"Chunmei, I heard that Xintian and Jinlian raise chickens because you can help them sell the eggs. Is that true?"

"Chunmei, if I raise some too, could you help us sell the eggs?"

"Chunmei..."

Xia Chunmei was surrounded by villagers as soon as she got up early in the morning.

Xia Chunmei had anticipated these situations. She said, "Raising chickens is a good thing, but uncles and aunts, my abilities are limited, and I can't guarantee that I can help everyone sell all the eggs."

If each of you raises dozens or hundreds of them, they will lay thousands of eggs a day in the future.

"Weddings aren't held every day, and people don't necessarily have to buy food from our village when they hold a banquet. I hope you understand that."

As soon as Xia Chunmei finished speaking, everyone was stunned into silence.

Seeing how many chickens Xia Xintian and Chen Jinlian were raising, and hearing that Xia Chunmei had connections to help sell them, they naturally became envious and anxious.

But now that I've heard Xia Chunmei say this, it doesn't seem quite right either.

At this moment, Xia Xintian arrived. He had heard that Xia Chunmei was surrounded, so he rushed to the rescue.

Xia Xintian said to everyone, "I saw that Chunmei was hosting banquets for people, so I thought I'd raise some chickens. When the chickens start laying eggs, I'll talk business with the people who hired Chunmei to host their banquets."

Selling eggs isn't something Chunmei will do for me. Whether I can sell them or not depends on my own skills and luck. What's the point of you blocking her? If she had a way to sell all the eggs, why doesn't she raise them herself?

“Lihua and I only raised thirty chickens when we helped Chunmei with the banquet, because we were afraid we wouldn’t be able to sell the eggs. If Chunmei were as capable, I would have raised three hundred chickens,” Xia Mingshi said.

Hearing what Xia Mingshi and Xia Xintian said, the group's enthusiasm immediately cooled.

A few, unwilling to give up, asked Xia Xintian again, "Xintian, aren't you afraid of losing money with such a large investment?"

"If you lose money, just accept your bad luck. If you're interested, you can join us in raising them. At most, you'll only lose the money for the chicks and a little effort."

"You make it sound so easy. A hundred chicks would cost two hundred coins. You're rich enough to afford that, but we can't."

"Exactly, I've only saved up a little money for my funeral in my whole life, I wouldn't dare do that."

Xia Xintian laughed and said, "Doing business is bound to be risky. If you don't raise chickens, you can have your children dig earthworms for me. I'll pay you one coin for every two pounds of earthworms."

"Nitta, is what you're saying true?"

"Two pounds for one penny."

"Yes, I need about ten kilograms a day."

At this point, the villagers were no longer thinking about raising chickens; they were only thinking about digging up earthworms to sell to Xia Xintian. In their view, this was a sure-fire way to make money.

Moreover, as long as it's ten kilograms, whoever is more diligent and digs more will earn more.

The villagers hurriedly took their children to dig for earthworms.

Xia Chunmei thought it would take a lot of talking, but she didn't expect it to be resolved so easily.

This may be why the poor get poorer and the rich get richer.

The poor can't afford to lose, so they hesitate even when opportunities are right in front of them; the rich can afford to lose, so they dare to take risks!

"Aunt Chunmei, please save my mother, please save my mother, sob sob sob..." Seven-year-old Zhaodi knelt down in front of Xia Chunmei with tears streaming down her face.

Xia Chunmei helped the little girl up: "What happened to your mother?"

"The fabric is gone, waaaaah... my grandma... hit me..."

Zhao Di was sobbing uncontrollably and could barely speak, but Xia Chunmei still managed to glean some clues from her fragmented words.

"Stop crying, take me there to see."

Xia Chunmei could hear Xia Dengshi beating Tian Cuiya with a firewood stick from afar, saying as she did so, "Why don't you just throw yourself away, you lazy whore! My Xia family was truly blind to have married such a jinx!"

"We can't even have a son, we can't even save up for a scrap of cloth. What's the point of you living? What do we have left to call ourselves 'jinxes'?"

Not satisfied, Xia Dengshi hit Tian Cuiya several more times after finishing her sentence, making Tian Cuiya scream in pain.

Seeing how badly Tian Cuiya had been beaten, Niu Shi felt a bit gloating and even gave Xia Deng Shi a bad idea: "Mother, if you can't pay back the debt, just sell the surplus. Anyway, she's still young and can't do any work. She can only eat rice. Selling it to pay off the debt will save the family some food."

"No, Mother, please don't sell the surplus, please don't sell the surplus, sob sob sob..."

Tian Cuiya's two children, Xiangnan and Duoyu, huddled in a corner, tears streaming down their faces, trembling with fear.

"If we don't sell her, how will we pay off our debts? If we don't sell her, we'll sell you!" Xia Dengshi said fiercely.

"Auntie, Sister-in-law Cuiya." Xia Chunmei arrived, leading Zhaodi by the hand.

Seeing Xia Chunmei, Tian Cuiya looked guilty: "Chunmei, I don't know how the fabric went missing. I kept it in the box. There are people at home every day, how could it have gone missing? Chunmei, it's my fault, I'm so sorry..."

Xia Dengshi said, "Chunmei, you've come at the right time. This slut couldn't even protect the fabric. I beat her badly. I can't afford to pay for it..."

Before Xia Dengshi could finish speaking, Xia Niushi said, "Chunmei, you're so rich now, why don't you just stop making us pay? Look at how badly your sister-in-law Cuiya was beaten by your aunt, why don't you just let it go?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Dengshi's eyes lit up.

Xia Chunmei sneered, "You're ugly but you think too highly of yourself. You feel so sorry for your sister-in-law, why don't you pay her back?"

"Where would I get the money to pay back?"

"Why pretend to be rich when you have no money?"

Niu choked, her face turning bright red.

The bolt of fabric was only used to make one pair of trousers for each of the four Xia Chunmei sisters. Given their size, less than a third of the fabric was used.

The remaining cloth was worth at least one tael of silver. He had worked hard to organize six banquets but hadn't earned a single tael of silver. Yet she was trying to make him lose one tael of silver with just a few words. To say she was dreaming was an understatement.

"Chunmei, my mother-in-law wants to sell the surplus to pay off debts. I beg you to help me. I will repay you by working like a cow or a horse. I can sell myself to you as a maid. Chunmei, please help my daughter..." Tian Cuiya kept kowtowing to Xia Chunmei.

Zhao Di and her two younger sisters cried and kowtowed to Xia Chunmei, begging her to help them.

"Stop kowtowing. I'm dirt poor myself, how could I afford to support a maid?"

"Then the only option is to sell people to pay off the debt, Chunmei, how can you live with yourself?" Niu said gloatingly.

"It wasn't me who wanted to sell her, so why should I feel guilty? Isn't it you, this poisonous woman who encouraged your mother-in-law to sell your own niece, who should feel guilty?"

Niu was speechless again.

Xia Chunmei looked at Tian Cuiya and said, "I don't need you to compensate me for the things, nor do I need you to sell yourself, but I have one condition."

"Tell me your conditions, and I'll agree to anything." Tian Cuiya seemed to have found a lifeline.

“Teach your skills to my third sister.”

Tian Cuiya's craftsmanship is truly excellent. The four pairs of pants she sent to Xia Chunmei a few days ago were meticulously made, and she even added pockets to the pants as Chunmei requested.

Tian Cuiya also carefully embroidered plum blossoms on the pocket. The embroidery skills were not very good, but they were still quite nice.

Xia Chunmei was inexplicably transported into the book, and she didn't know if she would one day inexplicably return to reality, so she was thinking about making arrangements for the future of her several younger sisters.

Xia Dongmei couldn't go to the banquet, but staying home to look after Yaomei and learning needlework was a good option. Having a skill to rely on, even if it couldn't be used as a means of making a living in the future, would make it easier to find a partner.

Niu couldn't help but interrupt again: "Chunmei, your idea is too good. Every master has to pay a few taels of silver for training an apprentice. The lost cloth is only worth one tael of silver at most. You think you can learn the craft for one tael of silver? You're really shrewd."

Niu's words reminded Xia Dengshi, who hurriedly said, "That's right, a skill can't be learned so easily. You have to give me another five taels of silver."

"Business is about mutual consent. Since you feel it's not right, then forget it. You can return the fabric to me at the discounted price of one tael of silver."

Xia Dengshi's eyes widened: "Why aren't you studying again?"

“My sister doesn’t necessarily want to learn this. Wouldn’t it be better if she learned cooking from me in the future? Originally, I was thinking that you couldn’t afford to pay me back, so I planned to have my sister learn it. Since you feel that you’re at a disadvantage, then forget it.”

Niu Shi: "Chunmei, we're all from the same clan, why are you so stingy? You're not short of money, how about giving me some tuition?"

"Why do you talk so much but have no skills? You keep saying you're rich, but give me money! If you have no money and no skills, just shut up."

Mrs. Niu was so angry that her face turned red and her neck bulged: "I'm so much older than you, how dare you talk to me like that?"

"Where is your tumor bigger than mine?"

Niu didn't know what a tumor was, but he guessed that Xia Chunmei must have said something unpleasant, and he was furious.

Xia Chunmei continued, "I've already been very polite in my words. Don't force me to say anything more unpleasant, or you'll be the one who loses face."

Niu was so angry she couldn't speak, and glared fiercely at Xia Chunmei.

Xia Chunmei looked at Tian Cuiya and continued, "If you agree, I will go to the Wang family again and borrow a bolt of cloth. You can make it for me while teaching my sister. I don't want you to compensate for the lost cloth. I will also give you five catties of fish, ten coins, and ten eggs."

"I'm willing, Chunmei, I'm willing. I'll do anything as long as you don't sell my child."

"You're badly injured. Let's start working again tomorrow."

"Chunmei, I'm fine. I can teach Dongmei today."

"Then come to my house to get the fabric first, and help me get the sheets and duvet cover out."

Upon hearing about the bed sheets and duvet covers, Tian Cuiya was glad she hadn't brought all the fabric home last time, otherwise the loss would have been even greater.

“Your skills are not bad. I won’t take advantage of you. You teach my third sister how to make a living. Besides not having to pay for the lost fabric, I will give you a hundred coins and fifty eggs. You won’t need the eggs if you take them back. As usual, I will have Dongmei secretly give the eggs to your three daughters until the twelfth lunar month.”

Xia Chunmei spoke to Tian Cuiya only when there was no one else around.

Tian Cuiya never expected Xia Chunmei to be so kind. She immediately knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Chunmei, thank you, thank you..."

"Get up. Don't kneel down so easily. But remember this: if your in-laws find out about this, it won't be me who suffers, it will be you and your three daughters. Understand?"

“I understand. I won’t tell anyone, and I’ll tell the children not to talk about it. Don’t worry, Chunmei, I will teach Dongmei well. If Yaomei grows up and wants to learn, I can teach her too, for free.”

"We'll talk about this later. Take this piece of fabric back with you and make the bed sheets and duvet covers for me as soon as possible."

"Chunmei, maybe I won't take the fabric home..." Tian Cuiya was already traumatized. If it got lost again, she would have nothing else to pay off the debt, and her mother-in-law would definitely sell the child to pay it off.

"I'm staying here temporarily, and there's hardly any room to work in this tiny space... Besides, how are we going to catch the fabric thief if you don't take the fabric back with you?"

Tian Cuiya's eyes widened in surprise: "Chunmei, what do you mean by this?"

"Do you want to catch this thief?" Xia Chunmei asked her.

Tian Cuiya nodded vigorously: "Of course I want to! No matter who she is, I want to find her and make her pay!"

Hearing this, Xia Chunmei whispered, "Take the fabric back, and then..."

Tian Cuiya was still afraid: "But what if..."

"As long as you don't give yourself away, there won't be any mishaps. The day after tomorrow, the fifth day of the lunar new year, is market day. Everyone will be going to the market. The thief has already succeeded once, and he will definitely take the opportunity to strike again."