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A few days later, the weather suddenly became muggy, followed by light rain.

The rain grew heavier and it went on for three days straight before it stopped.

Most of the villagers had already dried their golden and silver fungus, packed them in cloth bags, and stored them in bamboo buckets.

By November, drum signals from the county called upon every household to send one person for mandatory labor service.

The service was to repair the city walls and clean the rivers running through the county, estimated to last about a month.

Jiang Sanlang organized a village meeting and told the villagers, “Steward Zhou will be coming over these few days to buy fungus, so prepare the golden ears you intend to sell by weighing them exactly. Don’t mix in any spoiled or moldy ones to avoid disputes.”

The last time they sold golden fungus, a few households had mixed in moldy ones which caused friction when discovered by Zhou Mao.

If it weren’t for his intervention, Zhou Mao wouldn’t have bought any fungus from those households.

Chen Yin said, “Third brother, rest assured, our golden ears selected are top-notch, absolutely no spoilage.”

Chen Zhu also said, “Same here in my household.”

The rest of the villagers also pledged to avoid such situations this time.

After discussing the golden ears, Jiang Sanlang went on to discuss the cotton and its seeds.

“For cotton and its seeds, save enough for your own households, and sell a portion to the county government. Later, Sun Licheng will come to our village to weigh and purchase them.”

This year, their Dongchen Village became the focus of the county magistrate. During cotton harvest, a trusted adviser Mr. Liao from Mingfu was sent for an inspection, and 20,000 jin of cotton seeds and cotton was prearranged.

All these cotton and its seeds have to be sent to the prefecture city, and from there the city will hand them to the Ministry of Revenue. So, this quantity must be met.

“But the 20,000 jin of cotton seeds don’t seem to be a big deal. It’ll be enough if every household contributes a few hundred jins.”

“That’s right, Sanlang, rest assured, there won’t be any mistakes even if you hadn’t mentioned it.”

“We’ve set aside our cotton and seeds, prepared to sell 800 jin to the county government.”

“Yes, yes! We’re doing the same thing!” The villagers chimed in their agreement.

This year’s cotton and seeds were not as tight as last year’s, each household planted over twenty acres.

Jiang Sanlang and his two brothers planted even more. They planted forty acres each on the South Slope. The harvested cotton could fill several rooms.

Fortunately, Yingbao provided the blueprint for a cotton ginning machine. Jiang Sanlang had a very skilled carpenter from the town produce it. The machine was fast and convenient to use.

Jiang Sanlang didn’t keep this to himself. He shared the cotton ginning machine with the other villagers, freeing them from the tedious process of manually ginning the cotton.

So, when Jiang Sanlang asked them to sell a portion of their cotton and seeds to the county government, the villagers readily agreed.

After all, the price offered by the county government was not as high as the merchants from outside. If the villagers sell more to the government, they would lose the same amount of money.

Having given instructions on cotton and its seeds, Jiang Sanlang started to register the names of those who would be going for labor service. This list would then be handed over to Sun Licheng, who would report to the county government.

The next day, Jiang Sanlang, leading a group of villagers and carrying tools, headed towards the county city.

It was over a hundred miles from Chuanhe Town to the county city. They estimated that it would take two days on foot.

Though Yingbao felt sorry for her father, there was nothing she could do. She could only give him some pills, and a couple of bottles of body-strengthening tonic for him to sip when he felt tired.

The day after the villagers set off for forced labor, Zhou Mao arrived in Dongchen Village with two horse carts.

He first went to Jiang Sanlang’s house, sat in the hall, and chatted with Old Man Jiang.

When he saw the premium golden ears Jiang family brought out, he was a bit surprised, “Why is it only 20 jin?”

Old Man Jiang stroked his beard and laughed, “Isn’t it always around 20 jin each time?”

“But I heard you clearly last time. You said that the quantity you planted this time is more than usual.” Zhou Mao looked suspiciously at Old Man Jiang: “Don’t tell me you sold it to others?”

Old Man Jiang coughed awkwardly, “I won’t hide it from you. Officer Xiao from Xuefu City has ordered ten jin. Doctor Li from the town also bought ten jin. That was all we had. The rest is left for you.”

“Officer Xiao from the prefecture city?” Zhou Mao frowned.

Could it be someone from the Xiao Family who is the observation officer for the Provincial Military Exercise?

That’s not someone to be messed with.

Zhou Mao didn’t say anything further and weighed the golden fungus.

At this moment, villagers started to bring their golden and silver fungus over one after another.

Zhou Mao asked his two assistants to check the quality of the goods. Meanwhile, he instructed his men to unload the weaving machines from the horse cart.

“The weaving machines you ordered, specifically bought from Wuzhou, are the most recent model.”

Zhou Mao pointed to the weaving machines and asked, “Where do you plan to put them? I’ll have my men assemble them for you.”

Upon hearing this, Chunniang was delighted. She quickly instructed the men to place the weaving machines into a well-lit side room, “Just put them here, thank you both.”

It was a bit of a squeeze to place two weaving machines inside the room, but they still made it. It didn’t affect their usage.

This time, Zhou Mao not only brought two weaving machines, but he also brought along a master to teach Chunniang how to thread and weave.

After the assembly, Chunniang immediately put the hand-spun threads onto the weaving machine and started to test it out.

It was highly efficient indeed, and the width of the cloth was wider than what they could achieve with their own machine.

“How much for these two weaving machines?” Chunniang asked.

Zhou Mao: “Including our delivery charge, the two machines are 230 taels in total.”

“What?” So expensive?

Chunniang looked over at her young daughter, seeking her opinion.

Yingbao nodded at her.

The machines certainly wouldn’t be this expensive locally in Wu Yue, but since they brought it over here from thousands of miles away without any damage, it should be worth this price.

And also, there’s nothing like this in the local area. What Zhou Mao brought wasn’t just two machines, but a whole new technology.

As long as they sold the blueprints for this weaving machine, they could possibly make back the more than 200 taels.

Seeing her daughter nodding, Chunniang didn’t hesitate anymore. She fetched the silver and handed it to Zhou Mao.

They were fortunate to have the money from Doctor Li and Officer Xiao for buying the golden fungus; otherwise, Chunniang wouldn’t have enough silver to pay.

Suddenly, a heated argument erupted outside.

All they saw was Han Miaoniang, carrying a back basket, angrily accusing, “You are all bullies! Why accept theirs but not mine?”

The younger assistant replied, “Your golden fungus is moldy. Of course, we’re not buying.”

“Moldy? Where’s the mold?” Han Miaoniang shouted loudly, “Stop pushing people too far!”

Enraged, the assistant pointed at the golden fungus in her basket and said, “You thought we wouldn’t notice if you just wiped off the mold? None of us is an idiot. The color of the golden fungus has changed. You are still asking where the mold is? The whole thing is moldy and its sticky. Who the hell would want this?”

Han Miaoniang sat down hard on the scale in despair, slapping her thigh and crying, “Oh my god! You city folks are such bullies. You’re being picky even when purchasing fungus. You think that because I’m a woman, you can bully me? Oh God, I don’t want to live anymore…”

The assistant, red in the face from anger, was about to push Han Miaoniang aside and take back the scale beam. Just then, Steward Zhou stepped forward, “Enough, we’re not buying it. Let’s leave.”

They had finished weighing the premium golden fungus, and the remaining ones aren’t important. Whether they take them or not doesn’t matter.

The assistant was stunned for a moment but quickly regained his senses. He promptly started to pack the weighed goods onto the cart, preparing to leave.

Villagers, who were waiting in line, were not pleased. They all started to criticize Han Miaoniang.

Two women even stepped up to pull her away, mocking her, “Look here, Han’s, who can you blame if the fungus from your household has gone moldy? Don’t obstruct our business while you make a scene here. If you plan on throwing a tantrum, do it at home with your husband. No one here is going to indulge you.”