Seeing how everyone immediately took the bait the moment she mentioned getting rich, Ye Wen forcibly suppressed the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Dangling a tempting promise at the right time really did boost “employee” motivation.
She cleared her throat. “There are plenty of ways. But Mother guarantees this—so long as you all listen to me from now on, our family will definitely live better, and everyone will have money to spend!”
After this meal, the children truly obeyed her from the bottom of their hearts. They genuinely believed their father had appeared in a dream to guide her. Seeing the small increase in the values above their heads, Ye Wen suddenly felt that her exhausting afternoon had been worth it.
It seemed this family wasn’t hard to win over at all—a single good meal could capture people’s hearts. As long as everyone pulled in the same direction, why worry about reform failing? A harmonious family brings prosperity in everything.
“Mother, can we make eel strips again tomorrow?” the second son suddenly asked.
After tasting that flavor, he really couldn’t stop. If only there were a jug of wine to go with it—it would be perfect.
Quick-witted as he was, the second son immediately thought: what if he took these eel strips to sell at a tavern…
Eels were extremely easy to catch at this time of year. The muddy fields were full of them. All it took was a bit of oil as capital. No matter how he calculated it, it seemed worth trying.
Ye Wen hadn’t expected the second son to think of doing business so quickly. She assumed he simply hadn’t eaten enough and said, “If you want to eat it, that’s fine. When things slow down in a couple of days, I’ll make it for you.”
“Great!” the second son quickly agreed, unable to hide his excitement.
But his excitement wasn’t from greediness—he had another plan brewing.
With Mother’s cooking skills, even something so ordinary could be made incredibly delicious. And that spicy, stimulating flavor was perfect as a drinking dish. If he sold it to taverns for people to eat with alcohol, it would definitely sell!
Wouldn’t hawking this little dish be far easier than waking early and working late to deliver a few small fish and shrimp?
After dinner, everyone washed up and went to bed. Early the next morning, they all rose as usual and went to work.
What was different today was that the second son’s wife no longer slacked off. She even got up earlier than everyone else, cooking the porridge in advance and waiting for the family to wake up for breakfast.
When Ye Wen got up and saw everyone attending to their own tasks, she felt deeply satisfied. Just as she thought—it was only a matter of managing a few people. Compared to the scheming and power struggles of the workplace, this was simple.
“Mother, look—did I do well today?” Tian Chunhua sidled up to her mother-in-law, eagerly awaiting praise.
Seeing the second daughter-in-law’s expression screaming ‘Praise me!’, Ye Wen couldn’t help but smile.
“You’ve indeed made a big improvement compared to yesterday,” she said honestly.
Tian Chunhua was instantly so pleased she might as well have grown a tail. Since Mother had praised her, next time Mother cooked something delicious, surely she’d get a bigger share.
After breakfast, everyone got busy.
As usual, Ye Wen followed the two brothers to the fields and repeated the same labor as the day before.
After three consecutive days like this, Ye Wen was utterly exhausted. Looking at the rice harvest only halfway done and rubbing her aching back and waist, she finally truly understood the meaning of “Who knows that every grain in the bowl comes from bitter toil.”
Even after harvesting the rice, they would still need to plant wheat and rapeseed, then soon after harvest corn. A farming household had endless work all year round.
At this moment, Ye Wen’s desire to hire labor grew stronger than ever. Working like this every day was unbearable. Once the rice harvest was done, she had to immediately find a way to increase the family’s income and hire people to work the fields. She absolutely did not want to do farm labor anymore!
“Second!” she shouted. “Didn’t you want to catch eels? Go catch them now—tonight we’re eating better!”
The whole family had been worked to the bone these past few days. Without some extra oil and nourishment, their bodies would collapse.
When the second son heard they were making that delicious dish again, his face lit up with joy. He immediately put down his farm tools and went to the harvested rice fields behind the house, using a hoe to dig through the mud and catch eels.
Ye Wen thought he’d just catch a few, but to her surprise, he filled an entire wooden basin and kept going.
“Second,” she cut him off sharply, “how many are you planning to catch? With this many, how big a pot do you want to cook? Are you trying to work your mother to death?”
The second son froze, then turned back and replied, “Mother, I—I’m just greedy.”
Reluctantly, he carried the wooden basin to the edge of the field and walked toward where his elder brother was harvesting rice, instructing as he went, “Mother, stop working and go home to cook the eel strips. Big Brother and I can handle things here.”
For the sake of food, he was really going all out—even the second son, who usually dodged work, was now volunteering to labor.
Looking at the basin full of eels, Ye Wen knew that just cleaning them would take most of the day, and even if they cooked them all, the family wouldn’t be able to finish them.
She narrowed her eyes and watched the second son’s retreating figure, deep in thought.
He always acted methodically and never rashly. With so many eels, how could he not know the family couldn’t eat them all?
Catching this many eels definitely wasn’t just for eating. And he wasn’t the generous type who would give them away casually. That left only one possibility—
He wanted to sell them.
This second son really was sharp.
But coming up with an idea without discussing it with her clearly meant he planned to sell them privately. Ye Wen sneered inwardly. She had been worrying about how the family could make money, and here her “cheap son” handed her an idea on a silver platter. But trying to use her skills to make money for the second household alone? Not a chance.
Today, she was going to teach the second son a proper lesson.
After returning home, she called Tian Chunhua over. “Second daughter-in-law, come process these eels.”
Cleaning eels was extremely troublesome. Ye Wen had no intention of doing it herself. Since the second son wanted to sell them, then his wife could do the work.
In the past, Tian Chunhua would definitely have found excuses to shirk, but the memory of how delicious the eel strips were was still vivid. So when Ye Wen assigned her the task, she showed no impatience at all and agreed readily.
“Mother, you hold Yaozu for me. I’ll take care of it!”
She was from the countryside and had done all kinds of work back at her parents’ home. As long as there was good food to look forward to, she didn’t fear hardship or exhaustion. Saying this, she stuffed the baby into Ye Wen’s arms and sharpened her knife, ready to tackle the eels.
Holding the heavy, chubby baby in her arms, Ye Wen couldn’t help but twitch her mouth. Three-month-old Yaozu was extremely sturdy. Now tossed into his grandmother’s arms by his own mother, he happily sucked on his little hand, his shiny black eyes staring straight at his grandmother.
This child really knew how to inherit good traits—he had Tian Chunhua’s fair skin and the second son’s features. His plump, pale appearance made him look just like a lucky doll from a New Year painting. Only the name “Yaozu” was an eyesore. She would definitely change it sooner or later!
After more than half an hour of work, Tian Chunhua finally finished cleaning all the eels and even picked out a few loaches mixed in.
Ye Wen separated the loaches and then directed Tian Chunhua to carry the ingredients into the kitchen.
“That’s enough. Go wash your hands and hold the baby. I’ll cook.”
The moment Tian Chunhua heard that her mother-in-law was cooking again, she immediately thought of the eel strips she’d eaten before and started drooling again.