The entire An family arrived early the next morning.
"Xiao Cui, 220 catties of peaches and 68 catties of plums. Anything more won't cost you anything; it'll be the price we agreed on beforehand," An Dafu said, wiping his sweat.
"Want to weigh it?" An Xiaohu asked.
Upon hearing this, Aunt Wen said, "Why do we need a scale? We're all family."
Yang Cui smiled, said nothing, turned around and took out money from her house, handing it to her aunt: "Aunt, here are two hundred and sixty copper coins, please count them."
An Dafu looked bewildered: "You must have miscounted! We agreed on one coin per pound. Two hundred and fifty pounds means two hundred and fifty coins. The extra weight doesn't count. It's my uncle's fruit, how can we treat it like outsiders, where they can just say whatever they want?"
"Two hundred and fifty coins doesn't sound good, two hundred and sixty is auspicious, so let's just go with it! I've already gotten a good deal."
"Then your aunt won't stand on ceremony with you!" Madam Wen happily accepted the money and counted it out one by one.
When An Dafu saw this, he scolded her: "What are you still counting for? Would Xiao Cui give you less than you deserve?"
"Uncle, it's alright. Even close brothers keep clear accounts! Since it's business, it's better to be clear about the details. Besides, I might miscount!"
"That's right! You're not a god, how can you not make mistakes? Xiao Cui is so sensible. It's not that your aunt doesn't believe you, your aunt just likes counting money, hehe."
"Mom, let me help you count." An Xiaohu leaned closer.
"Get out of here, stop messing around. Look, you've interrupted me, and I've forgotten where we were counting."
Yang Cui: "Xiao Hu, don't bother your aunt, go and help me."
"Sister, what do you need me to do?" An Xiaohu patted her chest. "I'm very capable!"
“Just tell me what you want to do,” An Dafu said.
"Wash the peaches and ginger first, I'll chop them in a bit."
An Xiaohai quickly carried the fruit to the well, which was only a few meters away from the kitchen, making it very convenient.
"First, you need to wash off the fuzz from the peaches with salt," Yang Cui said as she washed them.
When An Dafu saw that so much salt was needed, he was heartbroken: "How much salt will be wasted!"
"It's not much, just a little bit on your finger and rub it in."
"As long as we can make it back, that's fine." Wen had already counted the money. She smiled and leaned close to Yang Cui, whispering, "Xiaocui, tell your aunt honestly, how much can you make by reselling these fruits?"
Upon hearing this, An Dafu scolded, "Just do your job, why are you asking so many questions?"
“I’m not a stranger, what can’t I ask or say? Xiao Cui, why don’t you talk to your aunt?”
An Dafu glared at Wen Shi, then said to Yang Cui, "Xiaocui, ignore her."
“Aunt, we don’t actually make much money. You know how expensive salt is. And it also depends on whether the restaurant can sell it. If they can sell it, we can do business again in the future. If they can’t sell it, this is our only business opportunity.”
"Sister, it'll definitely sell well, business will boom, and wealth will flow in." An Xiaohu's words were incredibly sweet.
Yang Cui smiled and said, "Then I'll take your kind words."
Ms. Wen was somewhat unhappy, feeling that Yang Cui didn't treat her like one of her own. Otherwise, why wouldn't she clearly tell her how much money she could earn?
With the help of the An family, the peaches and tender ginger were washed quickly. Yang Cui took a bowl of her homemade perilla peach and ginger soup to the village chief's house to borrow a kitchen knife, as she only had one knife.
Zhou Zhuoshi wasn't stupid. As soon as she saw this, she connected it with the perilla that Yang Cui wanted to buy and knew that Yang Cui was in this business.
Zhou Zhuoshi tasted it and found it to be refreshingly sweet and sour.
"Xiao Cui is so clever and skillful. It's just a knife I borrowed. You don't need to be so polite next time. Here, take it."
"I will definitely be back around noon."
In rural areas, lunch preparations usually begin around 1 or 2 PM, so I returned by 12:30 PM to avoid disturbing others.
These past few days, Yang Cui has been going to the village chief's house every day. Today, she even brought a bowl to the village chief's house, which infuriated Fan Shi.
"Using my Lin family's things to curry favor with the Zhou family, you wretched woman!" Madam Fan's face was sinister.
"I just saw An Dafu's family carrying hundreds of pounds of peaches and plums to Yang Cui's place. Can Yang Cui and her two children eat that much?" Lin Niu asked with a puzzled look.
After thinking for a moment, Madam Fan called Lin Daya over: "Daya, they are your maternal uncle and aunt. The peaches and plums they picked should be yours. Go and get some back. Don't let that slut Yang Cui get them all!"
Lin Daya nodded in agreement.
The peaches and young ginger had already been washed quite a bit, and Yang Cui and Wen Shi each took a knife and started cutting them.
"Auntie, Uncle and Aunt."
Yang Cui looked up and saw it was Lin Daya.
"Auntie, what are you doing?"
As soon as Lin Daya finished speaking, five or six more women entered, their eyes fixed on the peaches and plums filling the yard.
"Xiao Cui, you're busy!"
"Wow! You guys even use salt to wash peaches? Looks like you've really struck it rich."
Salt is so expensive! Villagers are so stingy with it when cooking, yet they use it to wash peaches!
If there's nothing fishy going on, nobody would believe it!
They all looked at An Jia and Yang Cui with shining eyes.
These people didn't stand on ceremony; each of them took a washed peach from the basin and started eating it.
While munching on a peach, Aunt Guo asked, "What are you doing, washing and cutting all this?"
Yang Cui replied, "Just wash it clean before eating."
"Can you finish all of this?"
Yang Cui smiled but didn't say anything.
The village's notorious gossip queen, Aunt Ai, said, "Xiao Cui, you two haven't found a way to make a fortune, have you?"
The question that Aunt Ai asked was also the question that everyone else wanted to ask. Everyone looked at Yang Cui, waiting for her to answer. Lin Daya also pricked up her ears to listen carefully.
"If there were a way to make money, would my children and I be dressed like this?"
Everyone looked at Yang Cui, then at Er Ya and San Ya, whose clothes were patched upon patched, which was not the style of a wealthy person.
but……
"You have no money, yet you're washing peaches with salt! So much salt, it must cost hundreds of coins!" Aunt Guo was heartbroken to see this. Even if you have money, you shouldn't waste it like this. If Yang Cui were to enter the Guo family, she would definitely give her a good talking-to!
Wen got furious: "What business is it of yours whether we have money or not? You're so nosy! Why don't you tell us how much money your family has?"
The women's faces immediately darkened.
Auntie: "It's just asking! What's the big deal!"
"Don't ask unnecessary questions!"
Although Wen's attitude displeased them, it only strengthened their belief that the An family and Yang Cui had found a way to make money, and that they had become rich!
Aunt Guo laughed heartily: "Xiao Cui's uncle, you're Xiao Cui's only relative now. I mentioned last time that I wanted her to be my daughter-in-law. What do you think?"
An Dafu was taken aback and turned his gaze to Yang Cui.
Yang Cui looked annoyed and was extremely disgusted by this kind of person who wouldn't listen to anything she said.
“Auntie, I already refused last time. I don’t plan to get married for the time being. You should find someone better for your son! I have two children and I’m really not good enough for your son. Everyone is here today, so I’d like to make it clear that I don’t want to get married again. Thank you all for your kindness in arranging things for me, but please don’t bother.”
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