After breakfast, the whole family tacitly agreed not to mention Chen's disturbance at all.

Shen Cheng and Shen Yu'an couldn't wait for Grandpa Liu's oxcart. Besides, they had too much stuff to carry, so they set off before dawn, carrying their loads on their shoulders.

When Shen Danru arrived at the stall, customers were already buying konjac snacks.

The market for konjac snacks has opened up, and many restaurants have made them an essential side dish for rice, loved by both adults and children.

When delivering konjac snacks, Shen Yu'an would cut off a small piece of braised meat from each household for the shopkeeper to taste, which resulted in an order for 200 jin (100 kg).

Including what was sent out last night, there are only twelve catties of braised meat left now.

Shen Danru stepped forward to help, but Shen Yu'an quickly stopped her, saying, "Second sister, Father and I will take care of it. You go and rest in the back."

"Give me half a pound of konjac juice."

Seeing that someone else was coming, Shen Yu'an quickly went forward to greet them and neatly weighed the konjac snacks and packed them into a larger oil paper bag.

"Uncle, this is your konjac dessert. Half a catty is eight ounces, and eight ounces is four portions. I'll give you four ounces as a bonus, making a total of twelve ounces. You can pay twenty-six coins."

The old man was overjoyed to hear that there was a gift.

This is much cheaper than buying it from a restaurant.

Ever since he took his fourteen-year-old grandson to eat konjac noodles last time, his grandson has been pestering him to eat konjac noodles every day and asking his grandfather to take him to restaurants. Their relationship has become even closer.

His grandson used to ignore him completely.

He heard that it was also sold at the market and was more affordable than in restaurants, so he strolled to the market early in the morning.

It seems this trip wasn't in vain.

"Thank you, boss. Thank you, boss."

He hurriedly handed Shen Yu'an twenty-six coins, grabbed the oil paper bag, and left. He'd only gone a few steps when he heard a shout from behind:

"Uncle, don't rush off. I've already charged you less."

The old man was displeased upon hearing this, and hid the oil paper bag behind his back, saying, "What do you mean by this, boss? It's cash on delivery. I've paid you in full. You miscalculated the accounts, so why are you blaming me? Tell me, how much is owed?"

Shen Yu'an was at a loss for what to do.

Today, he set up his stall, and it was the first time he had ever personally done the accounting for someone.

Upon hearing that the old man wanted to buy half a jin (250 grams), he was both happy and nervous. While weighing the konjac, he silently calculated in his mind for a long time.

After receiving the money, he felt increasingly uneasy, and he had a vague feeling that he had miscalculated the accounts.

That's when they called out to the old man.

The old man's question stumped him.

He counted on his fingers for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.

Not having enough fingers, she quietly took her father's hand to help her calculate.

"Yu'an, what are you doing?"

Shen Yu'an looked annoyed: "Dad, I suspect I miscalculated the accounts, what should I do?"

Shen Cheng also helped Shen Yu'an calculate, but the two of them still couldn't figure it out even with their own hands.

The old man said impatiently, "You can't even do basic accounting? You might as well pack up and go home. What kind of business are you running?"

The old man's attitude immediately changed.

Shen Yu'an was momentarily at a loss, then angrily said, "Give me back the konjac snacks, I'm not selling them anymore..."

Just as the two were blushing with embarrassment, Shen Danru quickly stepped forward and pulled them apart, smiling and apologizing: "Uncle, my elder brother has never been to school and has never studied arithmetic. He made a mistake on his own. It has nothing to do with you. I apologize to you. How about this, next time you come and buy a pound, I'll give you half a pound free, how about that?"

The old man didn't quite understand at first, but when he heard that half a catty could be given away, he happily agreed and kept praising Shen Danru for being good at handling things, saying that his business would definitely prosper.

After the old man left, Shen Yu'an was filled with shame.

He remembered that when he set up his stall a couple of days ago, his second sister was very quick at calculating accounts, without any hesitation.

How could he be so stupid?

Shen Danru chuckled.

"Big brother, now you understand the importance of studying? A few days ago, when I was teaching Yuyan to read, I asked you to join me, what did you say?"

Shen Yu'an blushed with embarrassment. He had said that he didn't want to study; he only wanted to earn money to support his younger brother's education, and he had no interest in studying whatsoever.

It seems that without reading and literacy, it's difficult to make money.

"Second sister, please stop making fun of your eldest brother. Just teach me, and I'll listen to you from now on."

Shen Danru stopped laughing and said seriously, "Brother, this is called arithmetic. If you want to do business, you don't have to study, but you must be able to read and write, and you must also master arithmetic. In the future, when our business grows bigger, we will still have to rely on you, brother."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yu'an's eyes lit up. He realized that learning arithmetic could lead to a successful business.

He wants to do big business.

Since he started delivering goods with his second sister every day, he has come to understand what it means to have a bright future in business.

It was something he never dared to even dream of before.

Shen Danru explained it to him briefly, and he then realized that he had been shortchanged by six coins.

He suddenly realized something.

How many heavy loads would I have to carry to earn back those six coins?

Thinking about it made me even more annoyed.

Shen Danru noticed that Shen Yu'an was listless, so she comforted him, "Brother, you know that konjac dessert doesn't cost much. We made at least twenty coins from that one serving. We just made a little less. As long as we can make money, we can keep doing business. Just consider it as Uncle buying too much and giving it to him."

Seeing that Shen Yu'an was still somewhat sullen, he stopped paying attention to him and said that he had to figure this out himself.

The eldest brother was the eldest son in the family. He had been poor since childhood and cared a lot about these few coins.

It's probably difficult to change things overnight.

At dinner, Shen Yu'an couldn't eat anything and still looked unhappy. Shen Yu'yan asked, "Second sister, what's wrong with eldest brother?"

Shen Danru said in a low voice, "Brother miscalculated the accounts and undercharged us by a few coins."

Shen Yuyan: "What's the big deal? Although I like reading, if you asked me to do accounting, I would probably make even more mistakes. My brother has never made a mistake in delivering goods these past few days, and this is the only time he made a mistake. That's already amazing. I admire my brother. He has never studied arithmetic, yet he can do it so well. This shows that my brother has a real talent for arithmetic."

"real?"

"It really is my eldest brother. If you don't believe me, ask my second sister."

Shen Danru nodded.

Shen Yu'an finally breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as his second sister doesn't mind that he's not smart, that's fine.

His second sister was his proudest person, and he always felt inferior in front of her.

"Dad, let's buy a horse-drawn carriage. It's too tiring for you and my older brother to walk to town to deliver goods every day."

Shen Cheng immediately rejected the idea upon hearing it.

A decent horse, harnessed to a carriage, would cost forty or fifty taels of silver. Forty or fifty taels of silver could build a brick house.

He knew this girl loved him, but that wasn't how money should be spent.

"Let your mother keep the money for your dowry. All the money our family earns is yours. Your father and your older brother are strong enough to walk faster than an oxcart, so don't worry."

"Dad, let's buy a donkey cart to use for now. It can also help with grinding grain at home. Donkey carts are cheap, and more and more people are ordering them. We'll have to buy one sooner or later."

A donkey cart is much cheaper than a horse cart; thirty taels should be enough. Upon hearing this, Shen Cheng nodded in agreement.