"Dad, what's in these jars? They're so valuable!" Song Daming asked in surprise.

"The Qiao family must be selling things we don't know about. Their search for poisonous mushrooms in the mountains is just a pretext; they're afraid we'll find out," Song Laoda concluded, making what he thought was a very clever analysis.

"But how can we know what they are actually selling?"

Boss Song thought for a moment and said, "We still need to observe this carefully. Let that brat go. He's small and won't be easily spotted."

After selling the mushrooms, Qiao Lian'er and her brother didn't rush back. Instead, they went to the shop and bought fabrics of different colors, shoe soles and uppers of different sizes. They also went to the butcher's house and bought a large piece of pork with a good balance of fat and lean meat, dozens of eggs, and some vegetables.

Their baskets were heavy with fruit; they returned home laden with their bounty.

Passing by someone selling chickens and ducks, Qiao Lian'er squatted down and bought ten chicks and six ducklings. After thinking for a while, she realized that her family hadn't eaten chicken in a long time, so she bought a big rooster to take home and kill.

As for buying piglets to raise, Old Mrs. Qiao can just look for them in the village; the pigsty and chicken/duck pen at home have already been repaired and set up.

Neither Old Man Qiao nor Old Woman Qiao went up the mountain today. They need to travel far to find mushrooms, and they are getting old. Their son and daughter-in-law are all advising them to stay at home.

However, they were not idle; they tended to the half-grown vegetables in their own vegetable garden.

The Qiao family had a vegetable garden on the hillside, where they grew vegetables to meet their daily needs. However, the soil was poor, and the vegetables they grew were not ideal.

But what else can we do? The family in front of us depends on that land for their vegetables. If we can't supply it, they'll have to eat wild vegetables.

After finishing their work on the hillside, the two elderly people wandered around the nearby mountains and found two kilograms of termite mushrooms.

From afar, I saw the three siblings returning from the town to the village, and the two elders had also returned home.

Seeing them buying meat and cloth, Grandma Qiao agreed. She then looked at the chicks and ducklings and said, "They are of good character. After lunch, your grandfather and I will go to the village to pick out three piglets to raise."

Thinking of the piglets grunting in the pigpen and the chickens and ducks running all over the yard, Grandma Qiao was clearly in a good mood. She walked with light steps and was full of energy.

There was plenty of oil, salt, and meat at home, and chickens and ducks roamed freely.

This is the good life she's always dreamed of.

Qiao Lian'er also bought some broken rice and bran, which she scattered on the ground. The chicks and ducklings gathered around and happily pecked at each other.

Looking at the lively scene, a smile appeared in her eyes.

Qiao Lian'er handed the box containing the silver to Old Lady Qiao. Old Lady Qiao took out the larger box from the bottom locked drawer of the dresser, put the two boxes together, and counted the silver ingots one by one. Now the family had seventy-five taels of silver.

Grandma Qiao's eyes were filled with satisfaction.

"Grandma, now that we've reached one hundred taels, shouldn't we build a courtyard?" Qiao Lian'er said.

Grandma Qiao thought for a moment and shook her head: "We should wait until we have at least two hundred taels of silver. We'll expand our courtyard and build more rooms, since we have a lot of people to live in. When your daughters get married, they'll have their own rooms when they come back to their parents' home."

Old Qiao sat at the doorway smoking his pipe, then tapped it on the leg of the stool: "Yes, that's how it's done. One hundred taels is only enough for the grandson to live in; what about the granddaughter?"

“We treat everyone in the Qiao family equally. We’ll build a new house when we’ve saved up two hundred taels of silver. It will be made of blue bricks and black tiles, and every room will be bright and spacious.”

Qiao Lian'er felt a surge of warmth in her heart. In the world she came from, although civilization had progressed a lot, many girls' families did not provide them with rooms after they got married.

Although this is an unrecorded dynasty called Dazeguo, it is certain to be an ancient society.