Chapter 684: Chapter 684: Is She Hiding Something?
Upon hearing Tong Xingda’s words, Mrs. Zhang, restraining her patience, said, “It’s only natural for the entire village to celebrate together. However, it’s also important for our family to have our own little celebration. We don’t need to spend a lot of silver on it.”
Ever since she was beaten down by Tong Xingda to the point where she couldn’t take care of herself, she had not enjoyed a good meal.
She had been expecting that Qiao Xiaomai would cook for her, but now the words of divorce had been thrown out.
Divorce, with Yang Ye backing her up, she might be able to actually get a divorce. However, she absolutely did not want a divorce. Furthermore, with Tong’s third son’s exams soon, she decided to endure it.
Now that his exams are over and he has passed, they surely had to feast in celebration!
“That makes sense.” Tong Xingda pondered Mrs. Zhang’s words. It should indeed be that they first celebrate at home and then invite the whole village for a grand celebration. Yes, that should be the sequence.
Tong Xingda looked at his third son, “Sanlang, let’s go, we should head to Jiwei Residence.”
“You all go ahead, I’m not going,” His third son shook his head.
“There’s also no need for the village celebration. The examination begins a month from now, I’ll finish up the work at home and then head to Prefecture City.”
Upon hearing this, Tong Xingda’s face darkened, “Whose chores are you so busy with?”
“Xiaomai’s chores.” His third son did not hesitate to reveal this. Eventually, it would come out anyway, “The son of the senior official Fan from the Capital City has ordered five hundred jin of dried sweet potatoes from Xiaomai. I have to help her fulfill the order.”
“Ordered?” The long-silent Tong Tiehu suddenly spoke up.
Upon hearing this, a flash of amusement flickered in the son’s eyes. Qiao Xiaomai continuously used modern terms like ‘order’ and ‘delivery’. He had heard her say these words so many times that he inadvertently repeated them.
“Yes. The dried sweet potatoes that Xiaomai makes are quite good. When Lord Fan’s son left Bailu Town, he bought some and found them delicious. He sent someone to pass on a message, stating that he plans to buy five hundred jin of it. The silver has already been given to us, so Xiaomai and I need to quickly finish this batch of goods.”
“What dried sweet potatoes?” Tong Xingda voiced his confusion.
Ever since their last quarrel, this was the first time his third son came to the new house. He had been making dried sweet potatoes at the manor, so they did not know.
They wouldn’t be able to keep this a secret anyway, and his third son had no intention of hiding it. Due to varying sweet potato quality, even after knowing the method, they wouldn’t be able to sell low-quality sweet potatoes at a high price.
He explained the process of making dried sweet potatoes.
Upon hearing this, the eyes of everyone in the room turned red.
Three hundred coins for a jin!!!
Moreover, Lord Fan’s son wanted five hundred jin all at once!
How much money would that be in total?
After calculating the total potential earnings, not only did their eyes turn red, their faces flushed as well.
That’s a total of one hundred and fifty taels of silver!
Qiao Xiaomai, that wretched girl. With just a little effort she could earn so much silver!
Tong Xingda took a deep breath, suppressing his rage. “You’ve been at this for so long, and you haven’t brought a single bit back home? We’ve provided for you all these years for nothing!”
“I’ll go get it now.” His third son got up to leave as he spoke. Official source is novel※fire.net
“Wait! What about the method? How do you make these dried sweet potatoes?” Tong Xingda asked again.
The third son didn’t hide anything and explained the method.
Upon hearing this, Tong Xingda looked doubtful, “Such troublesome processed sweet potatoes can sell for three hundred coins a jin?”
“It’s because Xiaomai’s sweet potatoes are of superior quality.”
“Even if they are of good quality, can they really sell for three hundred coins a jin? Did she add anything special to it?!” Tong Xingda continued questioning.
The third son was silent…
His father truly did not disappoint him by jumping to such conclusions.
He once again explained how the Emperor Emeritus had demanded for the method to make dried sweet potatoes, and that the method given to him was the same. Whether or not they believed it was up to them.