131 Chapter 131: No Rain For Months

“Alright!” Wang Xiaomei quickly answered.

She felt that she was being regarded highly.

“Also, I’ve thought about it. Starting tomorrow, we’ll spend an hour every afternoon learning how to read and write from my husband.”

“This will be good for our business in the future.”

!!

Wang Xiaomei was shocked.

“Thank you, Mrs. Song!” she quickly thanked Qin Xiaoyao.

She had just started learning mathematics, but she had already realized the benefits of mathematics.

Learning how to read and write was something she didn’t even dare to think about in the past.

Even her big brother didn’t get a chance to go to school to study and learn to read, much less a girl like her.

Yet now, Mrs. Song wanted her to learn how to read and write with her.

Mrs. Song really treated her better than her own parents!

Qin Xiaoyao simply laughed.

“No need to thank me. Just keep up with the progress! I’m a fast learner!” she said.

In her previous life, she was considered a top student. With a prior foundation, of course, she was fast.

“Mm-hmm! I will definitely work hard!” Wang Xiaomei said with determination.

After that, Qin Xiaoyao showed Wang Xiaomei what a genius Qin Xiaoyao was.

When Mrs. Song was learning to write and read, she only needed to look twice before she mastered it.

Wang Xiaomei, on the other hand, would still make mistakes even after repeated practice and recitation.

However, she felt that her one single strength was her diligence.

Whenever she had time, or even when she was working, she would find an opportunity to revise or review the content of her studies to strengthen her memory.

As a result, Wang Xiaomei’s progress was astonishing.

During the end-of-month examinations, even Song Que was surprised by Wang Xiaomei’s results.

For the first time, he felt that Qin Xiaoyao’s judgment of people was very sharp.

It was already the middle of June, and the weather was already at the peak of summer.

It had not rained in Mountain Spring Town for two months.

Under the scorching sun, the earth was baked dry, and many places were gradually facing a shortage of water.

The crops in the fields also lacked water, so the villagers were trying to find ways to irrigate the farm crops to prevent them from dying from the drought.

Some people even began to worry that there would be a great drought this year and they wouldn’t be able to harvest the grains this autumn.

There was a slight fluctuation in the grain prices in town.

Qin Xiaoyao had heard about the situation in the village from Big Girl Li.

Now, the paddy fields in Brook Falls Village were almost dry.

In order to prevent the rice from drying up, some of the villagers had already begun to take water from River Ringwaters.

Unfortunately, the effect of using manpower to fetch water to maintain the crops was not very good.

“The water level in River Ringwaters has dropped a lot, and the small stream in the village has stopped flowing. Everyone is going to the old well in the village to get water.”

“Because there are so many people getting water, the well water can’t keep up.”

“The village chief has ordered everyone to line up to get water. Each family can only get two buckets of water a day.”

Qin Xiaoyao was shocked.

“Only two buckets of water? How is this enough?”

Big Girl Li gave a helpless shrug.

“Of course, it’s not enough! Those two buckets of water are for drinking. As for the rest for the livestock, as well as for domestic use such as bathing, everyone simply goes directly to River Ringwaters to get it.”

After saying that, Big Girl Li looked at Qin Xiaoyao with envy.

“Your house is still the best. You have a well in the courtyard.”

“By the way, your well still has enough water at home?”

Qin Xiaoyao nodded.

“It’s enough. It’s always full.”

Seeing Big Girl Li’s shocked expression, Qin Xiaoyao explained, “I don’t have any livestock at home. Normally, we just do the laundry, cook, and water the few plots of land in the yard. I don’t use much water every day.”

Qin Xiaoyao’s face broke into a smile as she thought of the few pieces of land in the courtyard.

It was all thanks to that well. Otherwise, the Chinese Toon trees and those vegetable crops would not have survived.

Big Girl Li’s eyes were filled with envy again.

“If we come to town now to buy a courtyard with a well, I wonder if that’s possible?” she said immediately.

Qin Xiaoyao’s face lit up.

“You mean… you have enough money to buy a courtyard dwelling in town now?”

Big Girl Li immediately gave Qin Xiaoyao a sad look.

“How can it be so easy…”

...

She looked around the Song family’s courtyard and sighed.

250 taels? If they were given another year, perhaps they could get this amount… provided their in-laws lend their support as well.

Qin Xiaoyao smiled and patted her good friend’s shoulder.

“Don’t be discouraged. You’ll be able to buy it sooner or later!” she said encouragingly.

Big Girl Li took a deep breath.

Then, she said with a depressed tone, “Let’s take it slow.”

“Why? What happened?” Qin Xiaoyao asked, sensing that something was bothering Big Girl Li.

“During the blazing hot summer days, it’s not so easy to get the goods. Sister Sanya, didn’t you notice that the goods Daniu and I have been sending over have decreased?” Mushrooms and the like were almost all gone. In the past, she didn’t have to worry about not being able to receive farm vegetables, but now, it wasn’t so easy to receive them.

It was all because of the drought. The surviving vegetables in the farms all relied on water to grow, so there were fewer vegetables in the vegetable fields.

“Oh,” Qin Xiaoyao responded.

When Big Girl Li said this, she remembered something.

...

The vegetables that the couple had sent over were indeed not as fresh as before, and the quantity was also less than before.

Qin Xiaoyao could understand that it wasn’t that fresh. After all, the weather was hot, and some of the moisture in the vegetables would evaporate.

She hadn’t paid much attention to the decreased quantity before.

After all, she didn’t earn much from selling farm vegetables.

Currently, she was mainly relying on century eggs for her profits from Fortune Mansion and Fortune Restaurant.

That was right. Her century egg business was getting better and better after summer.

The century eggs she had made before could not meet the sales demand.

Recently, Qin Xiaoyao had been increasing the purchase of chicken eggs and duck eggs in order to make more century eggs to sell.

Now, not only did she ask Big Girl Li and her husband to help her collect the eggs, she would also go to the market on West Street to collect eggs in batches.

Then, in the afternoon, she would spend a lot of time making the mud paste for wrapping the eggs.

There were already many jars of century eggs sitting in the storage room. Once the century eggs were ready, they could be exchanged for money at Fortune Mansion and Fortune Restaurant.

Her attractive husband saw that she was collecting more and more eggs every day and had even mentioned to her to control the quantity.

However, she didn’t take him seriously.

As long as it was before winter, she was not worried that her century eggs wouldn’t sell.

She wasn’t afraid, even if it was winter. If there was really a lot of stock, she could just take Xiaomei to set up a street stall to sell century egg congee.

It just so happened that she didn’t earn much from selling woven bamboo products and straw sandals, so it wasn’t a bad idea for her to free up some time to do something else.

Qin Xiaoyao looked at Big Girl Li after recollecting her thoughts.

“I see that there are fewer people selling farm vegetables in the market now, and the price of vegetables has risen a little,” she said.

“How about this? When I make my delivery tomorrow, I’ll talk to Fortune Mansion. Let’s see if we can get them to raise the price of the vegetables. This way, it’ll be easier for us to follow the market fluctuation.”

Big Girl Li quickly nodded.

Qin Xiaoyao continued to chat with Big Girl Li for a while.

After settling the accounts for the past ten days, she gave her the money and saw her off.

The sun was already shining brightly outside at this moment. Qin Xiaoyao came to the courtyard and stood under the blazing sun. She felt as if her skin was being scorched.

“Why don’t you wait until evening before leaving? I’m worried about you going back alone.” Qin Xiaoyao said as she held Big Girl Li back.