'We can't go on like this,' Juhua resolved with grim determination.
Xiatang Market was a small place. Besides goods like rice, wheat, and pork, which could be sold for money, everything else was something every household already had. Take vegetables, for instance—even if you had a surplus, who could you sell it to? Forget vegetables; even pork was hard to sell at a good price in the latter half of the year!
Being far from the city meant the economy was stagnant and goods didn't circulate well. This was the core of the problem. How could they turn Xiatang Market into a hub that merchants would be eager to visit?
How could their family get rich?
Zhang Huai and Qingmu were also pondering this very question.
When the tax month designated by the county government arrived, villagers from all the surrounding areas flocked to pay their taxes, crowding Xiatang Market. The small boats docked at Erli Village arrived low in the water, loaded down, but floated back high and empty.
