Qiu Chunfang gritted her teeth and said through gritted teeth, "I think it's at least twenty-five yuan! More than that!"

"What? So many?"

Li Hongjuan gasped sharply, counting on her fingers as her eyes darted around.

“I’ve noticed that this country woman comes every three or four days. So far, she’s come four times in total. That means she’s earned a hundred yuan in less than a month! If the country woman takes half of that, that’s fifty yuan!”

Qiu Chunfang's eyes almost popped out.

"Fifty yuan?! Yao Yao is a college graduate from medical school, and she works at our clinic. She only makes fifty or sixty yuan a month. Why should she get so much? All she does is sell flowers!"

When the two looked at each other, the greed surging in their eyes was almost overflowing.

Meanwhile, at Wang's house next door, Zhao Damei saw that Wang hadn't finished breakfast yet, so she didn't ask her to help move the flowers. Instead, she carried the pots of flowers herself onto the donkey cart at Xiaoximen, working up a sweat.

This time, the flower stand was full of colorful flowers, with several kinds of plants. Spider plants had tender green leaves hanging down, salvia splendens bloomed like little lanterns, cockscomb flowers were bright red, and carnations of various colors were crowded together, totaling nearly thirty pots.

Wang's wife was by the donkey cart talking to Zhao Damei about the care instructions, her rough fingers pointing at the flowerpots as she looked at the flowers and plants with a smile.

"These carnations were propagated by cuttings I took more than half a month ago. They are cold-resistant and grow quickly. There are also a large number of petunias in the backyard, which will be fully grown in ten days to half a month. I don't have to worry about not having enough to sell!"

As Zhao Damei responded, she tied the hemp rope securely to the flower stand, ignoring the red marks on her wrists from the rope.

After giving her instructions, she cracked her whip and drove off in the donkey cart. Whether the donkey was running too fast or something else, she suddenly felt a chill down her spine and sneezed violently.

"Big Sister Mei~ over here~!"

At that moment, a clear voice rang out from the parade ground west of the military dependents' area.

Zhao Damei glanced over and saw Zhou Qiqi, Zhu Yingying, Deng Cuixiang, Xiang Yang, and Zhouzhou.

After the men in the house left, Zhu Yingying and Deng Cuixiang went to Zhou Qiqi's house after breakfast.

In the morning, it was Zhou Qiqi and Zhu Yingying's usual time to go for a run on the playground. They had just finished two laps when they spotted Zhao Damei's donkey cart in the distance.

Zhao Damei parked the donkey cart to the side, and several people gathered around, exchanging greetings.

"Sister Deng, why haven't you been selling pickles these past few days? I was thinking of taking you to the city with me!"

Deng Cuixiang, supporting her waist, smiled.

"I twisted my back a couple of days ago, and it's not fully healed yet. I'll go in a couple of days!"

Zhao Damei quickly replied, "Then let me know when you're going, and I'll give you a ride!"

Looking at her car, which was full of things and looked thriving, Deng Cuixiang teased.

"You've already got so much stuff in your car, and with me in tow, don't let your donkey get exhausted!"

Zhao Damei bent down and patted the donkey's neck, and the donkey snorted.

"No, no, it's just a wooden frame with some flowers and plants, what's so heavy about it!"

As she spoke, her gaze inadvertently fell upon the two large cloth bags in front of her, and she slapped her forehead.

"Oh right, I almost forgot, I brought you some hawthorns here, you can take this bag and share it."

She handed one bag to Deng Cuixiang and the other to Zhou Qiqi.

"Qiqi, could you give this bag to Sister-in-law Wang for me? I was so focused on the money that I forgot about this. These are wild hawthorns that my two kids picked from the mountain these past few days. They're very fresh and perfect for making jam or candied hawthorns!"

The cloth bag was heavy, and the wild hawthorns inside were bright red, big and round, and looked very fresh.

Zhou Qiqi nodded, holding the heavy cloth bag.

"Sure! No problem! We'll bring it for you when we get back!"

As she spoke, she urged Zhao Damei to leave quickly and not waste any more time here.

After Zhao Damei left, they ran a few laps around the playground and then went back.

Zhou Qiqi told Zhouzhou to go home by herself first. Just as she was about to head to Wang Dasao's house, Jiang Xiangyang grabbed her trouser leg and started jumping around.

"I'm going too! I'm going to borrow a wooden airplane from Brother Dalin to play with!"

Brother Dalin is Sister-in-law Wang's youngest son. He often makes wooden toys to play with, and Jiang Xiangyang always pesters him to play with them.

Zhou Qiqi took Jiang Xiangyang's hand and they went over together. As soon as they reached the alley entrance, he started shouting excitedly.

"Brother Dalin! Are you home?"

Wang Dalin ran out with a piece of wood in his mouth and a half-carved wooden gun in his hand, beckoning Jiang Xiangyang to come inside.

Zhou Qiqi was about to knock on the door, but Jiang Xiangyang pulled her hand and led her inside.

"Sister-in-law Wang..."

Zhou Qiqi had no choice but to follow them inside. When she reached the main room, she was about to call out to Sister-in-law Wang when she heard a familiar voice coming from Sister-in-law Wang's room.

“Mother-in-law, think about it. We don’t know anything about this person. She decides how much to sell the flowers for, and we don’t even know how much she’ll give! What if she cheats you?”