65 Chapter 65: The Wisdom of Madam Liu
It was that piece of paper that she had used to record the prices of various goods which she had inquired from the kitchen staff at Fortune Mansion today.
As it was inconvenient to bring a brush and ink, she only brought the charcoal stick when she set off in the morning.
Now that she was back, she naturally had to jot down the contents.
After some thought, Qin Xiaoyao eventually spoke to Song Que.
“Hubby…” She was just about to ask Song Que to help her transfer the notes. After all, she had to show it to her mother-in-law.
And her mother-in-law would definitely not recognize the simplified Chinese characters she wrote.
Song Que looked towards her.
His attractive eyes seemed to be hiding a flirtatious look as if he could read her underlying meaning, and she self-consciously fell silent.
“What’s the matter?” When Song Que saw her reaction, he could not help but reveal a hint of a smile.
That was such a familiar expression.
However, for some reason, it looked much more playful than before.
At least he didn’t appear to despise or feel disgusted with her like he was in the past.
Qin Xiaoyao quickly forced herself to come back to her senses.
“Hubby, can… can I ask you to help me transfer the contents of this paper?”
“Oh, I’ll read it out. You can just help me write it, Hubby,” she continued.
As she spoke, Qin Xiaoyao resisted Song Que’s influence on her.
Under the intense exercise of self-restraint, she realized that it was quite effective.
“Don’t you know how to write?” Song Que asked with a smile. He looked at Qin Xiaoyao with interest.
Qin Xiaoyao was caught off guard.
“Er… my handwriting isn’t as good as Hubby’s,” she replied immediately.
Good Grief! Could he not look at her like that? She was really not a good person…
“I need to write it down to show Mother. It’s better for Hubby to write it,” Qin Xiaoyao added again.
Song Que understood then.
Following that, he reached out and retrieved a piece of white paper.
He didn’t ask any more questions and agreed. “Go ahead and read it.”
Qin Xiaoyao also suppressed the thumping in her heart.
Then, she began to read the contents to Song Que.
After a while, Song Que had written down everything she had read.
“Are these the prices of the goods that Fortune Mansion is giving you?” Song Que put down the brush and asked Qin Xiaoyao.
Although he couldn’t move around with his injured leg, he knew everything that was happening in the house.
Even if he hadn’t asked, his younger sister and brother would tell him everything about their sister-in-law.
Moreover, they only selectively told him the positive parts.
However, from yesterday onward, he had taken the initiative to ask them for more information.
He found that this woman had indeed done a lot for the family, and she was also very smart.
“Yup!” Qin Xiaoyao nodded.
“I’ve bought a handcart, so I can send more goods to town in the future. I can now bring more goods to Fortune Mansion on every trip.”
Song Que glanced at Qin Xiaoyao and wanted to say something, but in the end, he didn’t open his mouth.
Thereafter, he handed the paper he had finished writing to Qin Xiaoyao.
“Thank you, Hubby!” Qin Xiaoyao’s face lit up with joy as she expressed her thanks.
Song Que did not reply.
“Then I’ll go look for Mother.” Qin Xiaoyao didn’t think much of it. After saying that, she turned around and left.
Song Que gazed at the woman’s departing silhouette, but he was silent for a long time.
Qin Xiaoyao left the room and went to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, Madam Liu had already placed the rice and rough noodle flour that Qin Xiaoyao had bought into the corresponding jars.
And she had also put away the utensils Qin Xiaoyao had bought and was currently slicing tofu.
Previously, her family liked the golden-fried tofu cubes she made. Today, she was going to use all two pieces of tofu to make golden-fried tofu cubes.
Then, she would split it into two meals and stir-fry it with chili sauce.
Seeing that her daughter-in-law had arrived, Madam Liu immediately talked to her about the wooden basins and buckets she had bought.
“How much did those things cost? We have enough wooden basins and buckets at home!” Madam Liu’s tone was full of earnestness.
Qin Xiaoyao chuckled.
“They are not expensive. I only spent slightly more than 300 copper coins in all. Since I can’t return them, you just use them without worries.”
As Qin Xiaoyao spoke, she looked at the wooden basins and buckets stacked up at the side.
“Our old small wooden basin in the house will be reserved for washing faces. These two new ones are for the kitchen.”
“Also, that old big wooden basin will be used for washing clothes in the future. If you want to wash your feet, pick one of the big wooden basins and use it specifically to wash your feet.”
“The other big wooden basin will also be used in the kitchen in the future.”
Previously, due to their limited living conditions, the same utensils were used for both kitchen functions and washing up.
Now that their living conditions had improved, it was naturally better to have separate utensils.
Without waiting for Madam Liu to reply, Qin Xiaoyao continued, “Regarding those two large wooden buckets… Our water tank isn’t big enough. In the future, other than filling up the water tank, I’ll get some extra water and leave it in the buckets.”
“Also, when I finish weaving the net and catch some fish, these two large wooden buckets will be useful sooner or later.”
By then, she hoped to use one of the big wooden buckets to store the fish and send it to Fortune Mansion to sell for money.
When Madam Liu heard that her daughter-in-law had planned everything thoroughly, she didn’t say anything anymore.
“Alright. I know you just want to save money. I know Mother’s good intentions.”
Qin Xiaoyao smiled sweetly at Madam Liu and quickly walked over to her.
“This is… our family’s new money-making plan.”
“Mother, please help me take a look.” As she spoke, she handed the paper in her hand to Madam Liu.
Madam Liu accepted it doubtfully.
When she saw the contents of the paper, she was shocked.
This… her daughter-in-law had actually gone to Fortune Mansion to inquire about the prices of various goods.
“Mother, take a look and see what kind of goods are suitable for us to take in?”
“The quality of our handcart is very good. I think it won’t be a problem to pull a thousand catties at one go.”
She saw Madam Liu looking at her in shock, even with some fear.
Qin Xiaoyao smiled in embarrassment.
“Hehe! I’m just saying it’s possible, but I am not really prepared to pull so much goods,” she quickly added.
She wanted to bring this much, but whether Fortune Mansion would accept so much was a different question.
Only then did Madam Liu’s expression relax somewhat.
After that, Madam Liu looked at the price list and said, “If you really want to get goods from the villagers, you’ll have to choose those with high profits.”
“For example, this fresh edible fungus and mushroom.”
“These are all goods from the mountains. If the villagers go into the mountains to get them, they don’t have to spend any capital. If you offer one copper coin, it’s already a good price. We can then flip them for two copper coins per catty.”
“Although there are a lot of edible fungi and mushrooms in the mountains, it’s still very difficult to get a lot at once.”
“If the quantity isn’t a lot, folks are too lazy to go to town to sell them, but they can’t sell to the village either. So, they’ll be happy to offload them to you, despite the lower price.”
“There are also the children in the village. They are usually idle, so if they know they can find mountain goods to exchange for money, they will definitely participate actively.” Madam Liu gave her analysis.
Qin Xiaoyao nodded.
“Mother, you have a point.”
“As for the mountain goods, we’ll buy them all, like mushrooms, fresh edible fungus, and fresh bamboo shoots. The price will be standardized at one copper coin per catty.”
“Sure.” Madam Liu agreed with her proposal.
Qin Xiaoyao thought for a while and said, “But we might not be able to get these things every day, so we have to take in some farm vegetables too.”
“Even if the profit is lower, it’s still worthwhile for us to send them to Fortune Mansion and exchange them for money.”
“Sure, but it’s not advisable to take in too much,” Madam Liu said.
“Fortune Mansion only offers one copper coin per catty for ordinary vegetables. Their demand might not be that great either.”
“Also, we have to try to keep the vegetables fresh. For example, if we go to town tomorrow, we should only take in the vegetables tonight.”
Qin Xiaoyao nodded.
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