Chapter 71 Sun is the only weirdo

Grandma Zhao sat under the shade of a tree in the courtyard.

Looking up, he saw his two dim-witted sons walk in and scolded them irritably, "Are you drunk or still half asleep?"

Zhao Youyin took out ten copper coins from his pocket: "Mother, these are the wages my sister-in-law gave me."

Zhao Youcai swallowed hard: "The job is pretty simple. Sister-in-law is too generous, she actually gave me ten coins."

Sun immediately came over and said coldly, "What's so simple about it? Look at these hands, the thick calluses have turned white from being soaked in water. If you do this for a few more days, your hands will be ruined. Ten coins won't even be enough to buy medicine."

“Alright then.” Old Mrs. Zhao nodded. “Third son, don’t go to your sister-in-law’s place tomorrow. I’ll find someone reliable to go in your place.”

Sun gave a dry laugh and said, "Mother, I was just complaining casually. I didn't really resent my sister-in-law for not giving me enough."

Farm work can also hurt your hands; sometimes you even cut your hand while chopping firewood. And you don't get paid ten coins for these jobs.

The old lady would usually take half of the money and hand it over to the public, while they could save the other half as their private savings.

Old Mrs. Zhao took five coins from each of her two sons and said in a low voice, "Helping your sister-in-law doesn't mean you can neglect the work in the fields. Take a short rest and then hurry up and get to the fields. It's not so hot now, so it will be more comfortable to work."

Sun pulled her husband back to the room and asked carefully, "What did your sister-in-law ask you to do? Your hands are soaked like this, what were you washing?"

Zhao Youcai rubbed his ears: "My sister-in-law told me not to tell anyone."

Sun was secretly furious. Her sister-in-law was afraid that she would learn the recipe. If she didn't want to say anything, she could guess.

There are lantern grasses that Chunhua brought back at home, piled up under the eaves. When I have time, I will pick them down one by one and deliver them to my sister-in-law to exchange for money.

Sun took off a lantern and played with it in her hand. She had secretly boiled two lanterns before, but they were not noticeable after being cooked.

The outer layer of the lantern was very thin, and it broke after being washed in water for a while. Inside were brown and black seeds. She picked up the seeds and smelled them, and they had nothing to do with the smell of ice jelly.

But lanterns only have these two parts: either an outer layer of skin or an inner core.

Sun stood under the eaves, pondering.

On the other side, Madam Wen and Zhao Youyin were also talking. She carefully put away the five coins in the hole under the bed and instructed, "My sister-in-law let you do this job because we all have the same surname, Zhao, and we're family. You have to do it well and don't be lazy..."

Cheng Wanwan and her sons were still busy.

Although Zhao Youyin and Zhao Youcai shared two jin of agarwood seeds, there was still one jin left to process, so she and Zhao Sanniu each washed half a jin.

The shaved ice powder is all in a wooden basin. It needs to be carefully filtered before being put into a wooden bucket. This is another task that requires patience and care. Zhao Sanniu is too rough to do it, so Cheng Wanwan can only do it slowly by herself... As the business expands in the future, she is afraid that she will become more and more tired, experiencing both pain and joy.

By the time the sun was setting, the six buckets of ice jelly were finally finished. Then, a little bit of sweet potato starch was stirred in, and the job was done.

The main work was completed before dark, so the whole family won't need to stay up late tonight.

Cheng Wanwan rubbed her aching lower back and got up to prepare to cook.

As soon as she reached the door, she saw a person crouching down outside the yard, looking around aimlessly.

She frowned and called out, "Third Aunt, what are you doing?"

Startled, Madam Sun immediately stood up straight, coughed, and said, "I've come to deliver lanterns. Hehe, sister-in-law hasn't eaten yet?"

Cheng Wanwan walked over and opened the courtyard gate. She looked at the basket in Sun's hand, which contained not lanterns, but peeled agar seeds.

Her brow twitched. Was the third brother really that unreliable? He went back and immediately leaked what had happened here.

Sun picked up another basket from the ground, which was full of the outer covering of the agarwood seeds.

“Sister-in-law, this was all ruined by Donghua.” Sun sighed. “She had nothing better to do, so she peeled all the lanterns off the eaves and scattered these seeds everywhere. I didn’t know whether you wanted the outer garment or the seeds inside, so I brought them all over separately.”

Cheng Wanwan understood what she meant.

It seems Zhao Youcai isn't so unreliable, otherwise the Sun family wouldn't have gone to the trouble of testing him.

However, this Mrs. Sun was quite clever; in order to find out the recipe for ice jelly, she actually came up with this idea.

The use of agar seeds as a raw material to make ice jelly is no secret in modern times, but not everyone can make ice jelly.

If Sun was the first to figure it out, others could guess a thing or two. Since it wasn't a secret, there was no need for her to keep it hidden. And once the matter was out in the open, she could take on another task, making things a little easier for the whole family.

Cheng Wanwan smiled and said, "It must have been really hard on his third aunt. We were going to peel them anyway."

She weighed the agate seeds and the lantern-shaped outer garment together; they weighed two jin in total. She took out four copper coins and handed them over.

Holding the copper coin, Mrs. Sun had no intention of leaving. Even though she knew the raw material was the seeds inside, she still didn't know how to make ice jelly.

She smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Sister-in-law, I see you're busy all day long. Peeling these lanterns takes a lot of work. Why don't I help you peel the seeds? You can pay me whatever you think is appropriate."

Cheng Wanwan's lips curved into a smile: "One coin for peeling ten pounds of lanterns?"

Madam Sun immediately nodded: "Good, good, good!"

After agreeing, she regretted it; it had taken her almost half an hour to peel just two pounds.

Ten pounds of lanterns, that takes most of the day to make, and she only gets one coin for it. It's like she's working for free!

However, if she could stay at her sister-in-law's house for a day or two, she would definitely be able to learn how to make ice jelly, and then she would make it herself and sell it.

Cheng Wanwan could easily see through her thoughts.

Of the dozen or so people in the Zhao family, only this one oddball was present, which was still within her tolerance range.

Although Sun is petty and calculating, she has a good relationship with Zhao Youcai and they will probably stay together for life. In other words, as long as he doesn't leave Dahe Village, he will deal with his sister-in-law Sun for the rest of his life.

Rather than letting Sun come and annoy us every day, it's better to find her something to do.

Cheng Wanwan said, "Our yard is narrow, so his third aunt will probably peel them at the old house and bring them over."

Sun's face turned green instantly.

She wouldn't do a losing proposition like this: paying her a penny to work and not even allowing her to stay and learn the ropes.

Cheng Wanwan continued, "I plan to have his second aunt help me collect the lanterns. After the lanterns are collected, I will put them in the old house and ask his third aunt to help me peel them. However, it is really too little to pay one coin for ten catties. How about one coin for two catties?"

Just now it was one coin for ten catties, now it's one coin for two catties. This pleasant surprise made Mrs. Sun grin from ear to ear.

She originally wanted to find out the recipe for ice jelly, but now she thought that peeling lanterns was quite profitable. The work wasn't difficult; she could do it sitting or lying down, and she could even have Donghua help her. Her sister-in-law estimated that she could collect twenty or thirty catties a day, and after peeling them all, she would earn ten to fifteen coins.

Mrs. Sun readily agreed.

A meaningful smile played on Cheng Wanwan's lips; this was something Sun had brought upon herself.

She closed the courtyard gate and went with Madam Sun to the old house to instruct Madam Wen on how to collect the lanterns.