"Poor child, he lost his mother at such a young age, and his father died a year ago when he was gored in the stomach by an ox. Old Zhang San has been raising him all by himself," said Old Qiao.
In the countryside, there are actually not many families who can live a prosperous and peaceful life.
Fortunately, the fields belonging to Lao Zhang's family are far from the river, so they can guarantee a harvest every year and fill their stomachs.
“Our family is even more pitiful than Old Zhang’s family, but luckily we have Lian’er.” As she spoke, Old Mrs. Qiao hugged Qiao Lian’er tightly.
Qiao Lian'er was twelve years old, but she was thin and small, looking like a child. However, she had a pair of dark and clear eyes, long eyelashes, and a straight nose, just like a doll in a New Year's painting. Old Mrs. Qiao liked her very much and wished she could hold her in her arms and kiss her all the time.
As for what happened just now, although it was sincere, it was essentially just making up an excuse.
Qiao Lian'er finished eating the snacks in Grandma Qiao's arms, and then licked the remaining snacks off her hands.
"Grandma, if we find mushrooms in a few more days, we can build a big yard, right?"
She had just handed the box of silver ingots to Old Lady Qiao.
The family's current savings amount to 138 taels.
Everyone was thrilled upon hearing this.
At this rate, there shouldn't be any problems. Although it hasn't rained in the last few days, the amount of mushrooms on the mountain should be enough.
"Sure, sure, with a sickle, we can have anything we need."
Then Old Mrs. Qiao instructed: "Lian'er and Yunni stay at home, everyone else go up the mountain. It's the eldest son's turn to cook. Feng Shi, you and Xi'er will come back to cook then."
"Mother, let's proceed in order—"
Before Qiao Yunni could finish speaking, she was interrupted by Grandma Qiao.
"No, your legs aren't fully healed yet. Let's wait until they're completely recovered before we talk about it. If something goes wrong, we'll have to start all over again."
"And if you make clothes for the whole family at home, isn't that hard work?"
"You need to take better care of yourself so that you won't be bullied when you get married in the future."
Seeing that Grandma Qiao looked serious and had changed the subject, Qiao Yunni opened her mouth but couldn't say a word.
If she's home, she's home. At worst, she can help with the kitchen a bit more.
The Qiao family members, carrying baskets on their backs and carrying bamboo baskets, went to different mountain peaks.
The villagers sitting in the open space at the village entrance, chatting, all looked on with puzzlement as they watched the Qiao family members.
"The Qiao family has gone up the mountain again. What are they looking for?"
"Moreover, the aroma of oil and meat always wafted from the Qiao family's house, making one's mouth water. The Song family also said that the Qiao family had become rich, and they wanted to learn from the Qiao family, but they learned the wrong path."
At this moment, the Song family went to pick up Song Laoda, Song Laoer, and Song Daming and brought them back. They arrived at the village entrance just in time.
The Song family was heartbroken at spending thirty taels of silver. The moment they handed over the money, Old Mrs. Song almost fainted and is still being supported by others.
They had been cursing the Qiao family all the way, so how could they let go of such an opportunity when they heard people talking about the Qiao family at the village entrance?
"The Qiao family took that kind of wood chips to sell, and wealthy families were happy to buy them. We just don't know what they are." Madam Shen's long face was twisted with jealousy: "They earn dozens of taels of silver a day."
"What? Earning dozens of taels a day? That's too exaggerated!" The villagers were shocked.
“Our family saw it with their own eyes. We didn’t try to cheat or swindle them; we didn’t think they really wanted wood chips.” Old Song’s eyes were also red.
This morning, Qiao Lian'er, Da Cheng, and Dayong went to sell those things. They heard that they actually sold them for fifty taels!
Old Mrs. Song added fuel to the fire through gritted teeth: "The Qiao family has somehow managed to make money behind everyone's back. They're taking money from those mountains, but those mountains aren't exclusively owned by the Qiao family. Everyone could have a share."
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