Chapter 18 There's a rat in the store
The Yun family's main hall.
Zhao Zhilan asked her three sons to put the things they bought today neatly on the ground, then called the whole family over and started to sort out today's expenses and income.
The three sons of the Yun family did not separate from the family. Every month, they would give 30% of their income to Zhao Zhilan as a living allowance for the family.
Therefore, every time Zhao Zhilan went to the town to buy something to add rice, flour and grain to the family, she would explain everything to them clearly and never hide anything, so as to avoid any resentment among the three brothers.
When everyone arrived, Zhao Zhilan took out the silver she had earned from selling morels today from her purse and put it on the table.
A pile of white silver hit the table, making a crisp sound that was particularly pleasant to hear.
Wang Cailian's eyes widened. She had never seen such a large pile of silver since she married into the Yun family.
Li Rongyue had seen him in the town before, so she was not that surprised. She was sitting with her man, holding Yunyue, who had a stern face, in her arms.
Yunyue's face has been drooping since Baoya came back.
Little girls all like nice clothes and pretty hair ornaments.
When Yunyue saw Baoya wearing beautiful new clothes, her eyes turned red.
She knew that her grandmother was partial to Baoya, and that she took Baoya to the town alone, and that she must be going to buy good things for Baoya.
At this time, Yunyue was nestled in Li Rongyue's arms, sniffing silently, and from time to time glaring at Baoya who was being held by He Chunxiu opposite her.
Baoya knew nothing about this. Her little hair bun had just gotten messed up by the door curtain, and He Chunxiu was braiding her hair.
He Chunxiu is very skillful. After braiding the hair, she rolled it into two pointed curls and tied a rabbit fur headband, making the little girl look smart and cute.
"This silver is a total of fifty-eight taels, all earned from me and Baoya selling morels today." Zhao Zhilan said.
"I originally sold it for sixty taels and bought Baoya a dress. I also bought two pieces of cloth and planned to make a cotton coat for each of you. Winter is almost here."
"The rest, there were ten pounds of pork, mixed rice and soybeans, hair ornaments for the maids, snacks for the children, and other sundry things. The total cost was one ounce of silver and one hundred and forty-five copper coins."
After Zhao Zhilan finished speaking, she started looking from Dalang and Wang Cailian's faces, and then took in the expressions of the three adults. Seeing that no one spoke to them, she continued speaking.
"There are still fifty-eight taels left. I have to give eight taels to Baoya because this is from Mr. Zhu, the morel collector. He thought we got along well, so he gave it to Baoya. Do you have any objections?"
There is no need to talk about Li Rongyue, she basically agreed with everything Zhao Zhilan said.
The eldest and second sons of the Yun family naturally had no objections. Although they didn't earn much every month, they would not worry about a child's money.
But Wang Cailian rolled her eyes and still felt unhappy.
"Mother, I have no objection," she said, "but what about the remaining fifty taels, plus eight hundred and fifty-five copper coins? What are you going to do with them?"
What she meant was that Zhao Zhilan could keep some for herself and the remaining three families could share it, which would be fair.
"What do you think?" Zhao Zhilan knew what she was up to as soon as she saw the shining look in her eyes.
He rolled his eyes at Wang Cailian and said, "You know what our family situation is like now. Since we haven't split up and we're all living together, we have to think about everyone. It's almost October, and the weather is getting colder. There's only a thin layer of thatch left on the roof of the east wing where Sanlang and his family live. How are we going to survive the winter?"
"The door to Erlang's west wing is broken at a corner and leaks a lot. It hasn't been repaired yet!"
As Zhao Zhilan spoke, she counted out eight taels of silver and handed it to He Chunxiu who was sitting next to her, then rewrapped the remaining fifty taels.
"Cai Lian, you and Da Lang live in the west room of the main house. After all, our main house is tiled, so you can't help but think about your brother and sister-in-law and their families. I, the old lady, think I've treated you all well. Let's use this fifty taels to repair the house and store some food and vegetables for the winter. The rest can be saved, isn't it?"
Wang Cailian stopped talking.
Zhao Zhilan's words touched her heart. She now really had the idea of saving some money for her own family. After all, Chengfu and Chenglu were getting older and older, and it was only a matter of time before they split up.
Seeing her like that, Zhao Zhilan sighed, "I know what you're thinking. I'm old, and I only have three sons. How can I give away the money I've saved?"
"When the time comes, no matter how much wealth I have saved, it will all be yours."
"What are we going to do?" Baoya, sitting on He Chunxiu's lap, asked after hearing what Zhao Zhilan said. "You gave us all the money. What are you going to spend it on?"
Zhao Zhilan was stunned, Wang Cailian was stunned, and all the adults sitting around were stunned. No one expected Baoya to say such a thing.
"Baoya," Zhao Zhilan raised her hand to wipe her eyes, then turned to look at Baoya, her eyes red, "Our Baoya is really your good granddaughter. I have money to spend, so don't worry about me."
Baoya blinked her eyes. She didn't know why Zhao Zhilan was fine just now but suddenly started wiping her tears. She stretched out her white and tender little hands to wipe Zhao Zhilan's tears.
While wiping, she said, "Grandma, don't cry. Baoya, give you money to spend."
"Okay! Grandma has Baoya, right?" Zhao Zhilan looked at her serious expression, held her little hand, and laughed again.
Wang Cailian opposite her face turned red and white, and she wanted to dive under the table.
Fortunately, she didn't ask for a share of the money, otherwise this person would be in big trouble.
After the purchasing matters were clearly explained, Zhao Zhilan instructed her three sons to move all the food and other items to the granary in the yard, and then asked her three daughters-in-law to set the table and prepare dinner.
After a whole day of hard work, she was so hungry that her stomach was sticking to her back.
While the adults were busy running around, the four children sat around a low table in the main room and ate snacks.
Baoya chewed the food with her little mouth and reached out to take another piece from the paper bag.
But she was stunned for a moment, and suddenly said: "Third sister, fourth sister, second brother! Why is this bag leaking?"
Yun Chenglu came over to take a look and saw that there was indeed a hole in the paper bag containing the snacks.
"Oh, this bag is leaking too." Baoya said again.
Yunhua, who was standing by, took a look and saw that there was indeed a hole in the bag of candied fruit.
"Which store did you buy this from? Could there be a rat infestation in the store?"
Several children pointed at the torn paper bag.
The Yun family's masters were busy inside and outside, and they looked very harmonious.
In the Chen family courtyard, Zhou Cuihua was extremely angry.
Chen Chengcai told her that the Yun family bought a large cart of things, and also said that Zhao Zhilan bought a piece of meat for the eldest brother and gave a piece to Qian Dacai for free.
The more Zhou Cuihua thought about it, the angrier she became.
The Yun family made their fortune quietly, without making any noise, otherwise why would they be willing to buy so many things?
"Xiaojuan!" Zhou Cuihua was upset and called out to Chen Xiaojuan.
"Hey, Mom." Chen Xiaojuan quickly put down her work and ran to Zhou Cuihua. "What's going on?"
"Tomorrow, go to the Yun family to play with Baoya." Zhou Cuihua said.
"Ah?" Chen Xiaojuan was dumbfounded.
Zhou Cuihua asked her to go play with Baoya? That's like a toad growing hair—impossible!
Sure enough, Zhou Cuihua continued, "Go ask Baoya what her family bought when they went to town. Where did they get the money?"
"Oh, I see, Mom." Chen Xiaojuan replied.
"Go, go play." Zhou Cuihua said with a grin, pushing Chen Xiaojuan aside. "Your brother finally came back, why don't you two get closer?"
Chen Xiaojuan looked at the washed and wrung clothes in the basin and smiled at Zhou Cuihua: "Thank you, mother."
Unexpectedly, Chen Chengcai, who was standing nearby, came over and said, "Mom, you've been busy all day long, it's hard enough. Come and take a break and try the snacks I bought for you."
As he spoke, he took out the two pieces of snacks he had just stolen from the ox cart and handed them to Zhou Cuihua.
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