Qin Shoucheng returned from the martial arts training ground and saw Qin Siya pacing back and forth at the courtyard gate. He touched his sweaty forehead and asked, "Si Ya, what are you doing?"
Qin Siya said happily, "Third brother, come and have some snacks." She walked over and pulled Qin Shoucheng into the house. "Hey, I memorized twenty-three words today. My sister-in-law gave me some snacks as a reward. Do you want a small cake or some cookies?"
Qin Shoucheng looked at his sister's happy face and smiled unconsciously: "I don't want to eat anymore. I just got up and l'm a little tired and have no appetite.
You eat by yourself." How could he eat his sister's food?
Qin Siya naturally didn't know what her third brother was thinking. She picked up a small cake and placed it in Qin Shoucheng's hands. "Have some. When my sister-in-law tests me again in a few days, I'll remember all the words. There's also some snacks.
And here's some more. You..." She pulled two coins from her purse. "This is also my sister-in-law's reward for me today. It's a pity that I only remembered twenty-three words, not thirty."
Qin Shoucheng smiled, then took a bite of the cake.
It was sweet, pleasing to the heart. "Then try harder next time." He and his sister had such good times, eating meat every day, thanks to his sister-in-law.
He remembered it all. So, he had to study even harder. Repaying her wasn't enough; at the very least, he couldn't hold his brother and sister-in-law back, couldn't let them down, and couldn't let his father and mother down.
Qin Siya took the two coins, thought for a while, and then reluctantly handed the two coins to Qin Shoucheng: "Third brother, here you go, use it for your studies."
Qin Shoucheng was stunned.
Qin Siya: "Didn't you say before that our family didn't have money to support your education? I'm giving it to you now. I'll try to memorize thirty words next time, so that my sister-in-law will reward me with three cents. But third brother, when you make money in the future, you must buy me a bracelet, like the one Hua Ling made, with beautiful beads strung on it."
Qin Shoucheng felt the two cents his sister gave him suddenly weighed heavily on him. He didn't take it, but comforted Qin Siya: "Don't take it, brother. Keep it for yourself. Brother has already figured out a way to make money."
Qin Siya: "Ah? Is there any way to make money? Tell me quickly."
Qin Shoucheng said, "Third brother, I heard from other older classmates that those with good handwriting can go to the study to copy books and earn money. But my handwriting is just average now. When my handwriting gets better, I'll go copy books to earn money and buy you a bracelet."
Qin Siya's attention was not on the bracelet, but her eyes widened: "Third brother, can I really make money by copying books if I have good handwriting?" Then if she could write well, could she also make money by copying books? Qin Siya seemed to have found a way to make money, and she was very motivated.
Qin Shoucheng: "I'll go to the study and ask tomorrow."
Qin Siya: "Okay."
From the second day on, Yang Haiyan noticed that Qin Siya was seriously studying her characters. After the morning's one-hour study session, she would take time off to practice writing on the floor. Even her afternoon needlework class was taken seriously.
Yang Haiyan didn't know about this, but she didn't think much of it. It was a good thing for a child to be diligent.
In the blink of an eye, it was early April.
Early in the morning, Qin Fang took Kun Shi to the military camp. Throughout the entire month of April, Qin Fang was on duty during the day.
Today was the first day of the county market, and Yang Haiyan naturally wanted to go and see it all, along with Mrs. Lu. Uncle Hong had been visiting the countryside lately. He had already built the fence around his five-acre plot of land, the yard, the pigpen, the chicken coop, and the duck pen. Not only that, but he had even started raising piglets, chickens, and ducklings.
Between the purchase of the medium-sized plot of land, the fence around the yard, and the piglets, plus the wages of the locals, Yang Haiyan had spent a total of 100 taels of silver.
Adding the money she'd left at Old Qin's house, she'd spent 200 taels of silver in the entire month of March. She was spending money like that.
However, it feels good to wait for the harvest.
Uncle Hong was under a lot of pressure. After all, he was the one who ran all the farm work in the countryside. If things went wrong, he felt it was his fault. If they went well, everyone was happy. So he went to the countryside almost every day. So, today, Chen Dashi was driving the carriage to the county town.
Mrs. Lu came early in the morning. She and Yang Haiyan had agreed to go to the county town together in the Qin family's carriage, and Aunt Fan was also with them.
When the carriage reached the town gate, Mrs. Lu saw Mrs. Yang waiting for the donkey cart and said,"I've come to see Mrs. Yang."
Mrs. Yang also wanted to go to the county town, but her family had no car, so she could only take a donkey cart from the town to the county town.
Yang Haiyan heard Mrs. Lu's voice and rushed out.
Sure enough, she saw Mrs. Yang: "Stop."
Chen Dashi stopped.
At this moment, the carriage had already passed Mrs. Yang by a few steps. Yang Haiyan said to Aunt Fan, "Aunt Fan, go ask Mrs. Yang if she wants to go to the county town with you."
Aunt Fan: "Yes."
Aunt Fan got off the carriage and walked over to the donkey cart. Mrs. Yang knew Aunt Fan, a servant of the Qin family, so she looked at her. Aunt Fan saluted and said, "Mrs. Yang, my wife is in the carriage and happens to be going to the county town. I would like to ask if you would like to go with us?"
Mrs. Yang was naturally pleased when she heard this: "That's great." Then she said to the waiting women, "Ladies, I'll be leaving first."
A lady asked, "Whose servant is this? Is there any room left in your carriage?" The lady did not know Aunt Fan, but it was normal that she did not know her.
Aunt Fan smiled and said, "I am a servant of Mr. Qin Qianfu's Qin family." She did not answer whether there was a seat available, but returned to the carriage with Madam Yang.
Mrs. Yang saw that Sister Lu was also in the carriage and said enthusiastically, "Mrs. Qin, Sister Lu." Because Centurion Lu was older than her husband, she called her sister-in-law.
Yang Haiyan said, "Come in quickly! It was Mrs. Lu who saw you. I didn't see you."
Mrs. Yang: "Thanks for the TOEFL, otherwise we'd have to wait a while. Are you going to the county market?"
Mrs. Lu said, "That's right. I wonder what kind of things the county town will have this year."
At this moment, another voice came from outside:
"Mrs. Qin, can you give us a ride? We are going to the county town too."
Several women stopped the carriage, walked past Aunt Fan, and came directly to the carriage entrance to ask questions. Some even lifted the carriage curtain and looked inside.
Yang Haiyan looked at the unfamiliar face and asked,
"Who are you?"
The woman said, "I am from Qi Baifu's family, and my husband is also General Ao's."
Another woman said, "There's me too. I'm from Feng Baifu's family. Madam Qin, please take me along as well."
Yang Haiyan didn't recognize either of these two women, and behind them, there were other women who were also talking.
Under normal circumstances, Yang Haiyan would certainly not have taken the initiative to call for help, but now that he was at the door and said that his husband was General Ao's subordinate, Yang Haiyan felt embarrassed to refuse. A hint of displeasure flashed in her eyes, but she still smiled and said, "The carriage can only accommodate three people."
Mrs. Qi, who was at the front, said, "I'll do it, I'll do it." Then she climbed up directly. "Thank you, Mrs.Qin."
Yang Haiyan was about to call Aunt Fan when Mrs.Feng said, "Mrs. Qin, I can sit outside. Please take me on the way."
Yang Haiyan frowned: "I'm so sorry, my servants haven't come up yet. Aunt Fan, come up."
Aunt Fan hurriedly got on the carriage, but there was no room left inside, so she sat outside.
Mrs. Feng's face darkened and she had no choice but to move aside.
"Gee..." Chen Dashi hurriedly drove the carriage away.
Looking at the carriage driving away, Mrs. Feng spat,
"What kind of thing is she? She's just a spendthrift woman." Although she said that, she didn't say it loudly, so Yang Haiyan naturally couldn't hear it, but the woman next to her did hear it.
The atmosphere in the carriage was awkward. Mrs.Qi kept her head down, pretending she didn't exist.
Mrs. Yang was also a little reserved. After all, it was she who had caused this incident. If Mrs. Qin hadn't called her, it probably wouldn't have happened.
Feeling a little embarrassed, Mrs. Yang started a conversation: "Mrs. Qin, are you going to the market today to sell your cakes in the county town?" The basket of pastries sat aside, a full twenty pounds, so it was hard to ignore. Moreover, the milky aroma of the pastries wafted incessantly.
Mrs. Yang was also a regular at the dim sum shop.
Since she had children at home, she would buy a few coins every few days as snacks for them. These dim sum, worth a few coins, could last the children several days if they ate sparingly.
Yang Haiyan said: "No, a few days ago, a dim sum shop in the county town stole the dim sum from my shop. I placed an order and I'm delivering it to someone." There was nothing to hide about this matter. This explanation also explained why she didn't share some of the dim sum with everyone.
Mrs. Yang: "I see. Then let me congratulate Mrs. Qin first."
Yang Haiyan said, "I'm really happy. There are only a limited number of customers buying dim sum in town, so it's great to be able to expand to the county town. After all, there are quite a few people in the family, and everyone needs to eat and spend money.
If I don't make more money, I won't even be able to pay the servants' monthly wages."
Everyone could hear that she was joking.
Mrs. Qi asked, "Do they deliver such a large basket to the county town every day, or only every few days?"
Yang Haiyan glanced at her and said, "That depends on whether it sells well in the county. I can't say for sure for now."
Mrs. Qi didn't know if she understood what Yang Haiyan meant. She continued, "Mrs. Qin, you're really amazing. You opened a shop in town and now you've expanded your business to the county. No wonder the people in the family quarters are so jealous and say sour things about you."
Mrs. Lu listened, her heart pounding. She had heard the same thing a few days ago and was wondering whether to tell Yang Haiyan. If she did, she was afraid of causing trouble and getting herself into trouble. But if she didn't tell, not only was her husband under Qin Qianfu's command, but she and Yang Haiyan also had a good relationship, and she felt guilty. But she hadn't expected Mrs. Qi to open the warehouse first.
Mrs. Lu immediately looked at Yang Haiyan.
Yang Haiyan raised her eyebrows and asked curiously, "But I wonder if they said anything sour?"