Cai Wei returned to her manor with Fei’er and Huan Qiu and was warmly welcomed by Lady Du and Wen’er and Wu’er. Dou Momo, seeing that Cai Wei’s chest had grown a bit larger, was very satisfied. Old Madam Zhang and Lady You, the eldest daughter-in-law, upon seeing Cai Wei return, hurriedly began preparing dinner to formally welcome her.
After Cai Wei was brought into the room by her mother, she discovered that they were now using ice at home and couldn’t help but laugh jokingly.
"Mother, Dad is really considerate of you!"
Lady Du, somewhat embarrassed, said, "I just felt a little hot, nothing serious, but your father, making a big fuss, insisted on using this expensive luxury, not knowing how much silver it cost."
Cai Wei laughed and said, "Dad knows how to pamper you, Mother, you should be happy instead of complaining. Could it be that he’d have to become a miser who wouldn’t even want to spend a single copper coin for you to be happy?"
Lady Du sighed, "I know he does it for me and the children, but, with so many children at home, you and Fei’er are growing up day by day, soon reaching the age to marry, Mother hopes to save more for your bridal gifts, so you can stand tall at your in-laws’ house, not being looked down upon; and your two brothers, growing up so fast, will need money for education and eventually to get married. Then there’s the baby in my belly, not knowing if it’s a boy or a girl, will definitely need a substantial amount of silver in the future! Right now, our family is doing quite well, but who knows about the future? So, I thought it best to save money while we have more silver, to have some security later, but your father doesn’t understand the need to save, just carelessly spends, how can I not complain about him!"
It was normal for her mother to have these thoughts. If Cai Wei didn’t have the Spatial Artifact or the transmigration golden finger, perhaps she would have been as frugal as her mother. But the fact was, she had the Spatial Artifact and the golden finger, and once she had developed and researched glass, she believed that she would secure the position of the richest person in Great Jin Nation. Hence, a few pieces of ice seemed trivial to her.
She looked at her mother and said, "It’s just a few pieces of ice that have led to Mother’s long explanation, but do you still remember what your daughter once told you? One day, our family will have so much silver that you won’t be able to count it all! A few pieces of ice mean nothing, in the future, we even need to build a large ice cellar!"
Lady Du, of course, remembered Cai Wei’s words. At that time, after recovering from a serious illness, their family had earned ten taels of silver from selling wild boar, and she had said that the family would have one hundred, one thousand, then ten thousand taels, and eventually more silver than she could count...
When Wei’er said this, her smile was serene and carried a depth that made it seem like she was speaking the truth. Back then, she, as a mother, didn’t believe it, thinking her daughter was just comforting her, but her daughter had proven with facts that she had achieved what she said.
In just half a year, her daughter had transitioned their family from barely making ends meet to a life of luxury and ease, servants at their beck and call, without her knowledge, her daughter had secretly purchased the valuable Fa’s Manor, opened the renowned Dim Sum Shop in the capital, and even bought a huge manor of several hundred acres for them to live in, and even the family restaurant was thriving today because of her daughter’s arrangements...
All these were living proofs that Cai Wei had the capability to fulfill the promises she made to her family.
"Older sister, what is an ice cellar?"
Wu’er nestled in Cai Wei’s bosom, his round face lifted in curiosity, like an inquisitive baby.
Cai Wei kissed his fragrant little face and explained, "An ice cellar is a cellar used by wealthy families to store ice. It’s much larger and deeper than the cellars we’ve seen in Mu Family Village used for storing vegetables. In winter, we use it to store ice blocks, and when it gets hot in summer, we take the ice out to cool off. We can also use the ice to chill watermelon or plum juice!"