Yan Qingqing took a deep breath and came to her senses, saying, "You child, even eating can't shut you up."
Yuan Huiniang seemed to sense her mother-in-law's embarrassment and asked with a smile, "Mother, have you chosen a name for the child?"
Yan Qingqing shook her head and replied, "It's still early. Besides, we don't know if it's a boy or a girl, so there's no need to get married so early."
But our little girl needs a proper name; it's not good to keep calling her that."
The names the Li family gave their boys were all quite good, much better than those in the village like "dog egg" or "dung heap".
The main reason is that the Li family has Li Chengye, a scholar who has passed the imperial examinations, which is Li Chengye's greatest contribution to the Li family. However, girls are not valued in the Li family, so Niu Niu doesn't even have a formal name yet.
Upon hearing Yan Qingqing's words, Yuan Huiniang quickly smiled and said, "I was just thinking about that, but I don't know what name to choose. Why don't you give me one?"
Yan Qingqing thought for a moment and said, "Let's name her Jinxiu. I hope she will have a bright future and a hopeful heart."
Although Yuan Huiniang didn't understand what Jinxiu meant, she just thought it sounded nice and must be a very good name, definitely better than the names of the Li family members.
Yuan Huiniang happily took Niu Niu's hand and said, "From now on, we won't call her Niu Niu anymore, we'll call her Jinxiu."
Little Jinxiu clapped her hands and shouted, "Jinxiu, Jinxiu!"
After breakfast, Yan Qingqing and the children began their "pie in the sky" plan.
Although Yan Qingqing was confident that all the promises she made would come true in the future, she hadn't taken any action yet, and it was uncertain when they would be fulfilled.
Yan Qingqing glanced at the group and said, "You can share your thoughts on what you think about the future."
She's a very democratic person; she used to be good at using this when managing employees, encouraging everyone to express their opinions. This is how you achieve victory in every battle by knowing yourself and your enemy.
Yuan Huiniang spoke first, saying, "Mother, you know I'm not very bright and don't have any plans for the future. My younger siblings are still young. We'll just do whatever you say."
The others nodded in agreement after hearing Yuan Huiniang's words; they now had great faith in Yan Qingqing.
Yan Qingqing: ……
Is it not good if the child is too obedient? Well, there are still some differences between home and the company.
So Yan Qingqing coughed and continued, "Here's what I'm thinking: although Mother has a few taels of silver now, we can't just sit around and do nothing. Once this silver is gone, we'll be starving. So we definitely can't be content with the status quo."
However, it's quite difficult for our family to escape poverty and become wealthy. Firstly, we lack connections, and secondly, we lack financial resources. Therefore, starting a small business and gradually accumulating wealth is our only way out.
I've already looked into the business opportunities. The dock where Erlang and Sanlang work has a lot of foot traffic, but not many people selling food. So we could sell food there.
If we succeed, our family will have a considerable income every day.
Making food is tiring work; it requires getting up early and working late. I don't know if you can endure the hardship.
Li Xiangjian was the first to speak up: "Mom, I'm not afraid of hardship. Nothing is harder than carrying heavy loads."
The others nodded in agreement.
Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "Yes, no one can rise above others without enduring hardship. Once we start doing business, we can't give up halfway."
Once our family can earn money, we'll build a house, the kind with blue bricks and large tiles, repair the courtyard wall, and buy chickens, ducks, and even cows and horses.
Erlang and Sanlang are not young anymore. When I earn money in the future, I will find you two good wives.
Silang is still young, and his mother wants to send him to school, not only to help him pass the imperial examinations, but also to make him wise and polite.
My current work assignment for you is as follows: your eldest sister-in-law will be in charge of household affairs, including your daily life, three meals a day, and even trivial matters like needles and thread.
Erlang and Sanlang will be doing business with me. Xinniang and Yueniang may have to work a bit harder to take care of our logistics.
Silang has high hopes for Xiao Jinxiu.
Of course, this is just a preliminary plan, and we'll need to readjust everything once we start making money.
The children listened intently as Yan Qingqing spoke eloquently.
They seemed to already see their busy and fulfilling future, living in a large brick and tile house.
In the end, it was Li Xiang'an who was the first to wake up from the "pie in the sky" that Yan Qingqing had painted.
Looking at Yan Qingqing, he asked, "Mother, what kind of business are we going to do?"
Yan Qingqing glanced at Li Xiang'an. Of her four sons, this one was the most shrewd and would definitely be a good candidate for business in the future.
Yan Qingqing replied with a smile, "You saw the pig offal I bought yesterday, right? I think we can sell it separately as braised offal, or we can pair it with other dishes."
In addition, we'll make steamed buns with both black and white flour. And for anyone who buys food from us, we'll give away a free bowl of pork bone soup.
Everyone agreed with Yan Qingqing's plan, especially Li Xiang'an and Li Xiangjian, who had worked as laborers at the docks and knew that a normal laborer could earn twenty coins a day.
Even if you eat breakfast and dinner at home, you still have lunch.
Some people bring their own food from home for lunch, but since it's hard work, many people are willing to spend a few coins to eat their fill and have a good meal.
Li Xiangjian objected, saying, "But the pig offal is so smelly and stinky, would anyone spend a few coins to buy it?"
Li Yueniang said optimistically, "There will definitely be people who buy it, after all, it's a meat dish."
While the two siblings were arguing, Li Xiang'an spoke up: "I accidentally learned a method to get rid of fishy smells when I was working for a wealthy family some time ago."
Upon hearing this, Li Xiangjian quickly urged, "Second brother, we did the work together, how come I didn't know? Hurry up and tell me, don't keep me in suspense, Mom is waiting to hear it."
Li Xiang'an rolled his eyes at Li Xiangjian and said, "With a brain like yours, what else do you know besides eating!"
I heard them say that using flour can remove the fishy smell.
Before Yan Qingqing could speak, Yuan Huiniang said anxiously, "What? Flour! That's the same price as pork. How much do we have to sell all this offal to break even?"
Although Yuan Huiniang was bad at accounting, she knew that white flour was expensive, and her family couldn't even afford it, so how could she use it to wash pig offal?
Li Xiang'an lowered his head somewhat embarrassedly, knowing that it was inappropriate.
Seeing that everyone had fallen silent, Yan Qingqing spoke up again: "Years ago, I also obtained a secret recipe that could remove the fishy smell of pig intestines. And it didn't even cost anything."
As soon as Yan Qingqing finished speaking, all the children turned to look at her, their eyes gleaming like hungry wolves in the deep mountains.
Yan Qingqing was filled with pride; look how she had motivated everyone.
Finally, amidst the children's anticipation, Yan Qingqing uttered the words "wood ash".
Wood ash is a wonderful thing. It's alkaline and can be used as fertilizer to improve soil quality, as well as to kill bacteria and prevent pests and diseases. It also has the effects of activated carbon, with strong adsorption properties.
Therefore, it is also very good for removing the fishy smell of pig offal.
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