Lin Fengshou immediately became interested upon hearing this. Back then, he had asked his mother what ways she could make money, and she had said she would tell him when she got back. But after she returned, she was busy with eating and dealing with the stones, and he hadn't had a chance to ask her yet.
When his mother brought it up, he became even more eager. Upon hearing that he would also receive a share of the profits, he immediately asked curiously, "Mother, what kind of business are you going to do? And what is a profit sharing?"
Song Anxin explained to him roughly how the profits would be distributed: the profits would be divided according to the investors' investment ratios, and a portion of that would be distributed as dividends to the investors.
Lin Fengshou's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he asked, "Then, Mother, does that mean I'm the boss?"
Song Anxin smiled and said, "What you said is not wrong."
Upon hearing this, the younger children, except for Zhang Mei who was boiling water for bathing in the kitchen, all gathered around with interest.
Lin Fenghe asked, "Mother, are we growing mushrooms to sell? But the mushrooms haven't grown yet."
Song Anxin nodded and said, "It will take a long time for the mushrooms to grow after the spores are cultivated, so I plan to start another business first, which is also about food. I once read in a miscellaneous book that if you pickle duck eggs with salt, oil will come out of the duck eggs. Whether you eat them with rice or wine, the taste is really great."
None of them had ever heard of a duck egg that could actually ooze oil!
Lin Fengshou's eyes lit up as he said, "Really? If our family can make something this good, everyone will be eager to buy it, and our family will definitely make a lot of money."
"Then I can buy lots of delicious food," Lin Fengyao said, drooling.
"All you ever think about is eating, Fourth Brother. Studying is what's truly important," Lin Fenghe nudged Lin Fengyao.
"I support whatever Mother does," Lin Fengnian said honestly. Zhang Mei also came over at this time to express her support for her mother.
Seeing that her family was so united, Song Anxin was very happy and said, "Then you can spread the word tomorrow that our family will start collecting duck eggs the day after tomorrow, at two coins each."
In those days, eggs cost three copper coins each, and duck eggs were cheaper at two copper coins each. Song Anxin set the same price as the market price, so he wasn't worried that they wouldn't buy them.
Not only is it a long journey to the county to sell your goods, but those who don't want to walk also have to spend a penny to take an oxcart, and then spend time selling them there. And they might not even be able to sell them all; there are bound to be losses due to bumps and knocks along the way. Bringing them to her is much more cost-effective.
Lin Fengnian and Feng Shou readily agreed, and Song Anxin's family was filled with hope for the future.
After everyone finished washing up and went to bed, Song Anxin entered the room and found the two little ones sitting on the bed, looking at her with bright eyes.
The summer moonlight was very bright. Song Anxin walked towards them by the moonlight and said, "Wait for your mother to tell you a story." Although it was a question, it was a statement of certainty.
The two little ones nodded emphatically.
Song Anxin smiled as she looked at them. Thinking of the idiom she had taught them today, "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind," she wanted to make a deeper impression on them. Since she didn't have the money to send the children to school yet, she would start cultural education for these little ones from today.
Thinking it over, he decided not to favor one over the other, so he took the two younger ones to the main room and then called Lin Fengnian and Zhang Mei over as well.
Lin Fengshou was sleeping on a makeshift bed on the floor in the main room. When he saw his mother, his elder brother and sister-in-law, and his younger brothers come in, Lin Fengshou thought something had happened and asked, "Mother, what's wrong?"
Lin Fengyao quickly replied to his second brother, "Mother wants to tell us stories. Second brother, you don't know, Mother told us a lot of stories last night. They were so interesting. There was a man named Kuafu who even chased the sun in the sky."
Lin Fenghe added, "But in the end he died of thirst. When he was dying, he threw away the wooden staff he was carrying, which turned into a peach orchard that bore peaches, quenching the thirst of those who came after him."
Upon hearing this, Lin Fengnian and Zhang Mei exchanged bewildered glances, thinking, "Someone actually chased the sun and died of thirst? How did peaches even come about?!"
Lin Fengshou scrambled to his feet and said, "Such an interesting story! Mother, I want to hear it too."
The group looked at Song Anxin expectantly. Song Anxin sat down in a chair, cleared her throat, and said, "Do you all remember the story Mother told today about the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind?"
Lin Fengyao immediately replied in his childish voice, "I remember, we even used this trick to catch a rabbit."
"Alright, Fengnian, you explain things to Meizi and Fengshou first." The eldest brother was rather honest and taciturn, so he was given the opportunity to practice his communication skills.
Lin Fengnian didn't expect his mother to call on him, and he hesitated a bit. He was a farmer who dealt with the fields every day, so how could he explain such literary things? However, seeing his mother's encouraging look, he mustered up his courage and tried his best to repeat what his third and fourth brothers had said.
Although she stammered, she still managed to express herself completely, which pleased Song Anxin. It was good that she dared to take the first step.
After praising Lin Feng, she continued, "There's actually a story behind the 'mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind' tale. Let me tell you. Long, long ago, there was a King of Wu who wanted to attack a country called Chu, but his ministers dissuaded him..."
This was the first time Lin Fengnian had ever heard his mother praise him. He was overjoyed but dared not show it too much, for fear of disturbing his mother's storytelling.
Song Anxin spoke softly and slowly, captivating the audience.
The story is over. Just listening to the story isn't enough; you also need to think about it. Song Anxin wanted to hear what kind of inspiration they had gained from the story, but she wasn't in a hurry to let them express their thoughts first. After all, you can't get fat in one bite; it's better to take it slowly.
Seeing that the group was still somewhat unsatisfied, Song Anxin said, "You can go back and think about this story carefully. What ideas did you get from it? What lesson does it teach us? We'll discuss it together tomorrow night."
No one expected that listening to a story would require homework. Except for Lin Fenghe and the others, everyone looked troubled. They were so engrossed in the story that they couldn't recall the details, only the general idea.
Zhang Mei said with an embarrassed look, "Mother, do I want one too? I... I'm just a country woman."
Song Anxin said, "Of course, the whole family should work together to improve. When Meizi and her three brothers start school, you should also learn to read so that you can have a skill of your own."
Zhang Mei didn't know what to say. Very few children in the village could read and write. Even if they were sent to school, it was only for boys. Girls were not even allowed to dream of going. Her mother-in-law actually wanted her to go to school too. She was both grateful and excited, but also afraid that she would not be able to learn well at her age.
Lin Fengnian was also a little worried. He originally thought that what his mother said on the mountain was just to coax his third and fourth brothers, but he didn't expect his mother to take it seriously and want him to follow suit. He was eighteen years old, could he still learn it? But the feeling of his mother praising him just now was really good.
Song Anxin seemed to have seen through the two's thoughts and said, "It's never too late to start as long as you want to learn. No stage of life should be defined. We should always maintain a studious and ambitious mindset to explore new things."
Of course, if you're not interested, your mother won't force you.
Lin Fengshou, Lin Fenghe, and Feng Yao immediately said, "I want to learn, Mother, I want to learn."
Lin Fengnian said with great determination, "As long as Mother doesn't think I'm stupid, I will definitely study hard." He really wanted to be praised by his mother again.
Zhang Mei also said, "I'm willing to learn, and I will work hard with Feng Nian." This was something she never dreamed of, so how could she not be willing?
Song Anxin was very pleased to see the family's studious and ambitious nature. Although the oldest of them was already eighteen years old, in modern times they would only be in high school. Their lives had just begun and they had a lot of possibilities ahead of them.
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