Chapter 551: Secret
Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Yangling directly lent out the produce in the fields. Because there were few people in the village, the crops from the wasteland sufficed.
The villagers who needed to borrow grains came one after another. After signing the contract, they carried a few bags of grains home. Since the villagers rarely got to see anyone from the residence aside from Chen Ming, Mu Yangling and the others had always been unreachable in the hearts of the villagers.
Only Fourth Madam would occasionally take the two children for a walk at the foot of the mountain. Even then, they rarely went to the heart of the village. Because the villagers only watched her from a distance, they felt a sense of reverence.
The interest incurred to borrow these grains was only to plant a few acres of land. The villagers felt that it was very worth it and even subtly felt that they were taking advantage of the landlord’s family. Therefore, although the Zhu family was still unreachable in their hearts, they now felt much closer.
As the weather became colder, people who carried things to the village to exchange for grains would occasionally pass by this small mountain village.
Of course, the villagers would not exchange these life-saving grains for other things, but they would point those visitors towards the Zhu family.
Hence, Mu Yangling received a number of chickens and ducks one after another. Later on, even cows and sheep began to be sent here.
Although Mu Yangling wouldn’t do an exchange with everyone who approached, she did so most of the time. Seeing this, the villagers took out their eggs and other items to exchange for grains with Mu Yangling. This greatly reduced the time incurred in going to the market because other than the more expensive ingredients, they could gain something useful from the exchange.
“Has the price of grains in grain stores in town increased?” Mu Yangling asked.
“It increased a little, but strangely, not by much.” Guard One said, “I thought it would increase a lot.”
“Looks like they don’t want this small place to fall into chaos.” Mu Yangling pondered and turned around to ask Chen Ming to exchange things in a small dilapidated house at the entrance of the village.
“Transport grains there every day. If you encounter anything you can exchange for, exchange it with them. You don’t have to bring those people here all the time.”
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“We can only exchange things using five bags of grains a day at most. Go.”
Guard One heaved a sigh of relief. Although there were not many villagers who came to exchange for grains every day, they came in twos and threes, putting great pressure on those in charge of security.
As Mu Yangling and the others had not specially done any publicity, although there was word of mouth from the villagers, not many people came. Most of them were from the nearby villages. As the snow had blocked the road, they selfishly did not want more visitors to come to exchange for grains. Therefore, the news only circulated among the nearby villages. After all, since the Zhu family had already begun to limit the amount of grain they would exchange every day, it could be seen that they did not have much grains on hand.
As time passed, the number of people exchanging for grains gradually decreased. Eventually, there were seven to eight people a day. They knew that the Zhu family didn’t restrict themselves to only certain items. As long as they liked something, they would exchange for it. Sometimes, a handful of black fungus found in the mountains could be exchanged for a handful of grains. Hence, they did not exchange for much grains every time. In the beginning, they would exchange the chickens, ducks, cows, and sheep from home for an entire bag of grains. Later on, they would go up the mountain to find some novel things to send over and more or less accumulate some grains.
For example, because of the cold weather, the only vegetables that could be eaten were the cabbages stored in the cellar. However, some people somehow managed to plant radish seedlings and would pluck some every day to exchange for some grains. Other than the Zhu family, no one would really exchange grains for radish seedlings to eat.
As the subsequent exchanges were more fragmented, the five bags of grains were reduced to two bags a day. When there were fewer people, Mu Yangling would bring the two children to the foot of the mountain to stroll around and take a breather.
This year, the villagers were much more enthusiastic towards them than before. Many families sent gifts to their houses. Although they were all ordinary things and Mu Yangling and the others might not even know how to eat or use them, it was still a token of their appreciation.
After some thought, Mu Yangling asked Chen Ming to prepare two to three catties of grains for each family and send them over with cabbages, potatoes, and so on as a return gift. As for the junior officer and village chief, they also received two pieces of meat in addition to that.
During the New Year this year, because times were hard, few families were able to afford meat. In the past, the village had even slaughtered one or two pigs to share the meat.
At Mu Yangling’s place, they did slaughter two pigs, but they had 23 guards, not counting the servants. Therefore, two pigs were not considered a lot. Still, the villagers were envious.
The village chief and junior officer, who had obtained two pieces of meat, had a much better impression of Mu Yangling.
During the new year, the children would visit various families to pay their New Year greetings. When they ran to the Zhu family, a group of children bowed at the door. Mu Yangling asked Chen Ming’s wife to take out a basket of sweets and distribute them to them. Chen Ming’s wife said with a smile, “Since Fourth Madam dotes on the children, so why don’t you let them come in and play? Second Young Master and Fourth Young Master can have more companions this way.”
Mu Yangling, who was originally all smiles, stopped smiling and looked at Chen Ming’s wife. Chen Ming’s wife’s heart skipped a beat and she immediately stood up with her head lowered. She explained, “I saw that there were only the two young masters at home, so I figured they might be lonely, so…”
“You don’t have to worry about this.” Mu Yangling interrupted her. “Take the things out and share them with the children.”
Chen Ming’s wife lowered her head in agreement and took the candy out.
She was extremely vexed. If she had known earlier, she would not have mentioned this. The employer’s family had repeatedly warned her not to spread the residence’s matters, including how big the courtyard was, how many rooms, and how many servants there were. Over the past six months, she had also understood that their background was definitely not simple. Not to mention anything else, those guards were not ordinary.
There was also the Eldest Madam in charge of the household. She was so dignified that she did not seem like a mortal, much more so than even the wives of officials. She certainly didn’t appear like the wife of a businessman.
This Fourth Madam was approachable and even liked to plant vegetables personally. However, on a few occasions she had seen Fourth Madam speaking to the guards with a straight face several times. She only glanced in her direction, and her casual glance made her feel cold.
She wondered if Fourth Madam would be angry at her for suggesting such an idea. Would she chase her out later?
Chen Ming’s wife absent-mindedly distributed the candy to the children who came to visit for the New Year. After sending them off, she hurriedly went to look for her husband and said worriedly, “Husband, will Fourth Madam be angry and chase me out?”
Chen Ming was also a little angry as he scolded in a low voice, “Why are you so brainless? Look at how long we’ve been here. How many times has our employer warned us not to gossip outside? How dare you mention bringing those young teens in? Every time the village chief and junior officer come, they can only sit in the reception pavilion in the front courtyard. They probably didn’t even see what the courtyard looks like. You, you, you’ve gotten complacent because of Fourth Madam’s approachableness…”
Chen Ming’s wife said in a panic, “Then, then I’ll beg Fourth Madam again. I’ll kowtow and beg her not to be angry.”
“Shut up.” He glared at her. “Fourth Madam hates such things the most. How dare you do it? Haven’t you already admitted your mistake? Don’t mention this again. Just be careful with your words and actions in the future.”
“Oh right, you didn’t tell the women in the village about our master’s family, did you?” Chen Ming eyed his wife suspiciously.
“No, no.” Chen Ming’s wife quickly waved her hand and said, “They did ask how many people are in the residence and what they eat every day, but I didn’t answer and changed the topic.”
Chen Ming breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully she wasn’t too stupid.