Chapter 291 He's really promising.
"Haha, Grandpa Jing!"
Baozhu was overjoyed, but when she saw the old man looking over, she immediately covered her mouth, looking completely innocent and docile.
"puff."
Jiang Nuanzhi burst out laughing, completely ignoring the old man's resentful gaze.
The old man stared at Jiang Nuanzhi and Xiao Baozhu for a while, then angrily slammed the silver plaque onto the heated brick bed several times. Surprisingly, the ugly plaque was surprisingly durable and wouldn't break no matter how many times it was thrown. This only made the two of them laugh even more unrestrainedly.
The old man was so angry that his face turned pale and then red.
The more he looked, the angrier he became. Finally, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and say, "When Li Rong comes back, I'll settle the score with him."
Jiang Nuanzhi raised an eyebrow: "Well, he'll probably settle accounts with you when he gets back." As she said this, she glanced casually at the wheelchair, which was now half broken.
The old man didn't understand and turned to look at him: "Huh?"
"It's alright. Didn't you want some candied hawthorns? They were just dipped in the sugar; they've been ready to eat for a while now."
The old man suddenly slapped his thigh: "That's right, how could I forget this?"
Baozhu, her eyes sparkling, jumped off the heated kang to put on her shoes: "Grandpa, wait for me, I want to go get them too."
I dreamt that an old man and a young man were holding hands and going to the opposite window to get something. Jiang Nuanzhi also got up and tidied up all the silver notes on the heated kang.
Jiang Nuanzhi went to the back kitchen and opened the pot lid. The water inside was already boiling. She casually put the pre-cut potato slices into the pot to blanch them. After about two or three minutes, when they were just cooked through, she spread them out on the clean table. The weather was turning cold, and it was time to store food for winter. She had originally planned to dry some potatoes, but then it snowed. However, potatoes would turn black if left untreated for too long, so she decided to boil them instead. She would take them out when the weather cleared up. Jiang Nuanzhi also planned to dry some potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter melons, and eggplants.
Some time ago, we also picked several large baskets of fruit and put them in the cellar.
Thinking of this, he immediately called out to the old man, "Grandpa, could you please go to the cellar and bring up those two baskets of fruit?"
The old man was happily munching on a string of candied hawthorns, taking bites here and there. Hearing Jiang Nuanzhi's words, his cheeks puffed out in a wronged tone. "Why do you only order me around and not him? And her too!"
Following his hand, one candied hawthorn skewer pointed to Uncle Xin, who was sitting inside the house working on his abacus. The other candied hawthorn skewer pointed to Little Baozhu, who was only a little taller than his boots.
Jiang Nuanzhi remained silent for a while, speechless. The old man was still staring at her stubbornly, and she then realized that the old man was really serious about comparing himself to these two people.
How promising!
"Oh, if you don't want to go there, that's fine. I was thinking of using those fruits to make something nice for you."
"Go, who said I wouldn't go! I'll do the work; they're still a long way from that!"
As she said this, she gave Xiao Baozhu a haughty look, then strode off to the cellar at the back to get some fruit.
Baozhu stood there, bewildered, and licked the candied hawthorn: "Mmm, so sweet."
Jiang Nuanzhi's lips twitched as she watched the old man's retreating figure.
Amazing, so very ambitious.
They worked non-stop, scooping out clean water and figuring out how to wash some of the fruit, make some canned fruit, and dry the rest. In winter, there was no fresh fruit, so this was the only treat the children could have.
At that moment, Uncle Xin inside the house suddenly exclaimed, "Anuan, we've spent 792 taels and 365 coins recently!"
Jiang Nuanzhi was taken aback, then turned and went inside: "So fast!"
Xinbo smiled like a flower, his whole face saying "Praise me, praise me!"
Jiang Nuanzhi gave him a thumbs up without hesitation: "Uncle Xin is really awesome."
She looked at him with a strange expression and asked, "So, Xinbo, how much silver do you think I should have left?"
Xinbo didn't pause at all: "According to the account book, you should still have twelve taels and eight hundred and twelve coins."
Jiang Nuanzhi, with a strange expression, rummaged in her pocket and pulled out twelve taels and eight hundred coins, in addition to what Li Rong had given her.
Before Jiang Nuanzhi could ask, Uncle Xin said leisurely, "There are still twelve coins left. You left them in the pocket of your old clothes. The little girl took them out and put them in your usual drawer when she was washing clothes."
Jiang Nuanzhi returned to her dressing table with a strange expression. She opened the box and found that not a single coin was missing; there were indeed only twelve coins left.
Looking back at Xinbo, he exclaimed in astonishment, "You're amazing!"
Xinbo grinned, showing off his bright white teeth, and then obediently spread out his hands: "Candied hawthorn."
Without saying a word, Jiang Nuanzhi took a candied hawthorn and placed it in Xin Bo's palm. Xin Bo happily licked it and smiled so much that his eyes narrowed: "Delicious."
Jiang Nuanzhi glanced at Xin Bo, then at the three thick ledgers over there. She swallowed hard. It has to be said, some people are born with talent, even if their minds aren't fully recovered.
The idea of keeping accounts came from Fusheng. He said that all daily expenses should be recorded so that at the end of the month, a clear picture would show where every penny went.
Jiang Nuanzhi didn't have the good habit of keeping accounts, especially when she had a little more money. She thought that this was also the reason why she never saved enough for a down payment on a house in her previous life.
However, Jiang Nuanzhi probably had a pretty good idea of what was going on, since all that money was flowing out of her hands.
In fact, these three booklets only record the daily expenses and income for the past two months. The renovations aren't even finished yet.
Jiang Nuanzhi was aware that she only had a dozen or so taels of silver left. Hua Yue would soon be settling another payment, around fifty taels. That would be enough to barely make ends meet, but for a large family to live comfortably, it wouldn't be much.
Just consider the family's winter clothes; Jiang Nuanzhi hasn't bought any yet. Winter clothes are different from summer clothes, where a set can be bought for a little over one tael of silver. Winter clothes are a bit more expensive, generally costing at least two taels, and for better quality ones, three or four taels is common. This is why ordinary families don't buy ready-made clothes; most buy fabric and cotton and make them themselves, saving a considerable amount of money.
However, Jiang Nuanzhi doesn't have much talent when it comes to making clothes. The only one who can do this is Ping'er, who is now very busy with her studies, and Jiang Nuanzhi is reluctant to let her go.
It wasn't good to keep bothering Aunt Wang with making clothes. Aunt Wang didn't even charge for doing chores for her own family anymore, so Jiang Nuanzhi felt increasingly embarrassed to trouble her. The money for the clothes was something she absolutely had to spend.
If you do the math, her family has eight members, and just the cost of two sets of clothes for each person is over twenty taels of silver. This doesn't even include food, drink, sanitation, and daily necessities.
Jiang Nuanzhi has been somewhat anxious these past two days, trying to find ways to earn money.
(End of this chapter)
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