Unspoken Troubles

"Ahem..." Li Yanhao broke the silence first, awkwardly asking, "Not going for a walk today?"

The moment Li Yanhao spoke, he wished he could bite off his own tongue. He dreaded the daily forced walks with Xiao Yun.

With the freezing cold outside, Li Yanhao had no desire to go out and freeze. Besides, every time he went to the village, the idlers there looked at him like hungry wolves eyeing a fat piece of meat, making Li Yanhao feel that if he walked alone at night in the village, three big guys might jump out from the bushes and rough him up.

Today, Xiao Yun didn’t come to fetch him, so how did he manage to control his mouth and actually ask about the walk?

However, Li Yanhao’s worry was clearly unnecessary. Xiao Yun shook his head, "I have things to do, no walk today."

After saying that, Xiao Yun darted off swiftly, as if chased by ghosts.

Li Yanhao stood there, watching Xiao Yun’s retreating back, suddenly feeling very bored.

Without that simpleton causing a fuss, he suddenly felt a bit out of place. Maybe he should go find Su Li... But with Xiao Zetian’s murderous glare behind him, if he went to see Su Li, he probably wouldn’t see the sun rise tomorrow.

So the young lord sighed deeply in the courtyard, deciding it was better to just go back inside and sleep.

Early the next morning, before dawn, Old Zhou got up bright and early, pulled on his already warmed clothes from under the quilt, and quickly warmed up breakfast to eat.

After getting dressed and heading out, Old Zhou carried his load and strolled over to the fields.

There were already shift workers moving vegetables in the fields, and soon villagers would come to pick them. Old Zhou looked around, mentally reviewing the special instructions Su Li had given him yesterday, making sure he remembered them well.

Before long, villagers started arriving one after another. The process of picking vegetables was so familiar it was like clockwork.

Old Zhou stood at the edge of the field directing things. Soon, he saw Uncle Hua and Aunt Hua coming with their carrying poles.

"Uncle Hua, selling pickled vegetables again today?" Old Zhou smiled as he greeted, looking at the jar of pickles on Uncle Hua’s carrying pole.

Uncle Hua was an honest man. He tugged at the corner of his mouth and forced a smile, "Yeah, my wife made them. Selling more means more income."

Aunt Hua had already counted and weighed the vegetables, calling Uncle Hua to move them into the basket.

Old Zhou glanced at the ledger nearby and casually asked, "Uncle Hua, why are you only selling forty jin today? Others sell at least sixty jin a day."

Uncle Hua’s face showed difficulty. He opened his mouth as if to say something but hesitated, seeming to have some unspeakable troubles.

Aunt Hua quickly nudged Uncle Hua twice with her elbow, smiling as she said to Old Zhou, "There’s nothing we can do. We’re not capable, so we can only sell forty jin. Any more, and we’re afraid it won’t sell. Such expensive vegetables, we can’t afford to lose money."

The Hua couple chatted with Old Zhou and then left with their vegetables.

After a while, Su Sanyun and his son also came to pick up vegetables, normally sixty jin.

Old Zhou patted Su Sanyun’s basket and smiled, "Uncle Su, how’s business these days?"

Su Sanyun grinned honestly, "Not bad, all thanks to niece Ali’s livelihood. My son and I work hard, and life’s getting by."

Old Zhou continued, "Others take eighty jin of vegetables, why don’t you take more?"

Su Sanyun waved his hand, "Dare not take more. If we can’t sell it, it’s wasted. We only have those regular customers. If someone orders extra, we’ll take more then."