Granny Lai choked, her face turning red, and looked at Ye Caiping:
"Look at your daughter, she has no manners at all."
Ye Caiping gave an irrelevant answer: "I'm sorry, Aunt Lai. I can't tell you my family's secret recipe."
Granny Lai choked again.
The village women next to her looked embarrassed. Being so close to Granny Lai made them feel like they were on her side, interrogating her about her secret recipe.
How shameless must someone be to do this!
The village women quickly distanced themselves from the situation, laughing as they said:
"Aunt Lai, you're asking for too much. This is someone's livelihood, how can I just tell you?"
Granny Lai, her face flushed with shame and anger, flung the wet clothes in her hand into the water:
"I don't want anything... It's just that we always have the same few dishes at home, and they never taste good no matter how I cook them. I just want to learn a few more recipes. Fine, don't tell me then! You're acting like you're the most suspicious person you can be."
Ye Caiping said, "If you want the food to taste good, just add more meat, more oil, and more seasonings."
Granny Lai yelped, "Don't I know meat and oil are delicious? Does meat cost nothing? A pound of fatty pork costs twenty-five coins! Lean pork costs fifteen coins. And oil is even more expensive."
"You can't bear to part with this, you think that's too expensive. If you had the secret recipe for hot and sour soup in your hand, you could have turned it into rotten vegetable soup, hahaha!" The village women burst into laughter.
The old woman was so embarrassed that she put the clothes in the basin and turned to leave.
Ye Jin'er chuckled.
Ye Caiping poked her head, but didn't scold her.
A shameless scoundrel like Granny Lai should be dealt with fiercely and confronted to death.
...
Grandma Ye is feeding the chickens.
In just a few days, the chicks grew a whole size bigger, full of energy, chirping happily.
The chicken feed was all collected one by one by Jin Hua, Yin Hua, Ye Peng, and the others.
Jin Hua, in particular, would catch grasshoppers whenever she had free time, and she was especially fond of and cared for the chicks.
"Mother." Madam Wei came in with a broom.
Grandma Ye said, "I'm feeding the chickens right now, no need to sweep."
Mrs. Wei looked embarrassed. She hadn't come to clean the chicken coop, but... she felt a little awkward and pretended to be there to do some work.
"What's the matter?" Old Mrs. Ye also felt that she hadn't come to clean the chicken coop.
Madam Wei was preoccupied: "Well... we haven't separated the family yet. My younger sister is fine, but the income of the eldest and second wives must be handed over."
"You mean those thirty taels?"
Ms. Wei lowered her head timidly and remained silent.
Grandma Ye sighed softly, "Since we haven't separated the family, shouldn't the family contribute money to Yong'er and Xuan'er's weddings?"
Mr. Wei nodded.
“Now that your sister-in-law has taken this money, Yong’er will have to pay for all the dowry, clothes, and wedding banquet himself. Do the math, will there be any left over?”
Madam Wei had already calculated it in her mind and shook her head, mainly because Xiuxiu's dowry was too high. Otherwise, fifteen taels would have been enough.
"So, no matter what, there won't be any left over from these thirty taels. Does it matter whether it comes from her or me? You know she has a big temper; she'll be ecstatic if she has this money in her hands. Let's just make her happy!"
Therefore, those thirty taels were also confiscated.
Madam Wei understood, but she was still unhappy: "If I really marry Xiuxiu, the bride price will be too high."
Grandma Ye knew it was unfair, so she said, "When Peng'er gets married in the future, no matter if the bride price is five or six taels, if it's less than twenty taels, the old lady and I will make up the difference for your second wife, how about that?"
Madam Wei was overjoyed, and her heart finally felt at peace: "Thank you, Mother."
...
Inside the room, after her initial joy, Madam Du looked at the one tael of silver in her hand and began to worry.
Since the family hasn't separated yet, if she takes this money, then the family won't have to pay for Ye Yong's wedding expenses.
She had just done the math; if Ye Yong insisted on marrying Hu Xiuxiu, thirty taels would barely be enough.
However, she also wanted to send Ye Xuan back to school...
"Mother, you called us."
At this moment, Ye Yong, Ye Xuan, and Jin Hua walked in and closed the door behind them.
Madam Du nodded. It was a matter of great importance, involving a huge sum of thirty taels of silver, and she needed to consult with someone about it.
"Mother was thinking..." Madam Du didn't know how to start, so she could only get straight to the point: "Yong'er, um... do you really have to marry Xiuxiu?"
If I didn't marry Xiuxiu, I could have done anything for fifteen or sixteen taels of silver!
"No, I will not marry Xiuxiu."
"You...what?" Madam Du was about to complain when Ye Yong suddenly said he wouldn't marry her: "I...am I deaf? Aren't you with Xiuxiu..."
"Mother, Xiuxiu and I... have nothing. Please save the money for my second brother's schooling!"
Ye Yong does indeed like Xiuxiu. But he can't spend all thirty taels on her.
The second brother and sister should both get one.
If he marries Xiuxiu, then his second brother and sister will have nothing left.
Especially my second brother, he should go to school! We can't let them suffer because of him.
Ye Jinhua pursed her lips. In fact, she was also unhappy that her elder brother was marrying Xiuxiu. Not only did he ask for an exorbitant price, but Xiuxiu's mother was also a troublemaker.
As long as they don't marry Xiuxiu, their first wife's family will be well-off!
After the eldest brother got married, the remaining money could be used to send the second brother to school.
Ye Xuan said indifferently, "What's the use? Big brother, I'm not a seven or eight-year-old child anymore. Even if you send me to school now, even if I have to swallow my pride and go to school with a bunch of kids, I'm still too late."
The three members of the Du family felt a pang of sadness.
Du gritted her teeth and said, "If only you could get into Mingyue Academy! Li Zhiyuan promised that once he passed the imperial examination, he would recommend you to the academy. Now... humph!"
"How about we find another academy? No need for recommendations," Ye Jinhua said.
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