Awang didn’t cook much for dinner, and the whole family ate too much watermelon.

While there was still light in the sky, Dalang was the first to put down his bowl and chopsticks. Qin Yao gave him two taels of silver and said, "You must hand it over to your master Fu in person, and then take back the money for our melons."

Erlang curiously asked how much he would have to bring back for the melon money. After learning the price, he asked Qin Yao why she didn't just take one tael and eight qian of silver and ask his eldest brother to deliver it. It would be the same amount after all, so why change hands twice?

"You don't understand this, do you?" Qin Yao waved her hand to let Dalang go quickly, watched him go out, and then turned back to explain to Erlang.

"Not everyone likes to settle accounts this way. Your Master Fu is a bit stubborn, so it's easiest to settle accounts one by one."

Otherwise, if he can't settle the account later, he will have to come to her to continue arguing.

Erlang nodded three times, indicating that he had learned it.

However, Erlang still couldn't help but complain, "This is too troublesome, it's very simple, is it that difficult to calculate?"

Qin Yao just said that you are still too young and only have these one or two accounts in your mind.

Adults have a lot of things on their mind.

Dalang came back soon, bringing the two taels of silver and the two hundred wen for the melon. Liu Dafu's family was having dinner at the time, and they also gave him half a bowl of millet cake to take back.

Unfortunately, the whole family couldn't eat any more, so Qin Yao had to ask Awang to put it away first and heat it up for the four siblings as breakfast the next morning.

It was getting dark, and a cool breeze was blowing. The mother and her two children sat at the door of the main room facing the gate to enjoy the cool air.

Awang fried a bowl of peanuts, sprinkled them with sugar, and placed them on the small table. Qin Yao grabbed a handful and bit into them. They were crunchy.

Dalang asked with concern: "Aunt Yao, are we going to sell all the bitter melons in our house?"

Qin Yao discusses household matters with the children, making them feel involved.

Unlike other adults, no matter what questions children ask, they are always told to stay aside and children are not allowed to worry about adults' affairs.

Qin Yao shook her head. "We can eat and sell at the same time. Let's eat our fill first."

Upon hearing this, Erlang, Sanlang and Si Niang's eyes lit up and they were about to jump up and shout: That's great!

There were limited watermelon varieties. Although Qin Yao used two acres of land to grow watermelons, because the plants were planted sparsely, only seventy or eighty watermelons were produced per acre, which was less than one thousand kilograms.

The total weight of the two acres is less than two thousand kilograms, a total of one hundred and fifty-seven.

But even if the whole family consumes more, they won’t be able to finish all the food this summer.

After deducting the cost of favors, there will still be some money left to sell.

However, Qin Yao does not expect to make any money from watermelons this year; it is mainly an experiment.

Fortunately, the planting was successful now, which just satisfied my craving. I will save more seeds and try to plant a few more acres next year to increase the yield.

After listening to Qin Yao's plans, Dalang and his three siblings felt more at ease - they could eat to their heart's content!

The feeling of having enough delicious fruit was so wonderful. Si Niang held her little face and leaned on A Niang happily, saying that she would eat half a melon by herself tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that!

"No." Qin Yao warned seriously, "Just eat moderately. Children can't eat too much."

Si Niang screamed "Ah" and threw herself into A Niang's arms, swinging her two pigtails back and forth as she acted coquettishly, "Then can I eat half of it tomorrow and a little less the day after tomorrow?"

"Let's see tomorrow." Qin Yao held back her laughter and pretended to be serious.

Si Niang sighed and said, "Okay."

The next morning, Qin Yao went to the field and picked six more melons, preparing to use them as a favor.

One was given to the village chief, one was given to the clan leader, two were taken from the factory for everyone to try, and one was given to Carpenter Liu's family.

There is still one left. I will take it to the road construction team to quench the thirst of Huaer and others and boost their morale.

Working hard under the hot sun in the hot summer is extremely painful. Yesterday, on the way back from the town, Qin Yao met Hua'er and her daughter who were finishing work. She almost didn't recognize them.

Those faces were grey and those hands were tanned.

The back of Huaer's neck had been exposed to the sun for a long time and the skin had already peeled off. She was just a little girl and it was really unpleasant to look at her.

Qin Yao carried a sack of watermelons and delivered them door to door.

No one who got the melon was unhappy.

Yesterday, Liu Dafu showed off in the village, saying how delicious Qin Yao's bitter melon was, and how rare and precious it was, and he helped promote it for free.

The families that Qin Yao was familiar with had secretly been looking forward to it, and when they looked again this morning, their hope came true, and their joy doubled.

After delivering the melons to the villagers, she told Old Man Liu that if he wanted to eat them, he could pick them from the fields himself. Qin Yao took the last melon that belonged to the road construction team and followed the repaired road to find it.

"lady!"

Hua'er, who was helping to light the fire in the shed, was the first to see Qin Yao. She thought she was going to town and greeted her happily.

Unexpectedly, Qin Yao walked straight towards her holding something.

"Busy?" Qin Yao smiled at everyone, nodded to the little girl, put the watermelon on a clean wooden board, and said to the woman in charge of the kitchen:

"This is the bitter melon that my family grows. The sun is particularly strong today, and I'm afraid everyone will get a heat stroke, so I brought a melon here to help everyone cool down."

Liu Dafu, who was supervising the construction work under the roadbed, vaguely heard Qin Yao's voice, climbed up to the road to see, and saw that it was indeed her, and brought a watermelon. He clicked his tongue in his heart and said that he was a good person who liked to pretend to be a good person and liked to save face, and she was the same.

"Uncle Dafu, you are here too. That's great. Come and share the melon with everyone. I have other things to do, so I'll go back first." Qin Yao called Liu Dafu over and left.

"Oh, right!" Qin Yao suddenly turned around and waved to the little girl in the corner of the shed, "Come with me to the factory. The canteen over there is in need of a handyman."

Huaer's eyes widened in disbelief, she was totally flattered.

Everyone knows that the workers in the stationery factory not only get high wages, but also have two meals a day, both of which are full, and occasionally they even have meat and vegetables. Their treatment is simply enviable.

Hua'er pointed at herself to confirm again whether it was her that Qin Yao was calling. Seeing her smile and nod, she hurriedly put down the fire stick in her hand and ran towards Qin Yao under the envious gazes of the women next to her.

"Dad, my wife and I went to the factory!" Huaer lowered her head and said in surprise to the mute who was busy and sweating under the roadbed.

The mute was stunned at first, but after he reacted, he smiled and waved his hand, signaling her to go faster and be more diligent.

Hua'er nodded, turned around and saw Qin Yao had already walked away, so she quickly jogged to catch up.

The two arrived at the gate of the stationery factory. Qin Yao asked her to go in and find He, and said that she was the one who arranged it. She didn't have time to send Huaer in. Last night, the convoy led by Liu Bo returned with wood, and she wanted to find out what happened.