Chapter 325: Unknown
Editor: Atlas Studios
The few of them were now living in the house on the cattle farm. Although it was newly built, because the walls were thick enough and they had smoked it before, it was not cold.
Mu Yangling found a black leather coat from under the box. She had made this for her father, and there were still two sleeves that had not been completed. She originally wanted to make a gift for her father for the New Year. Since Qi Haoran wanted a gift for the Winter Solstice, she would give it to him and make another one for her father later.
Mu Yangling used a pair of scissors to cut off the half-completed sleeves. Xiuhong, who was calculating at the side, exclaimed, “Cousin, why did you cut off the sleeves?”
“I’m converting it into a short-sleeved coat, so I won’t do the sleeves anymore.” Mu Yangling measured the lengths with a measuring tape and planned to alter the coat smaller overnight.
Xiuhong bit the tip of her pen and said, “But didn’t you say that this is tight-fitting? How can someone wear it like this?”
“Why not? He could just put it on. With so many layers of clothes on the outside, no one will know that he’s wearing this on the inside. This is for self-defense, not for warmth and aesthetics.”
When Xiuhong saw that Mu Yangling was altering the coat to make it smaller, she paused before she asked, “Isn’t it for Uncle?”
“I’ll make another one for my father later. This is a Winter Solstice gift for Qi Haoran.”
Xiuhong blushed slightly and looked at her with sparkling eyes. However, she asked worriedly, “Cousin, will Big Brother Qi agree?”
Not knowing why she had to seek approval from Qi Xiuyuan for gifting Qi Haoran something, she nodded randomly and said, “Mm”.
Looking at the busy Mu Yangling, Xiuhong heaved a sigh of relief. She propped up her chin and smiled.
Mu Yangling spent the entire night altering the coat and finally completed it before dawn. She took out a round heart-protecting mirror from under the box and placed it at the position of the heart. Then, she sewed up the hole with a thick thread and touched it. Although the protruding part didn’t look good, it could save his life at a critical moment.
Mu Yangling personally handed the gift to Qi Haoran. She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but she felt that Qi Haoran’s face was a little red and his eyes were frighteningly bright.
After taking the coat from her, Qi Haoran wanted to remove his coat and put it on. Just then, Mu Yangling hurriedly said, “The weather is starting to turn cold. Don’t be silly. Change it when you get back indoors. If it doesn’t fit, bring it over and I’ll alter it for you.”
Qi Haoran nodded and put away the coat. With a straight face, he said, “I’ll definitely come back alive. I’ll speak to Big Brother as soon as I come back.”
Without waiting for Mu Yangling to reply, he turned around and jumped onto his horse. Fei Bai, who was at the side, scrambled onto his horse and chased after him. As he chased, he waved goodbye to Mu Yangling.
Mu Yangling swallowed the question that was on the tip of her tongue. Then, she shook her head and went back.
Magistrate Fang had already gotten someone to inform Mu Yangling that he had agreed to her request. Today, she was going to the government office to settle the procedures and sign the contract with him. Yes, she also wanted him to produce a certificate indicating that the nursery was jointly set up by the military and government.
Mu Yangling quickly forgot about her gift to Qi Haoran, but Xiuhong remembered it in her heart. When she wrote to Shu Wanniang, she told her about it, indicating that her aunt could start preparing the dowry for her cousin.
When Shu Wanniang received the letter, she only sighed and felt that her daughter was too bold to have agreed to this marriage without asking for their opinion. However, she did not say anything. In the past, she only thought that Qi Haoran and Mu Yangling were children and did not take it to heart. However, in the past two years, Qi Haoran kept coming here and was very attentive to her and Great-aunt. She naturally knew what this meant.
If Qi Xiuyuan had shown the slightest dissatisfaction or disapproval, she would have stopped the two of them from interacting. However, he chose to acquiesce.
Given her daughter was so capable, it would be a pity for her to marry a farmer in the mountains in the future.
Shu Wanniang was naturally unwilling, so she tacitly allowed her to chase after Qi Haoran. However, this did not mean that she was okay with her daughter accepting the marriage without asking her family.
Shu Wanniang picked up her pen and wanted to lecture her daughter, but after sitting in front of the table for a long time, she still couldn’t write anything. Forget it, since her daughter had grown up, she decided to let her fly freely.
Meanwhile, the free-to-fly Mu Yangling was oblivious to it all. She was arranging for Zhang Wu and Zhang Liu to take over all the refugees, and planned to start collecting sheep tomorrow. Butcher Qin and Butcher Hua, whom she had been waiting for a long time, finally arrived. They brought good and bad news.
The good news was that they planned to go beyond Xingyuan Prefecture and sell the sheep all the way to Xiangyang and Jiangling. They had already found the sellers along the way and even hired more than ten assistant shopkeepers to escort them. Therefore, the demand for the sheep would only increase.
The bad news was that since the journey was too far, they only planned to make one trip. Therefore, for the sake of greater benefits, Butcher Qin and Butcher Hua hoped to owe Mu Yangling the money first and settle it when they returned.
She agreed. When they returned, Mu Yangling would earn more than 50% than before. If she did not agree, she would earn significantly less. No matter what the subsequent sales were like, Mu Yangling would not lose money for her payment was guaranteed.
Mu Yangling thought for a long time and finally said, “There are only 16 of you. Can you handle so many sheep?”
“The people we hired are all strong and ruthless people in the underworld. As long as we don’t encounter bandits, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“What if you do run into bandits?”
Butcher Qin and Butcher Hua looked at each other and hesitated. Mu Yangling paced on the spot and said after a while, “I think we should take it one step at a time. We might not be able to handle things on such a big scale.”
Butcher Hua frowned. Mu Yangling could understand his eagerness. After all, they had earned a lot of money last year. “Since there are many refugees this year, there must be even more bandits on the mountain. Sheep is different from silk and tea leaves. With a whip, the mule pulling the cart can be made to run out. Considering the flock of sheep is tied together, if a large group of people block your path, you won’t be able to make it out of the encirclement no matter what.”
Butcher Qin glanced at Butcher Hua and said, “Old Hua, I think Miss Mu is right. Why don’t we make a few more trips? I’d rather work harder than waste our money. It wasn’t easy for us to earn this money. When we finally got to rest after New Year last year, we were so thin and scarcely alive. We mustn’t lose this money we risked our lives to earn.”
Butcher Hua gritted his teeth and stomped his feet. “Alright, I’ll listen to you and make a few more trips.”
Mu Yangling heaved a sigh of relief and stood up with a smile. “Then I’ll start collecting the sheep for you tomorrow. Have a good rest in the inn.”
Butcher Qin sent Mu Yangling out and said with a smile, “I thought you’d agree to take the risk. I didn’t expect you to talk us out of it instead.”
Smiling, Mu Yangling said, “I’ll naturally take the risk when it’s worth it, but I prefer stability.” Mu Yangling sighed and said, “I can’t afford to make a mistake because I urgently need money now.”
Butcher Qin smiled and said, “Once the goods are in our hands, you’ll have fulfilled your end of the bargain. Even if we end up getting robbed, we’ll still give you the money somehow.”
Mu Yangling glanced at him and said, “Where will you get the money if your goods are gone? Won’t you still owe me when the time comes?”
Butcher Qin smiled and said in a low voice, “We knew that you were loyal and couldn’t bear to force us. Don’t worry, with so many people added to this trip, it will definitely go smoothly.”
Mu Yangling nodded.