Caihua's mother knew exactly what her brother and sister-in-law were thinking, so she said, "Just go with Da Wa. He's the eldest son of the Qin family. He's very capable!"
Caihua's mother wasn't lying! She said it from the bottom of her heart!
Even though she had harbored resentment towards Qin San Niang before, she was now completely convinced. Recently, her family had benefited immensely from Qin San Niang's influence; those batches of bamboo baskets alone had earned them nearly two taels of silver, not to mention the wild apricots and the adobe bricks they had made. And her husband had been called away to build a workshop…
Besides, she had other thoughts about her eldest child!
When those families first arrived, she had gone up the mountain to chop firewood once, and the eldest child had helped her. At the time, however, she didn't know whose child he was. So handsome! And so polite! If he were to marry her daughter Caihua, wouldn't that be a match made in heaven?
Her son, Caihua, is already twelve years old. In another year, she'll be ready to be introduced to potential partners!
However, ever since she found out that Da Wa was actually Qin San Niang's son, she was extremely annoyed! Well, she'd better find someone else to pair her own cauliflower with!
Now? That's even worse! The two families are no longer on the same level. The Qin family is now a big business, and Caihua can't possibly be compared to them! Alas! Fate is cruel! But this doesn't affect Caihua's mother's appreciation for Dawa at all.
When Caihua's brother and sister-in-law heard about Da Wa's identity, they exclaimed, "Good heavens! Isn't this the young master? No wonder he's the one in charge!"
Lu Song deftly counted out 320 copper coins, handed them to Brother Song, and asked him to count them again.
Brother Song was a little embarrassed. He had never handled so much money in his life, let alone counted it. He could only nod awkwardly, carefully put it into his sleeve pocket, and after thinking for a moment, took out some more and put it in his breast pocket. He pressed it carefully to make sure there was no problem before he felt relieved.
As they left the Qin family home, Song's eldest sister-in-law said affectionately to Caihua's mother, "Sister, we owe you so much this time, otherwise our family would have lost a huge amount of business!"
The Song family was quite poor. Song's eldest sister-in-law had been eating coarse food for over ten years. Her younger sister-in-law was also not easy to deal with. Fortunately, she got married early and married into a relatively well-off family in Shiligou, which made her very envious.
Of course, the eldest sister-in-law of the Song family was also poor, and compared with the Song family, they were only about the same, so naturally she would not say anything to look down on the Song family.
In the past, although the two sisters-in-law did not have any major grudges, they would have some minor disagreements because Caihua's mother would come back to her parents' home to freeload. Fortunately, her mother-in-law was a sensible person and told her to ignore her sister-in-law.
Sister-in-law Song never expected that although her sister-in-law was clueless about small things, she was quite decisive about important matters! This time, she was genuinely grateful to her sister-in-law and felt ashamed of her previous behavior.
“Hey, what are you saying? Aren’t we all family? If you’re doing well, doesn’t that mean my nephew is doing well too? When my nephew becomes successful, won’t I, his aunt, also enjoy the good life? I’m doing this all for my nephew!” Caihua’s mother patted her sister-in-law’s hand and said in a carefree manner.
God knows what storm is raging inside her. Hey, it feels pretty good to be treated like a grandma by your family!
No one expected that from then on, Caihua's mother would become more and more courageous on the road to becoming a good aunt!
After listening to his sister's advice, Brother Song and his wife went home and planned to hire an oxcart to transport all the adobe bricks from their home to Shiligou.
The news shocked the elderly parents at home; the two of them barely managed not to fall off their stools!
"Dad, it's true! Look, this is the money from that cartload of adobe bricks! My little sister has really landed a big deal for the family this time! The landlord said he'll buy all ten thousand adobe bricks we make, as long as they're all of this quality!"
Brother Song was so excited he was almost incoherent. On the way, he had been staring intently at the copper coins in his arms, and now that he was relieved of his burden, he almost danced with joy.
Sister-in-law Song wasn't much better off, but she still grinned and went to the kitchen to pour herself a bowl of water. The man was exhausted from the journey and didn't even have time to drink water when he got home. He would be busy borrowing an oxcart to transport adobe bricks later, and he would probably be busy until night.
Old Mrs. Song looked at the pile of copper coins in front of her, rubbed her eyes hard, and secretly pinched the back of her thigh. Ouch! It's real! So much money!
The Song family quickly mobilized, some carrying adobe bricks, others borrowing oxcarts, and they were all very busy.
When Caihua's father learned that his wife's family was planning to sell adobe bricks, he came over after lunch to help with the work.
The Song family couldn't be more satisfied with their son-in-law who had come to their aid in their time of need.
Finally, as night fell, ten thousand adobe bricks were transported to the workshop.
Qin San Niang was very grateful for their help and readily paid them the full amount. She also prepared a large bamboo tube of lemon and honey water for them to quench their thirst.
At first, the group thought it was just ordinary well water, but after taking a sip, wow, it was delicious! What was this taste like? It was so sweet!
These lemons were nowhere near as big as those of later generations; they were wild lemons from the back mountain that Xiao Er and his companions found. They said they were called "Yi Mu Guo" (益母果). Qin San Niang thought for a long time before she remembered that lemons were indeed called "Yi Mu Guo" in the past.
But when you add motherwort to jam and honey, the taste is absolutely amazing!
This was discovered by Da Wa "by chance," and of course, this "chance" was also created by Qin San Niang.
So, Da Wa started buying motherwort fruit in the village again. Picking fruit was Da Wa's forte. The children in the village never had pocket money. Now that they had a way to make money, how could they not be as swift as tigers?
At first, the parents were somewhat skeptical, wondering how the mother could be so at ease letting her child go out to collect fruit. They thought it must be just the kids playing around!
How much of this can they harvest? This fruit is unbelievably sour. If wild apricots are sour, at least they're edible. Even birds wouldn't eat this stuff! But reality slapped them in the face.
The price of one coin for two catties made the children very happy. At first, they earned three or four coins a day, and later seven or eight coins a day, which was almost equivalent to an adult's daily earnings!
The parents were also in a panic. Although they had promised their children that they could keep the money from selling the motherwort as their own savings to buy candy during the New Year, ordinary candy didn't cost that much money. So, every household put on a show of wits and courage with their children.
"Son, it's not safe for you to keep this money yourself. I'll leave it with your father to save it up for you. I'll buy you snacks, candy, and even a toy cow for the New Year!"
"Your mother will save this for you; you'll need it when you get married!"
This five-year-old child: Mom, are you serious? Isn't it too early to talk about getting married now?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com