"Manman, don't bother with your sister-in-law. She's just a chatterbox and can't talk!" Jiang's mother came over and pulled Qin Man away.

Song Mei was so angry that her face turned red, and then her eyes turned red too. She put her hands on her hips and started to feel aggrieved.

"You are biased. You are biased because your brother-in-law is educated and has a promising future. Jiang Cheng does all the big and small things and the dirty and tiring work at home. Didn't Qin Man just give birth to a son? What's so great about that? During the years I married into the Jiang family, I helped with the housework and the farming. Even if I didn't have any credit, I still worked hard. We should treat everyone equally. Qin Man relies on her poor brain to do nothing every day and can even eat boiled eggs. What about me? She asks me to give in. You are really biased!"

Jiang's mother was known for her good temper. Seeing her eldest daughter-in-law being so unreasonable, she had to make things clear.

"I don't like what you said. What do you mean we are partial? Ah Cong is promising because he has been studying hard since he was young. We treat Ah Cheng equally and ask him to study, but he is not a good student and refused to study early on. Man Man didn't understand before, so how could she help?

You said you help with the housework at home, but I am the one who cooks for the whole family and washes the clothes. You are reluctant to even sweep the yard, let alone work in the fields. Have I told your dad about this?

Just this morning, I didn't cook eggs for you, and you didn't eat the last egg, so you felt unhappy. But when has your share of good things ever been missed?"

Jiang's mother was really disappointed. Other daughters-in-law were completely obedient to their mothers-in-law, but she had a good temper and didn't like to argue, which made Song Mei dissatisfied.

"I..." Song Mei was speechless. She turned around and went back to the west room and slammed the door shut. That guy was too arrogant.

Qin Man finally understood that this mother-in-law was a good one, but this sister-in-law was not easy to get along with.

Song Mei is a snobbish and domineering person. She only knows how to make noise at home, but becomes a dull girl outside.

"Hey~Manman, your sister-in-law is like this, just ignore her!"

Jiang's mother sighed. She believed that she was not partial to any of her three children. No matter how difficult the family was, she would sell her pot and sell her iron to make them study and learn to read.

As the saying goes, the teacher brings you into the door, but how much you learn depends on the individual; it all depends on your own luck.

"It's okay, Mom. Do you have any liquor at home? I want to use liquor to ripen persimmons and sell them at the county market in a few days. Isn't Jiang Cong going to work in the city soon?

I will need to rent a house and live there, so I thought I could sell these persimmons to earn some money for living expenses and travel expenses!"

Qin Man's temper came and went quickly, and she would never argue with her sister-in-law. She would usually vent her anger on the spot.

"Last year during the Chinese New Year, your father bought a few bottles of Erguotou for the New Year. He only drank one bottle, and there were two bottles left that were not opened. But can the white wine you mentioned really ripen persimmons?"

Jiang's mother had never heard of such a statement, so she remained skeptical.

Nowadays, a bottle of two-pot coffee costs NT$1.50, which is a bit expensive!

"Of course you can. Rub the persimmons with white wine and leave them for three or four days and they will be ripe. There are no persimmons on the market right now. This out-of-season fruit is the rarest. When the time comes, take them to the farmers' market and sell them for five cents each. Two hundred will make ten yuan!"

Qin Man, a person from later generations, has a lot of common sense about life, she said with certainty.

Mother Jiang nodded, as if to agree, and ran to the room to get two bottles of two-pot liquor for Qin Man.

"Take these persimmons to the woodshed, and don't let your father know. He treats them like a treasure and usually won't drink them. He only takes them out to drink during festivals!"

Qin Man couldn't help laughing when she heard this. She took the white wine and said:

"When I make some money, I'll buy two more bottles to replenish my supply, okay?"

"It's okay, you can use them! I'll help you move all the persimmons to the woodshed. It's really inconvenient to leave them in the main room!"

Jiang's mother and Qin Man worked together to move these green and red persimmons to the woodshed.

While it was still early, Qin Man began to rub white wine on the persimmons. The woodshed was very cool and just right for storage. In order to avoid waste, she poured all the wine into a basin, put the persimmons in one by one, rolled them aside, and after they were evenly coated with the wine, she placed them in a basket.

Two hundred persimmons will use up about one bottle of wine. Open the door to let the wine smell out, cover the basket with a cloth, and wait three or four days.

After Jiang's father came back, he didn't notice anything. Jiang's mother and Qin Man looked at each other and smiled secretly.

Jiang Cong came back at dusk. He had been writing articles for the county newspaper all day. One must say that his writing was very good and his articles were well organized. If the university had not assigned him a job, the newspaper would have really wanted to keep Jiang Cong.

But the salary in the small county was too low. The newspaper only offered a 41-month job, and the benefits were far less than being a teacher in the city.

After dinner, Jiang Cong put the two yuan he earned from writing articles today into an iron cookie box. There were about 10 to 20 yuan in total in the box.

There were also a few food coupons placed inside.

Since the distribution of land to each household, grain coupons have gradually been phased out and their usage rate has declined until they were abolished in the 1990s and began to be recycled. If you keep these coupons as a collection to increase their value, they will be worth money in ten or twenty years.