Chapter 30: Practice from Today

"I asked Uncle Zhang. Red bricks are cheaper than green bricks. Building five red brick houses would cost at least 40 taels of silver. With the kang, the fire wall, the stove... all the miscellaneous costs added up, it would probably be 50 taels. Including the furniture, it would be 60 taels or more."

"More than that," Shang Wan said, "There are five of us. Regardless of the size of the rooms, we need five bedrooms. If you include the main room, study, and kitchen, that's eight, plus the pigsty and toilet."

Xiaohuan felt that Shang Wan had miscalculated. "Sister, we only need three bedrooms. Yuanyuan is still young and needs to live with you. Shitou and I will each have one, for a total of three bedrooms."

"What about Lu Chengjing?"

Xiao Huan: "Of course the young master will live in the same room with you."

Of course couples live together.

Shang Wan: Would Lu Chengjing, that innocent boy who could be made to blush by just one sentence, be willing to sleep on the same kang with her?

Thinking of that really pretty face of someone, Shang Wan scratched his right cheek and said, "First, follow what I just said and calculate roughly how much it will cost."

Xiao Huan calculated for a long time before saying, "About a hundred taels."

"How much money do you and Shitou have left?"

"You gave us twenty taels of silver in total. Repairing the house cost seven taels and three cents, buying wine cost one tael and four cents, and the city entrance fee cost fifty wen. The medicine cost five cents, leaving four taels and three cents."

Shang Wan had twenty-five taels of silver given by the government and three taels left over from selling the wild boar, which totaled less than forty taels of silver.

Although the Chen family still owed her fifty taels, the total was less than one hundred taels.

Even if it is enough, you can't use all the money to build a new house, as you still have expenses at home.

If they live like this now, they only need two bedrooms, which can indeed save the cost of building a new house. However, since a new house has been built, Shang Wan still wants everyone to live more comfortably.

Hunting makes money quickly, but she just sold a wild boar a few days ago. She can't carry two more to sell, right? It would be a waste of time.

The small animals couldn't be sold at a good price, and she couldn't go into the mountains to hunt them every day.

Shang Wan scratched his head, he had to find a sustainable source of income for his family as soon as possible, a legitimate one.

The little turtle crawled leisurely past her.

Shang Wan squatted down and poked it, "Aren't you the guardian tortoise? Come on, turn into two pieces of gold and show them to me."

The little turtle retracted its head into its shell and ignored this strange human.

Shang Wan raised his hand and threw it back to where it had crawled from. He clapped his hands and shouted towards the kitchen, "Xiao Huan, Shi Tou, come to the wing room for a meeting immediately."

Three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang. If they brainstorm together, they will definitely be able to come up with a reliable way to make money, right?

The four family members gathered in the side room and sat on both sides of the kang table.

Shang Wan said seriously, "Building a new house requires one hundred taels of silver. We don't have enough money. Let's think about some ways to make money."

Shitou raised his hand and said, "I'll go to the city and carry heavy bags. I'll earn 20 cents a day."

Shang Wan: "Too little, next one."

Xiaohuan suggested, "I can embroider ten handkerchiefs a day. Each handkerchief costs fifteen wen. Excluding the money I spend on buying handkerchiefs, I can make a hundred wen a day."

Shang Wan: "You embroider so many handkerchiefs every day, don't you want your eyes and hands anymore? Next one."

Shitou and Xiaohuan lowered their heads and thought hard.

Shang Wan poked the absent-minded person beside him, "What talents...uh, skills do you have?"

Lu Chengjing pondered for a moment, "Calligraphy and painting."

Shang Wan was surprised: "Can you write and draw with your left hand?"

Lu Chengjing: "I can start practicing from today."

The corner of Shang Wan's mouth twitched, "You should take a rest."

When can I go after I have learned enough?

"Sister, Master's calligraphy and paintings are very popular in the county school." Shitou couldn't help but interrupt, "One painting can sell for dozens of taels of silver."

Shang Wan's eyes lit up, "Really?"

"Really? The young master is a quick learner, and buying books costs money. When Madam doesn't give him any, he trades his calligraphy and paintings with the owner of the study, saving him a lot of money." Shitou revealed his young master's past. "When Madam deducts his monthly salary as a punishment, the young master sells his calligraphy and paintings, and everyone in the county school rushes to buy them."

Shang Wan thought of the pile of scrolls in his space, turned to look at Lu Chengjing, and asked, "Can those calligraphy and paintings in your study be sold for money?"

"Of course," Shitou answered quickly. "The calligraphy and paintings in the study are what the young master is reluctant to sell. They are so beautiful!"

"Wait a moment." Shang Wan rushed out the door, ran to the bedroom, took out all the scrolls in the space, and ran back to the room with them.

"Eight paintings in total." Shang Wan placed the scroll on the table and smiled at the three of them. "Tomorrow we'll go into the city and sell the paintings at the gate of the county school."

Even if one painting sells for twenty taels, eight paintings would make at least one hundred and sixty taels, which is definitely enough to build a new house.

Lu Chengjing glanced at the scroll on the table, his eyes twitching slightly, "You haven't opened it to see it?"

What’s so good about the painting?

Shang Wan looked at him suspiciously, picked up one and opened it.

Xiaohuan and Shitou came over to take a look.

"Where's the painting?"

The three of them were dumbfounded at the same time.

The scroll was completely blank, without even a speck of ink.

The three of them quickly opened the other seven scrolls, and found that they were all blank.

Lu Chengjing was helpless. "Those paintings were taken away by my father...Mr. Lu a long time ago. All the scrolls in the study were newly bought by me."

The three people who were so happy in vain: "..."

Seeing the three people who were so cheerful just now looking like eggplants hit by frost, Lu Chengjing coughed lightly and said, "Actually, I have a way to make money."

Shang Wan threw the blank scroll away and walked back to sit down.

Xiaohuan and Shitou also sat back in their original seats and pricked up their ears to listen to what was going on.

"I know a little bit about preparing medicinal herbs," Lu Chengjing said. "We can go up the mountain to collect herbs, prepare them, and sell them to pharmacies. As long as we don't dig them up, the herbs will grow every year, so it can be considered a way to make money continuously."

"Besides, there are many medicinal herbs on this mountain, including precious herbs such as ginseng. If we can find them, the money for building a new house should not be a problem."

"I can find one." Shang Wan spread his hands. "But I don't see any difference between herbs and weeds. Do either of you know any?"

She immediately ruled out Lu Chengjing. With Lu Chengjing in his current condition, a broken arm and a lame leg, how could he possibly go into the mountains with her to look for herbs?

Xiaohuan shook her head. It was no problem for her to identify wild vegetables and mushrooms, but identifying herbs? No way.

Shi Tou opened his mouth, then swallowed his words back when he thought of something.

Lu Chengjing glanced at him and said to Shang Wan, "Shi Tou often prescribes and decocts medicine for me. He knows all the commonly used herbs."

Shang Wan was a little surprised. The boy had this ability?

"Master, I can't do this." Shitou waved his hands repeatedly. "Prepared herbs look different from fresh herbs, and I'm always careless. If I find the wrong one, wouldn't it be a waste of effort?"

"Experience comes from actual combat. You just need to be more careful and recognize it more often, right?" Shang Wan encouraged, nodding in Lu Chengjing's direction. "His leg injury hasn't healed yet. Do you want him to follow me into the mountains?"

(End of this chapter)