"Wow, Sister Caiping bought so much meat..."

Ye Bajin suddenly stopped talking and gave an awkward laugh.

He originally wanted to say that Ye Caiping's family was dirt poor, so where would they get the money to buy rice and meat?

But then I thought, it doesn't matter where the money came from, or how much or how little they have. It would be too presumptuous of me to ask about their private affairs.

Ye Caiping was a little embarrassed, and stuffed a bag of steamed buns into his hand:

“I went up the mountain this morning and found some medicinal herbs, which I exchanged for a few taels of silver. Thinking that my family members were all starving and emaciated, I bought some meat for them to nourish them. I didn’t mean to refuse to pay you back.”

Ye Bajin then remembered that Ye Caiping's family still owed his family five taels of silver, and looked embarrassed: "No, no... that's not what I meant..."

It made him seem like he was chasing after a debt.

Ye Caiping found it somewhat amusing.

Isn't Ba Jin being too honest? She's the one who owes money, yet she's acting like a big shot.

She said, "In a few days, I plan to set up a stall in town, and I'll need your help to carry my goods. I'll pay you back as soon as I've made some money."

Ye Bajin then smiled and took the bag: "Okay, just tell me, you can pull it however you want."

He opened the bag and found ten xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) inside.

"Wow, why did you buy so much?"

"I bought one basket, it's small, not much."

Ye Bajin has four older sisters, all of whom are married.

He and his wife only have one child, Fubao. With the village head and his wife, that makes a total of five people. Two children for each of them is enough.

Ye Bajin felt a surge of joy as he thought of his son's happy face when he ate the xiaolongbao.

Soon, three women from Wangjia Village also arrived.

Ye Bajin flicked the ox whip, and the car slowly drove out of the town.

...

By the time we got back to the village, the sun had already set.

Ye Caiping had already put the large ingredients into her spatial storage.

Ye Bajin escorted Ye Caiping directly to her doorstep and even helped her carry her things inside.

"Oh my, Bajin, why did you bring so much stuff to my house?" Grandma Ye asked in surprise.

Ye Bajin put 30 jin of white rice on the ground and grinned, "This was bought by Sister Caiping. I'm going back now."

He left after saying that.

Grandma Ye stared at the bags on the ground, some containing rice and others soy sauce, her mouth agape in astonishment.

At this moment, Old Man Ye and the first and second wives came over. Old Man Ye said, "Cai Ping, this, this..."

“This morning I dug up a ginseng on the mountain and sold it for 10 taels of silver, so I bought some grain and oil to bring back.”

The Ye family was all stunned, and Madam Du's eyes widened:

"You dug up ginseng? Wait, how much did you sell it for? Ten taels? My God, you, you've lost a fortune!"

"Little sister, have you been scammed?" Ye Daquan asked cautiously. "Many years ago, someone in Wangjia Village dug up a ginseng and sold it for a full 120 taels! You... sold it for 10 taels?"

Ye Caiping said, "The ginseng I dug up was too young, only seven or eight years old, so it's only worth 10 taels. I sold it to Ping An Tang."

The Ye family members looked at each other in bewilderment.

Old Man Ye nodded: "Ginseng that is only seven or eight years old has just taken shape, so it is indeed too young. The ginseng from Wangjia Village is thirty or forty years old, so it is not surprising that it sells for more than a hundred taels. Moreover, Ping'an Hall is known for its fair prices, so 10 taels is about right."

Grandma Ye was both happy and worried as she looked at the items on the ground one by one: "Money should be saved as a dowry, how can it be spent recklessly!"

Ye Caiping coughed lightly. What dowry? She wasn't going to marry him!

"Buying food for the family is not considered wasteful spending."

"Hey, there's meat! Huge chunks of fatty meat!" Ye Peng exclaimed, turning over the things on the ground with a look of delight. "There's also pork belly and ribs!"

"This is white rice!" Ye Jin'er also came over, smiling and looking up: "Mother, are we having white rice tonight?"

"Yes, we'll have white rice tonight."

Ye Yinhua asked cautiously, "Can...can we eat it too?"

"Of course, we'll all eat together."

Grandma Ye and Grandpa Ye looked pained; this white rice was precious and not something a farming family like theirs should eat.

Grandma Ye thought that since the white rice had been bought, it should be kept for Ye Caiping to eat herself.

It's scary to say it out loud, otherwise the family will be in chaos again.

Besides, her daughter said she wanted to eat together, so she couldn't cause trouble.

Du and Ye Jinhua's eyes lit up.

Although Du was desperate for money, she knew even better that once her sister-in-law had the money, she wouldn't be able to get a single penny out of her.

Besides, this was money she earned herself, so she had even less reason to get involved.

Being able to eat white rice and meat now is already a pleasant surprise.

She wished Ye Caiping would use all ten taels of silver to buy grain, so that she could at least have one more bite to eat.

As for Ye Caiping's previous promise to compensate her once she made money, she never believed a word of it and completely ignored it, so naturally she couldn't remember it.

Looking at Du Shi's gleaming eyes and greedy expression, Ye Caiping couldn't help but sigh. This sister-in-law may be a bit of a troublemaker, but she's really sensible!

"My little sister is really amazing," Ye Daquan said with a smile.

"My little sister is so good to us." Ye Erquan's mouth was practically stretched to his ears.

The two simps habitually switched to simp mode.

Ye Caiping ignored them and said to Ye Huan'er, "Go outside and pick a few green peppers and two small red chilies. Oh, and pick a bunch of scallions too! Jin'er, go to the kitchen and help me."

"I'll do it, I'll do it," Grandma Ye said happily. "Jin'er and Huan'er, go pick the vegetables! Bring back a big cabbage and a radish later."

"Let's fry some eggs again." Ye Caiping called over Ye Yinhua, gave her twenty coins, and told her to see which family had eggs and buy ten.

After giving the instructions, Ye Caiping went into the kitchen to get busy.

Ms. Wei also came in to help.

Ye Caiping washed the rice, while Grandma Ye and Mrs. Wei each cut a piece of pork belly and lard, respectively.

"Caiping, one pound of this pork belly is enough for us." Old Mrs. Ye cut out a small piece of pork belly.

Ye Caiping laughed and said, "Didn't you see how hungry my eldest brother, second brother, and the boys were? A pound isn't enough to share; two pieces per person and it's gone. But after we render the lard, the cracklings can last for a couple more days."

Grandma Ye still felt it was too extravagant, with pig liver, pork ribs, and eggs to buy later. She hadn't eaten like this even during the Chinese New Year.

Seeing that her daughter wanted to eat it this way, she couldn't object, so she reluctantly sliced ​​the pork belly thinly.

After rinsing the rice, Ye Caiping lit the fire.

When Ye Jin'er and her sister returned, she asked them to watch the stove.

"Second sister-in-law, let me cut this pig liver," Ye Caiping said.

This time, after Ms. Wei finished chopping the ribs, Ye Caiping quickly took her knife and sliced ​​the pig liver thinly.

Rinse off the blood, then marinate it with soy sauce, cornstarch, ginger, salt, and sugar.

Grandma Ye was rendering lard on the side when she saw that so many things were put into pickling pig liver, not only salt but also sugar, and she felt heartbroken.

What kind of wasteful practices are these?

Ye Yinhua came in carrying a basket of eggs: "I bought them from my uncle's house. They cost 2 coins each. My uncle gave me two extra and also gave me a big bunch of chives."

I used up the 20 coins just right.