Chapter 175: Easy Money

Chapter 175: Easy Money

Who wouldn’t want to find a wife who is reliable, capable, smart, and also considerate?

The couple, however, were unaware of this and were very pleased with everyone’s reactions.

After asking everyone to help spread the word later, they instructed them to fetch water.

Madam Liu then began organizing and collecting money.

Seeing this, Qin Xiaoyao went to the kitchen.

He brought a small table and two stools and placed them under the shade of a tree.

This way, his mother-in-law and husband could sit while handling the transactions.

Soon, the scene became orderly as people paid and fetched water.

Since everyone was standing in the shade, they didn’t feel too hot.

They chatted while waiting in line.

The queue moved quickly, allowing two people to go to the well together.

Once one person finished fetching water, the next person could take their turn.

Those who bought only two buckets of water could leave after fetching them.

For those who needed four buckets, they would pay first, receive a token, fetch the water, and then carry it back.

When they returned, they wouldn’t need to queue again.

They could directly return the token and fetch the remaining two buckets of water.

As some people carried water out of the Song residence, more people carrying buckets arrived.

Seeing the queue, they all joined it voluntarily.

Song Que then stood up, walked over, and confirmed the thirty slots, informing the latecomers of the situation.

Some people, unwilling to risk waiting, chose to leave and come back another time.

Others stayed, believing that when their turn came, there would still be water available.

Thus, the queue continued to move forward.

After about three quarters of an hour, all thirty people had fetched at least two buckets of water.

Based on the tokens issued, there were still eight buckets of water left in the well.

Song Que glanced at the five people still waiting in line and, confirming that there was enough water, allowed them to continue.

Another sixteen buckets of water were sold smoothly.

When no one was left in the queue, Song Que went to the well and found that it was almost empty.

Even the spring at the bottom was exposed, gushing out water in large volumes.

"Our well has quite a substantial water output," Madam Liu remarked with a smile.

At this rate, it wouldn’t take long to accumulate another two buckets of water.

"Indeed," Song Que agreed, smiling.

"There are still four buckets of water for which payment has been made but not yet collected. If anyone else comes to buy water, have them wait."

"We must satisfy those who have already paid first," Song Que said.

"Understood," Madam Liu replied with a smile.

"I’ll get some ropes to string the copper coins together," she added.

Her daughter-in-law brought her a large bowl to hold the copper coins.

In just a short while, the bowl was nearly full of coins.

Taking advantage of the free moment, she counted the money so that her daughter-in-law wouldn’t have to do it later.

Song Que smiled and let her proceed.

It was clear that she enjoyed counting money. This task made her happy.

Soon, Madam Liu returned.

She sat down at the table and began counting the money diligently.

She stacked ten coins together and strung a hundred into a bundle.

In the end, they discovered that they had earned 306 copper coins in half an hour.

"This... this money comes too easily, doesn’t it?" Madam Liu looked at the counted coins in disbelief.

If they earned over 300 copper coins per trip and did four trips a day, they could make more than a tael of silver just by selling water!

Song Que smiled at his mother.

"There’s still nearly an hour left. If more people come to buy water, we can earn even more."

Madam Liu’s eyes lit up.

"Yes, yes, yes. I said I would sell for an hour, and the time hasn't come yet."

Saying this, he quickly sat down.

Song Que was amused once again.

"Mother, you watch here; I'll go back to my room." He said.

There wouldn't be many more customers, and his mother could handle it on her own.

"Alright! Walk slowly!" Lady Liu hurriedly replied.

Only then did Song Que turn and leave.

As he walked away, his face was full of smiles.

Earning one tael of silver a day made him this happy; the people in his family were truly easy to satisfy.

But that's not bad, is it?

After Song Que left, a few more people came to buy water.

Some even bought bean sprouts and sold eggs.

This delighted Lady Liu so much that she called Song Yun over to help.

From then on, the Song family's water-selling business took off.

Moreover, neighbors frequently bought bean sprouts and sold eggs, bringing the Song family some profit and convenience.

Following the evening hour, Lady Liu tidied her booth.

She brought the picked vegetables back to the kitchen to help prepare dinner.

Qin Xiaoyao then went to the courtyard, considering whether to add another shed to grow more bean sprouts.

Their bean sprouts had been on the market for some time now and were very popular in restaurants and at the three markets.

Now, many people came to their house to buy fresh bean sprouts.

Thus, adding another shed for bean sprouts seemed feasible.

Fortunately, there were still some leftover materials from building the previous shed.

If they built another shed next to the existing one, it should work out fine.

While Qin Xiaoyao was hesitating, Qin Dahu and Qin Erhu arrived with buckets.

Indeed, the meat stall business had continued to decline, leaving the two brothers with plenty of free time.

Since both brothers were available today, they decided to come to the Song family to fetch water.

"Younger Sister!" The brothers spotted Qin Xiaoyao first and called out to her.

Qin Xiaoyao's face lit up.

"Older Brother, Second Brother," she responded.

Then she quickly left the shed and walked towards them.

"Ha ha, Younger Sister! We heard your family is selling water now, and only to those dozen or so households in Yongan Lane and the front street?" Qin Dahu asked with a smile when he reached Qin Xiaoyao.

Selling water was a profitable business, and they were genuinely happy for their younger sister.

"Yes. We started this afternoon," Qin Xiaoyao replied with a smile.

"From now on, we will sell water during the hours of Mao, Wu, You, and Hai. If you avoid these times, you can come to fetch water."

The brothers exchanged glances.

"Alright!" They quickly agreed.

"On our way here, we heard many people in Yongan Lane talking about your family selling water. They all say your family is kind, charging only three coins per bucket. Is that true?" Qin Erhu asked.

"Yes," Qin Xiaoyao replied with a smile.

"My husband said that the water from our well doesn't cost anything. This time, we're just making a small profit. Mainly, we want to build good relationships with everyone for future interactions."

The brothers looked at each other and nodded.

"My brother-in-law is right; my second brother and I were shortsighted," Qin Dahu admitted.

Qin Xiaoyao smiled.

"Older Brother, what are you saying? You were just worried about me being taken advantage of," she said playfully.