When Xiao Tan came to visit Chen Yu, she noticed that Chen Yu's house had also hung up a piece of cured meat and several cured fish this year, so she quietly said to Chen Yu:

"Young lady, have you heard? The Chen family has also started selling pickled vegetables like yours! They've made some money recently."

Chen Yu said, "I know. The people who come to my house to buy pickled vegetables have told us that there are always people who like cheap things. It's a good thing that they can sell them and make a living!" "Besides, this business isn't just mine."

Chen's three sons were all farmhands in the town, earning just over two hundred coins a month.

Everyone in Niushan Village knows how to make pickled vegetables, but their experience, methods, and recipes differ, resulting in vastly different flavors.

Most of them can only be eaten by themselves; they are not easy to sell.

The second son, Niu Fangyuan, separated from Chen's family. With Yuan, a tailor, helping them make a living, their life was quite good.

The wives of the eldest and third sons were penniless and had no skills, but they were cunning and shrewd.

“Their pickled vegetables have never been sold in our village, and they wouldn’t sell them anyway. Everyone in our village buys yours. I don’t believe anyone’s pickled vegetables can taste as good as yours!” said Xiao Tan.

Shen Yu did not continue discussing this matter.

Her methods are not something that ordinary people can learn, and she will not easily pass them on.

Xiao Tan's husband, Niu Li, took over the bricklaying work, calling up more than twenty bricklayers from the village and those he had worked with in the past. Xiao Tan came this time to inform Chen Yu.

"You really used all twenty li of your land to build a restaurant? That must be huge! How empty it must be at night!" said Madam Tan.

Chen Yu said:

"I've also discussed this with Li Sheng and his brother. Li Si suggested that we turn that twenty-mile stretch into a commercial street, and then build a house there that's five miles long and wide. That would be better."

"That would be a huge project!" said Madam Tan. "Fortunately, the fish in the lake are doing quite well, so they can fetch a good price!"

With the Lunar New Year approaching, many wealthy families, knowing that the Niu family raised a lake of carp, came to buy them.

He made 100 strings of cash in just one month.

The Tan family and the Huang family help manage the fish in Guhu Lake. The Niu family grants them a special allowance of ten catties of carp each month, which they can either eat or sell, but they are not allowed to trade privately.

Li Si had sent over the blueprints a few days ago, and he was just waiting for Niu Da to come back on the eve of the Lunar New Year so he could show them to him and invite Li Si and Li Sheng, the brothers, over.

Niu Da got off the carriage.

Little Fu Bao saw it from afar and ran towards it with outstretched arms, calling out, "Daddy, Daddy!"

Niu Da got caught on the small pendant on his leg.

Since Niu Da went to the county town in October, he would actually come back for a few days every month to pick melons and fruits. This time, it has been about twenty days since they parted.

Niu Da picked up Xiao Fubao and tickled him with his stubble. Xiao Fubao, tickled by the stubble, scurried and darted around in Niu Da's arms, crying, "Haha, Daddy's ticklish, ticklish!"

"Daddy, Little Fu Bao misses you so much, so much!" Little Fu Bao's sweet words flowed out like they were free, making Niu Da laugh heartily.

Niu Da took out the money he had earned from fruits and melons over the past two months. Fruits and melons sold better in winter than in summer, but they still brought in thirty or forty strings of cash.

Several children gathered around, chattering and calling out "Daddy!"

"Her father, come inside quickly!" Shen Yu heard the commotion outside and hurried out to say.

When Xiao Tan saw that Niu Da had returned, she didn't want to linger, so she said goodbye and left.

Niu Da went inside, and Chen Yu helped him brush the snow off his clothes. "You're freezing! Come and warm yourself by the fire!"

On the 24th of the lunar calendar, the female workers all took a break, and Chen Yu also took a break. It was a rare occasion for the whole family to sit together and warm themselves by the fire.

Chen Yu showed Niu Da the blueprints designed by Li Si. Niu Da didn't understand much about them, but he still thought the buildings looked pretty good. So he discussed the color scheme and construction with Li Si, Li Sheng, and the others.

“If it’s for building a commercial street, 40,000 to 50,000 taels of silver should be enough. By the way, does your family really have that much money? Although you can borrow money from a bank, the cost is not small,” Li Si said.

"If we sell all the jewelry in the house, we can probably raise 20,000 yuan. Then we can borrow some more from the bank, and that should be enough!" Niu Dadao said.

“That works too!” Li Si said.

The entire commercial street is lined with red buildings, so there must be detailed considerations for the color matching of the lanterns and interior decorations. A good match would resemble a heavenly palace, while a bad match would resemble a painting of the Five Kings of Hell.

The entire street features different lanterns, and the interior decorations are designed to appeal to all tastes, with a harmonious blend of vibrant and muted colors, giving visitors a refreshing experience.

After hearing Li Si's explanation, Niu Da no longer had any doubts. Doing business is all about feng shui, and coincidentally, there was a place within twenty miles of him where two money trees stood side by side, so Niu Da chose that place to build his restaurant.

A house was built next to it.

The rest were converted into shops for rent.

After Li Si and Li Sheng left, the Niu family took out all their savings and calculated them again, totaling 15,860 strings of cash.

Their original budget was 10,000 strings of cash, but once the shops were built, several more walls would be added, and the original 10,000 strings of cash might not be enough.

“Her father, how about we sell those three shops?” Chen Yu said.

Niu Cuihua said, "Selling the shop is not a good idea. I think we should build it first and see how it goes. Carp will make a lot of money next year, and maybe we won't even need to sell the shop!"

Little Fu Bao's face was filled with conflict. Should she tell her father and mother that she was raising a money tree? Would her father and mother believe her?

Maybe they think she's being haunted by some strange thing!

The five sisters tacitly avoided telling Niu Da and Shen Yu about the money tree, only saying that the carp from Guhu Lake could make a lot of money.

Thinking about the carp in the lake, Niu Da felt much more at ease.

After the Little New Year comes the Big New Year.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Xiao Fubao and her sisters went to Shen Zishan and Old Lady Zhong's house. This year, they had a horse-drawn carriage, which made the journey much faster than before. In the past, it would take six or seven days to go to Grandma's house, but with the horse-drawn carriage, it only took two days at most.

"My five little darlings are here!" Old Mrs. Zhong and Shen Zishan each picked up a baby, and Little Fubao gave Old Mrs. Zhong a big kiss.

Grandma, I miss you so much!

Shen Zishan, holding Niu Baolan, turned to Xiao Fubao and said, "Don't you miss your grandpa?"

"Yes!" He gave Chen Zishan another kiss.

Niu Baolan said with a hint of jealousy, "Grandpa, she doesn't miss you at all! Lan'er misses you the most!" She then gave Shen Zishan a quick kiss on the cheek.

They hadn't seen their maternal grandparents for about six months; the last time they visited was when Niu Er and Xiao Heng passed the imperial examinations.

Shen Zishan and Granny Zhong both laughed heartily and said, "They are all Grandpa and Grandma's little darlings, all of them!"

"Auntie, give me a hug too!" Because Shen Lin married far away, she only visits Shen Yu during the Lunar New Year and the wedding banquet each year. "These two kids are getting heavier and heavier!"

Little Fu Bao pouted, then said in a spoiled, coquettish voice, "Uncle, Auntie said I'm fat, and I don't like it."

The money the Niu family gives for New Year's greetings, birthday celebrations, and festivals increases every year. This year, Niu Da gave his father-in-law and mother-in-law a ginseng root he obtained last year, as well as a string of gold Buddhist prayer beads.