It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

Chapter 161: Not Enough Money

Regarding hiring someone, Song Zhi asked her uncle to help find out the price first. As for hiring someone to build the house, it would not be too late to discuss it tomorrow when the head of the Song clan brought back the land deed.

Now that I no longer have to make jelly at home, I have some free time at home.

Song Zhi remembered that the wool she had exchanged last time had not been processed yet, so she called her grandmother and aunt to help take the wool to the stream behind to wash it.

The wool had only been roughly processed at the beginning, so it not only smelled bad, but was also mixed with dirt and weeds. It had to be carefully cleaned before it could be spun into yarn.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law led the whole family, young and old, squatting by the stream to wash wool.

While washing the smelly wool in her hands, Wu asked curiously, "I almost forgot to ask you, why did you bring back so much wool?"

Song Zhi had already thought of an excuse. When her grandmother asked her, she calmly replied, "Didn't I trade the tea with merchants from the north this time?"

"I heard that the people on the grasslands use this wool to weave blankets to keep warm. Not only that, it is said that this wool can also be woven into tents."

"I heard that the people on the grassland don't have fixed homes like us. They move around wherever there's water and grass, and they live in tents."

"I was very curious. Since we could weave tents for people to live in, could we also weave clothes?"

"It just so happens that the merchant named Xu is selling sheep. I might as well trade her some tea for some wool and give it a try."

When Mrs. Wu heard her granddaughter say this, she shook her head in amusement. "You believe everything you hear. I've lived for so many years, but I've never heard that wool can be used to make clothes."

Song Zhi was in no rush to express her opinion. She shrugged nonchalantly, "One ounce of tea leaves can be exchanged for ten kilograms of wool. For these six hundred kilograms of wool, I only spent six kilograms of tea leaves. If it doesn't work out, I won't lose anything. If it does, I'll make a killing!"

This is true. It’s not something you can buy with money. It just takes some effort.

These people lacked everything except time, so Mrs. Wu let her granddaughter do whatever she wanted.

Song Ping delivered the cakes and returned home. Seeing that no one was home, he immediately went to the stream.

Seeing several people busy washing wool, he joined the team without asking any questions.

Washing wool is a very time-consuming process. When the washing was almost done, Mrs. Wu looked up and saw the sun high in the sky, and she knew it was getting late.

She stopped what she was doing and ordered, "Big Boss's wife, go back and make lunch first. We still have some left over and it will be ready soon."

Yang sighed, washed the last handful of wool in her hand, washed her hands by the river, stood up and walked back.

They stayed by the stream for another quarter of an hour before returning with the washed wool.

Song Zhi had just spread the wool on a bamboo mat to dry when her uncle, who had gone to inquire about the price of bricks, rushed back home.

When Mrs. Wu saw her eldest son coming back, she hurriedly pulled him aside and asked, "How is it? Can you tell me what the price of blue bricks is now?"

Song Youshan hurried back to tell me about this. "I went to the brick factory and asked. The price of the blue brick is one penny and three pieces."

Mrs. Wu couldn't help but gasp in amazement, "It's so expensive?"

Their family had never built a blue brick house before, and they had only heard that brick houses were expensive, but they really didn't expect it to be so expensive.

She then asked, "Have you asked clearly how many bricks we need to buy to build a large yard? And how much will it cost?"

Song Youshan nodded quickly and replied, "I did ask, I did ask. The guy at the brick factory said that just to build a large yard like ours would require over 20,000 bricks, and at least eight taels of silver."

"This doesn't include the materials used for the house. If you add the main house, the cost will at least double, and other costs such as wood and labor are not yet calculated."

He sighed and said with some hesitation, "After all the calculations, building a house like this would cost at least thirty-five taels of silver."

Wu subconsciously looked at her granddaughter, "Are we still building it?"

Song Zhi didn't expect that the bricks would be so expensive, but this is where she will live in the future after all.

People's lives are always busy revolving around "food, clothing, housing and transportation".

If it's not tidied to her liking, she'll be so upset.

Since she can no longer return to the modern era, she can only do whatever makes her feel comfortable.

Song Zhi nodded solemnly, "Of course we have to build it. Let's do it according to what we discussed yesterday."

"But....."

Song Zhi didn't let her grandmother finish her words. She continued, "Grandma, have you forgotten what I told you before about selling the cake recipe and Miss Wang?"

"Once we sell the cake recipes, won't we have money in our hands?"

"Are you talking about millet pastry? Others will be able to make this pastry after trying it twice? Can it be sold at a high price?" Mrs. Wu said with some concern.

Song Zhi patiently explained, "Grandma, business is all about innovation. Right now, no pastry shop in the entire county sells this millet pastry. Whoever makes it first will be the first to get it. Even if others come later, they're just following the trend."

"Moreover, this millet pastry is crispy, sweet and delicious. It will surely be a big hit once it is launched."

"Miss Wang was able to seize the initiative and increase the shop's reputation. This is also an invisible victory."

After hearing this, Mrs. Wu felt that it seemed to make some sense, but she was still a little hesitant.

Seeing this, Song Zhi struck while the iron was hot and continued, "Not only this millet cake, I also want to try another kind of food. Let's try it together later. If it works, I will recommend it to Miss Wang."

"This way, we can not only earn a considerable income, but also add new features to Miss Wang's pastry shop. Why not do such a good thing that kills two birds with one stone?"

Seeing her granddaughter's convincing argument, Mrs. Wu gradually wavered in her heart and finally nodded in agreement.

"Then you can give it a try first. If it works, I'll do it according to your wishes."

Song Zhi grinned and patted her chest confidently, "Grandma, just wait and see!"