The accountant brought a cart with a large scale and a big bamboo basket.
The helpers were directed to move the bagged chestnuts to the side courtyard. Then, the scale and the large bamboo basket were taken off the cart and placed on the ground.
The large bamboo basket was placed on the scale to weigh its capacity, and then a cloth bag was opened, and the chestnuts inside were poured into the basket.
This was to check if the bags had been tampered with, and both Shen Xiaoyan and Zheng Wei understood this, so they simply stood by and watched.
Originally, they had procured a total of 35 bags of chestnuts. One bag was given to Pan Shi and Liang Shi each, and the remaining 30 bags, after stripping off the prickly husks and repacking them into cloth bags, amounted to only 15 bags.
Shen Xiaoyan kept one bag for herself and had the remaining 14 bags weighed.
The final measured weight was 2520 jin. At 4 li per jin, the total amounted to 10080 li, which was equivalent to 10 taels of silver and 80 li.
Zheng Wei took 10 taels of silver from the accountant and pushed back the remaining 80 li, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, gentlemen. This is for tea."
80 li was not a large sum, but it was not insignificant either. Giving this amount would foster goodwill and potentially lead to future interactions.
After seeing off the group, they were finally free. It was already mid-afternoon.
Shen Xiaoyan wasted no time. She went into the house, took out eight 1-tael silver pieces from the money chest, divided them into two purses of 4 taels each, placed the two purses in her sleeves, told Zheng Wei, and headed towards the village.
She was going to give the money to Pan Shi and Liang Shi.
The day after Liang Shi brought food supplies, she had braved the rain, pushing a cart with her husband to deliver food supplies.
Whether Liang Shi knew Pan Shi had made a delivery or had other intentions, Shen Xiaoyan would remember this kindness.
She first went to Liang Shi's home and gave her the purse, informing her that the chestnuts had been sold. Then she went to Pan Shi's house and left the purse there as well. Shen Xiaoyan declined Pan Shi's invitation to stay and left quickly.
This was because Pan Shi's neighbor was Shen family. Shen Xiaoyan did not wish to see any of the Shen family members for the time being. She still remembered the unpleasant incident from last time, and especially now that her relationship with Zheng Wei had progressed, she was even less inclined to see the Shen family.
She was lucky today; she did not encounter any of the Shen family, and the Shen family's door was closed.
Shen Xiaoyan only later learned that Shen Cheng, feeling ashamed, remained indoors for a long time.
The next day, the weather turned gloomy. Zheng Wei glanced outside and said it might rain again, suggesting they should gather some firewood.
Shen Xiaoyan had Shen Xiaoming stay at home to watch the house, while she and Zheng Wei pushed the handcart to Baiyun Peak.
Why didn't they use the large cart? Because the cabin was too small to hold much firewood.
Both of them were strong and fast. They each gathered dry branches, tied them into bundles with rope, and then pulled them to the handcart, loading them onto it.
Once the cart was piled high with firewood, Zheng Wei pushed it back, unloaded the firewood into the side courtyard, and then returned to load more.
They worked all day, filling the space under the wooden shed in the side courtyard completely, and then piling firewood along the wall before stopping.
Indeed, the next morning, as soon as Shen Xiaoyan opened her eyes, she heard the sound of rain outside the window. It seemed to be raining heavily.
In reality, Shen Xiaoyan didn't dislike the rain; she just wished it wouldn't rain continuously.
The rain continued for eight days before it stopped. Shen Xiaoyan and the other two had been confined to the house for eight days.
When the sky finally cleared that day, Shen Xiaoyan suddenly remembered that the milk fruit was ready for its second harvest. She wondered if the rain in the past few days had affected the fruit.
As soon as she thought of this, Shen Xiaoyan pulled Zheng Wei along to the original courtyard. From a distance, they saw ripe milk fruits hanging from the trees.
Fortunately, they were all fine.
"Should we pick them and deliver them ourselves, or wait for Lu Taobao to come?" Shen Xiaoyan asked Zheng Wei.
Zheng Wei thought for a moment and then said, "It's not a lot, and it should fit in the cart. I'll take it there."
It felt rather awkward to always have him come to pick them up, and besides, they had their own cart now.
Since they had decided, they picked the milk fruits together, carefully placing each one into a bamboo basket. Finally, the bamboo baskets were loaded into the cart, and Zheng Wei drove it to the town.
Shen Xiaoyan watched Zheng Wei leave, then closed the door and returned to the main courtyard.
In the courtyard, Shen Xiaoming was teaching Old Black and Blackie to shake hands, to sit, to stand, or to run forward.
Shen Xiaoyan watched for a while before going into the house and sitting on the kang.
Luoluo suddenly appeared from somewhere. Seeing Shen Xiaoyan sitting on the kang, it jumped next to her and lay down.
"What are you thinking about?" Luoluo licked its paw. Ah, it had been running around too much lately, and its fur was losing its luster.
Shen Xiaoyan looked at the fatter Luoluo and felt like laughing. "You're quite comfortable. After running around for months, you've completely forgotten about me."
Luoluo rolled its eyes at her. "You weren't in any danger, so why shouldn't I go play? Don't be sad. Starting today, I'm not going anywhere and will stay home with you every day."
Shen Xiaoyan chuckled lightly, not taking Luoluo's words to heart. In her opinion, given Luoluo's playful nature, it would be strange if it stayed home obediently.
"What were you thinking about just now?" Luoluo asked, ignoring her.
Mentioning this, Shen Xiaoyan sighed deeply. "Winter is approaching, and then we'll be stuck indoors. I don't know how to embroider, so how will I spend the winter?"
Luoluo thought about it. This was indeed a problem. There were no entertainment facilities here.
"Why don't you and Zheng Wei have a child? Then you'll never be bored again," Luoluo suggested, its eyes lighting up with what it considered a brilliant idea.
"Cough." Shen Xiaoyan was so startled by Luoluo's words that she coughed violently, taking a while to recover.
"What are you imagining?" Shen Xiaoyan asked Luoluo.
"What? Am I wrong? If you have a child, it can keep you busy for a lifetime, and you'll never be bored again," Luoluo said haughtily, lifting its chin.
Shen Xiaoyan had to admit that Luoluo's words held some truth, but having a child with Zheng Wei right now still seemed too unbelievable.
"I'm still young," Shen Xiaoyan said.
"Young? Combined, you could be Zheng Wei's grandmother three times over," Luoluo retorted sarcastically.
Shen Xiaoyan was astonished. Was Luoluo really so sharp-tongued?
"I mean my body is still young," Shen Xiaoyan said, looking at Luoluo and almost shouting the last word.
Her voice was probably too loud, as Shen Xiaoming outside turned to look.
Zheng Wei had returned before noon, bringing with him the custom-made padded clothes and leather garments.
"The money from the sales was just enough to pay for these," Zheng Wei told Shen Xiaoyan.
She hadn't planned to pick up the clothes today, as it wasn't the agreed-upon time, so Shen Xiaoyan hadn't given Zheng Wei the money.
However, after meeting Lu Taobao and receiving the money for the milk fruits, Zheng Wei thought he might as well check if the clothes were ready and pick them up. When he inquired at the tailor shop, they had indeed been made.
Zheng Wei asked for the price, and the cash he had on hand was exactly enough, so he took the clothes directly.
Although Shen Xiaoyan always went in to order clothes, the shopkeeper had spoken to Zheng Wei before, so he allowed Zheng Wei to take the clothes.
Shen Xiaoyan examined each piece carefully. They were indeed well-made. The padded clothes were very thick and felt warm, so they wouldn't be afraid of the cold even in the snow.
After putting their respective clothes, shoes, and hats into their wardrobes, Shen Xiaoyan began preparing lunch.
Now, their lunch portions were much larger than before, as Old Black and Blackie were added, along with Luoluo and Baibai, who sometimes came for meals.
Indeed, from that day on, Luoluo never took Baibai out to run around again. It followed Shen Xiaoyan every day, wherever she went.
Shen Xiaoyan didn't bother with it, and every day she pondered what she would do during the winter.
Time passed day by day, and it was soon another half a month.
One morning, Shen Xiaoyan woke up and felt a chill.
She looked at the empty space beside her; Zheng Wei had already gotten up.
Shen Xiaoyan quickly put on her clothes and went to the washroom to wash her face. As she came out, she saw Zheng Wei entering.
"It's snowing outside," Zheng Wei said, seeing Shen Xiaoyan sitting there combing her hair. He continued, "I've already heated the kang. You should wear something warm when you go out later."
Upon hearing about the snow, Shen Xiaoyan was first startled, then overjoyed.
She hadn't opened the curtains after getting up, so she hadn't realized it was already snowing.
Hearing Zheng Wei say it was snowing, she could barely sit still. She finished combing her hair in just a few strokes, stood up, and ran outside, completely forgetting Zheng Wei's instructions to dress warmly.
She walked out of the main room door and saw snowflakes falling in a flurry outside. The snow was falling in large flakes and was quite heavy.