Night fell.
Chen Dabao clutched the six hundred coins he had earned tightly to his chest, his heart pounding wildly.
After leaving the Wu family's old house, I jogged home.
Upon arriving at the main gate, he looked left and right to make sure that Old Man Chen and his wife were not there before tiptoeing into the west wing where they lived.
Upon entering the house, Chen Dabao carefully took out the six hundred coins from his pocket.
He had never seen so much money in his life, and he counted it several times, always feeling a sense of wonder and insatiable greed.
But he knew the principle of not flaunting wealth, because if others saw it, it would easily make them envious.
As the saying goes, it's not the theft itself that's scary, but the thief's eye on it. We must hide this money.
Chen Dabao dared not delay for too long, and carefully counted out thirty coins and put them in his pocket for any eventuality.
He found a tattered cloth, picked it up, and went to the bedside to lift the blankets, intending to hide the money under the bed.
But I also felt it was too conspicuous, and it would be terrible if someone found out.
It was hidden in the gap of the cabinet, but I was afraid it would be moved and fall out.
I stuffed it into old clothes, but I was afraid that my mother would find out when she took it to wash.
His gaze swept across every corner of the room, but he couldn't find a satisfactory spot, making him sweat profusely with anxiety.
Where should we hide it?
Chen Dabao inadvertently glanced at the mouse hole under the bed and instantly had an idea.
He found a handy tool, dug a hole under the bed, put the remaining money in the hole, then filled it back in with soil and stomped on it repeatedly.
Still feeling a little uneasy, he found a large rock in the corner and placed it on top of the object.
He rubbed his hands together, bent down to take a closer look, and found that everything looked the same as usual, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
Hearing the noise, Mrs. Sun pushed open the door and came in. "Dabao, when did you get back?"
"Mom, I'm just back to change my clothes, I'll be leaving now." Chen Dabao's heart was in his throat as he spoke, pretending to sit down as if nothing was wrong.
"Okay, hurry up and leave after you've changed them. There are so many beets, your uncle can't manage them all by himself."
"It's alright, there are still little fish!"
"You mean that idiot? What can he do? You'd better hurry up and go there, don't linger at home for too long."
"Okay, okay, I'm leaving now." Chen Dabao stood up, glanced under the bed one last time at the door, and then reluctantly left. But he was still worried about the hidden money, afraid someone would find it...
******
At this moment, Chen Zhanshan and Lin Shi sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the Wu family's old house, looking at the 1,000 and 200 coins in front of them, feeling a sweet warmth in their hearts.
"Husband, it's a good thing we didn't marry Qing'er off to Butcher Li, otherwise we wouldn't have such a good life today."
"Yes, do you think our parents will regret what they did when they saw our family's life getting better and better?"
"What good is regret? They were so heartless back then. Now we should just live our own lives and ignore them."
Chen Zhanshan pressed his hand to his brow and sighed, "That's true, but she is still my mother who gave birth to me, and I really feel a bit bitter."
Madam Lin gave him a reproachful look, "You're just too soft-hearted. They didn't care about family ties at all back then. If it weren't for Qing'er's good fortune, we wouldn't be where we are today."
"Alright, let's not talk about these unpleasant things. Keep this money safe. It will be a good dowry for Qingya when she gets married. Also, Chen Feng is of marriageable age and there will be many expenses. Keep it safe."
“Honey, I don’t think we can keep this money at home. We work here during the day, and if we get thieves, the wooden box at home won’t be of any use.”
Chen Zhanshan nodded in agreement, "You're right. Anyway, we're not cooking over there right now, so I'll go and move the wooden crates and grain over here now, so we don't have to go through all that trouble."
"Okay, then go ahead!"
Before long, Chen Zhanshan had moved the wooden box into the house, and then brought over the rice and flour.
Lin carefully put the money into the box and locked it, only then did she feel at ease.
When Chen Qingqing returned home, she took out her notebook and listed out a detailed account of her income and expenses over the past few days.
Two thousand catties of sugar were produced, and one thousand catties were delivered to the town's general store, earning eighty-five taels of silver.
Excluding the purchase of beets twice for sixty taels, the purchase of a donkey for fifteen taels, and the wages for the workers for two and a half taels.
There were also expenses for hiring oxcarts and other miscellaneous costs, which totaled one tael of silver.
There are still twenty-two taels and five mace left. Adding the money the Fan family gave me for selling ginseng, the total is one hundred and seventy-six taels of silver.
There are still 324 taels needed to open the trading space.
Chen Qingqing plans to take some brown sugar to Anyang County tomorrow to see if she can find a market for it.
I'll also sell a couple of ginseng roots to open up the trading space.
Early the next morning.
Chen Qingqing originally wanted to go to Anyang County alone, but Xiaoyu kept following her, so she had no choice but to take him with her on the oxcart.
An hour later, the oxcart stopped outside the town gate.
After exchanging a few words with Liu Laohan, Chen Qingqing and Liu Laohan entered the city gate.
As you enter the county town, the streets are bustling with activity.
The area is lined with shops offering all sorts of unique snacks and novel and fun gadgets.
Chen Xiaoyu stayed by her side, and whenever she saw food, she would go up to it and refuse to leave.
Chen Qingqing had no choice but to buy him some food so that he could get on his way faster.
The two walked through several streets and alleys and arrived at the most bustling area of the county town.
I saw a very large grocery store not far away.
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