Chen Kai asked, "Mom, do we have any cucumbers at home?"
Zhou also ladled out a bowl of noodles, mixed in some chili oil, and said while eating, "There's still some left at home, do you want some?"
Chen Kai said, "Mom, it will taste even better if you cut the cucumber into thin strips and add them in."
Upon hearing that there was an even tastier way to eat it, Zhou took the cucumber and cut it into thin strips.
Chen Kai added some cucumber to the bowl, stirred it well, and then started eating.
The Zhou family also picked up some cucumber and mixed it in. Chen Nong took a bite and exclaimed excitedly, "So delicious! The cucumber is so delicious too!"
The aroma drew everyone from the courtyard to the kitchen, where they began to eat.
"Wow, so spicy, so delicious!"
"It's so spicy, but it tastes so good!"
Zhou made a wooden basin full of noodles, which were quickly eaten up.
Seeing that the noodles were all gone, Chen Kai smiled and said, "Mom, make some more so the others can eat!"
After Zhou finished eating, she made another bowl of noodles. It was so delicious that she wanted the rest of the family to try it too.
Seeing that Xiao Bao was suffering from the spiciness, Chen Kai said, "Xiao Bao, go drink a bowl of iced juice before you continue eating."
Xiao Bao came back drinking iced juice and said, "Uncle, iced juice feels so good. I want to eat and drink iced juice at the same time."
Not long after, Old Man Chen and the others returned. Smelling the delicious aroma, they all rushed to the kitchen.
Chen Kai took a bowl of mixed noodles and said, "Dad, these noodles are delicious, you should eat them."
After a while, the Chen family started eating. The eldest son of the Chen family said as he ate, "Wow, this is delicious!"
Old Man Chen said with concern, "You used too much oil."
Chen Kai said with a smile, "Dad, there's not much less lard, it just tastes different. Doesn't it taste pretty good? And this chili oil is also delicious with steamed buns."
Uncle Zhou said, "This tastes really good, little sister. Please fill a jar for me later so I can take it home and use it."
Then Uncle Tuesday, Uncle Wednesday, and Uncle Thursday also asked for some.
Chen Kai said with a smile, "Dad, look how popular this chili oil is. And there's not much of the other ingredient for making chili oil left. Once it's used up, there won't be any more. We'll have to wait until autumn to find some."
Old Man Chen said, "So little? I was planning to make chili oil to sell!"
Chen Kai said, "Dad, this chili oil isn't enough for our family."
Chen Kai changed the subject and asked, "Dad, how much grain did we buy?"
Old Man Chen said happily, "I bought five hundred catties of old millet. Millet is cheaper than rice, so I bought millet. Your eldest uncle, second uncle, third uncle, fourth uncle and Xiao Hua's family each bought about three hundred catties of old millet."
Mrs. Zhou happily said, "Millet is two coins cheaper than rice. We bought so much millet, and the shopkeeper even gave us a lot of freebies."
Chen Kai's lips twitched. His whole family had gone; how could the boss not give them something?
At this moment, Xiao Tian was also eating noodles with chili oil. Xiao Tian burped and said, "If we still have money, let's continue to buy food. Buy as much as we can and hoard it all."
Daya's eyes lit up as she said, "Little brother, why don't we buy them first, and then sell them when the price of grain goes up, making a fortune?"
Xiao Tian was furious; that idiot.
After finishing the meal, Chen Kai called out, "Come on, come on, it's time to pay the internal wages."
This time, the number of internal staff increased significantly, including Chen Kai's four uncles' families and Chen Xiaohua's family. In addition to the fixed wages, they were given a few coins as a token gesture to make everyone happy. The bulk of the money still came from Old Man Chen.
However, the children's wages were all charged to Chen Kai and Xiao Tian, so it was impossible to get Old Man Chen to pay the children's wages.
Therefore, the newly joined children were all paid six coins a day, including those from Chen Kai's four maternal uncles' families and Chen Xiaohua's maternal family.
The children were overjoyed to receive their wages, and then they gathered together to discuss where to put the money safely so that the adults wouldn't find out. None of them had ever had any secret stash of money before, so they wanted to save it carefully.
Chen Kai noticed that these kids liked to save money but didn't like to spend it, so he started to persuade them to invest their money in his aquaculture business.
Chen Kai said with a smile, "Do you want to make money from money and earn more money?"
The little kids shouted, "Yes!"
Chen Kai said happily, "Then why don't you invest in our aquaculture business, that is, fish farming? My older brother has invested quite a bit."
Er Ya asked excitedly, "How much money do we need to invest, Uncle?"
Chen Kai said with a smile, "It's an investment of 300 coins, with a monthly return of 50 coins. The initial investment can be returned at any time after two months."
Chen Shi handed his uncle the box containing his money and said, "I want to invest! I want to invest!" He had made a lot of money investing before.
Then, Da Ya and the others each invested three hundred coins.
Zhou Yu said hesitantly, "I also want to invest, but my only savings are what you just gave me. I never had any savings before."
Xiao Bao and the others nodded in agreement; it was their first time receiving pocket money.
Chen Kai said with a smile, "It's alright, you all can chip in and make 300 coins, then you can split the profits among yourselves."
Soon, Xiao Bao and his friends started chattering and collecting money.
Suddenly, Er Ya asked, "Uncle, do you have any ways to make money without spending any money, just by putting in the effort? I'd like to ask Grandpa and Grandma for a 30/70 split so I can earn a little more money."
“Grandpa won’t share the family business that makes money with me. Can you help me think of a new way, preferably one that Grandpa and Grandma don’t approve of, but that can still make money?”
"This girl is really shrewd!" Chen Kai looked at Er Ya in disbelief and said, "Er Ya! If we had this method, we would have done it long ago!" He also wanted to squeeze more money out of his father.
Chen Kai continued, "Er Ya, the price of grain will rise significantly in the future. You can dig up more wild vegetables, dry them, and store them. Also, dry some small fish. These things should be able to fetch a good price in the future. Even if you can't sell them, it's okay; we can eat them ourselves."
"Or, buy more chickens and ducks to raise; you're sure to get a good price for them."
Er Ya said happily, "I'll just dig for wild vegetables and catch fish, but I'm reluctant to spend money. Chen Nong, let's go together tomorrow. You're the best at collecting things, let's go together."
Chen Nong said, "Okay, sister."
Having successfully attracted enough investors, Chen Kai and Xiao Tian returned to their room; they had other matters to discuss.
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