Shen Yu took several children to the horse market to buy horses. Xiao Fubao held Shen Yu's little hand and said, "Mommy, Xiao Fubao wants to learn to ride a horse, is that okay?"

Shen Yu laughed and said, "Then I'll have to buy you a pony. How about this one?"

Little Fu Bao tilted his head, shook his head, and then, like a little adult, put his hands behind his back and looked around for items.

The horse dealer quickly and enthusiastically introduced the horse, saying, "This foal is gentle and perfect for raising from a young age, ideal for children to learn to ride!"

Xiao Ma is slightly taller than Xiao Fu Bao.

Little Fu Bao reached out and touched the pony. "But its fur isn't as thick as its mane. In plays, they always say that red-brown horses are the best!"

The horse dealer said, "A fiery red horse might be difficult to tame when it grows up, not suitable for a young girl to learn to ride!" "If you like it, how about this horse? Its color is red enough."

Hearing the horse dealer say that the Red-Maned Horse had a fiery temperament, Shen Yu also somewhat disagreed with Xiao Fubao buying it, so she said, "Let's go with that one, and there's also this bigger one!"

Little Fu Bao pouted: "I want that one."

Little Ma perked up immediately, walked over and rubbed his long, thin ears against Little Fu Bao's face. Little Fu Bao was a little ticklish, and his previously stern face suddenly lit up with laughter.

The horse trader chuckled, "Your little girl seems destined for the red-maned horse."

"This foal is a top-quality breed, eighty strings of cash a piece. This larger horse is thirty strings of cash a piece," the horse dealer said. "Why don't you hitch a ride in a carriage? We have four-seater and six-seater carriages in this shop, they're quite impressive!"

"We have red and blue ones. If you're not satisfied, our shop can custom-make one for you! Just let us know."

Little Fu Bao tugged at Chen Yu's little hand and said, "Mom, I think that red four-seater is perfect. If it's a six-seater, we'll need another horse! Uncle's book says that scholars only use two horses to pull their carriages. If we use two horses, it'll be overstepping the bounds."

"If one horse does the work of two, it will be exhausted!" Little "talkative" Fu Bao said incessantly.

The sisters were amused by Xiao Fubao's mature-sounding chatter; she really was a little rascal.

Including the carriage, it cost about two hundred strings of cash.

The Niu family buying a horse-drawn carriage was a perfectly normal thing in everyone's mind, but the villagers had only ever seen it before, and had never seen anyone in their village buy one, so the whole village came out to see what was so strange.

Chen saw it too.

Niu Li asked, "Madam Shen, how much did you pay for this carriage?"

Shen Yu laughed and said, "Two hundred strings of cash. My little Fu Bao's horse is worth eighty strings of cash, and the carriage and the horse are worth one hundred and thirty strings of cash. You've shortchanged us by ten strings of cash." "Brother, we're short of someone who can drive a carriage. If you know anyone who can drive a carriage, ask them to come to our house. We'll pay them three strings of cash a month!"

Previously, the family only had one small sedan chair carried by two people.

"Three strings of cash! The Niu family is really rich now!"

“Aren’t we electing village heads for our villages? I think we don’t need anyone else. Niu Da is quite suitable. He’s always been a good person and well-liked! His family is doing well, so I don’t think he would be like that Zhao village head before, withholding our taxes!”

Chen Yu said, "Our fishpond also needs someone to manage it. We plan to hire a few reliable people in the village to take care of it. It will cost two strings of cash a month! Our family has bought twenty miles of land in the county and plans to build a restaurant there. Construction will begin next year. If you want to go now, you can come here and sign your name!"

"We need two people to manage the fishponds, a bricklayer foreman, and we've already appointed carpenters and painters. But we also need six sculptors to work under the carpenter's direction! If you have any relatives or friends who do these things, you can come to my house."

The carpentry job was contracted to Li Sheng's brother, Li Si.

The lacquerer was contracted to Niu Li, the husband of Xiao Tan.

"A restaurant that's twenty miles away, how big must that be!"

"Does your family's fishpond only accept men?" a woman asked.

"Both men and women are welcome, as long as you can swim. Those with experience in this area will receive an extra two hundred coins," Chen Yu said.

"Madam Shen, how much did your family's huge restaurant cost? Do you need any staff?"

"Yes, yes, and I also want to hire four farmhands," Chen Yu said. She was hiring farmhands because she needed a lot of timber to build a house.

The village suddenly became lively.

Hearing this, Madam Chen said, "Without a son, I really don't know who will inherit such a large fortune!" As she spoke, she called Niu Jie over and said:

"Go play with Xiao Fubao!"

She glanced at her second daughter-in-law's house across the street, where her second daughter-in-law, Yuan, was sewing a cloth bag stitch by stitch, and couldn't help but purse her lips.

Her second daughter-in-law, Yuan, also learned to make some cloth bags from the Niu family, and they sold quite well, but that was still small change, and Chen didn't think much of it.

A coarse cloth bag sells for one coin. Although Yuan's needlework skills are excellent, with no gaps in each stitch and it can be reused, how much money can it sell for?

Following Chen's instructions, Niu Jiejie ran out. She thought, what's the point of playing with Xiao Fubao? Xiao Fubao doesn't give her any good food or gold. It's better to go directly to the Guhu Lake and see how the people the Niu family has hired raise fish!

Most of the people in Niushan Village didn't know how to raise fish. It was only after Chen Yu showed the fish-raising manual by Tao Zhu Gong, which his family had bought for ten strings of cash, to Xiao Tan and Huang that they learned how to raise fish.

Niu Jie had been watching for almost half a month, but still couldn't figure it out. It was just scattering fish feed, so she went back and told Chen Shi.

"Idiot, idiot! Can't you see how fish are raised? Don't you know how to go to Xiaofubao's house and see how they make pickled vegetables? Be more attentive, help them with chores for free, and sneak a peek to see how her pickled vegetables are different from ours!"

Chen grabbed Niu Jiejie's ear hard.

"Grandma, stop pulling! Stop pulling! I'll go, I'll go!" Niu Jiejie said.

In winter, the weather is quite cold. The second order of pickled vegetables from the eldest sister of the You family had already been sent over, and the eldest sister of the You family sent someone to deliver more than 500 taels of silver to the Niu family.

Since the pickled vegetables couldn't be dried in the sun, Chen Yu thought of making kimchi instead. People in Jiangzhou Prefecture have diverse tastes, and a slightly sour taste is more popular.

Niu Jiejie squatted on the ground, watching the female workers chop vegetables, and then watching them pour the prepared sauce into the vegetables, thinking to herself:

It's so simple, how could Grandma not be able to make it? Is Grandma too stupid! Or is she smart, she can do it at a glance!

She watched for a while, then grew a little impatient, thinking that the Niu family was so rich, she wished she could switch places with Xiao Fubao!

Little Fu Bao had a red ribbon in her hair and was wearing a silver fur coat. Her mother said that it was a silver fur coat, very valuable, and the red one was very pretty.

She also wore a longevity gold lock around her neck, a gift from her maternal grandmother, and a pair of small gold bracelets and silver anklets on her wrists. Even Niu Cuihua didn't wear them as well as she did.

The Niu family treated her better than the other four girls!