Zhao Dawang and Zhao Erwang excitedly jumped up, picked up the pot, and went outside, afraid that their eldest aunt would change her mind.
The two returned carrying a large pot of ice jelly. Old Madam Zhao was stunned. "You two brats, why didn't you bring your eldest aunt's entire house back? This is how your eldest aunt earns money. Quickly return it to me!"
Zhao Dawang hurriedly said, "Eldest aunt told us to bring it back. She said we could eat as much as we wanted today, but there wouldn't be any more afterward."
Before the old madam could say anything, Dong Hua had already pounced over, her saliva almost dripping into the pot.
"Alright, everyone gets a bowl to eat." The old madam reluctantly spoke. "The rest will be chilled and eaten tomorrow. You're becoming more and more unrestrained..."
The old madam went into the room and said to Old Master Zhao, "The eldest daughter-in-law is becoming more and more generous and open-minded in her actions. She's really not like before."
Old Master Zhao took a drag from his pipe and said, "Before, she was worried about her eldest nephew from the Cheng family getting promoted. Now that she's fallen out with the Cheng family, isn't it understandable that she's become more sensible? I just don't know if this ice jelly can be sold for money."
Old Madam Zhao shook her head. "We are all honest and simple farmers. We've never tried doing business, and we can't teach her anything. Let her slowly figure it out herself..."
Cheng Loanloan had been calculating all along.
Half a catty of fig jelly seeds could make a large pot of ice jelly, weighing about twenty catties. Twenty catties of ice jelly, divided into small portions, could make at least eighty bowls.
One bowl of ice jelly cost two *wen* coins. In other words, with the more than four catties of fig jelly seeds remaining, she could earn a total of about 1200 *wen*, which was about one *liang* and two *qian*. After deducting the meager costs, the profit would be at least one *liang* of silver.
One must know that in this era, the annual income was only two *liang* of silver, and that was under favorable weather conditions.
If she successfully sold all of these, she would earn an amount of money that others would take half a year to earn. This was equivalent to a large sum of money.
But only if the ice jelly could be sold.
Cheng Loanloan told Wu Huiniang and Zhao Dashan to take out half a catty of fig jelly seeds to make ice jelly. Adding the finished product that had just been made and not yet eaten, they could make a total of nearly one hundred and thirty bowls. Tomorrow, they would first take these to test the market's reaction.
That night, Cheng Loanloan and the children were busy until late.
And the neighboring Guihua Village also had torches burning all night, with no one sleeping.
This afternoon, quite a few people from Guihua Village had secretly gone to Daha Village and witnessed with their own eyes a ditch running down from the mountain, flowing into the dry paddy fields, which made many people envious.
After careful consideration by the village chief, it was decided to follow Daha Village's example and summon all the villagers to dig ditches as well.
This decision was unanimously approved by everyone in Guihua Village.
However, when it came to determining who would go to dig the ditches, there were considerable disputes.
"Village Chief, my family's fields are closest to Mount Dadong. Logically speaking, shouldn't my family contribute one laborer?"
"Village Chief, everyone knows that my man is strong. One person can compare to two people from another family. Our family only needs him alone!"
"Everyone, shut up!" The village head's beard bristled. "Mount Dadong belongs to Daha Village. It's farther from our Guihua Village. They're putting in over four hundred laborers, so we need at least six hundred people to dig the ditch within three days. None of you want to work; why do you all love being lazy so much..."
"But our fields are close; we really don't need to put in so many people."
"My house is far, but we're all in the same village; we can't compare it like that."
"If it's far, then more people should go. If there are no adults, then children can work too. Anyway, our family can't suffer a loss!"
"You're just trying to cause trouble!!"
The people in Guihua Village were in a chaotic mess, and no consensus was reached even after the entire night passed.