After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

Chapter 413 The family is short-handed

"Then you still dare to say you'll come back to help me! Aren't you afraid of being chased and beaten by Lord Lu!" Su Tai glared at him reproachfully, then placed a piece of tender beef on his plate. "Take good care of yourself, you'll be busy after the New Year!"

Shen Yi was very pleased and shamelessly asked Su Tai to get her some more, saying, "The coal mine matter will probably offend a lot of people, especially those powerful local families."

Su Tai paused in her act of scalding the beef. "You mean the Zhu family?"

Shen Yi nodded slightly, "It's not just the Zhu family, there are several others as well. The main problem is that the county government can't afford to compensate them with enough money, so they naturally can't bear the losses incurred."

"There's nothing we can do about it. We can't exactly build pavilions and towers for them; that would be too beautiful!" Su Tai pouted.

He deeply realized how difficult things were for Shen Yi.

"So when I came back this time and saw that our village had built a wall, I was actually quite happy. Putting aside everything else, with the wall, you will be safer living in the village. Also, I want to buy a few more servants to guard the house."

"It's already not safe for you and your children to be out alone; if you go out again, it will be even more dangerous to leave four children at home."

Shen Yi knew that Su Tai was unwilling to bring strangers home, but things were different now. It would be abnormal if their family didn't even have a servant.

Su Tai gritted her teeth and said, "What you said makes sense, but how can we guarantee the character of these servants? My uncle's family worked at the Bai family's residence before. First there was Granny Li and Cuilan, and later the Ma family caught a lot of traitors. With more people, there will be more trouble."

Shen Yi knew what Su Tai was talking about. After thinking for a moment, he suggested, "Why don't we go to Qiongzi and buy some children from poor families?"

"Why would you suddenly think that?" Su Tai asked, somewhat surprised.

Shen Yi said helplessly, "Now that coal mining has started in Zhaohua County, every household has a way to make money. Unless they are really desperate, what good family would be willing to sell their children? Besides, there are too many troubles with buying from our locals. It's better to go to Qiongzi."

Life is hard for the people there; many families can't even afford to raise their children. If we choose carefully, we can find a good family. As for our family's special circumstances, we can find a way to cover them up.

Su Tai was initially reluctant, but after careful consideration, she felt that Shen Yi's suggestion was the most reliable. It was indeed not safe for four children to stay at home, and there was also the guokui workshop, which was an inconspicuous little business that required extra manpower on the first and fifteenth of each lunar month. It was becoming increasingly difficult to find manpower in the village, especially during the busy farming season, when orders had to be turned away.

"Alright! I'll do as you say. When are we going?"

It would take a long time to go back and forth.

Shen Yi smiled and said, "I'll arrange the spring plowing tasks in advance. I also need to take people to the ice plains and make a trip to Qiongzi. It won't take up too much time."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yuezhang and Shen Congrong clamored to go together, and even the twins were eager to join them, asking why their older siblings could go to their great-aunt's house while they had to stay at home.

That matter-of-fact little face made Su Tai grit her teeth in anger.

It's not a good time to discipline the kids during the Lunar New Year, so I can only stare at them blankly.

The next day was the first day of the Lunar New Year, and Shen Yi and Su Tai unusually slept in.

It's said that you shouldn't cook during the first month of the lunar calendar, so the couple decided to relax and not cook at all. As for the food, that was easy; Su Tai simply went to the Fire Time Food Street to buy ready-made meals.

The children, however, asked a couple of questions, seemingly puzzled.

Since Su Tai didn't say anything, they were at a loss.

As long as there's food, they won't really care about much else.

For the villagers, the Spring Festival is all about eating, drinking, visiting relatives and friends, and doing whatever makes them feel comfortable.

Apart from Su Tai and Shen Yi.

The two of them only slacked off for two days.

After a trip to Dongmen Village on the second day of the Lunar New Year, the couple left their four children with Han Shi and Su Chunlin at the Su family home and immediately threw themselves into the busy seafood business upon their return. While Su Tai spent the day fishing in the water dimension, Shen Yi was outside sorting and piling up various kinds of seafood with a shovel.

The villagers and tenant farmers from Zhangjia Village only came to the villa to work on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year.

The group walked to the gate of the villa and found that the gate was only ajar and not locked. They tried to push it open, but the door only had a small gap and was obviously not bolted.

Zhang Youfu was puzzled and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Madam Shen, are you there? Open the door!"

"Hey! Try to open the door! We can't get out either!" Su Tai's voice came from deep within the courtyard.

Everyone looked at each other.

Fang made a quick decision and called on several strong tenant farmers to push open the door.

As soon as the door was forced open with a slightly wider crack, chunks of frozen fish kept rushing out.

The tenant farmer who opened the door jumped in fright, dodging the sliding "weapon".

"My God! What's going on! They haven't come for days, and the goods have buried the yard?"

The villagers of Zhangjia Village watched this scene in shock.

Several women huddled together, swallowing hard. "When will this ever end?"

"Hey! Stop talking and get to work! It's 150 coins a day! I estimate I can keep you busy for ten days to half a month!" Zhang Youfu was both happy and worried. He called two more people to help and pushed the door open forcefully.

As a result, despite working very hard that day, they could only clear the area closest to the door.

Shen Yi had to go to great lengths to throw away the wicker baskets and banana leaves used for packaging.

The packed goods couldn't be sent to the warehouse, so they had to be temporarily piled up in the thatched shed.

Fang was still worried, so he specially asked more than a dozen tenants to keep watch with him at night.

They were still figuring out how long it would take to process all the seafood in the yard, completely unaware that Su Tai was still pouring it in.

Everyone worked tirelessly until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to finish packing all the seafood in the yard.

At this time, all the rooms in the courtyard had been turned into warehouses, filled with all kinds of seafood. The courtyard itself was also packed full, and the thatched shed outside the courtyard occupied half of it.

It's not safe to keep so much stock here.

Su Tai could only contact Ma Xingteng to come and take away some of them.

Ma Xingteng was quite fast, but his face looked rather grumpy.

Su Tai raised an eyebrow. "What? You're not happy about making money?"

Ma Xingteng was on the verge of tears. "Sister-in-law, I haven't had a moment's rest all year. I finally wanted to take a good rest, but now all my plans are ruined! Sigh! I'm just destined to be a workaholic!"

"Then should I find someone else to do it?"

As soon as Su Tai opened her mouth, Ma Xingteng immediately ordered his servants to move the goods, fearing that if he was even a second late, Su Tai might have some inappropriate thoughts. If the deal fell through, he would be in deep trouble when he got back.

Su Tai scoffed at his obsequious manner. "You little brat! I can't handle you!"
Unfortunately, Ma Xingteng's caravan was still too small. Despite his efforts, he could only clear out three thatched sheds, leaving two sheds with nowhere to store their goods.

Just as Su Tai was having a headache, the caravan finally returned.