"Mother, let's go home and talk about it." Thirty taels of silver was a huge income for a peasant family; if Lin Ping learned about it, she would probably be excited for quite some time.
Without asking more, Lin Ping and her daughter found a donkey cart and rushed back to Back Mountain Village.
The donkey cart only took them to the entrance of the village. They saw Bai Zehao waiting for them from a distance. His cheeks were slightly red from the sunlight, and his anxious look evident until he saw them. His face then broke into a smile as he quickly approached them.
"Mother, sister, you're finally here. Father was worried that Ruozhu would get tired, so he sent me to pick you two up," Bai Zehao said with a smile.
"Look at how pampered you think I am," Bai Ruozhu said, winking at her older brother. Bai Zehao was delighted and winked back at his sister. Lin Ping, however, was confused. What secret were this brother and sister duo trying to keep? Were they planning to be as mischievous as they were when they were little?
Upon entering the house, they saw Bai Yihong and Bai Zepei waiting in the main room for a family meeting. Bai Zehao closed the doors tightly and followed them in the main room.
"My girl, you've helped our family tremendously this time." Bai Yihong said with a flushed face, his voice slightly choked with emotion.
Lin Ping, who had been holding back her curiosity, asked anxiously, "How much silver did we make from selling the fresh noodles?"
Bai Ruozhu hurriedly made a gesture for caution: "Mother, lower your voice. We earned thirty taels of silver."
"What?" Lin Ping could not help but raise her voice, but she quickly processed the information and asked incredulously, "Really?"
Seeing Bai Ruozhu and Bai Zehao nodding at her with gleeful smiles, and a grin on Bai Yihong's face, she finally believed it.
"That's wonderful!" Lin Ping's face flushed with happiness, but she quickly became serious again, "Ruozhu, you were right to let your older brother come back first. And no one in our family can spread this news, especially not your grandma or your uncle!"
Bai Yihong looked slightly embarrassed but also nodded in agreement. Bai Zehao and Bai Zepei naturally had no objections and agreed as well. If the people in the old mansion found out about the silver, they might not be left with much.
"Mother, now that we have silver, let's prepare my brother's betrothal gifts and send them to the Wan family," Bai Ruozhu suggested with a grin.
Bai Zehao blushed involuntarily. As the eldest son of the family, he hadn't been able to contribute much to them. On the contrary, his sister was concerned about his marriage. Feeling a twinge of sadness, he couldn't help but call out, "Little sister..."
Seeing the close affection among her children, Lin Ping was even happier, "Ruozhu is right, we should handle this matter now, and the rest of the silver should be given to Ruozhu to restore her health."
Of course, the whole family agreed, and Bai Yihong was particularly excited to say, "Our family is finally lucky!"
Thirty taels of silver, spent frugally, could cover the living expenses of a peasant family for half a year. Now that the Bai family had received this amount of silver, their situation would improve.
Lin Ping, being an impatient person, wanted to discuss with Bai Yihong right away about what to prepare for the betrothal gifts. Bai Zehao and Bai Zepei wanted to leave the room, and Bai Ruozhu wasn't supposed to be present either. But before she left, she took out the remaining four taels of broken silver and gave it to Lin Ping, "Mother, I bought a few types of medicinal materials to experiment with. Here are the remaining four taels or so."
As for the five taels of silver given by Du Zhongshu, Bai Ruozhu didn't want to mention it. On one hand, her toothpaste hadn't been produced yet, and on the other, it was somewhat unclear to bring it up. As for the five taels of silver, Bai Ruozhu planned to keep it as operating funds for buying medicinal materials in the future.
"Don't give this to mother, keep it for your personal use and buy something for yourself and the baby," Lin Ping pushed the broken silver back immediately.
"Mother, I am taken care of by the family, why do I need personal money? Unless mother plans to drive me out?" Bai Ruozhu said with a laugh.
Upon hearing this, Lin Ping quickly responded: "How could it be? As long as your father and I are around, nobody could drive you away!"
Bai Yihong didn't speak but had a gloomy expression. He also wished that his daughter could stay with them forever, but what about her future? If she couldn't find Chang Sheng, did she have to spend the rest of her life as a widow? She was still at a blooming age.
At this thought, Bai Yihong made up his mind to save more silver. In three or four years, he would arrange for his daughter to remarry. By providing her with a generous dowry, he was sure she could marry a decent family.
In the end, Lin Ping insisted on only accepting two taels of silver. She left the rest to Bai Ruozhu for spending, stating that the silver was earned by Bai Ruozhu, and the entire family was benefiting from her earnings. She said it was even embarrassing to leave just that little amount for Ruozhu.
Once Bai Ruozhu left the room with the silver, Bai Yihong let out a sigh and whispered to Lin Ping, "We desperately need money at home. Otherwise, we should have saved this money for our daughter's dowry."
"You're considering another marriage for Ruozhu?" Lin Ping asked, somewhat surprised.
"We can't make her suffer for the rest of her life. In a few years, we should find her a good family again," Bai Yihong said with a sigh.
Lin Ping did not say anything, but her heart was fraught with worry. Their daughter was perfect: beautiful, kind, hardworking, and skilful. The only downside was her status. Would it really be easy for her to remarry in the future?
Bai Ruozhu returned to her room with the silver and began to think about what to do with it. It was good that they gave her the silver, as it would give her a reason to improve the family's meals and buy some things. Most importantly, she needed to buy a pen for her second brother.
Supporting a scholar in a peasant family wasn't easy. Her second brother, who understood the situation, had been very frugal in his studies. He used to write letters and copy books for others to earn some silver, but now, with the examination coming up, their mother didn't allow him to take up any side jobs, thus taking away his source of income.
Bai Ruozhu had seen her older brother training with his brush in his room. To save paper and ink, he was practicing with a brush dipped in water on his desk. But his brush looked quite worn-out, having been used for a long time.
Also, her mother's sleeves were worn out and had patches on the elbows. Last time, when she saw her uncle's wife in the old mansion, she noticed that her clothes were new and had no patches on them.
Lastly, her father, who used to enjoy having a few drinks, hadn't been able to afford any for a long time due to their financial hardships.
With these thoughts in mind, Bai Ruozhu felt a twinge of heartache. She told her older brother that she wanted to go to the tofu workshop in the village to buy a block of tofu for dinner. Bai Zehao, worried, wanted to accompany her but was dissuaded by Bai Ruozhu.
"Brother, you should go water and fertilize the vegetables in the backyard. The tofu workshop is just a few steps away, I'll be back soon," Bai Ruozhu insisted.
Thinking back to how the village head had dealt with the Liu Family just a few days ago, Bai Zehao believed that nobody in the village would dare to bother Bai Ruozhu, so he didn't persist.
Bai Ruozhu hurriedly picked up her basket and left the house. She headed straight to the tofu workshop, bought a block of tofu, and then found a secluded spot to enter the space. There, she caught a fathead fish from the fishpond before leaving the space.