Ye Qing was stunned. How come she hadn't thought of such a simple method?
The thought of having just agreed to give away half the money made her heart ache so much she could hardly breathe.
"I can also make a lot of pickled vegetables, and they taste just as good as yours, Second Sister-in-law. I can teach you."
Upon hearing this, Ye Qing felt relieved. If that was the case, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
The two devised some plans before Ye Qing left, satisfied.
Seeing that Ye Qing had left, Gu Xinyue also came over.
"Third sister-in-law, what are you two talking about, pickled vegetable pancakes? Can I come along with them?"
Xiao Li ignored her. Of the three women in the Li family, Gu Xinyue was the most ruthless bully.
Because Gu Xinyue had almost no dowry, she had the lowest status in the Li family. Now that someone even lower than her had arrived, she was just going to bully her relentlessly.
Xiao Li didn't want to play with her.
Besides, if everyone goes to do business, who will do the housework?
"Third sister-in-law, you can't show favoritism to one over the other."
Xiao Li opened the dressing case and took out a small beaded flower to play with.
Gu Xinyue's eyes lit up. So beautiful!
"Isn't it beautiful? This housework is so hard on my hands, I have to weave cloth with these hands."
Gu Xinyue eagerly offered, "Third sister-in-law, just focus on weaving. I'll talk to Mother and say that I'll take care of all your housework from now on."
Xiao Li nodded and took out the pearl hairpin, then pinned it to Gu Xinyue's hair.
"Thank you so much, sister-in-law. I'm really not feeling well myself. I'll help you out when I feel better."
Gu Xinyue smiled broadly, "Third sister-in-law, just focus on taking care of yourself. Your health is more important. Ye Shi and I will take care of the housework."
After seeing Gu Xinyue off, Xiao Li heard Old Madam Li instructing Ye Qing to cook in the courtyard.
Before you know it, it's noon, time for lunch.
Xiao Li took a piece of meat and went into the kitchen.
"Mom, this is what I brought. Let's have an extra meal at noon, like the steamed pork with pickled vegetables."
Grandma Li was a little reluctant to part with it; such a big piece of meat would take many days to eat if saved.
"After we sell them, we can buy meat again with the money."
After thinking about it, Grandma Li realized that it made sense, so she nodded in agreement.
Ye Qing started working with great enthusiasm, while Xiao Li sat at the door, occasionally offering a few pointers.
Soon, a large bowl of steamed pork with pickled vegetables was ready, and Ye Qing also made a small bowl of pickled vegetable pancakes according to Xiao Li's instructions.
It smelled so good that all three children gathered around it, drooling all over the place.
Finally, it was time to eat, and everyone sat down.
They discovered that there was only a small bowl of steamed pork with pickled vegetables. Old Mrs. Li gave each man a piece, kept one for herself, and gave the remaining half bowl to Xiao Li. The others could only eat pickled vegetables with porridge.
Because Old Mrs. Li suddenly changed her mind; she wanted to sell the pickled vegetables and steamed meat, and couldn't bear to let this family eat it for free.
"I want to eat too."
Five-year-old Erdan was about to cry; he wanted to eat some delicious meat.
Two-year-old Sandan followed suit, pointing to the meat bowl and asking for some.
Old Mrs. Li glared and roared.
"What are you eating? All you ever do is eat, aren't you two going to do anything about it?"
Gu Xinyue and Ye Qing quickly pulled their son back and fed him.
She secretly complained to herself that her mother-in-law was incredibly stingy; it wasn't even her who brought out the meat.
The third sister-in-law didn't say anything, but the mother-in-law turned the meat away, preventing everyone from eating it.
Xiao Li picked out the meat with her chopsticks and ate it by herself. It wasn't that she was stingy; she didn't feel bad about taking out such a big piece of meat.
It's all my mother-in-law's fault for being so stingy. But this meat smells so good!
After the meal, Old Mrs. Li asked Ye Qing and Li Lao Er (Li Shao) to go and sell pickled vegetables and steamed meat, just as Xiao Li had instructed.
They would divide the steamed pork with pickled vegetables into small portions and sell them on the street.
That evening, the two returned in high spirits. They had sold out of the pickled vegetables and steamed meat for the day and had actually earned several dozen copper coins.
This was the first time Old Mrs. Li had gotten something for nothing, and she excitedly counted it several times.
“Third brother’s wife, you’ve been helping the family make money since you arrived. You’ve worked hard. Here are five copper coins for you to buy a hair accessory.”
Xiao Li took it and put it in her sleeve pocket.
Ye Qing's eyes shone like a little sun, and Old Mrs. Li put the money away with a huff.
"Alright, you'll get your share. We'll split it at the end of the month."
Ye Qing was a little disappointed, but thinking that the end of the month was not far away, she nodded again.
Then, Old Mrs. Li started making arrangements for others.
"Boss, go chop more firewood tomorrow, steaming meat uses too much firewood."
The eldest child is cooking tomorrow, so please don't overeat.
Second brother, go buy meat first thing tomorrow morning. Go to your father-in-law's stall and ask him for a discount.
The second son's family will wash the jars tomorrow and pickle some more vegetables.
Daya also took her younger brother to dig for wild vegetables.
After saying that, she looked at Xiaoli and said, "Third brother's wife, you should rest tomorrow. We'll weave cloth again after you return to your parents' home. There's no rush."
She had already heard from Madam Gu that Madam Fan could weave cloth, so she couldn't let her rest from now on; it was all money.
Xiao Li nodded; she wasn't going to do any work.
“Mother, weaving is a delicate job, and it’s a household chore…”
"I'm here, I'm here..."
Gu Xinyue lowered her head slightly, feeling very happy. These beaded flowers were really beautiful.
Grandma Li nodded, "Yes, your sister-in-law is capable. Leave everything to her, just make sure your hands don't get rough from all that work."
Xiao Li hesitated again, and Grandma Li noticed.
"Third daughter-in-law, what else do you have to say?"
“Weaving is physically demanding work. I don’t eat much, so I’m often hungry and don’t have the strength to work.”
Upon hearing this, Old Mrs. Li thought, "How can I work if I don't have the strength?"
"Have your second son buy some more osmanthus cakes tomorrow, so you can have some as a snack."
Xiao Li was satisfied and readily agreed.
Li Ke was both surprised and impressed that Fan had managed to win over three women so quickly.
You should know that his mother is no pushover. Although she usually has a good temper, she loves to nitpick and is far from kind to her daughter-in-law.
There are also my eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law. One is stingy and calculating, and the other is hypocritical and pretentious. They don't get along very well usually.
Now everyone is fawning over Ms. Fan, smiling and talking to her with great enthusiasm.
This is incredible.
Grandma Li happily took the money and went back to her room. Grandpa Li glanced at Xiao Li again, thinking that this daughter-in-law was quite formidable.
Xiao Li stayed in the room for three days to recover her martial arts skills. That night, Li Ke did not return to his room. He used the excuse of reading to go to sleep in the study.
Xiao Li was too lazy to fool him anyway, so this saved her some trouble.
The Li family was used to it; the third son slept more in the study than in his room, and it had always been like that, so there was nothing strange about it.
On the day of the bride's return visit, Li Ke was forced by Old Lady Li to take two pounds of meat and set off with Xiao Li.
He didn't want to go to the Fan family at all, but Old Mrs. Li insisted that he go.
“You can handle your parents yourself. We’ll drop off our things and come right back.”
"OK."
Li Ke felt relieved; she felt much better knowing how sensible her daughter was.
Xiao Li followed behind Li Ke, slowly walking towards Fanjiacun Village. The two villages were not far apart, and it only took half an hour to walk there.
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