Chapter 015: Digging a Big Hole
"If you want stones, I can ask those naughty kids at home to pick them up for you. There's no need to spend money to buy them." Aunt Li spoke first.
She couldn't accept the muslin for nothing.
"That's right. These stones can be found everywhere on the mountain. Every time we go out, we can just bring one back for you." The other aunts also echoed.
"I don't want an ordinary stone. It has to have these small color spots." Wen Yan explained the requirements to them in detail.
Only then did everyone realize the difference.
Someone curiously asked her, "What's the point of picking stones like this?"
Wen Yan smiled but said nothing.
Aunt Li patted the man lightly and said, "Well, even if you tell us about intellectual matters, we won't understand them. Why are you asking so many questions?"
Having said that, she changed the subject.
After chatting for a while, when it was time for Ying Zhilin to go home from get off work, Wen Yan said goodbye to them and went home.
Aunt Li took out two cucumbers from her backpack and stuffed them into her hands: "Eat them for fun."
As Wen Yan walked home, she was thinking about discussing with Ying Zhilin the matter of arranging the accommodation for Hui Niang and her daughter.
As soon as I entered the courtyard, I heard the angry voice of Mrs. Qiao coming from the main hall: "We originally thought that since you married an official's daughter, you would at least get some money to supplement the family expenses, so we used your brother and nephew's salary to hold your wedding banquet.
It was a grand affair, with plenty of chicken, duck, fish and meat.
Who knew he would marry a..."
In short, ten tables of banquets, plus other arrangements, cost a total of twenty taels of silver, and you must pay the money back to the public office."
Qiao Dashuang: "In addition to the children's tuition, this money also includes your cousin's betrothal gift. You have a wife now, so you can't let your cousin remain a bachelor for the rest of his life!"
Ying Ximei: "Yes, my dowry is in there!"
The Ying family members sang the same tune, as if Ying Zhilin's marriage had emptied the family's wealth.
But in fact, the Ying family did not pay any betrothal gifts for this marriage, and the banquet that day was just ordinary, with only two or three taels of silver at most, but they increased it tenfold.
Wen Yan sneered when he heard this. They were treating Ying Zhilin like a fool!
She would wait and see how Yingzhi Lin would respond.
Then Ying Zhilin said coldly, "I pay money home every year, so I can afford this banquet. Grandma, you won't say that my brother and I only have 400 coins a month to feed three mouths!"
Mrs. Qiao choked.
Qiao Dashuang stepped forward to persuade him, "Zhilin, your wife just came back from her parents' home and gave away the fine cotton cloth for free. Can't you come up with twenty taels of silver? At the very least, she still has a gold hairpin on her head..."
Ying Zhilin was so angry that he laughed. Just as he was about to retort, Wen Yan pushed the door open and walked in: "Why didn't you call me to discuss family matters?"
"Don't worry about these things, go back to the house first." Ying Zhilin winked at her.
Not only did Wen Yan not leave, she also glared at Ying Zhilin, "Husband, you are too ignorant."
Ying Zhilin felt his scalp tingle when she called him "husband".
Afterwards, Wen Yan looked at Mrs. Qiao with admiration, "Grandma, you manage the household so well. Every time our children get married, you have to pay for the wedding banquet yourself. Even my biological mother doesn't have that ability."
Mrs. Qiao was stunned, feeling that Wen Yan was mocking her, but she could not find any evidence.
"Grandmother is so fair, the first and third wives should also pay 400 coins to the family every month!
Four hundred coins a month, that’s almost five taels of silver a year!
Our family has three rooms, and we earn fifteen taels a year, which is not much less than the income of an ordinary family in the capital!"
Wen Yan counted on his fingers and made clear the reasoning.
Mrs. Qiao's heart was pounding, and the feeling of something bad was getting stronger and stronger.
Wen Yan patted her chest and acted as if she had breathed a sigh of relief: "Before I got married, I thought I would have to endure hardships. I didn't expect that my family conditions are quite good. Then I don't have to worry about suffering."
"Grandma, don't worry, we won't miss a penny of the banquet money." Wen Yan said with a smile, and began to roll up her sleeves, "It's getting late, I'll go make dinner!"
Mrs. Qiao is now most afraid of her working.
He was so scared that he quickly sent her back to her room: "You have been traveling all day, go back to your room and rest."
Mrs. Qiao realized it later. Wen Yan praised her a lot, but she didn't give a penny for the banquet!
Qiao Dashuang asked worriedly, "Just now, Wen Yan wanted us to pay 400 wen for household expenses?"
"Do you have money to give?" Mrs. Qiao glanced at her.
The whole family except for the eldest grandson of the first wife, who worked as a waiter in the town's restaurant and earned 200 coins a month, which was not enough for him.
Others have no lucrative jobs at all.
Apart from Ying Zhilin, who in the family is capable of paying 400 coins home every month?
Therefore, she would never let Wen Yan take advantage of the situation and cut off this income!
Mrs. Qiao was full of confidence: "She wants to play tricks on me, but she is still a little naive.
When the time comes, the eldest and third brother will each receive 400 coins from me, and we can just go through the motions, right?"
"Mom is really smart." Qiao Dashuang's heart finally settled down.
**
After returning to the room, Wen Yan asked Aunt Shuang and Pei'er to guard outside.
Wen Yan got straight to the point: "They're constantly causing trouble, and it's really affecting my mood. Can we put an end to this once and for all?"
"What do you want to do?" Ying Zhilin had wanted to split up the family business a long time ago, and he had been looking for the right opportunity since he finished his filial piety.
Seeing that he didn't show any reluctance, Wen Yan waved at him and said, "Come closer."
Ying Zhilin indeed bent down to allow her to whisper.
Wen Yan put her slender hands together and covered his ears.
Her fingers were warm and smooth against the skin of his cheek.
The breath of her words brushed against his earlobe like a gentle breeze.
Ying Zhilin felt as if a feather was tickling him, making him feel itchy from his ears to his heart, and the itch then spread to his fingertips.
He quickly took a step back and distanced himself from her.
Wen Yan thought he was uncomfortable and about to fall, so she pressed him down on the stool: "Don't move, I haven't finished yet."
The two of them whispered for a while and then talked about the placement of Hui Niang and her daughter.
Ying Zhilin didn't know why she wanted to bring back a mother and daughter, but he didn't ask any more questions: "We'll have to separate sooner or later. There's no need to build another one. Let them stay at Aunt Liu's house next door for a few days."
Aunt Liu has a good relationship with Ying Zhilin's mother and has taken good care of them over the years.
Since she was going to rent Aunt Liu's house, Wen Yan simply rented an extra room.
It was convenient for her to use it to pile stones.
Since the house was rented, Hui Niang simply had to eat at Aunt Liu's house.
The plan is made, but the time has not come yet.
Wen Yan put the Ying family's affairs aside. While collecting stones in the village with great fanfare, he stayed at Aunt Liu's house every day, teaching Hui Niang and her daughter how to extract the ingredients they wanted from those stupid stones.
The stones shall be ground into powder.
The woman was not very strong, so it was a bit difficult for her to grind.
Wen Yan asked Aunt Liu's son, Brother Dahu, for help.
He was paid twenty cents a day.
Aunt Liu lost her husband early in life and raised Brother Dahu alone, living a difficult life.
Aunt Liu was so happy to have work to do.
Wen Yan spent most of her time at Aunt Liu's house and didn't even come home for meals.
Thirty cents a day, let Aunt Liu arrange her own expenses.
Liu Jia never thought about making money from Wen Yan. She used all the wages Wen Yan gave her to buy food.
Wen Yan's living standard has improved significantly.
Everyone said that Wen Yan was mentally ill. He bought a stone with money and smashed it into powder.
You have so much money to burn!
When Mrs. Qiao found out, she got very angry.
He jumped in the yard and scolded Wen Yan for half an hour.
Wen Yan just listened with one ear and out with the other, just as if they were farting.
In just three days, Wen Yan got a small spoonful of the finished product, which she carefully put into a white porcelain bottle.
Finally, the day came for Ying Zhilin to pay his wages.
After the meal, Mrs. Qiao spread her hands in front of Ying Zhilin and said, "The academy has paid wages today, right?"
Ying Zhilin took out his wallet.
Wen Yan snatched it away.
Mrs. Qiao raised her eyebrows: "Wen Yan, what are you trying to do?"
Wen Yan grinned, her teeth showing. "Grandma, didn't you ask us for the money for the banquet? Why don't we settle the bill today?"
It’s a good thing to be able to get the banquet money back.
But Mrs. Qiao couldn't be happy.
Wen Yan is a stubborn person who won't listen to anything.
Don't even think about spending a copper coin on her, let alone silver.
She actually offered to give money today. Either she is crazy or there is a trap waiting for her.
If Wen Yan could hear her thoughts, he would definitely give her a thumbs up.
It's not just a trap, it's a huge trap that will make her regret for the rest of her life!
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