As Yan Qingqing spoke, she carefully observed their expressions, and then continued, "Of course, this amount of money is a huge sum compared to what we used to have, but it's still far from meeting our goals."

Leaving aside the distant future, let's talk about the present. We plan to build a large brick and tile house. With so many people in the family, we need at least several tens of taels of silver to ensure that everyone has a room.

If it's renovated properly, it could cost hundreds of taels of silver.

After the autumn harvest, I plan to send Silang to school. You all know how expensive education is.

Therefore, we cannot be satisfied with the status quo.

Yan Qingqing poured cold water on the situation, and the children completely calmed down, realizing that having a few dozen taels of silver in the house was nothing at all.

Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "Right now, we're only making hard-earned money, so I'm planning to adjust the direction of our business."

Upon hearing this, the children looked at Yan Qingqing with shining eyes. Since the family separated, Yan Qingqing had never done anything to disappoint them.

Li Xiang'an was most interested in doing business, and before Yan Qingqing could finish speaking, he quickly asked, "Mother, please tell me! How will you make the adjustment?"

Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "We've been making braised pork offal for a while now, and I bet some people who don't work at the docks come here because of our reputation."

Although Yan Qingqing hadn't been doing business at the docks during this time, she had overheard people talking about it when she went to the city that day.

Li Xiang'an nodded and replied, "Mother is right. Many servants from wealthy families come to buy them. Especially the servants from Master Ding's mansion, they wait there early in the morning and buy several catties each time."

The dockworkers are starting to complain, and I was just thinking of talking to my mother about whether we could prepare more supplies.

Yan Qingqing smiled immediately upon hearing the name of Master Ding. Her initial capital was none other than the birthday cake she made for Old Madam Ding. She hadn't expected Master Ding to be such a foodie.

So he laughed and said, "Ordinary servants wouldn't be so free as to go to the docks to buy food. Unless their masters want to eat it."

But our pig offal is cheap, and it's mainly sold to dockworkers. Those wealthy people care about their image, so the servants naturally wouldn't openly say they were buying it for their masters.

Li Xiangping exclaimed in surprise. He hadn't thought of that aspect. It seemed that his perspective on the issue was far from that of his mother. This was probably what his mother often said: you can't just look at the surface of a problem; you have to see through the surface to the essence.

Yan Qingqing stopped beating around the bush and said directly, "So I plan to give these pig offal a nice name and then cooperate with restaurants. That way, not only will the volume be large, but you won't have to work so hard."

If our partnership with the restaurant is successful, we will have to stop our business at the dock.

As for the hair accessories that Hui Niang and the others made, I've also talked to Manager Wu of Jinsheng Pavilion. It's been about ten days now, so I expect to hear back soon.

"It was stated beforehand that this business belonged to the three of them, the aunt and her sister-in-law, and you shouldn't have any objections."

None of the three, Yuan Huiniang and her companions, expected that Yan Qingqing would actually put this business under their names.

So he quickly stood up and declined, saying, "Mother, you came up with the idea and the design. The three of us just did the work. How can we take this property?"

Li Xinniang and Li Yueniang never expected that their mother would still think of them when she started this business, since they were their daughters who would get married in the future.

Especially Li Xinniang, who knew the specifics of the business deal that Yan Qingqing and Manager Wu were discussing.

They also knew that once the deal was done, it would be a substantial income.

The mother was thinking of them and felt grateful, but she couldn't be unreasonable, so she said, "Mother, we've already received three hundred coins a month for doing chores for the family. No other family is this generous. Yue Niang and I are going to be married off in the future, so how can we take our mother's family's property?"

Yan Qingqing waved her hand and said, "Xinniang, you don't need to say anything more. You are all my children, and I love you all the same. I gave you these properties so that you would have enough confidence in your husband's family in the future."

Secondly, it's to prevent you from focusing all your energy on being a good wife and mother and relying on men in the future, because that kind of life is too miserable.

The same applies to Hui Niang. I'm giving you this property so that you'll have enough financial security in our family. Whether you save money for your children or help your family in the future, I won't interfere.

However, since we haven't reached a cooperation agreement with Manager Wu yet, you shouldn't be too happy too soon. Also, even if a cooperation agreement is reached, you will need to contribute 10% to the company's expenses.

Yuan Huiniang and the other two were even more moved. With such a mother-in-law who cared for them, what more could they ask for?

Yuan Huiniang was the first to speak up: "Mother, don't worry, we will definitely not let you down."

The next day, as soon as Yan Qingqing got up, she heard the magpies on the branches chirping incessantly, and Xiao Hei next to her chirped along with them.

Xiao Hei is the greedy bird that Li Xiangkang picked up back then. Now it has grown a coat of pure white feathers, but when he picked it up, it was all black, so Li Xiangkang named it Xiao Hei.

I don't know if it's a genetic mutation or if it was always like that, but as it grew, its fur turned snow-white.

Yan Qingqing couldn't tell what kind of bird it was. Its beak looked like an eagle's, and it was growing very fast. In just one month, it was about the size of an adult hen.

To be honest, its call is very unpleasant and makes people's scalp tingle. When it opens its mouth, the magpies fly away instantly in fright.

Yan Qingqing found it grating, so she yelled at it, "Little Black! Shut up!"

Xiao Hei glanced at Yan Qingqing, as if it could understand what Yan Qingqing was saying. It looked at Yan Qingqing pitifully, not understanding why its master would be happy when those silly magpies chirped, but would shut up its majestic and domineering voice.

For some inexplicable reason, Yan Qingqing actually understood what Xiao Hei meant, and she suddenly felt an urge to cover her face. She wondered if this bird had somehow become a spirit.

Finally, Yan Qingqing went to the kitchen and cut a piece of meat to appease it.

After breakfast, Li Xiangping and his group went to do business as usual, while Yan Qingqing was making plans for the next step. She had also investigated the distribution of restaurants in Chengyang County some time ago, and she wanted to select three to five to talk to them about the business of pig offal.

Once the deal is finalized, their volume will definitely increase, so she also needs to ensure a stable supply of pig offal.

Just then, a horse-drawn carriage arrived at the village entrance, attracting the villagers to watch.

There are several cows in Canghe Village, but no one in the village can afford a horse. So adults and children alike are extremely fond of them.

The visitor was Manager Wu. He usually received a reply within ten days when he sent a letter to the capital by carrier pigeon, but for some reason, it had been almost half a month before the news came from the capital.

In Manager Wu's opinion, this is a sure-fire way to make money. What is there to hesitate about? The ribbons that Yan Qingqing put in the shop have long been sold out, and he has barely managed to keep up with the many returning customers.

Thinking of this, Manager Wu urged the driver to hurry up.