"Brother, when will we arrive?" Little Stone looked out of the car window and suddenly turned back and asked.
Jiang Miao didn't even raise his head: "This is the ninth time you've asked this question."
Little Stone pouted: "Then can I go out for a horse ride?"
Jiang Miao shook his head mercilessly: "No, this is the seventh time you have made this request."
Little Stone sighed maturely and turned his head to look at the scenery outside. Pei Mu looked at him in confusion, stroking the little white dot that had grown into a big cat, not understanding why Little Stone was so anxious. Compared to sitting in the school and studying all day, he would rather stay with Brother Miao and the others like this.
The little white dot meowed lazily, probably agreeing with him. This black cat had good food and good housing, and its fur was shiny and glossy. It was bigger than the cats nearby, and it no longer looked skinny as a child. The white hair on its head was growing longer and more like the shape of the moon. Sometimes when Jiang Miao saw it, he would want to call it "Bao Heitan".
Today is the fourth day since they arrived in Cangzhou to take up their posts. During these four days, they have almost always stayed in the carriage and slept in it at night.
Go up the official road from the East Gate, and then turn right from a fork in the road, and you will find Cangzhou. Since there are not many merchants on this road, there are not many places to stay.
On the way, Jiang Miao wanted to experience the classic "ruined temple room". But Pei Che and the others were horrified after seeing the real scene of the ruined temple, as if letting them in would be a murder, so Jiang Miao had to give up.
Fortunately, their carriage was large, and after Jiang Miao's suggestions and the craftsmen's skillful transformation, this carriage was completely different from other carriages. First of all, the seats inside, the wooden boards were fixed on top and could not be disassembled at all, so there was very little place to sleep in the carriage.
Jiang Miao suggested that the craftsmen make these seats into snap-on ones, so that the upper baffle and the two sides can be laid flat and put together, just like a bed board. And then put a quilt on top, it is still very comfortable to sleep.
Then, there was the carriage roof. The original roof was covered with ordinary tarpaulin. When it rained heavily, it would drip in through the gaps. Soon, the whole carriage was damp. Jiang Miao had people sew several thick layers of oil paper under the tarpaulin and then tie it to the roof. No matter how heavy the rain was, there was no leakage. In addition, he also had people prepare a black cloth cover, which could be covered when the sun was strong to absorb some heat, so that the temperature would not be transmitted directly from the roof.
Finally, he had the bottom of the carriage raised, leaving a space for luggage underneath, and put wooden railings around it to prevent it from falling. If you are still not sure, you can tie it up with ropes.
The remodeled carriage is a must-have for home and travel. Even Mr. Feng couldn't help but feel a little jealous. He worked hard outside in his early years. If he had a carriage like this, he would have suffered less.
Of course, the modified carriage has a disadvantage, which is that it is heavier than ordinary carriages and is not as fast as other carriages. However, they do not need to compete with others in speed, and safety and comfort are the first priority.
"Let's stay here today." Pei Che lifted the car curtain and looked outside for a few times, then said.
The place he chose was next to a river, about two meters wide. There was a gentle slope beside the river, covered with wild flowers and green grass, which looked very beautiful.
"Okay," Jiang Miao was obviously quite satisfied and agreed very happily. However, his eyes were not on the gentle slope, but on the river.
A river means fish. These days, they mostly ate dry food and vegetables brought from home. Although they tasted good after being cooked by him, people still couldn't help but want to try something new.
The three carriages behind stopped when they saw the carriage in front stopped. After knowing that Pei Che decided to spend the night here, the grooms untied the horses and took them to the lower reaches of the river to drink water and eat grass. Chan Yi and Wen Jing took the kitchen utensils off the carriage and placed them on a foldable table. Several guards who accompanied them took out hoes and started digging the ground to build a stove. They were very familiar with this work in the past few days.
Almost everyone was busy, including Jiang Miao. He picked up a long stick, asked Chan Yi for needle and thread, and started making a fishing rod to see if he could catch two fish in the river.
Hearing that his brother was going fishing, Xiao Shitou became interested. He pulled Pei Mu to a place with more fertile soil and enthusiastically dug earthworms with a small shovel.
Pei Che looked around, not knowing what to do. Everyone was working, and it would be awkward for him to be the only one sitting idle.
Jiang Miao was annoyed by his wandering around, so he pointed to another wooden stick he had picked up and said, "Sharpen the bottom of this stick, and when you can't catch any fish, just stick a few fish in it."
Pei Che received the order and picked up the stick and went to the side. The nearby mountains were bare and you could almost see the top at a glance, otherwise Pei Che would definitely take out his bow and arrow to hunt some prey for food.
Jiang Miao took this time to prepare the fishing rod. He took out the fishing rod, put on the small stone, and the half of the earthworm they dug out, swung it hard into the river, and then began to wait.
There are indeed fish in this river. I don’t know if it’s because the living environment is too comfortable and no one has ever caught them, so these fish are very brave. They swim around near the fishing rods and even try to open their mouths to pick up the earthworms on them.
Jiang Miao was getting a little impatient, and when a fish finally took the bait, he immediately grabbed the fishing rod with both hands and pulled it up. Unfortunately, the fish hadn't taken a firm bite yet, and being pulled out of the water so suddenly frightened the fish, it flicked its tail and jumped back into the water, leaving only a circle of ripples on the water.
"Alas!" The same sigh came from three mouths. Jiang Miao looked at the disappointed expressions of Xiao Shitou and Pei Mu, cleared his throat, and said:
"You see, don't be too impatient. If I had waited for the fish to bite, I would have been able to catch it."
"Yeah!" The two little ones nodded frantically, not objecting to Jiang Miao's teaching. However, they had just dug out only half of the earthworm - the other half was dug up and drilled into the soil and disappeared. There was no bait left, so what should they do
His words instantly attracted the attention of the two children, and then their bodies turned to Pei Che's side as they wished, waiting for him to show his power.
Pei Che smiled, then faced the water surface, staring closely at the fish swimming underwater. Then his eyes became stern, and he thrust his arm down with force while holding a sharpened wooden stick.
Jiang Miao seemed to see Runtu in the elementary school textbook, holding a pitchfork and stabbing a wild beast with all his might. Unfortunately, the two had the same ending, they stabbed the air.
Pei Che was puzzled. He was clearly staring at the fish as he stabbed it, so why did he miss
Jiang Miao sneered without any hesitation and said, "Didn't you say that we should watch you? Watch you stab the air? Is that not possible?"
Pei Che glanced at him, pursed his lips, and stared at the river again. When the fish calmed down, he aimed at the fattest one and stabbed it. Then, he missed again. He stabbed again, and missed again. He repeated this several times in a row, just to wash away the evaluation of "no" from Jiang Miao's mouth.
Jiang Miao saw that this guy was getting tough. If he didn't appease him, he might keep stabbing until midnight.
"It's okay. It's okay if we don't eat fish. I think the wild vegetables around here are quite fresh and tender. We can eat that."
Hearing this, Pei Che turned around and stared at Jiang Miao and said, "Ah Miao, do you think it's impossible for me to spear a fish?" His eyes were full of the meaning of "If you dare to nod, I will spear fish here until I die, and I will spear one for you to see."
Well, that added fuel to the fire.
Jiang Miao naturally couldn't nod. He pretended not to understand and leaned over, looking at the fish that Pei Che was pointing his stick at, and said, "Hey, it seems that your eyes can deceive you when you look at things in the water. For example, this fish looks like it's here, but it should actually be... there!"
Refraction of light, junior high school physics knowledge, Jiang Miao was lucky enough not to return it to the teacher.
Pei Che was diverted by him and stabbed towards the place where Jiang Miao pointed with doubt. Although he didn't stab the fish, it was different from the previous times when he stabbed nothing. This time his stick clearly hit something.
After mastering the trick, Pei Che waited for the fish to calm down from the panic, then aimed at a fish and stabbed it from below. The fish's tail swung wildly, splashing water everywhere. The two little ones opened their mouths in surprise. They didn't expect that the fish could really be stabbed up.
"How about it, can I... do it?" Pei Che lowered his voice for the last three words, as if carrying some special meaning. Jiang Miao's ears felt hot and his face turned red unconsciously.
He gave him unnecessary instructions!
Although he thought so, he still said, "Okay, okay, that's great. Please bring up a few more to help us solve the dinner problem."
Pei Che had an expression that said "leave it all to me" as he took the fish off and handed it to Jiang Miao, then began to wait for the second one.
Jiang Miao went to the kitchen utensils that Chan Yi and the others had cleaned and started to prepare the fish...
In addition to a grilled fish for each person, dinner also included wild vegetables fried with bacon, cold-mixed pickled black fungus, bamboo shoots stewed with bacon ribs, and steamed rice as the staple food. A large group of people ate these dishes with gusto. The guards were a little reserved at first for a day or two, but later they gradually relaxed. They wanted to go fishing in the river today, but they were afraid of disturbing the fish and ruining the two people's interest, so they didn't rush into the water. Unexpectedly, they could actually eat the fish that their prince had stabbed himself! Little White also held a small fish and ate it raw, meowing happily.
After the meal, Jiang Miao took the three of them for a walk along the river. A breeze blew by, and they all felt very comfortable.
It was the beginning of May, the weather was getting hotter, and the Dragon Boat Festival was just around the corner. Thinking of the profits his rice dumplings brought to the Jiang Family Shop at this time last year, Jiang Miao's heart was moved. Those who stayed in the shop this year should continue to do it, right? Tang Lin's desire for money was no less than his.
Before coming, Jiang Miao and Tang Lin signed a new contract. Because he was in charge of the store, the monthly salary was no longer fixed, but divided. In other words, the store's profits were linked to him. If the business was good, he would earn more, and if the business was bad, he would earn less. Can the results of his own store and others' stores look the same
Of course, Jiang Miao did not want to test people's hearts. Although the Duke's Mansion was behind him, he thought that Tang Lin would not dare to rebel. But people's hearts are different from their stomachs. When greed arises, even gods will be useless. So Jiang Miao asked Li Ping and Jiang Yu to collect and reconcile the accounts on his behalf, and the money collected every month was given to Wu, the housekeeper of Jiang's house, for storage.
Li Ping didn't like to talk much, but he had a scale in his heart, and no one could easily deceive him. Because the couple had extra tasks, Jiang Miao also allocated half of the dividends to them, and they would never take more. In fact, Jiang Miao wanted to subsidize Xiaoyu.
Jiang Miao also made arrangements for Second Uncle Jiang and his family. He told Butler Wu not to forget to send gifts during the three festivals of the year, and to hire a few people to help out during the spring ploughing and autumn harvest, and to pay the head tax and other things. If he did so much, Second Uncle and his family might complain, but if someone else did it, even if Second Uncle was not very willing, it would be difficult for him to refuse, especially when he met Butler Wu who was so eloquent that he could be circumvented in just a few words.
At night, they rested in the carriage. On the sixth day, they occasionally saw a few families on the roadside. They had a place to stay and no longer had to sleep in the carriage.
On the tenth day, a heavy rain fell, which dispelled the heat all over their bodies, but also brought them bad news. The hillside near the official road leading to Cangzhou was washed away by the heavy rain, and a whole pile of mud overturned, blocking the road into the mountain.
(End of this chapter)