Inside the Zhu Family’s house, the Old Lady of Zhu family scolded Zhu Nengwen, “You’ve read too many books, have you gone stupid? There are so many people passing by our front door. If you want to get Su Qingyue, you can’t do it in such a crowded place.”
“But I’ve been wandering around the Xiao Family’s place for quite a long time these days…” Zhu Nengwen said somewhat dejectedly, “Su Qingyue hardly ever goes out, and when she does, she’s with Xiao Yuchuan. I can’t find any opportunities…”
The old lady of Zhu family felt like she was about to vomit blood from her pent-up frustration, “The Xiao Family moves too fast! They bought ten acres of paddy fields and a plot of land. I heard that Xiao Yuchuan spent a lot of money on medicine to treat his frail body. Now they’re building a house… I think their money must be running out…”
Zhu Nengwen was also very annoyed, “It’s all because you insisted on selling her!”
“If she hadn’t climbed onto your bed and you didn’t sleep with her, would I have had to sell her?”
“She just said she was afraid you’d hit her, that’s why she did it…”
“I can’t even hit a slave I bought?” the Old Lady of Zhu family said disdainfully, “Xiao Family’s money is almost used up. You better not provoke Su Qingyue, that cheap whore. According to Er Gouzi’s family, the money used to buy the paddy fields and the land came from Xiao Yishan. It means Su Qingyue’s earnings are all with Xiao Yishan. We sold her and ended up only eating a loss. Your future as a Scholar is more important. With our family’s assets, once you become a Scholar, it won’t be a problem for you to marry a small family’s daughter.”
Zhu Nengwen didn’t speak.
How could he be content? The Xiao Family used to be the poorest household in the village, but his Zhu family had eight acres of land and their life was passable. Who would have thought that the cheap woman Su Qingyue would make so much money and suddenly make the Xiao Family richer than his own!
The Zhu Family, due to their lack of judgment, became the laughingstock of the entire village. Even if he couldn’t get Su Qingyue’s money, he had to at least make her his!
“Are you listening to me?” the old lady was afraid her young and impulsive son would do something foolish, “The Xiao Family’s money is all used up. You can’t make any profit and will just bring trouble. I still want you to pass the examination and become an official…”
“Fine, fine, don’t say anymore, I understand.” He wouldn’t be stupid like today, openly coming here.
Su Qingyue arrived at Aunt Zhang’s house, but Aunt Zhang wasn’t around. Instead, Old Zhang was there.
“Oh, Qingyue is here.” Old Zhang greeted her politely, “Come in.”
“Is Aunt Zhang not at home?” She entered the yard.
“She’s gone to the field.”
Qingyue said, “Old Zhang, my family is building a new house. We need a lot of vegetables for more than one month. I’d like to buy them all from your family. How much extra vegetables do you have?”
“We have flat beans and vegetables. Those two items, enough for a dozen people to eat for half a month’s share,” said Old Zhang. “We have a lot of land, and your aunt is a hard worker. We originally planted these to sell in the town. If your family could buy them, it would really save us a lot of trouble. But it’s not enough for a whole month’s share.”
“That’s fine, half a month is enough.” Su Qingyue said, “Eating the same vegetables every day can get boring. Right now, we’re still clearing the foundation, and there are four people eating at home, plus seven people for lunch. Let me calculate how much we need every day. All of them are strong laborers, we can’t afford to have meat dishes every day, so more vegetarian dishes will complement the meat. Starting today, we’ll buy ten jin of flat beans from your family every day, and ten jin of vegetables the next day, and then flat beans again the following day… We’ll buy them in alternating order . After a few days, when the foundation is cleared and the new house construction begins, there will be more people eating. If it’s not enough, I’ll buy more.”