Chapter 79: Innocence
She spent a lot of money when she went to town today, mainly because cotton was a bit expensive, 300 coins per pound. She bought 15 pounds of cotton and spent four and a half taels of silver at once.
The bed cost her half a tael of silver, and together with the cotton cloth, meat, vegetables and ointment, she spent more than five taels of silver in total.
Now he gave Liu another two taels of silver. In the past few days, she earned a total of six taels of silver from selling sugar-roasted chestnuts. Not only did she spend it all, but she was now only left with more than two taels of the more than three taels of silver.
There were only two or three hundred kilograms of sugar-roasted chestnuts left at home. The chestnut season had long passed. After selling all the stock at home, there would be no more chestnuts to harvest in the village, and she would not be able to set up her stall. She had to think of other ways to make money.
On the second day, Boss Liu and his wife said goodbye to their sister and brother-in-law early in the morning. It was quite far from Yunfeng Village to the county town where they lived, so they had to set out very early.
Before leaving, Liu handed the package to Liu Lao Da and said, "Brother, Qianhuan is growing fast, and many of her cotton-padded clothes can only be worn for one or two seasons. They won't fit into her clothes the next year. This package contains two sets of Qianhuan's old cotton-padded clothes and trousers. Although they are old clothes, they are not patched. You can take them back and give them to Xiu'er. Otherwise, it would be a waste to keep them in our house."
Boss Liu took the package and said with a smile, "Okay, then I'll take it for Xiu'er."
Liu Chunxiang stuffed the two taels of silver Qianhuan gave her last night into her sister-in-law's hands and said, "Sister-in-law, I rarely go back home once a year. These two taels of silver are for me to show my filial piety to my parents. You have always been the one managing the Liu family, so you can keep this silver."
"Third sister, you should keep this money for your own living. Your parents are being taken care of by me and your eldest brother. There is no need for you to give them the money." Liu's sister-in-law pushed the silver back and refused to take it no matter what.
"Yes, third sister, your sister-in-law is right. Your brother-in-law's leg has not healed yet. The family depends on you and Qianhuan. Your sister-in-law and I can take care of your parents. Why do they need you to give them money?" Liu Youcai refused to take the two taels of silver.
"Uncle, aunt, although this money is for honoring grandpa and grandma, I actually hope you will use it to set up a stall to do business. Although it is already November and there are basically no chestnuts on the trees, the villagers in your village should still have some chestnuts stored at home. I hope you can use this money to buy the chestnuts from the villagers, and then go to the county town with aunt to set up a stall. These sugar-roasted chestnuts can be sold for at least a month, and you can also make a little money to live before the New Year. This money is the cost of setting up your stall, you must take it."
"Qianhuan, uncle doesn't know what to say to thank you. It turns out you have thought of everything for us."
Liu Youcai, a grown man, couldn't help but tear up. He had originally planned to scrape together money from everywhere to set up a stall, but his niece was so thoughtful. After teaching them how to make sugar-roasted chestnuts, she even arranged the money they needed to set up the stall.
"Uncle, your family doesn't need to thank you. It's rare for my mother to come back to her parents' home. You guys make money from setting up the stall and let everyone in the family live a good life. It can be regarded as fulfilling your filial duty on behalf of my mother. We also want to thank you very much."
"Okay, I'll take these two taels of silver. Just think of it as a loan from you. I'll pay you back when I make some money from my stall. I'll definitely work hard to make sure everyone in my family lives a good life."
Under Qianhuan's persuasion, Boss Liu finally accepted the two taels of silver and let his wife keep it in her arms. He thought to himself: When he makes money, he will definitely return the silver to his third sister's family.
On the way back, Liu's sister-in-law said with emotion: "Although the third sister's family has severed ties with the people in the old house, their lives are getting better and better. My parents will definitely be very happy if they know about this. My third sister also gave us so much silver, so we don't have to borrow silver from everywhere to set up a stall. With the money we make this year, we can give our parents and children a good New Year."
"Yes, Third Sister has finally gotten her reward after all the hardship this time. Every time she came to Yunfeng Village to visit their family, she was always timid and spoke carefully, for fear that she would do or say something wrong and get scolded and beaten by the old lady of the Liang family. As the eldest brother, I felt really bad. Every time I went back, I had to lie to my parents and say that she was doing well. This time when I go home, I finally don't have to lie." Boss Liu was really happy for his sister, and he felt relieved.
After seeing off her uncle and aunt, Qianhuan and her mother took a ox cart to the county town to set up a stall.
When they went to Zuixianju to get the tools, Shopkeeper Zhou said politely when he saw her and Liu: "Mr. Liang, you two just need to wait here. I'll ask the waiter to go to the firewood room to get the boiler and other tools for you, and then ask the waiter to move them outside for you."
Qianhuan didn't bother to be polite with him and said with a smile, "Okay, then I'll trouble Shopkeeper Zhou."
"No trouble, no trouble. We at Zuixianju would like to thank Young Master Liang. We have already replaced the tables and chairs in our restaurant overnight, and put in many flowers and plants as decorations. Yesterday, we officially launched the dish of chopped pepper fish head, and customers like it very much. Now our business is better than before, including the branches, all thanks to Young Master Liang's recipes and suggestions."
In fact, Shopkeeper Zhou felt that his salary had increased by half a tael of silver every month, and he was more valued by their young master, all thanks to Young Master Liang.
"You're welcome, Shopkeeper Zhou. I'm very happy to be able to help you."
After the two of them exchanged a few polite words, the waiter helped to move all the items out and started doing business.
After a while, Qianhuan saw Master Cai and his younger brother coming over from afar, so she quickly packed five pounds of chestnuts in oil paper.
When Master Cai approached, he looked at Qianhuan, who was dressed like a man, and asked with concern, "Aunt Liang..."
"Master Cai, you are here. I, Liang, have already prepared the stall fees for you. Did you go out for breakfast today?"
When Qianhuan heard that he was about to call her Miss Liang, she quickly interrupted him and emphasized that she was Little Brother Liang. She was afraid that Young Master Cai would accidentally reveal that she was a woman.
Master Cai also knew that he almost let the cat out of the bag, so he quickly tried to smooth things over by saying, "Brother Liang, I left home early today and haven't had time to eat yet."
Qianhua handed him two coins in one hand and a bag of chestnuts in the other, saying, "Master Cai, this is today's stall fee, please keep it. I give you and your brothers these five pounds of chestnuts as breakfast, thank you for your help and care for us all the time."
In fact, Qianhuan wanted to thank him for saving her life, but Liu and his younger brothers were there, so she couldn't say it out loud.
Cai Xiaoye's face suddenly turned red, and he quickly declined, "No, you guys are going to sell these chestnuts for money, how can you give me so many? I can't accept them."
"Master Cai, I specially brought five more kilograms. I won't sell them. I'll give them to you to eat. Just take them." Qianhuan insisted on giving them to him.
"No, I can't take it. You can keep it and sell it for money. If you really want to give it to me, I will give you fifty cents according to the price." Young Master Cai said as he was about to take out silver from his pocket.
Seeing him like this, Qianhuan had no choice but to change her strategy. She deliberately pursed her lips and pretended to be sad and said, "Master Cai, do you dislike our sugar-roasted chestnuts and that's why you don't want to accept them? It's a pity to waste my kindness. I'm really sad."
Qianhuan looked like she was going to cry if he didn't accept it. Qianhuan now realized that although this Mr. Cai was a gangster, he was actually very loyal, especially in front of women. If she showed any weakness, he would be helpless.
Sure enough, when Master Cai saw that the little girl was about to cry, he immediately took the oil paper bag and said, "I don't mind it, I really don't mind it, I'll accept it, so don't be sad."
Really, Master Cai hated to see women cry, so he took the chestnuts and continued walking forward with a group of brothers.
After he left, Qianhuan's mouth curled up slightly. She knew that this trick would definitely be able to subdue him. She had been a big anchor for so many years and had dealt with all kinds of people, so she had this ability.
However, the group of brothers behind Master Cai were somewhat confused. They were all wondering: Why was their Master Cai acting a little strange today? But they couldn't tell what was wrong.