Cheng Yue smiled and said, "It would be great if we could earn this much. The pork bones, pork, and offal all cost money."
That's not all; we also spent a lot of money on the carts, tables, benches, bowls, and basins we bought in the early stages.
There's also a monthly stall fee of 150 coins. All things considered, we haven't even broken even yet!
And as for seasonings, if she didn't have them in her space, her profit margin on this business would be even thinner.
"Huh? Then all that excitement was for nothing?" Chen Ning pouted, looking somewhat dejected.
Chen Tong chuckled and pointed at her with her finger, "Silly sister, don't you understand what your mother means?"
We've made so much today, maybe we'll break even in a few days, then it'll be pure profit. We haven't lost any money, so why should we be happy for nothing?
"Oh right!" Chen Ning realized and grinned sheepishly.
Cheng Yue nodded. Chen Tong was exceptionally smart, Chen Ning was a bit naive, and Chen Lin was honest and hardworking. All three were good kids.
"Here, this is your pocket money, take it." Cheng Yue counted out fifteen coins, exactly five coins for each person.
The three siblings stared wide-eyed, and after realizing what they had said, they quickly refused, "Mom, we don't want them! You already bought us hair ties and headbands!"
Cheng Yue smiled with satisfaction and said in a way that left no room for refusal, "You have all put in the work, so you naturally deserve to be paid. Consider this your wages."
Buying things is a reward from your mother, these are two different things.
This money comes every day. It's your money to decide how to use it; your mother won't interfere.
Only those who have handled money and experienced its purchasing power can truly understand it. She didn't want her child to become someone who had no concept of money; that would be terrifying.
This is why many children nowadays readily give female livestreamers hundreds of thousands of yuan in tips.
Chen An added, "If your mother gave it to you, just take it!"
Although he didn't know Cheng Yue's intentions, it was only right that the child should get some money for helping out.
"Thank you, Mother! Thank you, Father! We definitely won't spend it recklessly!" The three siblings pursed their lips and thought for a moment before smiling and accepting the gifts.
After dividing the money, Cheng Yue told Chen An about the rest and then kept it all for herself.
She's used up all 30 jin of sweet potato flour at home, but she still needs to go to the village to buy some more. Now that she's certain it's profitable, it's good to buy more to keep on hand.
She asked about the price in town; it was three coins per pound, while in the village it was only two coins for three pounds. The shops all sourced their produce from the village, so naturally they had to make a profit on the difference.
However, sweet potato flour is for ordinary people; the wealthy don't care for it, so shops don't buy much of it. Most villagers can only keep it for their own consumption, and there's nowhere to sell it if they want to.
She collects them in the village, saving herself money and making things convenient for others.
Cheng Yue first went to Zhao Xiangxiu's house. Her house was at the end of the village and could be recognized at a glance because it was the most dilapidated house in the whole village.
When she was separated from her husband by her in-laws, the new house was built on the spot. Since they didn't have any money, they naturally couldn't build a nice house.
Zhao Xiangxiu has two sons, one fifteen and the other thirteen, and a daughter who is already twelve. They are all of marriageable age.
Zhao Xiangxiu was reluctant to repair the house because she wanted to save money for her son's wedding. The mud walls were riddled with holes and the house was drafty.
There wasn't even a courtyard wall, just a makeshift structure made of tree branches. Given these conditions, the fact that they still wanted to bring her food made Cheng Yue feel very bad.
"Sister-in-law Xiangxiu!"
Zhao Xiangxiu was making clothes for Cheng Yue inside the house. She hadn't gone out for two days. When she heard someone calling her, she leaned out to look and saw that it was Cheng Yue.
He quickly smiled and invited her into the house: "Cheng Yue, come in quickly! You've come to pick up your clothes, right? What a coincidence, the last piece of clothing will be finished soon, just wait a moment!"
Cheng Yue looked around the room. The windows were small, and it was so dark that she had to squint to see anything when she first came in.
"No rush, take your time. It's so dark in here, why don't you go outside to do it? Be careful not to hurt your eyes."
Zhao Xiangxiu rubbed the needle against her hair a couple of times before continuing to sew, saying without even looking up, "No way, this perfectly good cloth will get covered in dirt if we go out to make it without any tools."
Making clothes for someone and getting the fabric dirty is a difficult thing to explain, especially since Cheng Yue gave her a hundred coins.
Then, remembering something, she hurriedly got up and said apologetically, "Look, I've been so busy making clothes that I haven't even poured you a glass of water. Wait here."
"Oh, no need, no need. I came to see you because I have something to say, so I won't drink the water." Cheng Yue pressed Zhao Xiangxiu down to sit down and continued, "I'm doing business in town now, and I need a lot of sweet potato flour. How much do you have left?"
Cheng Yue had been busy these past two days, and Zhao Xiangxiu had been making clothes at home, so the two of them hadn't run into each other and naturally didn't know about this.
Zhao Xiangxiu's eyes widened. Was this really the Cheng Yue he knew? She was already doing business?
Perhaps it's because the Chen family's feng shui is bad that it's suppressing Cheng Yue! Otherwise, how could Cheng Yue have risen to prominence as soon as the family split up?
"Goodness, when did you start doing business? How much sweet potato flour do you need? I estimate we have over fifty pounds at home, and over three hundred pounds of dried sweet potatoes that haven't been ground into flour yet. You can have it all."
Cheng Yue thought about it and realized it was indeed a lot, enough for six or seven days, and said:
"It's only the first day of making this, but I'll take all of these. I'll charge you two coins for three catties at the market price, and I'll calculate the amount after they've been weighed."
Zhao Xiangxiu knew Cheng Yue's current temperament; whatever she said went, so she readily agreed.
"Okay, once I finish making the clothes, I'll send these fifty-odd pounds up to you first. I'll give you the rest after I grind them into powder this afternoon."
There is a stone mill in the village, placed in the middle of the village for the use of all villagers.
Below is a large, round plate about half the height of a person, with an oval stone wheel on top. A hole was drilled in the middle of the wheel to make a frame for people to push.
Grain is placed on a disc, and a person holds onto a frame and pushes a stone in a circle to grind it into flour.
There are no machines now, so grinding is done with stone mills. If you want the powder to be fine, you have to roll it several times.
If you're grinding cornmeal, just a few turns are enough; it's very convenient to use.
Zhao Xiangxiu worked very quickly, finishing the last garment in no time. There were still many scraps of fabric left, which Cheng Yue didn't want, telling her to keep them to make shoe uppers for the children.
Zhao Xiangxiu was grateful and refused to accept any money from Cheng Yue for the fifty catties of sweet potato flour at home, as the cloth scraps were much more expensive than the sweet potato flour.
Seeing her resolute attitude, Cheng Yue had no choice but to comply.
Zhao Xiangxiu carried the sweet potato flour, and Cheng Yue carried the clothes and shoes she had made, and they went up the mountain together.
After putting down her things, Zhao Xiangxiu skipped down the mountain to grind sweet potato flour. More than 300 jin (150 kg) of flour could be sold for more than 200 wen (0.25 yuan), which could be saved up to help her son get married.
Anyway, the wheat harvest is almost here, so there's no worry about not having enough to eat.
He went back and called his two sons, who were busy in the fields, back to the millstone. They carried dried sweet potatoes and went to the millstone.
Although Cheng Yue said she wasn't in a hurry, she couldn't help but be anxious. The other party was genuinely looking out for her, and she couldn't afford to be slow and delay things.
Just as it was getting dark, Zhao Xiangxiu brought up more than 100 jin (50 kg) of food with her two sons.
Cheng Yue pushed the cart back and brought the rest back. When she looked at it that evening, she found that the sweet potato flour had been ground very finely and well.
This Zhao Xiangxiu... her honesty is almost intimidating!
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