Chapter 009: Sugar Making and Debt Collection
The little fool lay in the house like a hedgehog, and the silver needle on his back had to stay for a while. Shen Ning hurried to prepare the tools for making sugar.
She found some clean dry straw in the old funnel at home, rinsed it, and poured out about five pounds of brown sugar. After making all the preparations, she returned to Xiao Nanchen's house.
Thinking about her own sugar, she was very skillful. She quickly pulled out the silver needles one by one. When she reached the acupoint of the coccyx, she pulled down the pants that had been pulled up at some point and removed the needles.
"If the needle goes astray, it might paralyze you, just like the little dog that drags its legs along and crawls along at Lao Deng's house. If Anan wants to drag its legs along and crawl along like that little dog, then you better keep pulling at your pants."
Xiao Nanchen: ...
This woman is dead!
After Shen Ning finished threatening the little fool, she picked up his waistband with two fingers and pulled it up again, then turned around and walked out of the room without looking back.
On the kang, His Royal Highness Prince Ding closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
It’s all for his legs, so he just endures it!
Shen Ning had no idea how complicated her patient's mood was. She concentrated on making white sugar.
For a former PhD in chemistry, the process was extremely simple. She poured the brown sugar she had bought into the pot and began to boil it over fire. When the brown sugar turned into a thick syrup, she stuffed the cleaned funnel with straw.
She poured the thick syrup into the funnel, then picked up the yellow mud soup that was being stirred evenly beside her and poured it over the solidified brown sugar bit by bit...
After a while, muddy water began to drip from the bottom of the funnel and gathered in the wooden basin below, more and more... When the yellow muddy water in the funnel gradually moved down and disappeared, the white crystalline sugar was revealed.
Shen Ning whistled happily, it's done!
Next, she followed the same method to turn the remaining half of the brown sugar into white sugar. After removing impurities from ten pounds of brown sugar, she made more than seven pounds of white sugar. In other words, the brown sugar she bought for less than one or two taels of silver could be sold for seventy taels of silver.
This is much easier than hunting. It turns out that knowledge is wealth.
Put the sugar in the cupboard, add lemon and boil water to wash.
She worked almost non-stop throughout the entire day. If she hadn't been so energetic, she would have collapsed from exhaustion. After washing her face, she applied a thick layer of the ointment she had bought on her face and the backs of her hands. Soon, the stinging pain caused by the dryness and roughness disappeared.
Afterwards, she sorted out the things she had bought in the county town during the day.
She slept soundly... When it was almost dawn, she was awakened by the cold rain falling on her face.
It's raining and the roof is leaking!
Fortunately, the sugar was in the cupboard.
Unable to fall asleep, Shen Ning got up and put the bedding into the cabinet. She looked up at the roof that was still leaking, sighed, and placed a porcelain basin on the kang to collect the rainwater.
Fortunately, the rain was not heavy, otherwise the house would have collapsed.
Thinking of this, she admired her original body's persistence immensely: knowing that others looked down on her, she still spent money and effort, and served them diligently for more than two years, spending all her money on others and not even caring about the leaking roof of her own house.
It was still early. The little fool had the poison removed yesterday, so he must still be sleeping now. Shen Ning got up, washed up, and went into the kitchen.
She planned to make sugar-filled sesame cakes. The crispy and fragrant sesame cakes, with sweet syrup inside, were delicious just thinking about it.
After kneading the dough, she wrapped white sugar directly into it, put it on a pan that had been lightly oiled, and turned it over several times. The pancake gradually became browned... When it was done, she ate two of them herself, drank some egg drop soup, and put the rest of the pancakes in the pan to warm them. She then went out and walked towards the headman's house.
Shen Ning is going to find someone to repair the house.
The reason why she went to find the village head was because she didn't know much about the craftsmen in the village. The village head was often in charge of this kind of things, and after going through the village head's hands, the craftsmen would be easier to control.
Arriving at the headman's house, Shen Ning placed three sugar-filled sesame cakes wrapped in paper on the table and said with a smile, "Uncle De, I made some sugar-filled sesame cakes for Yu Ge'er and his three sisters to try."
Sugar is a good thing, especially since it was a white flour pancake. Zhao De's originally dignified expression immediately softened, and he immediately advised: "Without Zhao Mu, your life will be difficult in the future. You should be more frugal and manage your family well."
Shen Ning immediately said: “That’s what Uncle De said.”
After the pleasantries, she explained her purpose and asked Zhao De to help hire some craftsmen.
Zhao De was thoughtful after hearing this. After a moment, he said, "It seems that Lao Tie's group has just finished building houses for Shihe Village today. How about this, I'll tell them and I can take over your job."
Shen Ning thanked him repeatedly.
Zhao De added, "But the wages must be clearly stated in advance. Lao Tie and the people he brings with him have good work to do. In Shihe Village, they earn thirty-two cents a day."
Shen Ning thought for a moment and said, "I'll give them thirty-eight cents and ask them to work harder and speed up. Uncle De, do you think that's okay?"
Zhao De nodded immediately: "They will definitely agree with this price. You go back first, I will come later..."
Before he finished speaking, another figure walked in: "Brother Zhao is at home."
It turned out to be the first person Shen Ning saw when she first came to this world, Pei Yuanzhou's mother. What did her name seem to be, Fan Ru?
When Fan Ru saw Shen Ning, she immediately smiled and said, "Mrs. Shen is here too...Brother Zhao, I'm here to ask you for a favor."
After a simple greeting, Fan Ru didn't look at Chen Ning again and walked straight to the head of the village, as if she and Shen Ning were not familiar with each other, but just ordinary fellow villagers. There was no longer any of the intimacy she had when she used to pull Chen Ning to work.
In fact, Chen Ning had not originally thought about doing anything with the Pei family mother and son. After all, it was not her who was working like a slave, and it was she who had ignored her status as a married woman and insisted on going to someone else's house to show her courtesy. It was just a matter of one willing to fight and the other willing to be beaten.
She was about to leave, but she accidentally saw Pei's mother glance at her, as if she was afraid that she would persist.
Shen Ning paused and was about to leave, but then she heard that Pei's mother also happened to come to the head of the village to ask him to help hire someone to repair the house.
The village head laughed helplessly and said, "This is really unfortunate. I just agreed to Chen Ning's request. The people with good craftsmanship in the nearby villages are Lao Tie and his gang. If you want to choose them, then wait until Chen Ning's work is done."
Fan Ru suddenly became anxious: "Brother, how can we wait? The house is leaking and it affects my son Yuanzhou's studies."
The village head thought for a moment and said, "Then we can look for someone else. Zhang Sheng and his gang from Baijia Village should be free recently."
Mother Pei was also unhappy: "Are they not as good at work as Lao Tie?"
The village head was helpless: "You don't want to wait, and you don't want to change people, so what should I do?"
Mother Pei paused for a moment, then said, "It's quite simple. Madam Shen shouldn't be in a hurry, unlike us Yuanzhou who have to hurry to review our lessons. Otherwise, she could do it for us first, and then go to Madam Shen's place after that."
The village head frowned: "Things always come first, come last."
Mother Pei smiled: "Hey, as long as Madam Shen agrees, it will be over... What do you think, Madam Shen?"
Mother Pei didn't think that Shen Ning would refuse at all. After all, in the past two years, Shen Ning had been humble and obedient to her. Not to mention asking them to repair the house first, even if she asked Shen Ning to build a house for them herself, she would probably agree without hesitation.
Shen Ning never let go of any opportunity to build a relationship with their family.
However, just as Mother Pei finished her words, she saw Shen Ning shaking her head: "No, I'm anxious too."
Shen Ning smiled: “There is no way I can let you.”
Mother Pei's expression froze, and the look in her eyes when she looked at Shen Ning suddenly became a little ugly.
Is this because he sees there is no hope of entering the Pei family and starts to make things difficult for her?
Oh……
Mother Pei turned around and asked the head of the village directly: "How much is Madam Shen paying for the wages?"
The village head was a little puzzled: "Thirty-eight coins, what's wrong?"
Mother Pei smiled and said, "How about this, I'll offer 42 coins, and I'll ask around for them to see which family they're willing to work for first."
The village head was startled: "This, this..."
He wanted to say that this was not a good thing, but the other party was willing to pay a high price, and he couldn't stop him from making more money.
Just when the village head was hesitating and didn't know how to start, Shen Ning spoke.
"So Aunt Pei is already so rich?" Shen Ning asked, "When will you pay me back the money you owe me?"
Fan Ru was stunned: "W-What money do I owe you?"
Chen Ning opened her eyes wide: "Why, you even forgot to borrow money? Come, let me calculate with you. At the beginning of winter two years ago, Pei Yuanzhou had to pay his salary, and you fell ill. There was not even a bundle of firewood at home. You lent me two taels of silver to get through the winter, right?"
That time, Fan Ru almost died of illness. All the neighbors knew that it was Chen Ning who took care of her for nearly a month.
"Later, during the Chinese New Year two years ago, you said that the family didn't have enough money to make it through last year. Pei Yuanzhou needed to wear a long gown for school, so you wanted to make him some clothes, and you lent me another two taels and five cents..."
"Last year, when Teacher Pei Yuanzhou returned to his hometown, fellow students came to see him off and wanted to give him a gift. You said you were worried you couldn't give me something ordinary, so you lent me three taels of silver. I think you said you bought an ingot of ink."
The more Shen Ning spoke, the uglier Fan Ru's face became. By the time Shen Ning finished counting on her fingers, her face had already turned a little blue.
"It's twenty-one taels and three cents in total. Auntie, you know I need to repair my house too. If you don't need the money now, please return it to me."
Fan Ru moved her mouth, subconsciously wanting to deny it, but Chen Ning had explained everything clearly, so how could she deny it...
"Auntie just raised the price so generously to snatch the craftsman, I think she must be rich. What's going on? Are you trying to shirk your debt?"
Chen Ning said slowly, "I heard that Master Pei is going to discuss marriage with Miss Li. Uncle Li passed the imperial examination and is going to be an official, so he will naturally not be short of money. If Auntie doesn't have the money to pay it back, why don't I ask Miss Li if she is willing to pay off her fiancé's debt?"
Fan Ru raised her head and said, "Who said I wouldn't return it to you? I just finished talking about what happened here and I wanted to tell you. Who knew you couldn't wait any longer?"
Shen Ning uttered an "oh," "It's been more than two years, and Auntie hasn't mentioned it once. It's also my fault for being impatient... I couldn't even wait for the third year."
Fan Ru's face turned pale and blue, and the village head understood what was happening. He deliberately asked, "Then tell Lao Tie and the others about forty-two coins?"
Fan Ru immediately said anxiously: "No need, we are not that anxious, let Madam Shen come first."
After she finished speaking, she hurriedly turned around and was about to leave. Shen Ning raised her voice and said, "Then I will go home with my aunt to get the money. After I get the money, I will come to pay Uncle De for the advance wages and the money for the bricks and wood."
Fan Ru gritted her teeth secretly: "Just come, why are you shouting so loudly!"
Shen Ning didn't care about her attitude. She followed Fan Ru with a smile. When she met someone who greeted her, she would say loudly, "Good morning, Aunt Rong. I'm going to the Pei family. Aunt Pei returned the money to me and asked me to go with her to get it."
"Good morning, Third Master. Oh, I'm going to the Pei family. Auntie asked me to get the money I lent her. Hi, I told her there was no rush, but she insisted on returning it to me now."
As they walked along, half of the village knew that Pei's mother owed Shen Ning money and had to pay it back today.
Fan Ru was so angry that she gritted her teeth, but she still had to force a smile to deal with her neighbors. When she got home, she went back to her room with a sullen face to get the money.
Pei Yuanzhou was about to go out to the county school when he saw Shen Ning and frowned.
But Shen Ning was blocking the door, and he had no way to avoid it. Pei Yuanzhou could only patiently ask: "Madam Shen, is there something wrong?"
Shen Ning glanced at the original male protagonist: "Oh, nothing else, my aunt wants to return my silver, I came to get the money."
Her expression was casual, her tone was casual, and her eyes were not glued to him as usual… Only then did Pei Yuanzhou realize that the widow Shen in front of him seemed different from before.
She no longer dresses in the exaggerated and ridiculous way she used to.
At this time, Pei's mother walked out quickly and stuffed a few ingots of silver into Shen Ning's hands: "Here you go... From now on, all dealings between us will be settled, and you will have nothing to do with my Pei family anymore."
Li Yushi used this silver to renovate their house. The master of the Li family stayed in Beijing and had enough money. Although he had not settled down in the house yet and could not take his daughter there immediately, he brought back the silver.
She finally managed to "borrow" thirty taels from Li Yushi after crying poor, so as to renovate the house, but in the end, almost all of it was taken away by the widow!
It's really hateful. She was the one who gave the silver so eagerly in the first place, but now she insists on taking it back. If her son was not going to take the imperial examination in the future and his reputation was not important, Fan Ru would not have given it to her so easily.
Bah, this slut is still lusting after her son, why doesn’t she even take a piss and look at herself!
Mother Pei's face was ugly and sarcastic: "From now on, Madam Shen, don't come to my house if you have nothing to do."
Some neighbors not far away poked their heads over to watch the fun, their ears perked up.
Shen Ning weighed the silver and laughed loudly, "Of course, I'll be satisfied once the money is paid off. I don't expect someone like my aunt to remember my help for more than two years. Let's just stop communicating in the future."
After saying that, she turned and left.
Pei's mother's face turned pale from being scolded. Seeing the neighbors around her secretly pointing fingers and whispering to each other, she turned around in anger and slammed the door...
"Mom, I'm going to the county school."
Pei Yuanzhou said this and went out with the book.
He also saw his neighbors whispering to each other, but he didn't pay much attention.
The country folk are the most foolish, like a mayfly drifting with the tide. He doesn't care at all about the gazes and comments of these people, just as he didn't care about the courtesy and kindness of the married woman.
He has already made his attitude clear. It was she who insisted on being so hard on him. Even if she was treated coldly, she couldn't blame anyone else.
If you don't respect yourself, how can you expect others to respect you...
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