The two bundles of water celery weighed a total of 126 catties. At one coin per catty, they could be sold for 126 coins.
“I’m offering a price for this water celery that’s even higher than for cabbage, it’s my sincere offer,” Tiechui said generously. “If you have any more water celery in the future, just send it to me.”
The price wasn’t high, but it was a fair price, and it would allow for long-term business. Song Zhaodi had no complaints and immediately made the deal, receiving 126 coins.
“Uncle Hammer, you’re so kind, and I won’t be stingy either. This time it’s cold water celery salad. Next time you bring water celery, I’ll teach you another way to cook it.”
In this dynasty, people would steam or boil food, then add some oil and seasonings before eating.
There is great potential in the stir-fry market.
Tiechui nodded repeatedly, and under Song Zhaodi’s guidance, he made a cold water celery salad himself.
Seeing that they had successfully sold the water celery, Zhao Zenghua was relieved. “Little sister, Zhaodi, it’s getting late, I have to go back.”
Zhao Zenghua works at a carpentry shop. He had just explained the situation to the owner and took some time to bring them here.
After seeing off her uncle, Song Zhaodi and Zhao Lanzhi left the tavern and handed the money to Zhao Lanzhi.
“Mom, let’s go buy medicine for Dad.”
Zhao Lanzhi accepted the money, her expression moved. Looking at Song Zhaodi, her eyes were full of relief. “Zhaodi, thank you so much…”
She, as a mother, is not even as good as a sixteen-year-old child.
“We’re family, there’s no need for this.”
Although their grandparents treated the sisters harshly, Song Yaodong and Zhao Lanzhi, as their parents, were undeniably loving and protective of them.
They never looked down on or neglected their daughters like other parents did, simply because they were girls.
Such parents deserve the same level of devotion from their children.
“Alright, alright.” Zhao Lanzhi nodded repeatedly, stuffing the money into her bosom, and said, “With the money you made from selling the turtle, this time we can buy your father’s medicine for a few more days.”
“While the water celery is still tender, we’ll come back tomorrow and sell more…” Zhao Lanzhi began to dream.
Song Zhaodi laughed along, “Mother, I’ve discovered another great way to make money, maybe even more than selling water celery.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Lanzhi immediately asked what it was, but Song Zhaodi kept it a secret for now, saying, “You’ll find out soon enough.”
As the weather gradually warms up, the water celery will become too old in a few days and won’t sell well.
But this is the perfect time for mushrooms.
The mother and daughter went to the pharmacy. Zhao Lanzhi bought eight days’ worth of medicine, which puzzled Song Zhaodi.
“Mother, the 185 coins from the day before yesterday plus today’s should have bought ten days’ worth of medicine, but why did you only buy eight days’ worth?”
Zhao Lanzhi patted her head and said with a smile, “Girl, have you forgotten? You still need to buy some things to thank Shen Che for saving your life.”
“We’re out of rice and oil at home, so we need to buy some more. We can’t just buy medicine.”
Her mother was always like that, stretching every penny to its limit, and taking care of everyone in the family. But a selfish mother-in-law like Sun Xiuhe was simply not worth it.
“Mother, all the money in the house is kept with Grandma. If we run out of rice and oil, Grandma will go and buy some.”
Zhao Lanzhi sighed and said, “The expenses of the whole family are too much, and that little money still has to be used to support Yaozu’s education… If we have extra money, it’s okay to buy some things, after all, we also need to eat.”
That’s just being stupid.
But Song Zhaodi also knew that if she didn’t let her mother see Sun Xiuhe’s selfishness with her own eyes, she would still foolishly continue to give.
So I stopped arguing with him.
After buying the medicine, the mother and daughter went to the vegetable market.
Pork was nine coins a pound, brown rice was three coins a pound, white rice was six coins a pound, and eggs were one coin each…
At this moment, Song Zhaodi, clutching the seventy-one coins she had left after buying the medicine, truly felt how expensive the prices were for her now.
Zhao Lanzhi was stingy with herself, but she was incredibly generous to her daughter’s savior.
Two catties of pork, three catties of white rice, and twenty eggs cost a total of fifty-six coins.
“Mother, we only have fifteen coins left.”
Zhao Lanzhi nodded and said, “Let’s buy all brown rice. We can go two days without oil. We can buy it next time.”
Song Zhaodi disagreed, “Mom, let’s buy two catties of brown rice first, and we still need to buy oil, I need it.”
“I just checked, lard is nine copper coins a pound, which is a bit expensive, but chicken fat is cheap, only five copper coins a pound.”
Hearing that Song Zhaodi was useful, Zhao Lanzhi agreed. After buying two catties of brown rice, she bought another catty of chicken fat and used the remaining money to buy salt.
After a busy morning, I didn’t earn a single penny.
Spending money is happening much faster than making money.
But having found a way to make money, the mother and daughter were still happy.
Carrying my things, I hurried back, and by sheer coincidence, I ran into Chen Che again.
Perfect timing! I’ll just offer you this ‘generous gift’ and hitch a ride with you.
After several polite refusals, he finally accepted the gift after Zhao Lanzhi said, “If you don’t accept it, we won’t dare to ride in your oxcart anymore.”
“Zhaodi, thank you for your generous gift,” he said with a smile.
Song Zhaodi replied earnestly, “Of course.”
And so, the two stopped talking to each other.
Shen Che has a fierce appearance, but he is an easy-going person. He chatted with Zhao Lanzhi along the way and seemed to have a very good temper.
Just before getting off the train, he grabbed a string of meat, threw it into Zhao Lanzhi’s bamboo basket, and then whipped it and ran away.
“Auntie, this is enough. Consider the hanging meat as my gift to you.”
Zhao Lanzhi chased after it for a while but couldn’t catch up. In the end, she could only carry the meat back home.
As they walked, they kept praising Chen Che, “He’s such a good kid, but it’s a pity he has no parents or relatives and is all alone in this world trying to make a living.”
Song Zhaodi remained noncommittal, but she always felt that Shen Che had two faces; he was one way in front of Zhao Lanzhi and another way in front of her.
In her previous life, she was single for over twenty years, never had any intimate contact with men, and didn’t understand men’s psychology.
Therefore, no evaluation will be made.
When they returned home, Song Dachuan was not there; he had gone to work in the fields. Only Song Yaodong and Pandi were at home.
It was said that Sun Xiuhe and Song Yaozu had not returned yet, and Song Dachuan went to the fields with a dark face in the morning.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Lanzhi hurriedly grabbed a hoe, as if afraid that if she was a step too late, she would be scolded by Song Dachuan.
“Zhaodi, you make lunch first. I’ll go help your grandfather with some work in the fields and then come back for lunch.”
Seeing his wife like this, Song Yaodong felt a pang of heartache, but there was nothing he could do. He could only lean on his cane and walk toward the kitchen.
“Zhaodi, you cook, I’ll start the fire.”
I have to do something; I can’t just be a freeloader.
“Big sister, I’ll go get you some firewood.” Pandi said, and started working on her short legs.
Song Zhaodi first washed the chicken fat and meat, then cut some fatty meat and rendered the oil together with the chicken fat, and set it aside.
“Zhaodi, why did you buy meat today?”
The aroma of meat tempted Song Yaodong, but he still felt that eating meat was a luxury for them.