Lin Mingcai was injured and in pain all over, so he didn't go to Anjia Village to cause trouble for Yang Cui. However, he always thought that Yang Cui would suffer a bit this time. But he didn't expect that his own family members would come back with their faces as black as ink.
When asked about the reason, his hatred for Yang Cui was as boundless as the Yellow River.
——
On the way home, Zhou Zhuoshi said to Village Chief Zhou, "I never imagined Yang Cui was so capable! I really didn't realize it before."
"What do you think about us marrying Xiaomei off to the eldest son of the An family?" Village Chief Zhou suddenly suggested.
Zhou Zhuoshi looked at her husband in surprise. Zhou Xiaomei was the daughter of their eldest son, Zhou Hongfa, and also the eldest granddaughter of the Zhou family. She was fourteen years old this year and had been living with Zhou Hongfa and his wife in Huangtang Town for the past three years. She had grown up quite a bit and was determined to marry a wealthy man from the town.
Village Chief Zhou continued, "We've never gotten along with the Lin family. Now that Lin Shikang has achieved the third-highest rank in the imperial examination, I don't know how much longer I can remain as village chief."
Nowadays, the Lin family is increasingly disregarding him, and Village Chief Zhou is also harboring resentment. In the past, the Zhou family's greatest reliance was on Chai Jiaqiang, the mayor of Huangtang Town.
Chai Jiaqiang is the brother-in-law of Village Chief Zhou, so their relationship is naturally close.
Although the town mayor wasn't an official in the strictest sense, he assisted the county magistrate in overseeing the town's security and tax collection, and thus wielded some power, mainly due to his close ties with the government officials. Without Lin Shikang, the Lin family would never have dared to speak to Village Chief Zhou like that.
Now that Lin Shikang has achieved the third-highest rank in the imperial examinations, he may even become the son-in-law of a high-ranking official in the capital. Even Chai Jiaqiang wouldn't dare to do anything to the Lin family.
"If we could also establish a connection with the Star Gazing Tower, we'd have someone to rely on. The An family is Yang Cui's only relative and elder; if anything good happens, she'll definitely include the An family first." The Zhou family would also benefit from becoming in-laws with the An family.
"Do you really believe what Yang Cui said, that the Observatory is her backer?"
Village Chief Zhou nodded: "Yes, I believe you. Even if it's not true, those boys from the An family seem to have good personalities, even though they're a bit poor."
Initially, the Zhou family wanted to arrange a marriage between Yang Cui and one of their Zhou clan members, but Yang Cui was determined to find a husband, so the plan had to be abandoned. Moreover, after looking around, the village chief Zhou found that none of his clan members were a suitable match for Yang Cui.
Therefore, Village Chief Zhou set his sights on Anjia.
"But... I'm afraid the Bai family and Xiaomei won't agree."
Village Chief Zhou's face darkened with anger: "Hmph, that's not up to them!"
Zhou Baishi is Zhou Xiaomei's mother. She is also a big-minded person who wants to marry her daughter off to a rich man in the city. Zhou Xiaomei's high standards are mainly due to the ideas that Zhou Baishi has instilled in her.
Other people's children get engaged at twelve or thirteen and get married at fourteen or fifteen, but Zhou Xiaomei is fourteen and still hasn't found a husband. When it comes to this, the village chief and his wife are very angry.
——
Yang Cui asked An Dafu to build her a clay oven. An Dafu had never even heard of an oven before, but with Yang Cui, who was knowledgeable in theory, explaining it to him in detail, An Dafu didn't know what his niece was going to do, but he guessed that she was probably going to start tinkering with money-making things again.
Therefore, An Dafu and his two sons worked very hard.
From preparation to execution, it took two whole days to complete the earthen oven. However, it couldn't be used right after it was built; we had to wait another day or two.
Yang Cui made a list and prepared to go into the city to purchase raw materials, but she didn't dare to go into the city alone, so she called Wen Shi along.
Seeing Yang Cui spending money like water, Wen felt extremely distressed. In just a short while, she had already spent more than half a tael of silver at the pharmacy.
"Xiao Cui, what are you going to do with all these medicinal herbs?" Madam Wen finally couldn't help but ask.
"Make food and sell it to the Star Gazing Tower."
Startled, Wen asked in a low voice, "What are you making? How much did the Star Gazing Tower pay you?"
"We haven't talked to them yet! We can only discuss the price after it's finished."
"So, are you planning to sell the product or the finished product?"
"It depends on what the Star Gazing Tower's intentions are; it's hard to say right now."
The more Wen looked at Yang Cui, the more she realized how capable Yang Cui was. She then quietly asked Yang Cui how much money she had.
Yang Cui was annoyed by her aunt's persistent probing into such private matters. That was the one thing that made her dislike her; she was so tactless. Who would tell others how much money they had?
Yang Cui didn't answer. There happened to be a duck vendor nearby, so Yang Cui bought four of the fattest ones. Then she bought flour, sugar, soy sauce, and other things. Finally, she bought half a bolt of cotton linen and four pairs of shoes.
When Wen saw how decisively she paid, she was both surprised and astonished. She roughly calculated that the things she bought today had cost at least two taels of silver.
Two taels of silver is enough for their whole family to live on for half a year.
Yang Cui put the things on the mule cart, and then said to Wen Shi, "Aunt, please wait here for a while, I'm going to the Star Gazing Tower."
"Okay, go ahead."
Zhou Daniu looked at this pile of things with great envy!
However, despite his envy, he wasn't so oblivious as to ask around. He was still hoping that Yang Cui would continue to rent his mule cart in the future!
...
Stargazing Tower.
"Manager Yu, on the first day of the lunar month, I wonder if you could spare some time? I would like to invite you and your employer to my home for a simple meal."
Manager Yu assumed that Yang Cui wanted to invite him to dinner because of Lin Mingcai's matter, and waved his hand repeatedly, saying, "No need, no need."
Yang Cui smiled and said, "Manager Yu, I think you may have misunderstood. I would like to invite you and your boss to my house to try the new dishes. If you are interested, we can also talk about cooperation."
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