Chapter 21

Ning Qing asked her uncle about the price of the cart. She found out that the cart with the oxen only cost 10 taels, so she wanted to buy it but she didn't know how to drive it. Ning Qing asked her uncle to drive the cart for her because she wanted to bring her father to see the doctor in the city.

Xiao Yao saw that his granddaughter really needed it, so he didn't mind if she wanted to buy it. Xiao Yao even personally took his granddaughter to choose a cart and an ox. He skillfully introduced his granddaughter to how to tell which ox was strong and which was not. Although he didn't have a cart, these things were all things he had learned from people who had bought carts before.

After buying the cart, Ning Qing also asked her uncle to take her to a clothing store. She wanted to buy clothes for everyone, including her grandparents, but Xiao Yao wouldn't let her pay for clothes for her parents. He said that he had enough money to buy clothes for everyone in the house as well. So Ning Qing could only pay for her own part, while Xiao Yao paid for the things in his house. It had been a long time since he had bought clothes for his wife and children, because he had to save up money to pay for their children's education. Now he had enough money to buy things for them.

Xiao Yao also took Ning Qing to buy some rice and flour. The things at home were running out. Since he had a cart, he bought quite a few things to provide for his family. The cart he brought was already tied to the cart.

Ning Qing and Xiao Yao spent a lot of taels today before returning to the village. They only bought the necessities, but they spent so much money. This made the two even more determined to go up the mountain to check on the prey. After unloading the stuff from the cart, with the cart, the journey from three ke became one ke before they returned to the village. This made Ning Qing very satisfied with what she bought. She thought that her father should be able to drive the cart. However, she still couldn't move until she had saved up more money.

Ning Guan was quite shocked by the things his daughter bought. He was not a money maker, so he did not dare to tell his daughter to save money. He could only willingly accept the kindness of his daughter and his wife's brother. Otherwise, his daughter would have felt very sorry that she had tried so hard to find good things for her family, but instead she was scolded instead.

After unloading his stuff, Xiao Yao loaded his stuff into a cart and returned to his house, before making an appointment with his niece to go check the trap again this evening. Ning Qing told her uncle that she would go to his house to find him in a while, asking him not to worry.

Xiao Shui could only ask her daughter why she bought so many things. She was afraid that she would not have enough money to spend in the future, so she asked. Because Ning Guan's medicine cost a lot of money. Ning Qing told everyone how she was lucky enough to sell the tiger and even gave some money to her uncle as usual. As a result, the family now had almost four hundred taels of silver in savings. She also said that she would send her younger brother to school when the next student recruitment was held. She would pay for his tuition. She also gave some money to her mother, and she needed to save some to buy a house in the city.

After everyone heard Ning Qing mention her home in the city, they were even more worried about what they would do to make a living. They could easily find wild animals to sell here, but if they were to move to the city, they were afraid that they would return to poverty. So Ning Qing explained to everyone that she was going to open a breakfast shop. Since everyone had seen her cooking skills, she thought that her breakfast shop would definitely sell well.

After talking until the appointed time with her uncle, Ning Qing asked to go and check the animal traps with her uncle first. It would not be too late to ask about other things later. Ning Guan could only indulge his daughter's plan for the family. He had no idea that his daughter would think so far ahead, and she would also think on behalf of them as their parents. This made everyone in the family wait and see how long their capable sister could bring them comfort. The herb garden that they had planted would probably have to be moved to her uncle instead. There probably wouldn't be enough space for them to plant in the city.

Ning Qing and Xiao Yao went up the mountain to check on their prey. It was a pity that they only caught a few wild rabbits today. Ning Qing left the remaining traps overnight and would check again tomorrow morning. As for the ones she got, Ning Qing also taught her uncle how to raise rabbits so that he wouldn't have to go up and risk his life to find wild rabbits or other wild animals. After Xiao Yao and Ning Qing came down from the mountain, they helped make a habitat for the rabbits and she also gave Xiao Yao detailed instructions on how to take care of the rabbits. Another thing was that rabbits reproduced quickly, so she wasn't afraid that her uncle wouldn't have any rabbits to sell in the city.

After helping her uncle, Ning Qing returned home with a stray chicken. Her uncle shot an arrow at it and returned to make soup for her father. Her uncle had a lot of rabbits that day, so it wasn't difficult for them to have meat to eat every day.

In the past week, the two uncles and nieces had already earned quite a bit of money from selling things in the city. Furthermore, the rabbit farm of the uncles was doing well, which made Ning Qing feel relieved that what she had told her uncles was well-obeyed. Ning Qing tried asking the innkeeper about the price of the houses. He said that each house in the city was not less than a hundred taels, because it was in the city and most houses were not for sale. If she wanted to know about houses, she could just ask the officials. Ning Qing and her uncle went to ask at her county office. At the very least, she would know if she had enough money to buy a breakfast shop. Today, the two uncles and nieces had come to the city on Ning Qing’s cart, so that it would be convenient if they wanted to buy anything.