Wu Family Old Courtyard.
Erhuzi took over Chen Zhanshan's job, taking charge of transporting the chopped beets back and forth.
The village head's wife, Liang, Wang, and Liu were washing and chopping vegetables in the courtyard.
Lin and Chen Zhanshan were in charge of boiling the sugar.
Chen Qingqing was busy starting a fire when she saw Chen Dabao walk up to her with a unhappy expression. "Sister, my grandma won't let my mother do any work. You should find someone else!"
"It's alright, I'll save a seat for your mother whenever she wants to come."
Chen Qingqing hadn't expected this outcome. She knew the Chen family's financial situation; they were probably on the verge of starvation.
Old Mrs. Chen even stopped Sun from doing any work; it's unclear where she got the audacity.
Chen Dabao's nose tingled with emotion. "Sister, thank you."
“Why be so polite between siblings? Alright, hurry up and go make the sugar. My mother can’t do that kind of work.”
With everything arranged, everyone was busy in an orderly manner.
******
The Fan family.
Matchmaker Zhao smiled broadly, her face crinkling with wrinkles. "Master Fan, the matter you asked me to handle has been accomplished."
A few dark hairs have started to grow on Fan Tong's bald head. These days, he has listened to Chen Qingqing's advice.
He hadn't done anything wrong, and he still persisted in distributing porridge; finally, the hair on his body started to grow.
He was overjoyed and admired Chen Qingqing in his heart. If he could marry such a woman with such supernatural abilities, she would surely protect his family and home.
So they entrusted Zhao, the most famous matchmaker in Qingshui Town, to propose marriage.
Yesterday, the matchmaker Zhao didn't come to announce the good news, and I thought the matter was over.
I never expected her to bring such good news so early in the morning.
Come to think of it, the Fan family is incredibly wealthy, which girl wouldn't dream of marrying into their family and enjoying a life of luxury, let alone a mere woman like Chen Qingqing.
Fan Tong's eyes lit up with excitement. "Aunt Zhao, are you serious? When should I go to present the betrothal gifts?"
Matchmaker Zhao looked troubled. "Master Fan, we mustn't be impatient. We need to wait."
"We still have to wait, wait for what?"
"To tell you the truth, Mr. Fan, that Miss Chen is a tough nut to crack. Last time I introduced her to my nephew as a second wife, she absolutely refused. This time I thought I could discuss it directly with his parents, but I didn't expect them to be such unreasonable old stubborns, absolutely refusing to agree to this marriage, so..."
Seeing her hesitate, Fan Tong became a little impatient. "So what is it? Just say it already, stop talking nonsense."
The matchmaker, Zhao, shrank back in fright and quickly said, "At the time, I really didn't know what to do. Just when I was in a dilemma, I happened to run into Miss Chen's grandmother. When she heard that you had taken a liking to her granddaughter, she was more than happy to have you as her grandson-in-law. So, the two of us decided to use some tricks..."
Fan Tong frowned, a ruthless glint in his eyes. "Tell me, what methods did you use?"
The matchmaker, Zhao, covered her mouth with her hand and whispered something in Fan Tong's ear for a while.
After listening, Fan Tong's expression gradually softened, revealing a sinister smile. "We'll do as you say. You'll get your share of the benefits once it's done."
The matchmaker, Zhao, smiled obsequiously, "Don't worry, Mr. Fan, leave this to me. You can handle it!"
"Alright, then thank you for your hard work, Aunt Zhao."
This wasn't exactly doing anything bad; he wanted Chen Qingqing to enjoy wealth and luxury, living a life of extravagance. Thinking this, a sly smile crept across Fan Tong's face...
******
Chen Zhanshan and his wife did not tell Chen Qingqing about the Fan family's marriage proposal.
It's not that they didn't want to tell him, but they felt it was unnecessary. Their daughter deserved a better man to entrust her life to, and she shouldn't become someone's concubine.
With the help of the little donkey and the hiring of a few people, they can boil about 100 catties of brown sugar every day.
Zheng Zhong also delivered beets ahead of time, and to Chen Qingqing's surprise, he actually delivered 10,000 jin this time.
Chen Qingqing made a new agreement with him and signed a contract, stipulating that he would deliver goods once every fifteen days, with each delivery consisting of 15,000 catties of sugar beets.
They also specifically instructed him to bring some sugar beet seeds, planning to encourage villagers to plant sugar beets next spring.
The sugar mill grew stronger day by day.
Chen Zhanshan and Da Bao could focus on making the sugar, which made things much easier for them.
Chen Dabao's leg injury has fully recovered. In order to enable him to stand on his own as soon as possible, Chen Qingqing takes time to teach him to read and do arithmetic.
Although Da Bao was not talkative, he was exceptionally intelligent, possessing a photographic memory and quick comprehension. Within a few days, he learned simple accounting and bookkeeping.
After Chen Qingqing helped him deliver goods a few times, she completely let go of him, because if she wanted to expand the business, she had to find a sales channel.
She plans to go to the county town; it would be great if she could find a business partner, but she's not worried if she can't.
Once you've earned five hundred taels of silver, you can unlock the trading space.
Even if there's a lot of brown sugar, she'll be able to sell it all.
However, it would be best to find a business to help you, since in any era, you need to provide a legal source of money. If you can't explain it clearly, it will cause trouble.
Tomorrow is the beginning of the month, and Chen Qingqing plans to settle everyone's wages.
Once the last pot of beetroot was cooked, she gathered everyone together.
"Ladies, tomorrow is the beginning of the month, so I'll settle your wages with you all."
The village head's wife smiled and said, "Qing'er, there's no rush."
“That’s right, no rush.” Erhuzi and the others echoed.
Chen Qingqing knew that the village head's family was not short of money, but the Wang family, the Liu family, and Erhuzi's family relied on a few acres of land to make a living. Their families were poor to begin with, otherwise none of them would have gone out to work.
She smiled slightly and said, "We agreed to settle accounts at the end of the month, and of course I can't go back on my word. The sugar shop is where it is today thanks to everyone's help, and we will have to rely on everyone in the future."
After she finished speaking, she took out the copper coins she had prepared beforehand and placed them on the table.
"Auntie Village Head, here is your 180 coins, please keep them."
"Aunt Wang, this is for you. You've worked hard these past few days."
"Sister Liu, thank you for coming to help me. This is for you."
"And Uncle Tiger, thank you so much for pushing the cart around every day."
Everyone was overjoyed to receive their wages and praised Chen Qingqing for her kindness.
After the others left, only Chen Dabao, Lin Shi, and Chen Zhanshan remained in the courtyard.
Chen Qingqing took out her notebook. The people who had just worked only worked for eighteen days, while Da Bao and his parents worked for twenty days, and they were each paid thirty coins a day.
"Dabao, these are yours. Keep them safe and don't lose them," Chen Qingqing kindly and subtly reminded him.
Chen Dabao was overjoyed and rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Sis, I won't lose it. I'm going to keep this money myself."
Chen Qingqing smiled and nodded, then gave Lin Shi and Chen Zhanshan six hundred coins each.
Looking at the copper coins in her hand, Lin's eyes welled up with tears. She had never imagined that she could earn so much money one day...
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