Chapter Fourteen: Homemade Ceramic Ice Chest
Since her daughter-in-law hadn't asked, Aunt Xue hadn't paid much attention. But now that her daughter-in-law had brought it up, Aunt Xue leaned closer by the dim light of the oil lamp to examine her closely.
Upon closer inspection, it was quite remarkable.
The daughter-in-law originally had dark skin and a wide face, with a lot of flesh on it. Her eyes weren't small, but because of the fat on her face, they were squeezed into two thin slits.
The face before me now is much better than when I first met her.
Her skin seemed to have become a bit whiter, and the fat on her face had decreased, making her features appear larger and giving her a somewhat delicate and pretty look.
It looked beautiful, but Aunt Xue felt very guilty.
They raised their daughters to be plump and strong, but she's only been at the Xue family's house for a few days and she's already so thin from exhaustion.
“These past few days you’ve been so busy, working from dawn till dusk, I haven’t had a chance to really look after you. It’s all because of the Xue family that you’ve suffered so much. You’ve gotten so thin in just a few days.”
Li Yan replied, “Mother, you don’t know the pain of being overweight. It’s not good to be fat, especially not like me. Mother, do you know how much effort it takes for me to carry this extra weight around every day? It’s better to be thin. Being thinner will make me lighter and more agile when I’m busy.”
"Besides, I look better when I'm thinner. I'm not as skinny as a bamboo pole, so how could it not look good?"
Aunt Xue listened attentively to her daughter-in-law's words, nodding as if she understood but not quite.
Li Yan finally got back to the main point: "Mother, I'll think about going to the city. I'm too sleepy, I'm going to bed."
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After leaving Li Yan's stall in a huff, Li Shangping couldn't even eat dinner when he got home.
Even before going to bed that night, he still had a cold face and was so angry that he tossed and turned in bed.
He tossed and turned, unable to sleep, so naturally Yue couldn't sleep well either.
"Is Master still angry about Second Miss's matter?" Madam Yue sat up and asked gently.
"This brat, she keeps causing trouble, making me lose face." Li Shangping was angry not only because his daughter was disobedient and immature, but also because her repeated tantrums damaged his reputation.
Qingshan Town is so small, any incident spreads like wildfire. Her outburst in front of Yuanbao Tower today must have been overheard by countless people, who knows how they're laughing at her behind her back.
Originally, his visit to the Han family in Huating County was to lay low for a while. He thought that once things calmed down, he could return and the neighbors would have forgotten about her coming to their door demanding money. Even if they hadn't forgotten, some time would have passed, and they certainly wouldn't bring it up again, and it would gradually fade from their memories.
But who would have thought that during his absence from Qingshan Town, she would cause so much trouble?
And today, he contradicted him in front of so many people, showing no respect for his father... How can he live like this again and again?
At this moment, Madam Yue was no longer angry; she had her own plans in mind.
She had long been tired of living in this town, and now that her daughter had successfully married into the Han family in the city and was well-liked by them, she naturally wanted to move into the city as well.
This way, we can be close to our daughter and visit her often in the future, which will also benefit Zong'er's future studies and career.
What's in this town? It's pretty much the same as in the village. But Huating County is different. It has city gates, wide streets, many shops on both sides of the streets, and many wealthy people. It's very prosperous.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Madam Yue spoke her mind: "It's clear that Qingshan Town is still too small. Even the smallest things can become the talk of the town. After staying in Huating County for a while, what did you think of Huating County, sir?"
"Of course that would be great," Li Shangping blurted out without thinking. It's so big, so prosperous, and so populous—how could it not be good?
Madam Yue then moved closer to him and said, “Master, you are now the father-in-law of the scholar. When you go back to Huating County, I don’t know how many people will fawn over you. It’s just a pity that we don’t live there, so we can’t enjoy the blessings of having a son-in-law. If we could move to Huating County, then you could hear those nice words every day. It’s better than staying here and being annoyed by Er Ya every day.”
Seeing that he remained silent and seemed to be hesitating, Yue added fuel to the fire: "That's not all."
Madam Yue said, "Through my son-in-law's connections, we've found a teacher for Zong-ge in the county town. After autumn, Zong-ge will have to go to the city to study. Although Qingshan Town is not far from Huating County, it still takes about half an hour by carriage. It's not realistic for us to travel back and forth every day from early morning to late at night. It's feasible to have Zong-ge stay at the Han family's house, but if it goes on for too long, we'll inevitably become inferior to them."
"Does the master intend to be inferior to the Han family from now on?"
"Of course not!" They're in-laws, not superiors and subordinates, so why should I be inferior to them?
“Then we’ll have to sell everything here and buy a house in Huating County.” Only when we reached this point did Yue Shi say what she really wanted to say: “That way, Zong Ge’er won’t have to run back and forth every day and suffer, and we won’t have to be inferior to the Han family.”
In fact, Yue had been planning to move to the city for a long time, but she was afraid that her husband would not agree, so she took it slowly.
Using his son-in-law's connections, he first secured his son's schooling. Then, using his precious son's schooling as an excuse, he brought up the matter of moving to a new house.
Coincidentally, during this time, the second girl caused trouble, which actually helped her out.
But moving is no small matter, and although Li Shangping was tempted, he didn't dare to make up his mind for the time being.
Let me think about it some more.
Knowing that he could say that meant the matter was more than half settled, Yue smiled.
"Actually, the main reason for doing this is for Zong-ge'er. Giving Zong-ge'er a good environment so he can study hard and become a scholar in the future will make you, as his father, very proud. No matter how good your son-in-law is, he is still someone else's son. Nothing is as prestigious or respectable as your own son's success."
In the darkness, Li Shangping's eyes shone brightly, as if he could already see himself soon becoming the father of a scholar and being fawned over by everyone.
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Aunt Xue didn't not want to move to the city; as Li Yan said, it would be better for the two children if they moved to the city.
But she also knew that moving to the city and renting a house would cost a lot of money. Supporting her child's education would be another huge expense.
It's good that we have a stable income right now. But that money isn't enough to live comfortably in the city.
So for the past two days, Aunt Xue has been in a dilemma.
Li Yan was alright; for her, moving to the city was inevitable, so she wasn't worried about it.
These past two days, she has been doing her work as usual, following the routine.
If there's any dilemma, it's a little, but not about whether or not to move to the city. What's troubling her is that she's currently signed a one-year cooperation agreement with Yuanbaolou, and if she wants to move to the city, how can she make the cooperation with Yuanbaolou more cost-effective?
In her spare time, she also inquired with He about the journey from Qingshan Town to Huating County, which takes about forty minutes one way.
Over time, the cost of renting a car will naturally increase.
And most importantly, how can we ensure the taste and freshness of the food during such a long journey?
The weather is hot now, so the braised pork is delivered to town as soon as it's cooked. The journey takes very little time, so the color, aroma, and taste are hardly affected once it arrives in town.
However, if it is sent from Huating County to Qingshan Town, it will take a long time.
The weather is still warm now, so it's not too bad that the meat cools down slowly. But once autumn arrives and the weather gets colder, keeping it fresh and warm will definitely be a problem.
Fortunately, she wasn't busy these past two days, and everything was proceeding smoothly, so Li Yan was able to spare the time and energy to figure out how to make a large insulated container herself.
I have to thank myself for the work I did in the past.
Making money by shooting cooking videos on a certain platform, the main source of income is actually from advertising.
Li Yan once took on an advertisement for a brand of insulated containers. When writing the script, Li Yan researched a lot of information, including how ancient people kept food cold or hot without refrigerators.
In fact, the ancients had their own refrigerators, but they weren't called refrigerators at that time; they were called ice chests.
The earliest ice chests were made of bronze, but bronze has too good a thermal conductivity. After many years of evolution, the ancients replaced bronze vessels with earthenware jars, which were called earthenware ice chests and were the prototype of early refrigerators.
Li Yan thought that if she could successfully make a simple refrigerator (insulated box) herself, she could solve the problem of keeping meat fresh during long journeys.
Li Yan is a woman of action; she does what she says she will do. As soon as the mulberry drinks sold out that day, she immediately inquired about which pottery shop in town made the best pottery.
But Qingshan Town is very small, with only one or two shops selling pottery jars. Li Yan went to see them, and the pottery jars were crudely made, and none of them were double-layered, so they didn't meet her requirements at all.
But when Li Yan told the shopkeepers what style she needed, both shops shook their heads, saying they couldn't make what she wanted.
The craftsmen in Huating County could certainly meet her requirements, but if she made a special trip for it, it would waste time and money, and she might not be able to find someone who suited her immediately.
So in the end, Li Yan gave up on finding craftsmen outside to do it, and decided to do it herself.
On the way back, Li Yan drove the oxcart while asking He Shi beside her, "Sister-in-law, do you know where we can find clay?" Clay is needed to make pottery jars.
After Mr. He told her where the clay was, he asked, "What do you need the clay for?"
Before things were settled, Li Yan didn't want to say anything, so she could only give a perfunctory answer.
This morning, Mrs. He overheard Aunt Xue mentioning that Mrs. Li wanted to take her family to live in the city. If she was thinking about moving to the city, she must have made money.
Curious, Mrs. He couldn't help but ask Li Yan, "Sister, you must be making a lot of money by cooperating with Yuanbaolou, right?"
Selling braised pork earns one coin, and setting up a stall to sell mulberry drinks every day brings in another twenty or thirty coins.
They said they wanted to go into the city...
Ms. He didn't dare to think about how much money she would earn in a month.
"I didn't make much money." Although she had a good relationship with Madam He, Li Yan wasn't foolish enough to tell Madam He the whole truth.
He's mouth is big; if she knows, it's as if the whole village knows.
That's one point.
Secondly, although the two are on good terms now, who can guarantee that she won't betray him for money one day?
Li Yan has always understood the principle of not flaunting one's wealth.
Therefore, Li Yan said bitterly, "Sister-in-law, don't be fooled by my current partnership with Yuanbaolou. I don't actually make much money. If selling braised pork could really earn a lot of money, why wouldn't I make more meat to sell? Why would I go to such lengths, going up the mountain every day to pick fruit and make drinks to sell?"
Since Mr. He didn't understand marketing, he naturally believed Li Yan's words.
“That’s true,” Madam He echoed. “If you really wanted to make money, why don’t you make more to sell? Why bother selling those drinks?” Selling those drinks requires going up the mountain to pick fruit. Wouldn’t it be better to use that time to make more braised pork to sell? Clearly, selling meat doesn’t earn much money.
A note from the author:
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Update is here~~~ [pink heart]
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