen asked Jiahe to come over and collect the money.

Little Milk Bag went back to the carriage mountain, lay down in the carriage, and fell asleep. He didn't care about the people outside shouting grasshoppers. The child didn't sleep much that night, and did a lot of work, so she was tired. An hour later, Little Milk Bag woke up, and Chai Zhen was beside her, saying, "Wake up, Guo, get up and eat something." Chai Zhen fed Guoguo the egg custard, "This is sent by the county magistrate. Our family members have sent food, but you haven't eaten yet." Guoguo ate the egg custard and finished half a bowl. She said, "Grandpa is full." "Okay, I'll ask your third uncle to take the bowl back." Chai Zhen filled three large baskets of fresh vegetables and asked Jiale and Li Dafa to send them out, "Let everyone share it."

The yamen runners at the gate were a great help, and they gave Chai Zhen some vegetables and fruits when he left.

The lunch break didn't last long before the common people, riding oxcarts, flocked to buy vegetables. With the Lunar New Year approaching, everyone wanted fresh vegetables for their families. They left in a jubilant mood. They bought white flour, and Guoguo taught them how to make dumpling filling. He explained how to make dumplings with bread, saying, "Nothing tastes better than dumplings; the first meal of the Lunar New Year should be dumplings." Many people bought leeks, as they were the most popular. Guoguo bought them cheaply, selling them at a penny per pound, so everyone could have dumplings during the Lunar New Year. Each family was given a small piece of ginger, and they were not allowed to buy more—"Not much."

Little Naibao knew about it and had already planted twenty mu of chives. The red soil was especially good because it grew quickly. He saved a crop of chives and was selling them. The roots, soaked in the spiritual spring water, didn't wilt at all, but grew even better. A crop of vegetables grew in less than half a month. The chives were cheap, but since they sold so many, they made a lot of money. Five thousand kilograms of chives per mu, and forty mu of chives were almost sold out in a single day. Finally, Chai Zhen stopped selling and left a few baskets for the yamen runners. Jia He, Jia Le, Li Dafa, and a yamen runner carried the chives into the yamen and shared them among the people. Little Naibao gave them hundreds of plastic bags to pack the vegetables. Later, I heard that they treated the bags like treasures, keeping them and not using them on weekdays but when visiting relatives.

When the news reached Little Milk Bag, he decisively said, "Build a processing plant to produce plastic bags."

The money was packed into one bag after another, and Little Milk Bag forgot how many bags of money he had packed in. As he watched the money being loaded into the carriage, Little Milk Bag went in to get the bags and put them back into the space.

Flour sold quite a bit, four hundred coins a bag. I don't know how much they sold, but I know it was quite a bit. The wealthy families drove horse-drawn or ox-drawn carts. They bought over ten bags at a time, and we also received quite a few large silver ingots, as well as numerous hundred-liang silver notes. Guoguo stored them in the study in his space.

Seeing that it was getting dark, Chai Zhen said, "Time to go! Pack up your things." He told the people to come back tomorrow. They had no business today and needed to go home. "Come back tomorrow to sell, then my family will come back tomorrow to buy. So, back home." As soon as one person left, the people went home, preparing to come back tomorrow, and they promised to come back early.

Little Milk Bag: "Grandpa, let's buy a house in the county and open a small shop. Besides, having a house is like not having to go home today, how convenient." Chai Zhen thought there was nothing wrong with this. The child was right, so he said, "Okay, Grandpa will go tell Mr. Zhang and ask if there are any houses for sale in the county."

Zhang Qingshan hadn't returned yet, and one of the yamen runners said, "Wait until the master comes back, and I'll speak to him on behalf of the second uncle." Chai Zhen said gratefully, "Okay, thank you in advance."

Everyone drove their horse-drawn carriages home. Although a bit tired today, everyone was happy. Li Dafa said, "I've never seen anyone collect money with a large bag. Today has opened my eyes. I've learned a lot. There will always be people who buy food."