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Selling goods was like that, when one person came to buy, it could draw many others over. After that woman left, several more people gathered around. One wanted three pounds, another wanted five pounds, and in no time, over twenty pounds were sold. Jinghan looked at the remaining tender shoots in her basket and felt overjoyed. "Big brother, these things sell pretty well."
Wenhan had not expected the tender shoots to sell so well, his smile never left his face. "Yeah, I didn't expect it. It's a pity I have to go to school tomorrow, or I could pick some more to bring back."
"No problem, I'll go with Mom." Jinghan wouldn't let go of the rare opportunity to make money so easily.
As the siblings were talking, more people came to buy the tender shoots. Jinghan and Wenhan one to weigh the vegetables, the other to collect the money, their teamwork was quite seamless. In less than an hour, all the tender shoots were sold out. The two packed up the basket and scale and headed home. Along the way, Jinghan calculated how much money they had made that day.
"All together it's thirty-two pounds, all sold at six coins per pound, making a total of 192 coins. Brother, we almost made two hundred coins today, that's really not too little." Jinghan happily put all the money away. "Tomorrow I want to go to the mountain with Mom; the spot where we picked today, if we go further to the side, there should be more. While these things are still around for a few days, we must earn more money."
Wenhan, seeing his sister's avarice, found it amusing, "Little sister, why are you so eager to make money?"
Jinghan rolled her eyes at her brother, "Big brother, don't you like money? With money, we can do so many things. I want to eat delicious food, dumplings, steamed buns, I don't want to eat tortillas, with money, we can eat better things." She was surely a foodie, no doubt about it.
Wenhan rubbed Jinghan's little head, "You, why don't you think about dressing yourself up properly, like Jingya does, looking nice and pretty. You're really like a tomboy."
Jinghan just giggled without a word, and the siblings quickened their pace, soon arriving home. Mrs. Xue was tending to the vegetable garden. Seeing his mother busy in the garden, Wenhan quickly set the basket down and went over to help. "Mom, let me do it, you go rest. What are you planting here?"
Mrs. Xue sat aside, "Beans, and I also need to plant eggplants, chilies, and things like that. The seedlings aren't big enough yet, it'll be a while before they can be planted in the ground. How did it go in town today? Could you sell the tender shoots?"
Jinghan hugged her mother's neck from the side, "Mom, we made almost two hundred coins today. Will you accompany me to the mountain tomorrow? I want to make more money."
When Mrs. Xue heard they'd made that much money, she was quite happy, "Sure, there's not much else to do at home, and it'll be a while before we plant the vegetables." Naturally, a mother would be pleased that her child knew how to earn money. "Alright, Wenhan, just turn over that patch of land, that should be enough for today. You've had a long day climbing the mountain and going to town, you're tired enough. Don't overdo it, wait for your father to come back and let him do it." It was time for the ginseng seedlings to sprout in the fields, and if some didn't come up, they had to be dug out by hand to prevent them from getting ruined. Xu Zhixin had gone to the mountain to do this.
After hearing his mother's words, Wenhan nodded in agreement, "Mom, go ahead with your work, I'll just turn over this little patch."
Mrs. Xue went back inside to cook, and technically, the sisters-in-law should have been taking turns cooking, but ever since the incident with Xu Zhiyong, Mrs. Wei had stopped cooking. Mrs. Xue, seeing her in such a pitiful state, said nothing and took on the task with Mrs. Chen. The younger sister-in-law was frail and only did needlework inside; she could not handle cooking.
Seeing it was about time, Mrs. Chen came out of the house to cook with Mrs. Xue. "Eldest daughter-in-law, Huixin is already sixteen, and there's still no prospect for marriage, it's really troubling, isn't it?" The youngest daughter had always been a worry for the old lady. A sixteen-year-old girl was at the prime age for discussing marriage. But because of her poor health, which everyone in the village knew about, no one had come to propose, and it was uncertain what to do.
"Mom, don't worry, Huixin has gotten much stronger these past two years. I think when we have time, we should go to the matchmaker and let her find a match for Huixin. It's not good for a girl to stay at home too long; people will talk. And when we have some spare time, we should also start teaching Huixin to cook. Even if she just watches while we do it, she needs to at least know how meals are prepared. Otherwise, what will she do when she gets married? Can we afford to hire a nanny for her?" Mrs. Xue spoke sensibly, for marrying a wife meant managing household chores and personal care. If one married a wife who could not even cook, no one would find her attractive.
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