When I got up in the morning, I saw that Hua Hua was still sleeping, so I didn't wake her up. Instead, I went to find Village Chief Lin. He gets up very early every day. When I went there, not only was he already up, but many of the villagers were also up.
Good morning, sister-in-law.
Good morning, Auntie!
Good morning!
Hearing the voice, Lin Cun looked up and saw his sister-in-law walking towards him. He knew she was there to see him and asked, "Sister-in-law, is there something you need?"
"I came to ask you how many rice seeds the village needs so I can buy them. Also, please write down what other seeds are needed and I will buy them all." That way, she could take out the seeds.
"Okay, then I'll write it down and send it to my sister-in-law before she leaves."
An Shuyi nodded, "Okay, Changye said he has already made the molds I need. Have someone put them in the workshop, the one opposite the ice-making workshop. Also, install the doors and windows, and arrange for a few people to work with him to make the village gate today."
"Okay, sister-in-law."
After giving the instructions, An Shuyi went back. "Second brother, take some clansmen to buy grain today, but first you have to buy a cart, take good care of the ox, buy a slaughtered pig, and buy some other things as well. Here is the money. Remember what to buy and how much money to spend."
That way, when the money is distributed next time, we can add these amounts in. As for building the house, we can deduct them after everything is built and calculated.
The second son took the silver and said, "Mother, don't worry, your son will definitely handle things well."
An Shuyi nodded. The eldest brother was in charge of the ice business and other businesses, so he was too busy to handle everything. It was perfect to let the second brother do the errands.
Looking at her son and daughter-in-law beside her, except for the eldest son who went to get ice, she said, "This is thirty-one taels of silver, to be divided among each family. Mine will not be with yours."
"Two people from each family make ice. You and your eldest brother went before, so this is yours. But we can't not share it with Xiao Wu, Xiao Liu, and Xiao Qi just because they are young. Since we are a family, we should divide it fairly. Even if Yan Zhen and Yan An have some, you will still have to share it when you have more children in the future."
"Mother, you can keep it, you don't need to give it to us."
He hadn't expected his mother to divide the spoils among them.
An Shuyi stuffed the silver into his hand, saying, "This is your share. You can give it to them. Don't even think about mine, understand?" She then looked at the others with a threatening expression.
The second son looked at the silver in his hand and said, "Mother, don't worry, what's yours is yours, your sons won't covet it." If it were before, they would have dared to steal or cheat, but now, even though their mother's silver was kept where she rested, they didn't dare to look at it for long.
"Good to know, go and distribute them!" Seeing that Xia Hua had already woken up, the two waited for Zhao Shi to come and distribute the food.
When Xia Hua woke up, she saw what she had done. "Shu Shu, you're really good at this. They get a share of the profits if they go to work, and they don't if they don't. I think I'll tell my sons and daughters-in-law the same thing when I come back from Jinnan City, so they won't have any designs on me."
This will also prevent them from not working. They'll earn money if they work, and not working won't earn them. Otherwise, they'll think their mother can earn money and just laze around all day.
An Shuyi nodded, took out the box containing the silver, counted out thirty-one taels of silver, and divided the rest equally between the two of them, each receiving one thousand taels.
After putting the silver in the warehouse, I looked at the buckets, which were now empty and useless. Although they only took up one slot, I couldn't just leave them there. I didn't know where to put them. I leaned closer to Huahua and told her about it.
Xia Hua thought for a while, "Why don't we have Village Chief Lin and the others dig a cellar? We can use these to store grain, that way only they can see it, and each bucket can hold about 100 jin (50 kg), which is better than sacks."
"Later on, it can also be used to soak pears and pickle vegetables. Just put it in the cellar and don't take it out. When there are leftover vegetables, you can soak them and store them so you can eat them in winter."
“Okay!” An Shuyi looked at her with surprise. “Huahua is amazing. She even thought of this. Then the two of us together will have eighty buckets. We won’t use them to store grain. We can use them to soak fruit, pickle vegetables, and store salted vegetables.”
Xia Hua nodded, "Then let's do it that way. But we still need to dig the cellar. You also need to use that workshop to braise meat. The grain can't just be piled up in there forever. Let's wait until the foundation of the house is dug and then let the villagers of Xinglin Village dig it."
“Then where shall we dig?” An Shuyi looked at her. “How about we dig at the foot of the mountain, like digging a cave dwelling, with five families sharing one?”
Xia Hua nodded, "Okay, let's dig at the foot of the mountain, and dig deeper so we can put more things in. We'll discuss this later, let's go to Jinnan City first." She called Zhao over to comb her hair.
Zhao had wanted to come over earlier, but seeing her mother-in-law and aunt talking quietly, she didn't dare to come and could only wait in the distance.
After combing her hair, Village Chief Lin arrived. An Shuyi looked at the rice seeds and other seeds on the table. Luckily, she had them all, except for peanuts and sesame seeds. She would add those two later, as well as tomatoes.
Aside from the one who stayed to work at the gate, the other men were taken away by the two men, along with cows and horses. On the way, they also encountered people coming to buy ice, all of whom were driving horse-drawn carts. The leader had instructed them yesterday that they could buy ice inside the village and didn't need to wait at the village entrance.
Those who bought ice didn't expect that a stone-paved road would appear in the village in just a few days. Although it was different from a stone-paved road, they didn't care and continued to go to the village to buy ice.
After arriving in town, the second brother led a group to buy grain and meat, while Xia Hua led the remaining people, pulling two horses and ten cows, to buy a cart. An Shuyi, however, separated from them.
She went straight to the brokerage firm and asked the broker to rent a room for her.
"Madam, I don't know how big you need, or if you have any location requirements," the broker asked.
"No requirements, as long as I can get the key immediately."
Seeing her so anxious, the broker thought for a moment and said, "Madam, I have restaurants, shops, and houses with one, two, or three courtyards. Whatever you want, just pay the money now, and I can give you the key right now."
"A two-courtyard house, preferably one that is exquisite, but has nothing inside."
"There's a two-courtyard house on the street next door. It's empty inside, but the pavilions and towers outside are exquisite because the previous owner hasn't moved out for long, and the flowers and plants inside are still there."
An Shuyi nodded, "Okay, let's go take a look at this house!"
The broker brought over the keys. "Please, madam. It's just one street away, you'll be there soon. Many officials live there, and the prefect's residence is also some distance away." If this lady hadn't been in such a hurry, and didn't seem like someone without money, he wouldn't have wanted to sell it so quickly.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
