county seat.

Zhang Hujun and Zhang Hubing arrived at Manfulou. This was Zhang Hubing's first time delivering goods.

Together with Zhang Hujun, he carried the braised meat into the restaurant. Zhang Hubing paid the silver according to the weight weighed by Manager Hao. He was extremely envious.

After leaving Manfulou, the two walked back.

Zhang Hubing said, "Brother, Zhang Hulan is making too much money. One trip is more than two taels of silver, which means more than four taels of silver a day, and she must make over a hundred taels of silver a month."

Zhang Hujun said: "Big sister is capable, we can rely on her to help us from now on."

Zhang Hujun paused for a moment, then continued, "Second brother, the eldest sister is your elder sister, don't call her Zhang Hulan Zhang Hulan all day long."

Zhang Hubing curled his lips, "I'm used to her yelling. Who told her to beat me all the time?"

Zhang Hujun laughed and said, "That's because you were naughty. When you were little, your mother couldn't bear to beat you, and it was also thanks to your elder sister that you were suppressed, otherwise you would have gone to heaven."

"You two stay..."

As soon as Zhang Hujun and his men left the city, Ding Mingao suddenly appeared and blocked their way.

Zhang Hujun looked at Ding Mingao warily and asked in a bad tone, "What do you want to do?"

Zhang Hubing asked: "Brother, what does this person do?"

Zhang Hujun whispered, "He also owns a restaurant. He wanted to buy Damei's braised pork recipe, but Damei refused to sell it to him. Then his restaurant staff went to Damei's house to steal it."

Zhang Hubing's eyes widened immediately, and just as he was about to curse, Ding Mingao said, "Please don't misunderstand me, I am here to apologize."

Ding Mingao bowed to Zhang Hujun and asked, "Isn't Boss Zhang here?"

Zhang Hujun asked, "What do you want?"

Ding Mingao bowed again in embarrassment and said, "I really came here to apologize. I didn't know that Boss Zhang was familiar with the county magistrate's wife. I was blind and waited here for Boss Zhang on purpose to apologize to him in person."

Ding Mingao took out several boxes from his carriage and put them on Zhang Hujun's donkey cart. "This is a little gift from me. Please take it to Boss Zhang."

After Ding Mingao finished speaking, he got on the carriage and left.

Zhang Hujun and Zhang Hubing looked at each other. Zhang Hubing asked, "Are you really here to apologize?"

Zhang Hujun said: "It looks like it."

Since everyone had left, Zhang Hujun had no choice but to take the things back to Zhang Hulan.

When they got home, Zhang Hujun told Zhang Hulan about Ding Mingao's apology. Zhang Hulan opened several boxes, one of which contained pastries, one contained a ginseng root, and another contained rouge and powder.

Zhang Hulan asked, "Did he mention the county magistrate's wife?"

Zhang Hujun nodded, "Yes."

Zhang Hulan nodded, "It should be the county magistrate's wife who found that shopkeeper Ding. I owe her a favor."

Zhang Hubing said, "I didn't expect that you had such a good relationship with the county magistrate's wife. She even stood up for you."

Xiang Chunhua made up her mind that she would cling to Zhang Hulan in the future.

Zhang Hulan gave the pastries to several children and let them eat them themselves.

Then he gave the ginseng to Li, "Sister-in-law, this is for you. You are going to give birth in a few months, and this thing will be just what you need."

Li quickly waved her hands, "Big sister, this thing must be very expensive, you can keep it for yourself."

Zhang Hulan stuffed the ginseng into Li's hand and said, "Take it. Your Qi and blood will be deficient after giving birth. Go buy some Panax notoginseng to replenish your Qi and blood. You must nourish your body after giving birth, otherwise you will easily develop a disease."

Wang was about to ask Zhang Hulan to keep it for herself, but Old Man Zhang pulled her back and said, "My eldest daughter-in-law, if Dani gives it to you, just keep it. This is a token of her love."

Li was touched. Although she couldn't tell how old the ginseng was, it must be good if it was given as a gift. It must be several decades old and worth at least several dozen taels of silver.

Li was touched that she was given something worth dozens of taels of silver. She had never been valued like this before.

Li's eyes turned red, and she said, "Thank you, elder sister! But I don't need so much. I'll just cut some ginseng slices and put them in my mouth, and the rest will be used to nourish Dad and Mom."

"Oh, it's just one ginseng and you're still giving it away. Sister-in-law, keep it for yourself, and I'll buy another one for my parents later."

Zhang Hulan then gave the rouge and powder to Zhang Dahua, "Dahua, this is for you. You are a grown-up girl now, you should dress yourself up and find a good husband in the future."

Zhang Dahua's face turned red immediately, but looking at the rouge and powder in her hand, her eyes were full of joy. Girls love beauty, especially girls of this age.

"Thank you, Auntie!" Zhang Dahua thanked in a low voice.

Xiang Chunhua felt jealous again. The first wife got two good things at once, but the second wife got nothing.

Zhang Hulan looked at Xiang Chunhua and said, "Chunhua, don't be jealous. The ginseng just happened to be needed by my sister-in-law, and the rouge and powder just happened to be suitable for Dahua, so I gave them all to them.

Aren’t you planning to have a baby? When you are about to give birth, I will buy you some ginseng and Panax notoginseng to nourish your body.”

Xiang Chunhua's eyes lit up immediately, "Really?"

Zhang Hulan smiled and said, "Of course it's true."

Xiang Chunhua immediately became happy.

…

The news that Zhang Hulan was hiring people to dig a fish pond spread quickly. The wage was 30 cents a day, and everyone in the village rushed to do the work.

Old man Zhang was so happy that everyone came to him to say nice things and wanted to work for him.

Old man Zhang didn't want anyone, so after asking Zhang Hulan for her opinion, he finally hired fifty people to dig a fish pond.

Zhang Hulan felt that manual digging would be too slow, mainly because it took too much time to transport the soil to the side. So after delivering the goods to Manfulou the next day, Zhang Hulan went to the cattle and horse trading market in the city.

Zhang Hujun asked, "Big sister, why are you here?"

"Buy a few donkeys and cows."

Buy donkeys and cows? And how many? Zhang Hujun thought he had misheard.

"Big sister, don't you have a donkey cart? Why did you buy a donkey and a cow?"

"For digging fish ponds." Zhang Hulan said, "It's too slow to transport the soil out manually. It's faster to use donkeys and cows to carry it out."

Zhang Hujun said, "That's not cost-effective. Cows and donkeys are very expensive. Although manual labor is slower, it's still cheaper overall."

"Brother, you don't understand this." Zhang Hulan explained: "Brother, I paid the workers' wages. But I bought donkeys and cows to carry soil. Although it seems that I spent a lot of money now, I can sell both the donkeys and cows after digging the fish pond. The price will not be reduced. Am I making money from the saved wages?"

As soon as Zhang Hulan explained, Zhang Hujun immediately understood. His eyes lit up and he smiled innocently, "Yeah! Big sister is really smart!"