Chapter Forty-One: Not Borrowing

  In the afternoon, Qizhen sent another bowl of green bean soup and saw that Ye Qiushu and others had already plastered a wall in one room. She sighed at their efficiency and left.

  Since the wages have been given to Ye Qiushu, and it's decided to trust him, one can't keep staring. What is known is that when you're happy in your heart, what is unknown makes you uneasy about others. From ancient times to the present, employer-employee relationships don't like this kind of distrust. Qizhen may not know these words, but she also understands the principle of "doubt people and don't use them, use people and don't doubt them". Handing everything over to Ye Qiushu, perhaps he will give her a surprise.

  In the afternoon, Qizhen didn't rest either. The things she thought about when picking up stones this morning have been swirling in her mind all along. Not having any money is really frustrating to death.

  Today at noon, she finally thought of a way to make money, which is to go up the mountain to pick mushrooms. Last time in town, Ye Baiju bought buns with mushroom filling, and today's stewed chicken with mushrooms made Qi Zhen'er see the shadow of mushrooms again. Such things, as long as someone eats them, someone will buy them, so there will be people selling them.

  She has no money now, and can only accumulate from these things that don't require capital. However, it hasn't rained much recently, and I don't know if there are any mushrooms in the mountains. The other day she and Hu Zi did pick some in the deep mountains, but I don't know about this mountain pass nearby.

  However, she has to go to the town tomorrow to buy some daily necessities back. Can't say that there's not a single pot, bowl, chopsticks, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and tea at home. Incidentally, take a look to see if there are any other ways to make money, it's also good to go for a walk in the mountains first. But still have to buy some things first.

  Qī Zhēnér and Yè Báizhǐ arrived at the east end of the village, at Master Yè's house, and knocked on the door. After a while, no one responded, so Yè Báizhǐ shouted: "Is anyone there? Is Master Yè in?"

  At this time, the door creaked open and a little girl who looked six or seven years old came out. She asked, "Who are you looking for?" The little girl, who was still losing her baby teeth, spoke with some wind escaping from her mouth, but her words were still very clear.

  Ye Baiji said: "I am from Ye Dafu's house at the west end of the village, is Master Ye at home? We want to buy a few bamboo baskets."

  As soon as she heard they were there to buy something, the little girl opened the door and said, "Come on in, my grandfather is peeling bamboo in the backyard."

  Ye Bai and Zhi followed the little girl into the house. Everywhere in this house, you can see newly woven bamboo baskets, new sieves, and other similar items that are well-made and look good.

  Xiao Yatou had Qi Zhen'er and the others wait in the front yard, while she hurriedly ran to the back yard. Before long, Xiao Yatou brought over an old man who looked older than Ye Dafu, with a dark and weathered face.

  The little girl pointed at Ye Bai Zhi and said: "It's this sister who wants to buy a bamboo basket."

  Although Ye Shifu was a distant relative of the Ye family and couldn't be counted in the family tree, the Ye family still treated him with great respect. Ye Baiju didn't wait for Ye Shifu to speak up and said: "Grandfather, this is my sister Zhen'er, she wants to buy some bamboo baskets from you."

  Ye Shifu was also a kind and honest old man. Hearing that there was business, he nodded hastily: "Good, good, take a look at what you want? There are all under the eaves of the house, you can choose freely. If it's not to your liking, you can also tell me what style you want, I'll make it for you."

  Those who speak like this are all skilled, Qizhen'er listened and smiled, greeted Ye Shifu, and carefully selected the ones under the eaves. Three wooden basins are needed for washing vegetables, two for washing vegetables, and one for steaming rice. Three bamboo baskets are needed, two large ones, and a smaller one that is suitable for her and Huizi to use. The sieve is not needed for now, wait until later when there is money to buy it. A winnower is needed, which is used when sifting grains. The carrying pole is of course indispensable, and two small bamboo baskets are also needed.

  He put the good things next to Ye Shifu, and he began to calculate for Zhen'er: "The sieves are all roughly the same size, each one is three cents, three of them together is fifteen cents. The large bamboo baskets are eight cents each, the small ones are six cents each, and three together is twenty-two cents. The winnowing fan is eight cents each, and the carrying pole is also eight cents each. The small bamboo basket is four cents each, adding up to a total of fifty-seven cents. For fellow villagers, we'll give you a discount, and five cents will do."

  Qī Zhēnér thought for a moment and felt that the price wasn't expensive. It was clear that she had saved on transportation costs to town, so she quickly took out her money.

  Qizhen thanked Ye Shifu and then she and Yebai Zhi carried a pile of things back.

  "Zhen'er, I said why are you so stubborn? They all say that you should use our family's things first, and then buy your own when you have money. But you just won't do it." Ye Baiji complained.

  Qī Zhēnér smiled and didn't explain, she knew Yè Bái Jí was just venting, after all, she was about to move away, and even if they lived close by in the future, it wouldn't be as convenient as now. Yè Bái Jí had a temper, she knew that. Besides, using someone else's things wasn't as handy as using your own, she didn't understand why some people who had the ability to buy their own things still liked to borrow from others.

  Back home, in order to distinguish between things, Qizhen directly took the things to her own temporary residence room.

  Hutou recently had a crazy love for everything that belonged to them, and this time's bamboo basket was no exception. He used his unwrapped hand to touch the bamboo basket and the dustpan one by one, excitedly asking: "Sister, are these really our own?"

  Qizhen'er smiled and nodded, "Of course it's ours, sister spent money on it, would she give it to someone else?"

  Hutou listened and shook his head repeatedly, grasping the bamboo basket tightly, saying: "This is our family's, we won't give it to others." Hutou added another sentence: "We can't lend it either."

  Ye Baiji heard this and said indignantly: "Can't even borrow from White Orchid?" As she spoke, she glared fiercely at Hu Zi.

  Hutou didn't seem intimidated by her at all, and straightened his back: "Baiju sister has one at home, you don't need to borrow mine."

  Ye Baiji was amused by the air, "Sister likes to use your family's, your family's new ones."

  The tiger cub tightly grasped the bamboo basket and kept saying: "I won't give it to you, your family has......"

  Ye Baiji originally wanted to tease him, but seeing his red eyes and the small tears welling up in them, she didn't dare make him cry for real. She hastily coaxed: "Sister Ye is just teasing you, Sister Ye doesn't need your family's bamboo basket."

  The tiger child's tears finally couldn't hold back, fell down, and cried: "Sister Bai Zhu is bad, robbed my family's bamboo basket... Sister Bai Zhu is bad, robbed my family's winnowing fan..." These few words were repeated over and over again, no matter how Ye Bai Zhu coaxed him.

  Qizhen'er had just gone down to the kitchen to fetch a cup of water, and was walking outside when she heard Hu Zi's crying voice from the east wing, so she hurriedly pushed open the door and went in.

  The little tiger saw his sister and cried even more miserably, "Sister, Bai Zhi is going to snatch our family's things..."

  Ye Baiji saw Qi Zhener and was like seeing a lifesaver, pulling Qi Zhener and saying: "Zhener, you quickly coax the tiger cub, I just made a joke with him and he cried."

  Qī Zhēnér looked at Hǔ Zǐ who was crying and gasping for breath, gently patted his back, comforted him for a while, before he finally stopped crying.

  "What's going on? You're so old and you can still make Tiger cry?" Qi Zhen'er said.

  Ye Baiji waved her hand and said incoherently: "I told Hu Zi that I wanted to use your family's bamboo basket, and he cried. Later, I said I wouldn't borrow it, but he still cried."

  Hutou heard this and showed signs of wanting to cry. Qizhen hurriedly coaxed: "We won't lend, the bamboo basket is for our own family to use, we won't lend it to Baiju sister."

  "Really?" Hu Zi choked back tears, looked up at Qi Zhen'er, and saw her pitiful appearance.

  Qī Zhēn ér nodded firmly and said: "Really, sister's words count. From now on, whoever wants to borrow something from our house must get Hǔ Zǐ's agreement before borrowing."

  Hu Zi stopped crying after getting his sister's guarantee. He looked at Ye Bai Zhi and thought of how she usually took care of him, feeling a bit embarrassed: "Bai Zhi sister, the basket in my home is too rough, you won't be used to it, not that I don't want to lend it to you." As he said this, he added another sentence to make his words more believable, "Really."

  "Never mind, I don't dare borrow anything from your family again, no matter how exquisite it is. If this happens again, I'll be worried to death."

  Qizhen'er pushed her and said, "How can you be so exaggerated? You just happened to come at a bad time. Tiger is currently eager for new things from my family, and you just ran into him. Isn't it obvious that this won't end well? Just wait and see, after a while, Tiger will definitely show off these things in front of you and lend them to you."

  "Really?" Ye Baiji sighed, "Spare me. This person who doesn't usually cry, once started crying, really can't stop."

  Qī Zhēnér fetched a basin of water to wash Hǔ Zǐ's face, ignoring Yè Bái Jí's lament.

  "Say, Zhen Er, are you really going into the mountains tomorrow?"