When Chu Qi said this, Ye Zhang was surprised:
“Did you earn a thousand coins today?
This speed of making money is almost catching up with the speed of making money in our family in half a year..."
And it includes the wages of the Ye family from selling handkerchiefs and eggs, including the wages of the Ye sisters as maids and Ye Youze as a bag carrier...
Chu Qi earned back so much money in just one day...
Chu Qi looked proud: "Yes."
Ye Zhang looked at her grandson's smug expression and praised him with a smile:
"My dear grandson, you are awesome. Our family's good life depends on you."
"Yes, I will continue to work hard!" Chu Qi nodded seriously, "Grandma, it's time to eat. I see mother has already put the dishes on the table."
After the family finished dinner, it was still early, so they lit oil lamps together under the moon, gathered together to enjoy the cool breeze and chat.
Mainly, Chu Qi wanted to chat.
Zhuang Qiuling has been pregnant for about seven months and her belly is very visibly big. She cannot bend over easily on weekdays. Even when she was teaching Zhuang Qiuyi to write, she had to stand while teaching.
In addition to her teaching, Huang Ying would also help out occasionally.
But most of the time Huang Ying was busy with housework and embroidering handkerchiefs to sell, so she received more personal teaching from Zhuang Qiuling.
Although Ye Zhang had some knowledge, she was old and her eyes were blurry, so she could not see things clearly and could not teach others.
Zhuang Qiuling sat on the stool brought by her husband, with her back leaning in his arms.
It’s inconvenient to do anything with a big belly, and even sitting makes my waist tired.
Ye Youze was considerate of his wife and secretly put his hand on her waist, massaging it gently to soothe her.
Chu Qi lit incense to repel mosquitoes and sat next to Huang Ying:
"Do you think our house is too small?"
Huang Ying frowned:
“It’s a little small.”
Chu Qi continued:
"My sister-in-law is about to give birth, and when she does, there will be another child in the family. It will always be too crowded for my eldest brother and sister-in-law to live together with their child.
Besides, my two younger sisters are almost of marriageable age, and they can’t keep doing servant work forever.
I should bring my sisters home as soon as possible.
Over the years, my two sisters have only come home a few times, and I miss them a little bit."
When talking about his two younger sisters, Ye Youze touched the corners of his eyes emotionally, but fortunately, he did not shed tears.
"There's no other way. If I don't send him to work, I won't have anything to eat at home..."
Huang Ying sighed.
The palms and backs of one's hands are all made of flesh and blood. How could she really bear to send her daughter to work in someone else's home and be scolded?
But if you don’t work, you won’t have food to eat.
"Now I have it. My salary is enough to support myself and I have some extra money for my family."
Chu Qi made a decision:
"Mom, Grandma, let's wait until the end of this month and bring my sisters home."
Ye Zhang naturally followed her grandson's instructions and said, "Okay, I'll bring him back at the end of the month."
Chu Qi continued: "After we brought him back, we didn't have enough rooms. So..."
Ye Youze interrupted excitedly: "So our family is going to build a new house?"
Chu Qi nodded: "There is some extra space next to the house, so let's build two more rooms next to it."
Huang Ying said, "It would be nice to build a new house. We have kept all the money Qingyun sent back home except for necessary expenses. Now is the perfect time to use it to build a house."
The houses here are all made of mud walls, which doesn't cost much, and the roofs are thatched, which is also cheap.
It was not built before because the room was barely big enough and the main labor force in the family was busy, so there was no opportunity.
Taking advantage of this period when everyone is at home, we started construction.
For the roof, Chu Qi abandoned the cheap thatch and used tiles instead.
A tile costs about one penny, and if you want to build two rooms, you will need a lot of tiles.
Hundreds or even thousands of coins were spent in this way.
In order to be busy building a house at home, Ye Youze had to ask for leave from the contractor again. The contractor had heard that Ye Youze's younger brother Ye Qingyun had passed the examination and became polite to Ye Youze and agreed to his leave.
At the end of September, Chu Qi took a donkey cart to pick up her sisters and bring them home.
The Ye sisters worked as servants in the home of a retired scholar. Because of their good looks, they were assigned by the housekeeper to serve the young lady.
You don't have to do heavy labor, but the daily work is tedious and repetitive, and the wages are relatively low.
What the Ye sisters signed was not an indenture to sell their bodies, but a fair work contract, which allowed them to quit at any time.
Chu Qi introduced her family and told the housekeeper the purpose of her visit.
As the steward of a retired scholar's family, he would pay extra attention to the list of names on the examination hall when he had nothing to do. He heard that this year's top-ranked student, Ye Qingyun, was here to bring his sister home.
The steward kindly invited Chu Qi in to have a cup of tea, and then asked someone to call the Ye sisters.
Although he is only a student now, he is at the top of the list and may have a bright future. Naturally, the housekeeper will not look down on him.
The names of the Ye sisters are quite poetic.
My 12-year-old sister is named Ye Wenyin, from "Qin Feng Xiao Rong", which means strong and unyielding.
My ten-year-old sister is named Ye Xiwen, which means brightness and beauty.
Ye Xiwen and Ye Wenyin were washing clothes for the young lady. They were stunned for a moment when they suddenly heard the housekeeper say that someone was looking for them and asked them to pack up and get ready to leave.
They never cause trouble or move around on weekdays, so why would anyone want to find them?
I still have to pack up and leave...
Ye Wenyin was a little nervous, and looked at her sister. The two responded and hurried back to the room to pack their things and took them with them.
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