Chapter 49 Single people don't know how to raise children
Five or six children were at the gate of the courtyard.
Each child carried a basket containing lanterns they had taken down.
"You little rascals are really quick," Cheng Wanwan said with a smile. "But Auntie can only settle the bill with you tomorrow night, is that alright?"
Wang Damai was the first to nod: "Sure, Auntie can give it to me anytime."
Cheng Wanwan chuckled dryly: "This is two jin, so Auntie owes you four wen, plus the two eggs from the day before yesterday."
Two days ago, when she was digging the ditch, she promised to give the children more than twenty eggs, but she has only given them eight so far. It will take more than three days to pay them back. Now she owes the children more than ten coins. She must settle this debt tomorrow night, or she will not be able to live with herself.
Children came one after another, each contributing one jin (500 grams) or two jin (1.5 kg). Before long, the yard was piled with more than twenty jin of agate seeds, and she had accumulated a huge debt of more than forty wen (0.5 kg).
The villagers were initially envious of how much money Da Shan's mother made from food, but when they saw that she couldn't even cover her costs, they realized how difficult it was to do business.
First, you have to buy on credit. You can only pay off your debts after you make a profit. If you can't sell your goods, you'll not only be stuck with them, but you'll also be left with a mountain of debt.
Such high risks are completely unbearable for small farmers.
Some of the women in the village who had initially harbored ill intentions have now completely abandoned them.
Cheng Wanwan and her sons got busy at home. The Nanfu Academy had decent spending power; seventy or eighty bowls weren't enough. They could bring about two hundred bowls tomorrow to try. There was a distribution wharf in Hekou Town with many laborers there, but she didn't know if the men who did the labor would be willing to spend three coins to buy ice jelly. Anyway, they would give it a try first.
Zhao Ergou was in charge of peeling the agar seeds.
Zhao Dashan and Zhao Sanniu were responsible for washing the stone flower seeds.
Wu Huiniang was in charge of boiling brown sugar, while Zhao Sidan kept an eye on the fire in the stove.
Cheng Wanwan was chopping hawthorns into small pieces, peeling peanuts, removing the red skins from the peanuts, and crushing them into small pieces...
"Auntie, are you there?"
Chunhua's voice rang out from the doorway, and Cheng Wanwan wiped her hands and went out.
The two sisters, Chunhua and Donghua, stood at the door with baskets in their hands, and a large basket on their backs beside them, which looked to weigh at least five pounds of stone flower seeds.
Chunhua asked, "Auntie, we accidentally picked a little too many. Will you accept them?"
Cheng Wanwan naturally accepted them. Although one pound of agar seeds can yield at least twenty or thirty pounds of ice jelly, the agar seeds won't spoil after being peeled, so the more the better.
She smiled and said, "It's five and a half catties in total. Your aunt owes you eleven coins. Come and collect it tomorrow night."
Chunhua was overjoyed. She had earned eleven coins on her own. She would go back and tell her mother, who would be very happy.
She took Donghua's hand and prepared to leave.
Donghua sniffed: "Auntie, your house smells so good! What is Sidan eating?"
She stared intently at Zhao Sidan, who was sitting by the door.
After Zhao Sidan finished his work, he sat on the doorstep and ate some snacks. There were six pieces in the bag, but he was reluctant to eat them. He licked them one small bite at a time and swallowed them slowly. He ate three pieces in this slow and leisurely manner. He planned to save them for tomorrow. When he looked up, he saw Donghua staring straight at him.
He quickly hid the snacks in his sleeve.
"Auntie, I'm so hungry..."
Donghua's saliva gushed out; looking at her like that, no one could fail to understand what she was thinking.
Cheng Wanwan naturally wouldn't argue with a child who was only seven or eight years old. She said, "Sidan, give a piece to your sister Donghua."
Zhao Sidan stared wide-eyed: "I only have three pieces left, not even enough for myself."
Cheng Wanwan had a headache.
What should parents do when their child refuses to share snacks with other children?
She regretted not reading the parenting tips on those public accounts before, because as a single person, she really didn't know how to raise a child.
While Donghua's act of reaching out for food is unacceptable, Sidan's stinginess is also unacceptable.
She walked over to Si Dan and said in a low voice, "Give Dong Hua a piece, and Mom will buy you another pack tomorrow."
Zhao Sidan's eyes lit up and he immediately compromised. He took out some snacks, carefully took out a piece, and handed it to Zhao Donghua.
Donghua swallowed the pastry in one gulp, smacked her lips, and stared intently at the pastry that Zhao Sidan had hidden in his sleeve.
Zhao Sidan looked at Cheng Wanwan, his eyes clearly conveying the message: if he gave her another dollar, would his mother buy him another pack...?
Cheng Wanwan: "..."
It turns out that using snacks to entice children to learn to share is a big mistake.
She said, "Chunhua, it's getting late. Hurry up and take your sister home."
Chunhua obediently took Donghua's hand and led her out of the courtyard. As soon as they reached the path, Donghua pouted, "Auntie is so stingy, she didn't even give me a single pastry..."
Chunhua frowned: "Didn't your aunt ask Sidan to give you a piece? Your aunt will be angry if you say that."
"Just a tiny bit, like a fingernail, and I couldn't even taste anything," Donghua licked her lips. "I also saw a lot of fabric on Aunt's table in the main room. Big sister, Aunt must have made a lot of money. Sidan will have an endless supply of snacks every day from now on..."
Chunhua also saw those fabrics, all sorts of brand new colors; she hadn't made new clothes for several years.
The two sisters hurried toward Old Zhao's house.
The adults in Old Zhao's family were enjoying the cool air in the courtyard, doing their chores and chatting idly.
"I heard that my sister-in-law made a lot of money," Sun said cryptically. "She bought more than half a pound of meat and dozens of ducklings. Would she dare to spend like that if she hadn't made any money?"
Grandma Zhao paused, pointing with her finger: "Buying ducks is a good thing. Raising ducks can produce duck eggs that can be exchanged for copper coins. My eldest daughter-in-law is really going to live a good life."
Sun's face fell. The old lady was really biased; she could even force praise like that.
She twitched the corner of her mouth and said, "It's my first time making money in business, and you didn't even buy snacks for the children. Why didn't you send some meat over for your parents to try?"
These words are nothing short of blatant provocation.
Old Mrs. Zhao coldly raised her face: "Third son's wife, if you're so bored, go cut some bamboo behind the house. One of our bamboo baskets is broken..."
Before she could finish speaking, Chunhua led Donghua in from the doorway.
Sun's pent-up anger was immediately unleashed on the two maids: "You brats, where have you been running around at night? It's pitch black on the mountain. If they've been carried off by wolves, we'll have two less troublemakers..."
"Enough!" Old Mrs. Zhao scolded. "There are patrols on the mountain now. How could a living child be carried away by a wolf? Chunhua, Donghua, you two come here and tell Grandma what you've been doing?"
Chunhua spoke softly, "Auntie, we're taking down the lanterns. Donghua and I are going up the mountain to pick more."
Donghua said quickly, "My older sister and I picked more than five catties, and my aunt said it was worth eleven copper coins in total!"
The anger on Madam Sun's face immediately dissipated, and she hurriedly asked, "Where are the copper coins?"
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