Chapter 16

The village head's cart arrived soon. Everyone helped to put down their clothes and bedding first, then helped Ning Guan sit on the cart. The others had already gotten on the cart and waited. Only Ning Qing was left to tie the cart to the cart for this trip. After tying it, she asked the village head grandfather to let them go. Fortunately, they didn't have much stuff, so they were able to move it quickly. When Lan Jiu saw that they were well prepared, she knew that they had thought it through well. Where would she make money if Ning Guan didn't sell herbs in the future? She could only regret not letting her children learn how to grow herbs like Ning Guan. Fortunately, she still had some money left. But she had to think of a way to earn more money. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to live on food for a few months. As for the money that Ning Zheng had given her, she had used it up long ago. Lan Jiu asked her children to go check out the herb garden to see if there was anything left to sell. If there was, she should let them collect it and sell it while Ning Guan was still sick. No one in that household can sell herbs. She will have some extra income.

Her lazy children at first did not want to do it, but when they saw their mother's eyes, they had to go and collect them in the wrong way, not knowing how much they would sell for.

As for Ning Qing and her family, they talked to the village headman with peace of mind. They were finally free from these parasites. In the future, she would be able to earn a lot of money for the family. Moreover, her younger brother was almost of school age. She wanted him to study. Even though her father taught him to read and write, it was not enough for her younger brother to have enough knowledge to pass the imperial examination. So she thought of letting her younger brother study so that he could be the pillar of the family in the future.

"What do you plan to do next, Ning Qing?"

"We will continue to sell herbs, Grandfather Village Headman. After all, your father has taught us how to grow herbs."

"Oh, so that's how it is. It's a pity that you guys are not in Grandfather's village, but Grandfather understands what kind of person Granddaughter Jiu is. If she lets people ask you for money, don't give it to her anymore." Ning Guan is too soft-hearted, so she chased you out of your old house like this.”

“I’m fine, old uncle. I’m just afraid that I’ll cause trouble for your wife and children if you stay with those people.”

“Hmm, that’s good for you. In the future, when you’re better, you can take good care of the children. If you need help with anything, you can send your children to call me in the village. Do you understand? Because your father entrusted you to me long ago.”

“Yes, old uncle. Thank you for your kindness.”

On the cart, everyone was chatting leisurely. Because Ning Guan was still injured, the village head didn’t travel fast. The children were also enduring hunger, because they hadn’t eaten breakfast before leaving the house because they were busy packing up. When Xiao Shui saw that her children were starting to get hungry, she brought out the steamed buns she had made for everyone to eat to fill their stomachs. The village head who had already eaten breakfast didn’t say yes. He told everyone to eat their fill, because they still had to clean up after they got home.

It was only two hours later that they reached Kang Village because the journey was slow and did not disturb Ning Guan. When they arrived, Ning Qing asked the village headman to take them to Village Headman Kang's house first to get the house key. Village Headman Kang and Village Headman's grandfather were familiar with each other, so he asked Ning Guan to take care of the others once more. Then, he took everyone to the house where they would be living from now on. When they arrived home, Ning Qing jumped off the cart and opened the door to let the cart in. The house was spacious enough for them to live in without much difficulty. Ning Qing also went to check the kitchen to see what else she needed to buy. She asked Village Headman to take her to the city to buy some first. The others cleaned up one by one. Ning Guan got off the carriage and sat under the tree waiting. Ning Qing brought him a chair to sit on. After checking that the main kitchen utensils were still good, she had to go out and buy new cups and bowls. Ning Qing asked Village Headman to take her to the city again to buy some things to use in the house. She still had to buy a lot of supplies. The money that Ning Guan had saved was running low every day. Ning Qing had to calculate how long the remaining money would last so that she could start earning money to support her family. Right now, they hadn’t gone to see their grandparents at home yet because they were busy managing the house. Village Chief Ning Kai had brought Ning Qing into the city earlier than when Ning Guan had come with them. It only took them two ke to arrive in the city. The village chief asked her what she wanted to buy so that he could take her to the right shop. Ning Qing didn’t care about her grandfather. She asked him to take her to a bowl and plate shop first. Then, she went to the fresh market to buy some supplies to cook, including rice and flour. When the village chief saw that Ning Qing had bought things properly, he could only praise her for being so good, as expected of the eldest sister of her siblings. When Ning Qing was praised, she could only smile wryly at her grandfather. She said that her mother had taught her the necessities of the house since she was young. Otherwise, she definitely wouldn’t know what to buy. The village head could only be pleased when he saw her humbleness. These children were much better than Ning Ai and Ning Yi's children. Those people's manners were not as good as Ning Guan's children, and their speech was not polite. He did not know how Lan Jiu had taught them to have such useless children as his children. From what he could see, only Ning Guan, who was taught by his father, was more human than anyone else.