Sun Shi, washing clothes in the back, nearly tore them to shreds. It was bad enough that the Old Madam was biased, but even the Old Man was so biased.
The wooden buckets and basins borrowed last night hadn't been returned, and now they wanted to make new ones and send them over.
Sun Shi was about to explode with anger. She flung her hands, rushed from the backyard, and suppressed her fury to say, "Mother, the water in the cistern is almost at the bottom, and there are no wooden buckets left in the house. How can we fetch water?"
This meant they had to get the water buckets back.
As soon as she spoke, Zhao Sanniu walked into the courtyard gate.
He carried two buckets of water on his shoulders as he entered: "Grandma, our family still needs these buckets. I'll fetch water for you these next few days."
Old Madam Zhao felt a warmth in her heart: "Why is this child sweating so much? Erwang, go pour him a cup of water."
After she spoke, she glanced at Sun Shi.
Sun Shi's face went from flushed red to pale white. She had thought her elder sister-in-law had borrowed the water buckets for something else, not that she was fetching water for the old house.
Although the water source wasn't far, the old house had many people, and twelve people used a lot of water. Fetching several loads of water a day was not easy...
Zhao Sanniu carried four loads before the cistern in the old house was full. He carried the wooden buckets back and quickly helped wash the *shihua* seeds.
Three *jin* of *shihua* seeds, Cheng Loanloan divided into six wooden basins, each with half a *jin* of washed *shihua* seeds. After filtering, they could solidify into a bucket of ice jelly.
Zhao Youyin and Zhao Youcai looked at the pile of things in front of them, a little wide-eyed. They had always thought that making ice jelly involved putting *longdeng* grass in a pot to cook or steam, then adding something they didn't know, and that was it.
They hadn't expected that they had to peel out the brown seeds from the *longdeng* grass, and their job was to rub the *longdeng* seeds.
Cheng Loanloan looked at them and said, "Second Brother, Third Brother, this work is a bit hard on the hands and might cause skin to peel. You must think carefully before you do it."
Zhao Youyin didn't care: "Working with crops, it's not like we've never had skin peel. It's all minor stuff."
Zhao Youcai paused, then asked, "How is this payment calculated?"
Zhao Youyin was stunned. Weren't they here to help? Why were they talking about wages? He nudged Zhao Youcai with his elbow.
Cheng Loanloan took in this scene.
She smiled and said, "As the saying goes, even blood brothers must settle accounts clearly. Even if Father Dashan were alive, I wouldn't let you work for free. This work is not comparable to picking *longdeng* grass. Injuring your hands is secondary; you also have to carefully control your strength. If all these seeds are crushed, filtering them later will be very troublesome. For each half *jin* you rub, you'll be paid five *wen*. The maximum is one *jin*."
Washing half a *jin* takes nearly half an hour, and hands are immersed in water for over an hour. Over time, hands would be ruined. She also hoped for long-term cooperation, which is why she limited each person to about one *jin*.
Zhao Youyin and Zhao Youcai both had expressions of disbelief. Washing half a *jin* for five *wen*? One *jin* would be ten *wen*.
Cheng Loanloan continued, "But I have a prerequisite: whatever you do or see here, you must not tell anyone when you go back. You know, in business, the biggest taboo is for the method to spread and be imitated. At that point, the business won't be able to continue."
Zhao Youyin immediately declared, "Even if the Old Madam asks, I won't say a word."
Zhao Youcai nodded, "Even if my mother grabs my ear and asks, I'll keep it to myself."
After everything was agreed upon, the two sat down and began to grind the ice jelly. It was their first time doing such a thing, so they were both very careful. The process inevitably took a little longer, and by the time they had finished grinding two basins of ice jelly, two hours had already passed.
Cheng Loanloan carefully inspected the finished product. It was indeed quite good. She promptly paid them their wages, ten copper coins each.
Zhao Youyin and Zhao Youcai held the ten copper coins in their hands, feeling a little lightheaded as they walked. When they arrived home, it still felt like a dream.
Especially Zhao Youyin, he had never expected to get paid for helping out. These ten copper coins felt like found money.