Xiao Lei stared wide-eyed at the three large bags of grain in the cupboard; his family had never had so much refined grain before.
"There are 15 jin of rice, and the rice at home is all gone."
Wei Yuyan washed the two jars clean and turned them upside down. In a few days, she could put the green beans and peppers in to pickle them.
In the afternoon, Juan spent a few coins to hire a driver to take her and Cuifang to the countryside.
Liu Cuifang packed her things away neatly, knowing she would never live there again in her lifetime.
"Oh, is Cuifang back?"
When the oxcart arrived at the village chief's house, the village chief's wife quickly ran out to see what was happening.
"Mom, I'm back. I've missed you all so much."
As soon as Liu Cuifang got out of the car, she grabbed the village chief's wife's arm and wouldn't let go.
"Look at you, you're so big now, and you're still acting like a child with your mother."
The village chief's wife was also away from her daughter for the first time for such a long time, and she missed her daughter.
"Oh dear, I forgot, my cousin is here too, cousin."
Liu Cuifang realized what was happening and called out to her cousin.
“Here I am, Auntie. I brought Cuifang back and stopped by to see you all.”
Sister Juan just told the driver to wait a while, about 15 minutes.
"Oh dear, look how long it's been since you last visited your aunt's house. You must stay for dinner today. I'll kill a free-range chicken for you."
The village chief's wife is now counting on her niece to help arrange her daughter's marriage, so she has to win her over.
"Auntie, let's go inside and talk. I have to go back later."
Sister Juan thought that time was running out and she needed to quickly explain Sun Wei's situation.
"Alright, alright, come in and sit down."
The village chief's wife pulled the two of them in, and the village chief, having heard the commotion, arrived late.
"This must be Sister Juan. It's been a long time since you've come to our house. Stay here tonight and have a good chat with your aunt."
The village chief also smiled at Sister Juan.
“Uncle, I miss you so much, but the children at home need to be taken care of, so I have to go back soon. I wanted to talk to you about Cuifang’s future husband.”
Sister Juan got straight to the point.
"What? You've made progress?"
The village chief's wife immediately beamed with joy.
"yes……………………".
And so, Sister Juan said a lot of good things about Sun Wei, specifically introducing his family situation.
“That’s good, that’s good. We trust you to handle things. Now that Cuifang is back, they will…”
The village chief's wife was very satisfied with Sun Wei's situation, but she was worried that he might find the place too far and not want to see Cuifang anymore.
"No, Mom. This morning, he asked me for our home address. He's obviously coming to find me."
Cuifang was very confident that with her beautiful appearance and poised demeanor, Sun Wei would be hers sooner or later.
"Really? That's great."
The village chief's wife seemed to already see the day her daughter would marry into the town; she was smiling so hard her teeth almost fell out.
"Aunt, Uncle, it's getting late, I should go back now. It will be dark soon and it will be hard to travel."
Seeing that her two quarters of an hour had passed and she didn't want to delay any longer, as the driver would ask for more money later, Sister Juan immediately got up to say goodbye.
"Sister Juan, wait a minute. You've come all this way, and we haven't prepared anything nice for you."
"Come on, take this free-range chicken with you and give it to the children to help them get some nutrition."
The village chief's wife deftly grabbed a fat chicken from the coop, tied it up with a strap, and handed it to Sister Juan.
"Oh dear, Auntie, I can't accept this. Raising chickens isn't easy for you either."
Sister Juan didn't expect her aunt to be so generous and send over a whole chicken.
"You've helped us so much, what's wrong with eating one of your aunt's chickens? Come on, hold on tight, don't let it get away."
The village chief's wife told Juan to keep a close eye on things.
"Alright then, Auntie, don't worry. I'll keep an eye on Cuifang's matter and also remind the Sun family boy."
Sister Juan was quite happy; her efforts had paid off with a plump chicken.
"Cuifang, now you should be satisfied with Sun Wei, right?"
Since Sister Juan was here just now, the village chief's wife couldn't ask this question, but she still has to ask now to make sure her daughter is satisfied.
“I’m satisfied, Mom. His family is very well-off, even better than my brother-in-law’s family. Their house is also bigger.”
Liu Cuifang still had some expectations in her heart. If she married Sun Wei, she would not only be the best-married person in the village, but also the best-married person among her relatives.
"That's good, that's good. My Cuifang, why have you lost weight these past few days? Have you not been eating enough?"
The village chief's wife felt that her daughter's face had become a little smaller.
"Mom, what are you saying? My cousin's food is pretty good. I just miss you guys so much that I don't have much of an appetite."
Liu Cuifang was too embarrassed to say that Xiao Fei had scared her so much that she couldn't sleep all night and had no appetite.
"Okay, Mom will fry two eggs for you tonight."
The village chief's wife knew that her daughter loved fried eggs the most.
"Thank you, Mother. You're the best."
Liu Cuifang is finally much more at ease now, no longer having to live in fear.
…
Now that Brother Zhang is at home, it's so much easier for Wei Yuyan to sell steamed buns. Brother Zhang even comes to help sell them, so she no longer has to worry about being too busy.
If it weren't for the fact that the market day is less than ten days a month, Wei Yuyan would really have wanted to hire Brother Zhang as well.
Wei Yuyan had been thinking about this idea for several days, and finally came up with a good solution.
"Sister-in-law Xiuhua, I have an idea~".
Wei Yuyan thought it best to first inform her sister-in-law, Xiuhua.
"What's up?".
Xiuhua's sister-in-law is mending the clothes that Brother Zhang has worn out while working.
"I want to hire Brother Zhang to help sell steamed buns."
Wei Yuyan mustered her courage.
"What?".
Xiuhua's sister-in-law thought she had misheard.
“I said, I want to hire Brother Zhang to help me sell steamed buns.”
Wei Yuyan repeated it.
“Sister-in-law, you don’t need to do this. We can manage on our own, why do we need to hire someone?”
Xiuhua's sister-in-law was puzzled.
"My thinking is this: it's not good for the children to always come along. This time, it was much easier with Brother Zhang's help at the market."
I'd like to give you both a monthly wage of four hundred coins. On market days, you two can go and sell the goods, while I stay home and take care of the children.
"When the weather gets better, we can set up two steamed bun stalls. I heard that South Street is quite lively, isn't it?"
Wei Yuyan's idea was to set up two stalls after a while, wouldn't that make more money?
"That is indeed a good idea, but sister-in-law, four hundred coins is too much."
We didn't work every day; we worked less than ten days a month. That's not enough; that's too much.
Sister-in-law Xiuhua was not satisfied with the money; it was too much. Three hundred coins would have been more appropriate.
"I can still afford to pay four hundred coins, Sister Xiuhua."
"When we sell more buns, you'll have to work even harder. Four hundred coins really isn't much."
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