Although reluctant, he still went back. Before leaving, he discussed with Su Muyao about buying the village's fruit at a high price and asking her to help inquire about it.
Su Muyao readily agreed, as she had several fruit trees at home, and more importantly, she had plenty in her own space.
Even if the villagers don't agree to sell, I can take some out of my own space later.
Li Yuanyuan was satisfied and went back with Wanqiu.
Today, since the children were on holiday, Su Muyao took her brothers to each household to ask about harvesting fruit, and every family agreed.
After all, no matter how delicious the fruit is, it's not as important as money, and I heard they're buying it at a high price.
Every household was very happy to accept it.
Su Muyao led her brothers all over the village, and the little rascals' hands, arms, and even their shoulder bags were bulging with stuff.
After we returned home and finished lunch, an uninvited guest arrived at our house.
The person who came up immediately looked for Old Mrs. Su; this person was a former relative of Old Mrs. Su's.
The reason I say "in the past" is because when Grandma Su was still young, her parents had a falling out with the first wife.
Grandma Su's grandparents were biased, giving all the good things to the eldest son's family, including kicking them out when the family divided the property.
At that time, nothing was given; all the family's money and land were given to the eldest son's family.
Originally, Grandma Su's parents planned to separate the family and temporarily live in a thatched house in the village. They thought they would not starve to death with their own hands. However, locusts swept through and the harvest was ruined.
Then came years of drought, and eventually everyone fled the famine.
Grandma Su was not originally from this town; she only settled here after fleeing famine.
Fortunately, Grandma Su's grandparents were afraid that Grandma Su's family would try to take advantage of them, so they signed a letter of severance.
Later, during the famine, Su's mother starved herself to death in order to save food for Su. The eldest son's family, guarding the grain, could only watch helplessly as Su's mother starved to death.
They later fled famine and came here. Su's father barely managed to raise her by working as a porter at the dock.
Later, Old Lady Su met her current husband, Old Lady Su, and they married. Not long after, Old Lady Su's father also passed away due to tuberculosis.
For decades, Old Lady Su had never had any contact with the eldest branch of the family, but she never expected that people from that branch would actually come looking for her today.
The visitor was of the same generation as Old Lady Su. Even if they hadn't severed ties, Old Lady Su would have to call him her cousin.
"Cousin, you haven't come back to visit us all these years," the speaker said. The person who spoke didn't look much older than Old Lady Su.
The man was being supported by two other men on either side of him, who looked to be in their thirties.
These must be his two sons.
“We severed ties years ago, so I can’t accept the title of ‘cousin’.”
"That's not right. Those are the foolish things of the previous generation. We're still connected by blood and tendons, how can we just break off like that?"
Grandma Su really didn't want to waste time with the person in front of her, so she asked directly, "I wonder what brings you all this way?"
The old man's eyes darted around. He had originally hoped to use the excuse of family ties to try and get the family's braised meat recipe directly, but it seemed that wouldn't work.
“Cousin, I heard that your family’s braised meat business in town is very good. I’m thinking of spending some money to buy your recipe to sell elsewhere. We definitely won’t steal your business; we won’t sell in this town.”
The man who was supporting his father suddenly spoke up: "Yes, Auntie, we're all family anyway. You can only do business in town."
"Since we can't go far, we can spend some money to buy this recipe, and you'll have an extra source of income."
Su Muyao listened from the side, making a smacking sound; the abacus beads were practically jumping into her face.
Then the old man's youngest son asked, "Auntie, do you have any other remedies? We can buy them together when the time comes. We're all family, so it's just a small token. We'll visit you more often when we make money, and we'll take care of you then too."
"Yes, Aunt, my younger brother and I will take care of you together and treat you like our own mother."
Su Muyao immediately stepped forward and hugged her grandmother's leg, saying, "My grandmother has my father and several uncles who are filial to her. Who are you? How dare you come and take my grandmother away?"
Upon hearing this, the two men, who had just been feeling self-satisfied, immediately realized that their words were somewhat inappropriate. The other man had his own son, so it was none of their business to be filial.
Grandma Su scooped the little dumpling into her arms and looked at her nominal cousin with a haughty air.
"Did you hear that? With so many sons of my own, why would I expect outsiders to be filial to me?"
Su Muyao asked the visitor directly, "I don't know, grandpa, how much are you willing to pay for my family's prescription?"
"Oh my, this must be the youngest daughter of the third brother's family. She's really pretty."
The old man had already inquired about the Su family's situation before he arrived, and he also knew that the third son's family had a little girl who was a lucky star in Taoliu Village. He had heard that she was very cute, and he figured that this was the baby in front of him.
Turning to Old Lady Su, he said, "You know we farmers don't have much money. This time I brought a full two taels of silver, basically all the savings I have. Is that alright? I'll give you some more money when we make a profit."
Old Mrs. Su scoffed without any politeness: "You think you can buy my prescription for two taels of silver? That's a bit unreasonable, isn't it?"
"Cousin, how much do you think is appropriate? I'll go back and try to scrape together more."
Su Muyao whispered one hundred taels in her grandmother's ear.
"Just give me a hundred taels for your sake, I don't want any more."
The old man's eldest son exclaimed in surprise, "What? One hundred taels?"
The old man also felt that Grandma Su was making outrageous demands.
But considering that the recipe was indeed very profitable, it was normal for him to ask for 100 taels of silver. After all, he had heard that the Su family could sell several taels of silver a day in town, so he could earn back 100 taels in two or three months.
But his family only had a little over ten taels of silver in total, so he certainly couldn't afford a hundred taels.
“Hey cousin, we’re family, you can’t be short of a hundred taels of silver. I heard you make several taels a day in town.”
"Yes, Auntie, if we had a hundred taels of silver, we wouldn't need to go into business, would we?"
"So what, you mean you're thinking of coming here to get something for nothing?"
"Alright, that's enough for now. I have a lot of work to do today. Let's talk again when you've scraped together one hundred taels of silver."
Old Mrs. Su directly ordered them to leave. Although they wanted to discuss things further, the old lady in front of them was completely unyielding and demanded a hundred taels of silver, not a penny less.
The group could only return disappointed.
Only after the group left did Grandma Su finally let out a long sigh.
Touching her granddaughter's crooked little hair, she pulled it off and tied it back on properly.
"Sweetie, did you have fun playing with the magistrate's daughter today?"
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