The Family Had Split, Why Should I Care if They Go Broke? - Chapter 18

When adding the lye just now, Xu Zhichun had deliberately avoided Liang Mingliang.

At her words, Zeng Xiaoyan and Aunt Zhu’er suddenly remembered the confidentiality agreement. Both felt a jolt of fear—in their excitement, they had almost forgotten they were supposed to keep things secret.

After all, for them, a husband was the closest person in the world. Since childhood, they’d been taught that a husband was their pillar of support, the one they could rely on. The idea of deliberately hiding something from their husbands had never crossed their minds before.

But things were different now. Today, they have earned money with their own labor. And honestly, that feeling of pride and confidence was simply too wonderful.

Not even a husband could take that away from them.

Zeng Xiaoyan immediately glared at Liang Mingliang. “This is our secret. You’re not allowed to ask. How could we just hand over a money-making secret to you for free?”

After all, who didn’t guard their money-making methods like treasure, sometimes only passing them to the eldest son?

Xu Zhichun was already generous enough to bring Zeng Xiaoyan and Aunt Zhu’er into the business. Not to mention them, even their whole families were extremely grateful.

Hearing this, Liang Mingliang instantly felt embarrassed and guilty. He quickly smiled at Xu Zhichun and apologized. “Sorry, Sister-in-law Zhichun, I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just curious. Don’t tell me—really, don’t. I won’t ask again.”

That made all three of them laugh.

Xu Zhichun smiled. “It’s fine, it’s fine. I know what kind of man Third Brother Liang is.”

Yes—building awareness about secrecy had to be done subtly, bit by bit.

The day’s work was lively and nonstop until dusk. Once the early prep was finished, the three headed home.

Xu Zhichun rubbed her sore back, stretched her arms, fetched a can of fatso happy water1 from the warehouse for a boost, then ate two pieces of chocolate. Refreshed and full of energy, she went to give the chickens and the two pigs an extra meal.

Just after she had cleaned away all the evidence, Liang Mingxuan came home, as usual he carried a bundle of ragweeds.

“Big Sister-in-law!”

“Mingxuan’s back—come, take a rest.”

“Mm.”

He immediately noticed the kitchen and main room filled with tubs and basins. “Big Sister-in-law, you’ve worked hard.”

“It’s nothing. We made money today!” Xu Zhichun always told him everything—after all, it was just the two of them depending on each other, and as his big sister-in-law, she saw no reason to hide it from him.

When she told him how much they had made, Liang Mingxuan’s eyes widened in shock.

The steady-faced child suddenly looked every bit his age, full of innocent surprise.

Xu Zhichun giggled with satisfaction. “Isn’t your Big Sister-in-law amazing?”

“Mm! Big Sister-in-law is amazing!”

“Isn’t Big Sister-in-law is the most amazing big sister-in-law in the whole village?”

The boy laughed, nodding hard. “Big Sister-in-law is the most amazing big sister-in-law in the whole village.”

Xu Zhichun laughed loudly and reached to pinch his cheek, but the boy turned his head to avoid it, silently protesting. “Big Sister-in-law…”

He wasn’t a little kid anymore—stop pinching his face.

That only amused Xu Zhichun more, though she was a little regretful he wouldn’t let her.

Dinner was scrambled eggs with chives and stir-fried eggplant with garlic.

Xu Zhichun decided that tomorrow, after selling their goods, she would definitely buy a few jin of meat, and maybe twenty or thirty chicks to raise. Once grown, they could be slaughtered for meat—she could afford it now.

Of course, that meant the chicken coop wouldn’t be big enough. They’d have to build another one—Uncle Qi Tian should be able to do it.

Not long after they finished dinner, Aunt Zhu’er arrived, carrying a bucket and a basin.

They didn’t need to make the ice jelly tonight—it was best fresh, so Xu Zhichun could prepare it early tomorrow morning.

Tonight, they only needed to make the konjac tofu and the shredded konjac.

There was enough konjac slurry, but Xu Zhichun still added about two jin of konjac powder, enough to make at least ten more jin of konjac tofu.

Better to make more first—if it didn’t all sell, they could just eat it themselves.

As for tomorrow’s ice jelly, she could also add powder to save more of the stone flower seeds for later use.

At the chief house—

Zeng Xiaoyan and her husband went home together, and find Aunt Liang to give her share of the money, while telling her how great business had been today. Naturally, they reminded her again and again to keep it a secret.

When Aunt Liang saw her third son and his wife proudly hand over a heavy bag of copper coins, she was momentarily stunned. “This is… what you earned together today? How come you’re bringing it all here? Did Zhichun and your Aunt Zhu’er tell you to let our family keep it for now and then divide it at the end of the month?”

The couple burst out laughing.

“Mother, what are you talking about? This is all ours.”

“Mm, all earned by us today! And we’ll keep earning tomorrow and the day after, hehe!”

“What!” Aunt Liang’s hands trembled, and she nearly lost her footing. “You—you mean it?”

Why did she sound so doubtful?

She couldn’t help asking, “Did you… find this money lying around?”

Zeng Xiaoyan covered her mouth to hide a laugh, her eyes curved into happy crescents.

Liang Mingliang grinned so wide his mouth nearly reached his ears. “Mother, we earned this money! Who could possibly find this much lying around?”

Zeng Xiaoyan giggled. “But Mother’s not wrong—earning it was about the same as picking it up off the ground.”

After all, the konjac and lantern fruit grew wild on the mountain.

It took quite a while before Aunt Liang finally believed them. Then she beamed with joy. “That’s wonderful! You two have really made something of yourselves. Keep it up.”

“Don’t worry, Mother, we will. Just don’t tell anyone else—no one except Father. If someone asks, just say we made twenty or thirty coins.”

“Yes, yes, I know. Money shouldn’t be flaunted. I won’t say a word.”

Following the usual rules, Aunt Liang counted out sixty coins for the couple. “Keep these for yourselves.”

After deducting ten coins for renting the ox cart, they had earned a total of 170 coins today—sixty as their private share, and 110 for the household funds.

Zeng Xiaoyan happily pocketed the money.

Sixty coins in a day—over a month, that would be a tidy sum. From now on, she could buy snacks without checking the price, and drive Lady Zhao mad with envy.

Aunt Liang was in such a good mood that evening that she cracked five eggs and added plenty of chives to make a big plate of scrambled eggs with chives.

They had just eaten half a chicken yesterday, and now eggs again today. Even in the chief’s relatively well-off household, such indulgence wasn’t common, so everyone was a bit surprised.

Aunt Liang smiled. “Third Son and his wife made a little extra today, so let’s have something nice as a celebration.”

Lady Zhao quickly asked with a smile, “I wonder how much Third Brother and his wife earned? The ten coins for the ox cart are counted separately, right?”

Zeng Xiaoyan didn’t bother hiding her disdain, rolling her eyes.

She really couldn’t stand Lady Zhao.

Aunt Liang’s gaze darkened slightly as she said coolly, “Don’t worry about how much they made—not a single coin less than what they were supposed to hand over. Now, let’s eat.”

Lady Zhao was displeased, but could only purse her lips and stay quiet.

Still, in her heart she thought, It couldn’t be that much. Otherwise, Mother-in-law would have been boasting all day. Hmph—Mother-in-law is so biased, always doting on Third Son and his wife. Even if those two lazy good-for-nothings earned a single copper, she’d be over the moon—adding dishes to the table and calling it a celebration. How infuriating.