Chapter 76: Lidong Is Jealous

When Chen Xiaobei heard Cui Hongyu's words, he almost choked on his own spit.

A violent coughing fit also woke Chen Qiao'er from her sleep.

When she saw that Chen Xiaobei had returned, she immediately jumped out of bed. "Brother, you're back! Sister-in-law has been talking about you for a long time."

Her words made Cui Hongyu's face turn slightly red.

"Qiao'er, don't say that."

"Husband, I'll go and prepare dinner for you."

To Chen Xiaobei's surprise, not only was there fish prepared, but there was also a pot of wine.

Hmm, how is there wine?

Noticing that he kept staring at the wine jug, Cui Hongyu quickly explained, "Husband, this wine was sent by Chen Ping. He said it was to thank you for finding the killer."

Chen Xiaobei looked at the jug of wine and couldn't help but sigh. If things were truly as Cui Banxian had said, then Chen Anbang deserved to die.

While eating, Cui Hongyu went on to explain the progress of the house repairs for the day. "By the way, Lidong also said that we might be short on materials. He plans to go to the county tomorrow and wants to use our donkey cart."

Chen Xiaobei nodded. "That works. I need to go to the city to sell vegetables tomorrow, so he can come with me."

Cui Hongyu couldn't help but advise, "Husband, you've been working hard all day. You should rest tomorrow."

Chen Xiaobei shook his head. "I can rest, but the vegetables can't. If I don't sell them soon, they'll spoil. Not only will they lose flavor, but the leaves will also turn yellow."

"It's fine. I won't be doing any heavy work in the city. I can sleep in the cart."

Cui Hongyu didn't try to persuade him further. She knew that no matter what she said, it wouldn't change his mind.

The next day, before the sun even rose, Chen Xiaobei got up.

Before the sun comes out, leafy vegetables are the freshest.

So, it's best to harvest early.

As soon as he got up, Cui Hongyu was immediately awake as well and got out of bed.

The two of them had developed some tacit understanding.

They quietly dressed and walked out of the room. Once they looked at each other, they both smiled.

Seeing Cui Hongyu smile, Chen Xiaobei couldn't help but walk up and give her a hug. "Thank you!"

Cui Hongyu's face turned slightly red. "Thank me for what?"

"Thank you for marrying me. If it weren't for you, Qiao'er and I would probably still..."

Before Chen Xiaobei could finish, Cui Hongyu had already reached out and covered his mouth.

"Husband, we're already married. As long as you don't mind, Hongyu is willing to work like an ox or a horse, serving you and Qiao'er for the rest of our lives."

Chen Xiaobei felt a deep sense of emotion. Women in this era really had to endure so much.

They had become so humble, to such an extent... sigh.

According to Chen Xiaobei's plan, today he needed to prepare at least one hundred jin of vegetables to sell.

That way, he could go to the county again tomorrow, and this batch of vegetables would be almost sold out.

Then, he'd quickly plant more seeds, and in about half a month, it would be harvest time again.

Once they finished packing the vegetables, Lidong arrived with the craftsmen.

Upon seeing the cart full of vegetables, Lidong was clearly taken aback.

"Brother Xiaobei, I..."

Chen Xiaobei smiled and patted the donkey cart. "Let's go. I'm going to sell some vegetables along the way."

Lidong snapped back to reality, completed the tasks for the day, and then got into the cart.

In the county town.

Old Wu, seeing that Chen Xiaobei had brought so many vegetables today, couldn't help but laugh. "Now this looks like something. After all the fuss yesterday, this amount actually makes sense. A little bit here and there wouldn't sell for much."

Chen Xiaobei unloaded the vegetables. "Old Wu, I'm leaving it with you, help me sell them."

With that, he turned and left.

Lidong, watching this, was left speechless. "Brother Xiaobei, aren't you afraid he'll shortchange you?"

Chen Xiaobei grinned. "Not afraid. Besides, even if he gives me a little less, it's fine. I can always do something else."

This.

Lidong was clearly stunned by Chen Xiaobei's attitude.

What kind of mindset is this? He clearly didn't understand. It was beyond his comprehension.

Chen Xiaobei handed the reins to Lidong. "Alright, you go take care of things. When you're done, come find me at the vegetable market."

Having finally made it to the county, Chen Xiaobei decided to visit the livestock market again. Today, he was in luck—someone was selling dogs, and they were recently born.

Of course, the puppies weren't cheap, priced at five copper coins each.

Chen Xiaobei bought four at once.

Seeing him buy so many dogs, even Old Wu was a bit surprised.

But Chen Xiaobei had his reasons. The yard was big, and with more opportunities when he wasn't home, he needed to have more dogs for protection.

So, the three dogs would stay at home, one for Cui Hongyu and one for Chen Qiao'er as guard dogs.

The other one would stay with the village guard team, especially for nighttime patrols. Having a dog around made things a bit easier.

While selling the vegetables, Old Wu brought up the topic again. "Brother, a few days ago, Steward Cao came by and asked about the wild chickens again. You better act fast. If you get close to the Cao family, no one in the county will dare touch you."

Chen Xiaobei sighed. "Old brother, I would like to, but someone disturbed the wild chickens, and now they've moved their nest. I haven't found where they've moved to."

It was an excuse, but also a helpless one.

Just then, Lidong returned after finishing his tasks, and the cart was full of tiles.

This relieved some of the awkwardness for Chen Xiaobei.

"Old Wu, time to settle up. I need to go," Chen Xiaobei said with a smile.

Old Wu wasn't vague about it either. He took a handful of large copper coins from a nearby wooden box, counted them, and said, "Here's ninety, not too bad, right?"

Without even looking, Chen Xiaobei took the coins and stuffed them into his clothes. "Alright, I'll bring you more tomorrow."

As they left the city, Chen Xiaobei bought two portions of meat buns, one with ten and one with five.

The ten buns were for Cui Hongyu and Chen Qiao'er.

The five were for Lidong.

Holding the steaming meat buns, Lidong's eyes were filled with excitement, gratitude, and a hint of envy.

When Chen Xiaobei took the copper coins earlier, that moment kept replaying in Lidong's mind.

A cart of vegetables could exchange for ninety copper coins.

And Chen Xiaobei had said he would come back tomorrow to deliver more vegetables.

That meant tomorrow there would be another ninety copper coins.

In two days, that was one hundred and eighty copper coins. Lidong would work himself to the bone for a month and still wouldn't earn that much.

He worked as a laborer, earning five copper coins a day. On rainy days, he couldn't even work. Even on good days, it was possible he wouldn't find any work.

Not that it mattered, but when he compared, Lidong couldn't help but feel a bit sour inside.

On the way back, Lidong leaned against Chen Xiaobei and cautiously asked, "Brother Xiaobei, can I ask you something?"

Seeing the somewhat flattering smile on his face, Chen Xiaobei knew he was asking for something. "Lidong, we don't need to be polite with each other. What's the matter?"

"Well, I want to grow vegetables too. Could you help me sell them to that Old Wu?"

Chen Xiaobei wasn't particularly surprised by Lidong's request.

These days, growing vegetables wasn't that hard; the hard part was selling them. Hetou Village was over twenty miles from the county, and without a donkey cart, you'd have to carry them with a shoulder pole, which would be incredibly difficult.