Five or six children stood at the courtyard gate.
Each child held a basket, and inside each basket was freshly picked lantern grass.
"These little rascals are quick," Cheng Loanloan said with a smile. "But I can only pay you tomorrow night, is that alright?"
Wang Daimai was the first to nod. "Yes, Auntie, whenever you can pay is fine."
Cheng Loanloan chuckled. "There are two catties here, so Auntie owes you four *wen* of money, plus the two chicken eggs from the other day."
The other day, when digging the ditch, she had promised the children chicken eggs. There were over twenty children in total, and she had only given eggs to eight of them so far. It would take another three days to pay them all. At this point, she still owed the children over ten *wen*. If she didn't pay off this debt by tomorrow night, her conscience wouldn't be at ease.
One after another, more children arrived. One brought a catty, another two catties. Soon, the courtyard was piled high with over twenty catties of lantern grass, and she owed a large sum of over forty *wen*.
At first, the villagers were green with envy, seeing Daishan’s mother make a lot of money selling food. But when they saw that she didn't even have capital to start with, they realized that doing business wasn't so easy.
First, one had to incur debt, and only after earning money could one pay it off. If the goods didn't sell, not only would there be losses, but also mounting debt.
For small farming households, such a risk was completely unbearable.
At this moment, some of the ill intentions of a few village women dissipated into thin air. Cheng Loanloan and her sons worked at home. The purchasing power of Nanfu Academy was quite good; seventy or eighty bowls weren't enough. Tomorrow, she could try sending about two hundred bowls to see how it went.
Hekou Town had a dock, and there were many porters there. But she didn't know if these porters would be willing to spend three *wen* to buy ice jelly. But no matter what, she would try first and then decide.
Zhao Ergou was in charge of peeling the *shihua* seeds.
Zhao Daishan and Zhao Sanniu were in charge of washing the *shihua* seeds.
Wu Huiniang was in charge of cooking brown sugar, and Zhao Sidan watched the fire in the kitchen.
Cheng Loanloan cut hawthorn, peeled peanuts, then removed the peanut skins, crushing them into small pieces…
"Auntie, are you home?"
Chunhua's voice rang out from outside the door. Cheng Loanloan rubbed her hands and went out. Chunhua and Donghua, two sisters, stood at the door with baskets, and a very large carrying basket was placed at their feet. Inside the basket, there must have been at least five catties of lantern grass.
Chunhua spoke up, "Auntie, we accidentally picked a bit too much, will you take it?"
Of course, Cheng Loanloan would take it. Although one catty of *shihua* seeds could make at least twenty or thirty catties of ice jelly, the *shihua* seeds, once peeled, wouldn't spoil. Naturally, the more, the better.
She smiled and said, "It's five and a half catties in total. Auntie owes you eleven *wen*. Come get it tomorrow night."
Chunhua's face lit up with joy. She had earned eleven *wen* herself. When she went back and told her mother, her mother would surely be very happy.
She took Donghua's hand, preparing to leave.
Donghua took a deep breath. "Auntie, your house smells so good. What is Brother Sidan eating…?"
She stared at Zhao Sidan, who was sitting at the gate.
After Zhao Sidan finished his work, he sat on the doorstep eating a snack. A packet of snacks contained six pieces. He was reluctant to eat them, licking them little by little, slowly swallowing, and savoring them. He had eaten three pieces, and the rest he planned to save for tomorrow. He looked up and saw Donghua staring at him.
He quickly hid the snack in his sleeve.
"First Aunt, I'm very hungry..."
1
Dong Chun's saliva flowed. Anyone who saw her like this would understand what she was thinking.
Cheng Luanluan naturally wouldn't quibble with a seven or eight-year-old child. She said, "Si Dan, give your sister Dong Hua a piece."