Chen Qingqing inspected the cooked brown sugar, bent down to smell it, and couldn't help but praise it.
"Great, that's wonderful! There's not a trace of burnt smell. I didn't expect you to be able to cook it so well after only watching it once. You're really amazing."
Lin shook her head and smiled, "It's not that we cooked it well, it's that you taught me in detail. I followed all the steps you taught me."
Chen Zhanshan asked, "Qing girl, how did it go in town? Did anyone buy our brown sugar?"
"Dad, I have good news for you. Not only have all the sugars been sold, but I've also found a long-term partner. Tomorrow I'll have to deliver all this boiled brown sugar to them."
Chen Zhanshan was so happy he almost jumped up. "If that's the case, then everyone will want our raw sugar from now on."
"Yes, I have already signed a contract with that merchant to supply him with brown sugar on a long-term basis."
"Great, wonderful!" Chen Zhanshan looked at Lin Shi excitedly. "Did you hear that? We've sold all the sugar we made. If this continues, it won't be long before our family is living a good life!"
"Yes, sir, the good days have come."
The sun sets.
Dinner was prepared at the Wu family's old house.
Two cold dishes were laid out on the table: a plate of spicy and sour cucumber strips and a stir-fried potato shreds.
There were also two hot dishes: one was braised pork belly with cabbage, and the other was stir-fried dried tofu and pork slices with green peppers.
There was also a full bowl of white rice.
Chen Dabao's eyes widened in disbelief. He had never seen such food before, not even during the New Year.
He vowed to work hard from now on so that his parents could eat meat every day...
Early the next morning.
Chen Qingqing cut the sugar she had made yesterday into pieces, preparing to deliver it to the town.
The little fish stayed around her without saying a word, just quietly watching her work.
He followed her every step of the way, they were inseparable.
Just as she was about to leave, the owner of Liu's Grocery Store arrived carrying two boxes of pastries.
Yesterday's 40 jin of sugar was not enough to sell, and this morning, his regular customers lined up in front of his shop to buy sugar.
Having no other option, he hired a horse-drawn carriage and came to Nanshan Village in person to pick up the goods.
Yesterday, a total of sixty catties of brown sugar were sold. Manager Liu happily paid for it and repeatedly reminded everyone to deliver it early tomorrow.
Chen Qingqing nodded and agreed to deliver the goods every other day, and he left happily...
With donkeys, the millstone pulling speed increased significantly.
Lin and Da Bao were busy chopping beets.
Chen Zhanshan pushed the cart back and forth to transport goods.
He carried the chopped beets to the stone mill and then carried the ground beet juice back, keeping himself extremely busy.
Although Xiaoyu had amnesia, he was not stupid and learned things very quickly. Chen Qingqing instructed him to watch the donkey and put beets into the stone mill, which he did very well.
But no one is making the beet juice in the pot. It seems we need to hire some people to do the work so that my parents can have some free time to make the sugar.
Chen Qingqing also discovered a problem: although the stone mill was not far from the Wu family's old house, it was very troublesome to transport it back and forth. In order to save time, she had to find a stonemason to carve a stone mill.
There's only one month left until the autumn harvest. Once Old Man Chen has finished harvesting the grain, she'll start preparing to build the house.
We can design the pond and put a few stone mills in the yard at the same time, which will make things much more convenient.
Let's deal with this for now!
Thinking of this, she asked, "Mother, Da Bao, we don't have enough manpower. I'm thinking of hiring a few people to help. The wages are ten coins a day. Do you have any suitable candidates?"
Chen Qingqing initially wanted to have Madam Sun come over directly, but she had some reservations.
After all, the second wife and Old Man Chen had not yet separated their households, and the second wife would have to hand over any money she earned, so she could not make decisions for Madam Sun.
Lin laughed and said, "Why don't you ask your second aunt? She's free anyway, and she's quite efficient at work. I just don't know if she'd be willing to do it."
Da Bao's eyes darkened. If his mother were to do the work, she could earn ten coins a day, which would bring in more income for the family.
Life will be much better then. We won't have to eat meat every meal, but at least we won't have to eat coarse food anymore.
But Mother always hands over any money she earns; not a single penny goes to the second branch of the family. No matter how much money it is, it all ends up in the third branch's pocket.
Fine, let him in. At least it'll help support the family a little.
"Auntie, thank you for thinking of my mother first. I'll go back and tell her right away."
Chen Qingqing stood up. "Okay, then I'll go to the village entrance again and ask who's willing to come. As long as we find someone, we can start making sugar."
"Qing girl, it would be best to have them start work today, otherwise we won't be able to handle it."
Okay, I understand.
Village entrance.
The stone mill was already surrounded by villagers, including the village head's wife. Looking at the buckets of juice being poured out, everyone praised it.
"Zhanshan is truly blessed to have raised such a wonderful daughter."
"Who says otherwise? We thought this lousy vegetable was for feeding pigs, and we even laughed at it. But we never expected that these were all gold nuggets, gold nuggets that would make us rich."
Hearing the villagers' praise, Chen Qingqing smiled faintly and said loudly, "Uncles and aunts, you flatter me. I just happened to discover this sugar beet and was lucky enough to make brown sugar. Now I don't have enough manpower, so I plan to hire a few people to help. Ten coins a day. See if anyone wants to do it?"
Upon hearing this, everyone perked up.
The village head's wife laughed and said, "Qing girl, I have nothing to do all day, count me in."
"Okay, thank you very much, Auntie." Chen Qingqing's eyes were filled with gratitude.
"Don't be so polite, kid. Your village head said that you will build ponds and encourage the villagers to grow sugar beets. You are leading everyone in our village to get rich. We should all thank you."
The villagers heard the village head's wife's words clearly.
Some people who had previously looked down on Chen Qingqing changed their attitudes.
"Qing'er, is this job difficult? Can I do it?" Liang Fugui's wife, Madam Liang, asked.
Chen Qingqing shook her head and smiled, "Aunt Liang, the work is not difficult. Just wash the beets and cut them into pieces. It's very simple."
"That's good, count me in too."
Erhuzi from the village asked loudly, "Qingya, I also want to work. Are you hiring male workers?"
"Uncle Tiger, as long as you have the strength, you're welcome."
"Okay, this male worker spot is mine."
Following suit, Liu and Wang from the village also signed up to work at the sugar mill.
Including the five female workers from the Sun family, it should be enough. If Zheng Zhong delivers goods on time in the future, he can hire more people whenever needed.
After leading the people back to the Wu family's old house, Chen Qingqing assigned tasks and finally breathed a sigh of relief...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
