Chapter 374 - 374 A Welcome
After Zhou Ying and her husband sent Constable Zhang off, they locked their door and brought Er Zhuang to the manor. They began to plant rice seedlings and sweet potatoes in the fields.
She also instructed Uncle Nian to slaughter two cattle.
While waiting for the cattle to be butchered, the couple picked some spinach.
She then went to Manager Liu. “Uncle Liu, I’ll have to trouble you to give these two cattle worth of meat to the soldiers outside. It’s to welcome them and thank them for protecting us.”
Manager Liu laughed. “Let’s go together. But I’m afraid you’ll be targeted once you offer some now.”
“I want to believe in the character of the Third Prince’s men. It will be fine as long as they leave us some.” Zhou Ying replied.
“Haha, you’re pretty generous, but it won’t get that exaggerated. You’ll just need to send some meat over from time to time.
“Of course, I won’t be asking that you give this meat away for free. General Zhang has military funds, so you just have to offer us a fair price.”
“Thank you for your reminder, Uncle Liu.” Zhou Ying nodded.
However, she did not go. Instead, she asked Gu Chengrui to go with Manager Liu while she continued to plant seedlings.
Gu Chengrui and Manager Liu arrived at the temporary military camp and looked for General Zhang to express their intentions.
Zhang Ping was naturally delighted. Although they had brought military rations, it was only grain. The meat was getting pitifully low in quantity, not to mention the vegetables.
With these portions of meat and vegetables, they could at least let these soldiers have two good meals and make up for the fat they had lost on the way here.
General Zhang cupped his fists at Gu Chengrui and said, “On behalf of my brothers, I thank you, Brother Gu.”
“You’re too kind, and I should be the one thanking you. Otherwise, I’m afraid my manor would not have peaceful days.” Gu Chengrui returned the thanks.
“Protecting the village is also one of our missions.
“Also, we can’t take your offerings for free. I will pay the normal price for the meat and vegetables.”
“Maybe next time. This time is a little token of our appreciation to welcome everyone.”
“But…”
Without waiting for Zhang Ping to finish, Manager Liu advised, “Since it’s Doctor Gu’s kind intention, you should accept it. Just think of protecting your meat and rations when you protect the manor from now on.”
Seeing this, Zhang Ping opened his mouth and nodded, “Thank you, Doctor Gu. But this is the only time. We’ll pay you the normal price in the future.”
“Sure, we’ll charge 20 taels for a cattle and 5 taels for a sheep.
“As for vegetables, we don’t grow much. If we have any extras, we’ll give them to you; we can’t offer you extras if we don’t have any.”
After hearing Gu Chengrui state the price for his livestock, Zhang Ping was stunned.
Of course, it wasn’t because it was too expensive, but because it was too cheap.
He glanced at Manager Liu and saw his unmoving expression. He knew that Manager Liu was used to hearing these prices.
At the same time, he respected Gu Chengrui. It was no wonder that General Zhou and the Third Prince would protect them so much.
“Alright, it’s a deal then. I’ll send someone to the manor to inform you if there’s a need.”
“General Zhang can just come to me, as he’s usually not in the manor. Alright, we’ll take our leave now,” Manager Liu cupped his fists and replied.
“See you later.” After Zhang Ping sent them out of the tent, he personally went to the kitchen and ordered them to make a good meal for everyone to nourish their bodies.
When they returned home in the evening, Zhou Ying was about to go to the kitchen to cook when Gu Chengrui stopped her and said with a smile, “Babe, you’ve forgotten what day it is today.”
“What day is it?” Zhou Ying looked at him in surprise.
To be honest, there was no calendar or phone here, so she was a little confused as she didn’t know the specific date..