"Get out of the way, I have something to do." The little girl, Gouhua, pushed aside a group of brothers around her, took Xiaoya's hand, and the two walked towards the main room.

Zhang the blacksmith's sons stood in the courtyard, scratched their heads, and looked at Su Jiaoniang: "Hello, Sister-in-law Su."

Su Jiaoniang's lips moved slightly. She counted carefully and found that there were six men of different ages here, all of whom were Gouhua's brothers. What did that mean? It meant that Zhang the blacksmith had a total of seven children.

They're really good at having babies!

Su Jiaoniang sighed, "Shall we sit inside?"

"No need, no need, we can wait for my sister in the yard."

"Your house is too small to fit us."

"We'll just wait for our sister here."

The group of men chatted away, each contributing their own comment, creating quite a lively atmosphere.

Su Jiaoniang smiled, looking a little tired. Raising so many sons must have been really tough. Zhang the blacksmith was a good man.

She walked into the house, where Xiao Ya and Gou Hua were counting money. When they reached one hundred, they stopped and looked at the bald boy who was writing: "How much money do we have here?"

“One hundred and thirty-four coins,” Gu Changsheng said casually, feeling like the older brother at that moment.

Teaching a sweet, soft-spoken girl to read and receiving admiring glances—that feeling is just wonderful!

"One hundred and thirty-four!" Gouhua's eyes widened as she looked at Xiaoya.

The two children had little experience with money; they could hold onto a single coin for a long time. Now, they've earned so much by themselves, by preparing some food.

Let's swallow our saliva together.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Gouhua pushed the money next to Xiaoya: "I've counted the money, Xiaoya, I'm going home now."

Xiao Ya held onto Gouhua's hand, not letting Gouhua leave. She didn't know why she was holding onto Gouhua, she just couldn't bear to let Gouhua go.

Su Jiaoniang walked in from outside, and seeing the two little girls' reluctant and clingy manner, she chuckled. Then she glanced at the copper coins on the table, counted them, and found that she had quite a bit of money left after deducting her costs. You know, nowadays, the men in the village who go out to work for others can only bring back a maximum of twenty or so copper coins a day.

If you encounter a stingy person, you're lucky to make ten coins a day.

Su Jiaoniang took out fifteen coins from her copper coin bank: "This is Gouhua's wages. Take it and buy yourself some clothes."

Dog Flower took a step back, surprised, and said, "No, I can't have it."

"You can take it, otherwise I won't let you go with Xiaoya tomorrow," Su Jiaoniang said, stuffing the money into Gouhua's hand.

We can't stop her from playing house with Xiaoya.

Dog Flower took the copper coin.

Once the copper coin was in her little hand, Gouhua couldn't bear to take it out again. The seven-year-old child already understood the value of money. If it wasn't in her own hands, that was fine, but now that the money was already in her hands, taking it out would be like tearing her heart out.

She left the courtyard with a group of her brothers.

Back home, he chattered on and on about what had happened that day to Zhang the blacksmith. Zhang the blacksmith was taken aback, and stared at his sons with his bull-like eyes: "Look at Gouhua, he can earn money to spend on himself. Look at you guys, you're all grown up and you're useless."

The men of the Zhang family chuckled sheepishly. They were strong and either worked as blacksmiths or farmers. They didn't have much money, but they weren't starving, so they were quite content.

Zhang the blacksmith was angry when he saw his unambitious son, but when he thought about how the magistrate had taken a liking to the weapons he made and how his family's income and expenses had improved, he calmed down.

He waited for his sons and pointed to one of them: "There are men all over the dock. Xiao Hua will go help out tomorrow. Second brother, you come too. You don't need to do anything. Just protect them if anyone causes trouble."

Zhang Erzhu nodded in agreement; he liked this idea.

The next day, Gouhua led Erzhu toward the Su family.

When Su Jiaoniang saw Erzhu who had come with her, a smile appeared in her eyes. She felt relieved that someone was going to the dock with Xiaoya and Erzhu. She handed the basket of cold noodles she had made to Erzhu and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Erzhu."

"It's not hard work, it's not hard work." Erzhu carried the basket on his back, glanced at the short and stout little girl, reached out and picked her up, and carried her towards the county town.

Lu Futu put down the book in his hand and looked outside. The little girl with her clear laughter was chatting with Gouhua, and they looked extremely harmonious. He lowered his head and returned to the courtyard to continue practicing calligraphy. He would not allow his handwriting to be uglier than Changsheng's.

Su Jiaoniang continued with her usual routine, delivering a batch of cold noodles to the Cai family and then selling shaved ice outside the academy.

The midday sun was like a furnace, scorching the earth, and even the cicadas in the trees stopped chirping. During breaks, the shaved ice stalls were packed with people. Su Jiaoniang quickly made her shaved ice; this time, with a wooden bowl, she was much faster.

The scholars from the county school ate the shaved ice, their faces lightening. Some of them even cleverly approached Su Jiaoniang and asked, "Sister-in-law, this stuff you made is delicious! The bowl you used today is also exquisite. It makes me feel so good while eating it. By the way, what is that stuff you used to crush the ice? Do you sell it?"

"This is for sale, of course, but the price is a bit high. If you want, just have someone talk to me about it." Su Jiaoniang said, without delaying her work.

The scholar smiled and nodded in agreement. His family owned a restaurant, and they usually had many customers. If there were a bowl of shaved ice like this on a summer day, it would be refreshing and delicious, and many people would want to eat it. In that case, his family's business would flourish.

After exchanging addresses with Su Jiaoniang, the scholar departed.

Lu Daishu saw Su Jiaoniang chatting and laughing with her classmate Fu Chuntang from afar. His eyes flashed, and a scheme arose in his mind.

Fu Chuntang's family relationships are extremely complicated. If one could befriend such a person, and if one could ride the wave of opportunity...

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!