bookcurios Chapter 122: 0 Money
Chapter 122: 0 Money
In the evening, the family ate tomato and egg noodles made by Cheng Pan, and discussed that Mid-Autumn Festival was just a few days away, so they decided to go buy some mooncakes.
In addition to eating it himself, he also had to send it to Mingde Academy to give to his two younger brothers and several teachers there.
Cheng Shuang had already planned to take advantage of the crowds during the Mid-Autumn Festival to go to the city to sell watermelons and open up the lower-tier watermelon markets.
The next day we went to the watermelon field in Beishan.
Five thousand kilograms of watermelons were loaded onto the truck. After Manager Zhou finished counting, he took out a silver note worth one hundred taels and handed it to Cheng Shuang.
Cheng Shuang put away the banknotes and reminded, "Manager Zhou, we still have over 10,000 kilograms of watermelons in the field. We plan to sell some of them ourselves, but I suggest you pick the rest in two batches. Leaving them in the field for too long might cause them to lose their flavor. Anyway, as long as you take good care of them after picking them, they will keep for eight or nine days."
Manager Zhou nodded, and when he saw Wei Qinglang coming over with his hands wiped, he said to the two of them, "I was just about to tell you that these five thousand kilograms are our boss's Mid-Autumn Festival gift to the capital city for the boss, and we have to come and pick them tomorrow.
We're having a promotion at Taibailou on Mid-Autumn Festival. Dine in and get a free plate of watermelon. We're also shipping some watermelon to the next county, so we're probably going to pick 5,000 kilograms."
Both of them nodded to show that they understood. Manager Zhou took the boxes that the attendant beside him had been carrying and said, "Mr. Wei, these are mooncakes from Ruifangzhai that our shopkeeper asked me to bring. If your family has time, you can come to Taibai Tower and have a look."
Wei Qinglang didn't refuse. He took the mooncake and said with a smile, "Manager Zhou, I have something I'd like to trouble you with. I need to transport 3,000 kilograms of melons into the city on Mid-Autumn Festival. However, our donkey cart can only carry 300 to 400 kilograms at a time. So, if you come over that day, could you bring a few more carts to rent to us?"
Manager Zhou smiled and said, "This is nothing. Forget about renting it. I'll bring a few more cars over that day to help you transport your things into the city. You can pick them up at Taibai Tower when the time comes."
Wei Qinglang didn't act pretentiously and bowed his hands in thanks, "Then I'll trouble Manager Zhou."
The matter was settled, and the transport team had to hurry back without staying any longer, pulling the goods through the village and out of the village.
The villagers had gotten used to it after half a month. When they saw Cheng Shuang and Wei Qinglang walking side by side, a woman who was washing clothes by the river came over and said she wanted to buy a watermelon for her family to eat during the Mid-Autumn Festival. She asked Cheng Shuang how much it cost per pound.
Cheng Shuang was in a good mood and said loudly, "We are all from the same village, so I won't sell it at the restaurant price. It's five cents per pound, and each family can buy a maximum of two. If you want, come to the foot of the north mountain tomorrow morning. We will wait for you there."
A group of women washing clothes by the river were very happy to hear this. They knew that Cheng Shuang sold it to the restaurant at twenty cents per catty, and buying it for five cents was a great bargain. Soon these people spread the news.
After returning home, Wei Qinglang put the mooncakes in the cupboard in the main hall, while Cheng Shuang was counting money in the room, including silver bills, silver ingots and copper coins.
During this period, I earned 600 taels from selling watermelons, and from selling peppers, vegetables from the vegetable garden, and sauerkraut, the total profit was 157 taels.
The share of braised pork in June and July is 63 taels, for a total of 820 taels.
In addition, Wei Qinglang had given her one thousand taels from selling his storybooks before, so the total was one thousand eight hundred and twenty taels, which made her a small wealthy woman.
Cheng Shuang looked at the money and thought about giving some pocket money to her younger siblings. They did most of the housework. Cheng Pan did the most washing and cooking, Wei Nanxing chopped wood and fetched water every day, and Wei Xinyi was responsible for feeding the chickens, ducks and donkeys every day.
Even without counting these, they still weeded, watered and cared for the melon fields and vegetable gardens.
When Wei Qinglang walked into the room, he saw Cheng Shuang holding the account book and staring at the silver on the table in a daze.
He thought about it and took out the money from the space and put it all on the table.
While Cheng Shuang was treating the villagers, Wei Qinglang earned 1,600 taels by submitting his manuscripts. After giving her 1,000 taels, he still had 600 taels left, which he never touched.
During this period, some of the daily household expenses were left over from the previous Lingzhi purchase.
After the Chinese Valentine's Day, he submitted six more manuscripts and received 1,200 taels of silver, which he never touched, totaling 1,800 taels of silver.
Cheng Shuang picked it up, counted it, recorded it in the account book and handed it back to him.
Wei Qinglang shook his head and pushed it back, "I still have more than twenty taels on me. You can keep this money. I'll give you the money in the family for safekeeping from now on. We can keep it together for easy settlement."
"Give it all to me?" Cheng Shuang blinked. "Why?"
Wei Qinglang said, "I don't like managing money, nor do I like calculating accounts and managing finances."
This is the truth. In his previous life, he put all his money with his best brother, which is why he was cheated away.
But even so, it did not stop him from still believing in Cheng Shuang.
The two of them together had 3,620 taels, which was a huge sum of money for a village household.
Of course, they are just a village family. All this money would be gone if they bought a small courtyard with two entrances in the capital.
Cheng Shuang counted the money again and found that it felt really good to count it. She smiled and said, "Okay, I'll keep it for you. If you need to use the money, just tell me directly."
Wei Qinglang nodded with a smile.
Then Cheng Shuang suggested giving pocket money to her younger siblings. After the two of them agreed, they left the room and went to the yard outside to call her younger siblings out.
The three of them stood in a row. Wei Qinglang sat on a chair and looked at them. "I just discussed with your sister-in-law that starting from this month, we will give you pocket money, five taels of silver per person per month."
The three of them didn't know what pocket money was, but when they heard the word "five taels of silver", their eyes widened at the same time. Wei Xinyi asked in confusion, "What is pocket money?"
Cheng Shuang reached out and pulled her over. "It's money you can use as you please. You can spend it however you want. Of course, you can't do anything bad."
"Sister, five taels is too much." Cheng Pan shook his head and said, "I don't need so much money, just give me a few copper coins."
"I can't use it either. What if I lose it?" Wei Xinyi said. "Brother, when you go to the county town, just remember to bring me a bag of cakes. I told him last time, but he forgot."
Wei Qinglang flicked her forehead and said, "You only know how to eat. You've eaten so much sweet food that all your teeth will fall out."
Cheng Shuang glared at him, then pulled Wei Xinyi closer to her. She said gently, "If you're worried about losing it, I'll keep it for you. Ask me for it when you need it."
After saying that, he looked at Cheng Pan and said, "Pan'er, how is your abacus learning going?"
Cheng Pan said, "It's pretty good. Last time Manager Zhou came, he brought me a book and asked me to study from it. Now I can do some simple calculations."
"Then do you want to go to the county town and find a master to continue your studies?"
Cheng Pan's face showed confusion, obviously he had never considered this issue.
Cheng Shuang looked at her and said earnestly, "You have grown up now and can read and write. In the past, you may have only thought about getting married when you are old enough, but now you can think about other things.
You can learn whatever you want to learn, do whatever you want to do, and try whatever ideas you have. We give you money so that you can learn to be your own master."
Wei Qinglang looked at his brother and said, "Nanxing, your sister-in-law is right. We are a family, but we will not control your life. You have to learn to think about the future for yourself."
Wei Nanxing thought for a moment, then nodded seriously.
The two older ones accepted the five taels of silver given by Cheng Shuang. Wei Xinyi also took a hundred copper coins and happily ran into the room to get a box to put the money in and hide it.
After lunch, Cheng Shuang opened the mooncakes that Manager Meng had given her. There were three flavors: red bean paste, almond, and peach kernel.
I cut a piece of red bean paste flavor and tasted it. It tasted okay. Now I don’t have to buy it at home. I can go to the county town on the Mid-Autumn Festival and buy a few boxes to send to the school.