Chapter 52 People Will Earn Less
Village Chief Li: "You also know how much a piece of ink costs, so you should know how much Yue girl can earn if she sells it. A piece of ink costs at least a hundred coins. If you ask them this, they will be embarrassed to refuse and may not even accept the silver. Then they will make less money. Don't ask them about this in the future, and don't think about buying from them. Since our family has allowed Wenxuan to study, he will not be short of a piece of ink."
"I understand." The eldest daughter-in-law lowered her head embarrassedly.
Li Xiuzhu opened the bamboo tube and smelled it: "This shampoo really smells like Chinese medicine. Brother Wenxuan should try it too. You are studying in the academy and you pay the most attention to your appearance. I used to use wood ash, but it always felt like it wasn't clean enough."
"Yeah, I understand."
The village head's wife said, "This girl Yue is really generous. Brown sugar and snacks are both precious things. The shampoo is made of Chinese medicine, so it must be expensive. She is willing to buy them as gifts. I will leave a few pieces of snacks for the children, and let Wenxuan take the rest to the academy."
Li Wenxuan shook his head: "No need, grandma, that's what Aunt Yue gave you, just keep it and eat it."
"We have brown sugar. Come on, let's eat quickly. It's getting cold. Try this bamboo shoot."
The whole family started eating.
The village head's wife tasted the spring bamboo shoots and squinted her eyes and said, "The bamboo shoots are fried with oil residue. The more oil, the better. I don't know how Yue girl processed it? The bamboo shoots are not astringent anymore."
Li Ming, the son of the village head, smiled and said, "No wonder they can make money from it. If you like it, let's go to Uncle Youshan's house to buy some."
They certainly can't be told about this money-making business, but they can buy it.
The whole family enjoyed the meal.
On the other side, Li Erhu and Li Sandong also went to Li Youtian and Li Youcai's homes with bowls of oil residue.
Zhao Suying sent a bowl to her neighbor Zhou Chen, and also gave her an extra bag of oil residue wrapped in oil paper, asking her to hide it secretly.
Zhou Chen couldn't refuse, so she thanked him gratefully and went home.
She knew that Mrs. Zhao acted like this because she was afraid that Mrs. Zhou would make things difficult for her because she had given them a few duck eggs before, so she returned the bowl, hoping that Mrs. Zhou would not make things difficult for her anymore.
When Zhou Chenshi carried the oil residue into the yard, Mrs. Zhou immediately stepped forward with a smile and snatched the bowl from her hand: "The Dashan family is still kind-hearted."
Then he shouted into the house, "Come out, golden and silver bulls, there is meat to eat."
Two slightly plump boys, one big and one small, ran out quickly.
When he saw the oil residue that his grandmother was holding, he immediately reached out and grabbed a piece of it and put it in his mouth, regardless of whether his hands were dirty.
While eating, he smacked his lips: "It smells so good."
He licked the oil off his fingers and reached for it again.
Grandma Zhou smiled and advised, "Jin Sun, eat two pieces first to fill your stomach. Later, we will stir-fry the oil residue with wild vegetables. The wild vegetables will also taste like meat. Can you eat more?"
Jinniu nodded: "Grandma is right, we will listen to her."
Mrs. Zhou nodded with a smile and pinched two pieces of oil residue for the two of them.
The eldest wife also swallowed her saliva, walked forward and said, "Mom, let me cook dinner tonight, so that no one will be greedy and eat it secretly."
Mrs. Zhou nodded: "Okay, go get a bowl and pour half of it out. We can have the rest for tomorrow's meal."
"Ai."
At this time, Zhou Muniu from the second house came into the yard carrying a basket of firewood and pulling his sister Zhou Xiaomiao. Seeing the two of them eating oil residue, he couldn't help licking his lips, but didn't dare to go forward to ask for it.
Seeing this, Zhou Chen said, "Mother, Mu Niu and Xiao Miao haven't eaten meat for a long time, let's give them some too."
Mrs. Zhou's smile disappeared instantly. She looked at the two skinny people with a sullen face and said disdainfully, "What are you eating? There's only so much. One bite each, and it will be gone."
"Mother, this oil residue was given to me by Aunt Li. I won't say anything if you want to take it away, but Mu Niu and Xiao Miao are also your grandchildren, so please let them have a piece.
Erquan went to the county town to carry bags of goods, earning twenty-five cents a day. All the money I earned was given to you. You should at least give the two children something to eat."
Mrs. Zhou glared at her and said, "Why did I marry you, such a bad luck star, to my second son? You are greedy and you taught my child to be greedy too. Now he has even learned to talk back to me."
Then he picked up a piece of oil residue the size of a fingernail and handed it to Zhou Chenshi: "Here, don't say I didn't give it to you. You just eat it and you're not afraid of choking to death."
After saying that, he took the bowl and went to the kitchen.
After pouring out half of it, he looked at what was left in the bowl and muttered again: "Mr. Li is so stingy. He only gave me this little. It's not enough to share."
Zhou Chen looked at the small piece of oil residue and felt bitter. If her husband could not earn money, she didn't know what kind of suffering she and her children would have to endure.
But my husband is a filial son and always puts his mother first. No matter what you say to him, he will say that there are no wrong parents in the world and that they should be patient and just have food and drink.
She looked up and blinked, holding back her tears, then took the backpack from the wooden ox and pulled the two of them into the house.
Zhou Muniu comforted her: "Mom, don't cry. I don't want to eat meat. Don't ask grandma for it in the future."
Zhou Chen wiped her eyes with her sleeve, took out the bag of oil residue from her bosom, and whispered: "Eat it quickly, don't let your grandma and the others find out."
The two of them looked at the oil residue and their eyes lit up instantly. Zhou Muniu wiped his hands on the hem of his clothes before picking up a piece and handing it to Chen's mouth: "Mother, you eat first."
Zhou Chen shook her head: "You guys eat, mother is not hungry."
"If mom doesn't eat it, I won't eat it either."
Zhou Chen's eyes were filled with tears. She took the piece that Mrs. Zhou gave her and stuffed it into her mouth: "Mother has eaten it, you guys should eat it quickly."
The brother and sister then pinched a piece of oil residue and put it in their mouths.
The aroma spread in their mouths, and they chewed it in small bites, reluctant to swallow it.
"Eat quickly, or your grandma will find out and take away the oil residue. She will also tell your dad that we are eating good food behind her back and are disrespectful to her."
The two of them ate a few pieces in a row, and then Mrs. Zhou Chen put them away, fearing that they would get diarrhea if they ate too much.
He found a place to hide the remaining oil residue and then went out to work.
Li Sandong came to Li Youcai's house.
The gate to the courtyard was open, and the family was sitting in the courtyard eating. Li Sandong walked in and greeted them, "Uncle and Aunt, come eat."
"Oh, Sandong is here." Li Youcai put down his chopsticks.
Youcai's wife stood up and said, "Has Sandong eaten yet? Sit down and have something to eat."
"Don't bother, auntie. My sister went to the county town today to buy some lard from pigs and made you a bowl of oil residue."
Li Sandong handed the bowl to Aunt Youcai, and then took out a bag of brown sugar from his arms and handed it to her.
The wealthy wife pinched it and said in surprise, "Oh, why don't you keep this good thing for yourself? Why are you giving it to us?"
This oil residue is so precious, and it even contains brown sugar.
Li Sandong smiled and said, "Aunt, we are a family. Besides, you and Second Uncle have helped our family a lot, so this is what we should do."
Youcai's wife went to the kitchen to get a bowl and cleared out the oil residue: "This is a big bowl, this is too much."
As she spoke, she took a few black flour cakes and put them in a bowl, then handed them to Li Sandong. Li Sandong took them and said, "Thank you, auntie. I'll go back first, uncle and auntie."
"Hey, let's go back."
Youcai's wife sent the people to the door and returned to the yard. She saw several children staring at the oil residue on her hands and drooling.
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