Everyone turned around at the sound and saw that it was Widow Liu who spoke, and they all burst out laughing instantly.
“Spring Ox Mother, you’re a bachelor all by yourself. San Tou Niu is almost twenty years old and you can’t even afford to get a wife. How can you expect to support the Su family in their old age?”
"Exactly! You'd better not bite off more than you can chew. You should first check how much rice you have left in your own rice bin!"
"The family has only four acres of land, supporting three sons, each lazier than the last. The harvest isn't even enough to feed their own family, yet they expect to support the Su family? Do they think they can use other men's money to support them? They're shameless..."
Most of those who spoke were women from the village.
Ever since Su Erhu pointed out the uneaten meat at Widow Liu's house, everyone has been keeping a close eye on their men these past two days, and they have indeed discovered something fishy. Now, everyone's gaze towards Widow Liu is even more displeased.
"Stop making up nonsense!" Widow Liu snorted coldly, then turned to Su Dahu with a smile, "Dahu boy, from now on, we're family. Hurry up and tell your aunt how to make these snails?"
"Auntie, don't be anxious." Su Dahu's smile remained unchanged. "Before teaching Suolu, let's ask the village chief to draw up a document first, that would be proper."
"Draw up a document?" Widow Liu's smile faltered, her face turning awkward. "We're all from the same village, why bother with that cumbersome document? It's not only troublesome, but it also makes us seem distant! Don't you think so?"
Su Dahu waved his hand, looking somewhat puzzled. "Aunt Liu's words are unreasonable. How much trouble does it take to draw up a document? Does Aunt Liu only want the snail recipe and not want to support my Su family?"
"How could that be? Let's draw up a document then!" Widow Liu agreed through gritted teeth.
Hmph, what good is a mere document?
Once she gets her hands on the recipe for the snails, she won't care about the Su family anymore.
Whether they starve to death or die of disease, it will have nothing to do with Liu Jinhua.
“Alright, Aunt Liu, get on the oxcart.” Su Dahu shifted his position to make room, his smile widening. “We’ll have the village chief as a witness. If he takes the prescription and abandons the Su family, he’ll compensate the Su family with five hundred taels of silver…”
"What?" Widow Liu wiggled her hips as she climbed up.
It fell straight to the ground with a thud.
I got a mouthful of mud.
Su Dahu glanced at Su Hua, who instantly had a flash of inspiration. She stretched out a chubby little hand and clicked her tongue, "Aunt Liu, are you too excited? Come on, come on up, let Hua'er give you a hand. It's getting dark, don't waste any more time."
Widow Liu spat out a mouthful of mud and sand, staring at the hand in front of her, wishing she could break it off.
But behind Su Hua, three tigers were watching her intently. She had no choice but to swallow her resentment and gently shake her head. "It's getting late today. I should go back now. My kids are waiting for me to make dinner. We'll talk about it next time."
After saying that, he got up from the ground with a mournful face and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
There wasn't a single good person in the Su family; they were all black-hearted bastards.
They actually asked for five hundred taels of silver, which was outrageous.
Why doesn't he just rob it?
Even if you sold the entire Su family, you wouldn't get a fraction of fifty taels of silver.
Seeing this, Su Dahu smiled and looked at the crowd of onlookers, "Uncles, aunts, is there anyone else who would like to learn how to make this kind of snail?"
Upon hearing this, the onlookers fell silent and quietly headed home. They couldn't afford to support the Su family or offer five hundred taels of silver, so why waste their time? They might as well just wash up and go to bed.
Finally, there is peace and quiet in front of the oxcart.
Su Dahu turned to the three of them and instructed them, "Hua'er, Erhu, Sanhu, sit down, let's go home!"
His words clearly revealed him to be a simple-minded, big guy.
"Don't worry, big brother, we're all sitting tight!" Su Erhu seemed to have gotten used to it.
Su Sanhu fell into a deep sleep on the oxcart, occasionally snoring softly.
Su Hua stared at the man's back, secretly alarmed. Her seemingly honest older brother was actually a black sesame dumpling filling.
A farce was resolved with a few words and a laugh.
Moreover, they didn't offend anyone.
As soon as the Su siblings returned to their small courtyard at the end of the village in their oxcart, Su Bai and the others came out to greet them.
"Hua'er is back? Come on, have some water. Next time, we'll have your brothers go." Seeing that her daughter's lips were dry, Su Bai felt sorry for her and had already prepared a cup of warm water in her hand. "Look at you, you've gotten so thin from hunger every day."
This time, the Qian family learned their lesson.
He dared not ask again how much money he had earned.
Instead, they directly helped carry wooden basins from the oxcart.
Upon seeing that the two large wooden basins the group had brought back were completely empty, he grinned from ear to ear, feeling as light as if he were walking on cotton.
"Be careful." Su Erhu chuckled and shook his head when he saw his wife almost trip over a pebble. "You're not strong enough, we'll carry this wooden basin."
"Ah." Madam Qian's mind raced. These five small stone snails were worth one copper coin. Today, these two large basins of stone snails would be worth at least four or five thousand coins. If she sold them all, how much silver would they be worth? Five hundred coins, seven hundred coins, or eight hundred coins?
Why can't she just calculate it?
After Su Hua and her three companions went to sell snails, the people in the Su family who stayed at home were also busy. They all went out to collect snails. Now, there is a long row of snails in the courtyard, and all six large wooden basins in the house have been turned over to collect snails.
Su Bai looked at the snails in the yard with some worry, "This afternoon, Widow Liu brought her three cows to search for snails in the river. I'm afraid she's eyeing our snail business."
"It's alright, Big Brother already chased Widow Liu away." Su Erhu chuckled.
Immediately, he began to vividly recount what had just happened at the village entrance.
Upon hearing this, Su Bai was furious. "That shameless old hag! She wants my family's snail recipe without even asking! The whole of Qingshui County isn't as thick-skinned as her! No way, I have to find her! How dare she bully the younger generation while I'm away! What a piece of trash..."
Seeing Su Bai's face turn pale with anger, Su Erhu panicked and frantically gave Su Hua meaningful glances.
“Mother!” Su Hua gently took Su Bai’s arm and said with a smile, “This recipe for snails is a good thing, it’s normal that people are eyeing it. Even when we went to the market today, there were people who made snails to sell, but they couldn’t sell a single one. They even lost money on firewood and oil and salt, and all their efforts were in vain.”
"Someone actually learned to slurp snails today?" Su Bai murmured.
Her worries from yesterday have unexpectedly come true so quickly.
“Yes.” Su Hua nodded. “However, as long as we keep the recipe a secret, no one else will be able to learn the essence of this flavor of snails. Hua’er is tired after a long day. Why don’t we eat first?”
"Right, right, let's eat. There's still one fish offal dish I haven't made. I'll go right now." Su Bai slapped her forehead and walked into the kitchen.
He had completely forgotten about settling scores with Widow Liu.
The three Su brothers simultaneously gave Su Hua a thumbs up.
When Mom gets angry, only my little sister can handle it.
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