Er Ya said to him with disdain, "You're too impatient. But this snail meat is just a snack, it's not very filling. Mom, I still prefer your spicy fish, it's fresh, fragrant, spicy and flavorful."

"Hehe, if you like it, eat more. Your aunt will make sure you have enough today."

"Thank you, Auntie."

Tonight's dishes were all great with rice, and everyone ate their fill along with freshly steamed buns made from a mixture of wheat and rice.

After eating her fill, Er Ya finally asked, "Grandma, Aunt, do you think this snail meat tastes good? Why don't you make some and sell it on the street tomorrow?"

Jiang Damin had almost finished eating, but he still couldn't bear to let go of the snail meat, slurping it as he spoke:

"Mom, give it a try. I think a lot of people will like it. It tastes so good that you can't stop eating it once you start."

Wang Meili said to him irritably, "You only care about how delicious it is. Do you know how much oil and salt it took to make so much? It's used up half a month's worth of our food."

"You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub; there's no such thing as making money without spending any."

Jiang Heping nodded: "Damin is right. You have to spend money to do anything. This stuff tastes good and goes well with alcohol. Why don't we listen to Erya and make a small batch to try first?"

“That’s right, Auntie. You only see the cost of oil and salt. Don’t you think about it? You didn’t pay for the snail meat. So, when you add it all up, you didn’t spend much money at all.”

That makes sense. Wang Meili looked at Chen Xiuhua and said, "Mom, shall we give it a try?"

Chen Xiuhua slapped her thigh and said, "Okay, let's give it a try. If no one buys it, we can just bring it back and eat it ourselves. Consider it a way to nourish these kids."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Damin cheered and said, "Yay, great! I love eating this, give me more to nourish myself."

Wang Meili slapped him on the head: "You brat, you'd be hoping you'd eat all the unsold food, wouldn't you?"

Er Ya was convinced. This unlucky kid, sometimes it's not a bad thing to get beaten up.

"No, Mother, I absolutely did not have such thoughts. I wish you a grand opening, booming business, and abundant wealth."

Wang Meili laughed until her stomach hurt: "Alright, stop flattering me. I'm giving you a task: after school tomorrow, go and catch some more snails. We'll sell them and use the money to buy you candy."

"Okay, I promise I'll complete the mission."

Jiang Ermin also spoke up, "Mother, I can also help my brother collect snails."

"You should just forget about it. Leave this work to him. You should focus on your homework. Our family will be counting on you from now on. It seems we can't count on your brother."

Jiang Ermin said anxiously, "Mom, I am also a member of our family. I have to do some work for our business. Besides, my brother just said that he will not cause trouble anymore and will study hard."

Wang Meili looked at Jiang Damin in disbelief: "Really?"

Jiang Damin scratched his head sheepishly and said, "Really, Mom, I will definitely study hard in the future. Er Ya is right. If you don't have education, you will only be able to do manual labor in the future. At the very least, I have to be able to recognize most of the characters before I go to school."

With tears in her eyes, Wang Meili looked at Er Ya and said, "Thank you so much, Er Ya. You have no idea how much I've lost sleep over this kid. I'm afraid that when I open my eyes, he'll say he doesn't want to go to school anymore. With our family's financial situation, what can he do if he doesn't go to school?"

Jiang Damin saw Wang Meili crying. He had never seen his mother cry before. It seemed that she was really upset this time. He said guiltily:

"Mom, I'm sorry. I'm so old and I still make you worry. I promise I won't make you angry anymore. If you tell me to go east, I will never go west. I will listen to you in everything."

Wang Meili teased him, saying, "Okay, you can clean up these dishes and chopsticks, then feed the pig later, and the foot bath water for tonight is yours too."

"Uh... I suddenly remembered, I misspelled a few words just now, I need to go and correct them quickly, Mom, I can't help you with this."

After saying that, he ran back into the house like a rabbit.

Wang Meili muttered, "This child, just now she said she would listen to whatever I said."

Chen Xiuhua said, "Alright, it's good that the child has come to terms with it. You'll have plenty of good things to enjoy in the future."

"Mom, what are you saying? If your grandson really becomes successful in the future, how could he not be filial to you?"

"Hehe, they're all filial, so we'll all enjoy the good life together when the time comes."

Er Ya ran excitedly to Chen Xiuhua and said, "Grandma, when I grow up, I will take good care of you. I will buy you a big house and bring you all to live together. I will also hire a few nannies to cook delicious food for you every day."

Chen Xiuhua couldn't stop smiling after hearing these words: "Okay, okay, I'll be waiting."

Wang Meili leaned closer and said, "Hey Er Ya, your aunt loves you the most, so don't forget your aunt when the time comes!"

“You and your uncle will have two older cousins, and maybe even younger cousins. They’ll be fighting tooth and nail to be the best to take care of you, so I’m not going to join in the fun.”

"Hahaha, you little rascal, if that day ever comes, your aunt will buy you lots of delicious food."

"Aunt, you have to keep your word."

Wang Meili touched Er Ya's little face: "Okay, I'll buy you as many as you want."

……………………………………………………

The next morning, the Jiang family had a simple breakfast and then went down to the river to collect snails. Since they had decided to start a business, they had to prepare everything.

Chen Xiuhua took out money for Jiang's mother and asked Lin Jianguo to take her to the market to buy some more lard, salt, and other things, as their stock could not withstand such consumption and the oil jar was almost empty.

Jiang's mother woke up Er Ya and asked her if she wanted to go to the market to buy things. Er Ya was in a dilemma. On the one hand, she wanted to go to the river to see the crayfish, and on the other hand, she wanted to go to the market with her mother.

After hesitating for a long time, she finally made up her mind: "Mom, you and Dad go and enjoy your time together. I won't join in the fun. I'll just stay home and play."

Jiang's mother nodded speechlessly at Er Ya's head: "You little rascal, are you just being lazy and don't want to get up? Fine, it's okay if you don't want to go. Anyway, today's main purpose is to buy things. What do you want to eat? I'll buy it for you when we get back."

Er Ya recalled what Gou Dan had said to her when he left: "Mom, I want to eat candied hawthorns. Can you buy me a few more skewers?"

He counted on his fingers: "There's my eldest cousin, my second cousin, and Dog Egg Brother, and me too. Mom, you buy five skewers, and we'll bring them to Dog Egg Brother when we go home."

To be continued!