Chapter 208: Half of the Stored Food Was Eaten

Chapter 208: Half of the Stored Food Was Eaten

"After that, I fed the child. He's now fast asleep."

Thinking of the child’s adorable sleeping face, Sister-in-Law Qin couldn’t help but smile.

Even though he looked wrinkled, he was still incredibly cute.

Seeing this, Qin Xiaoyao exchanged a smile with Sister-in-Law Qin the Second.

Then, Qin Xiaoyao relayed their father’s intentions.

Sister-in-Law Qin was both surprised and delighted upon hearing this.

"Is Father really saying this?!" she asked.

"Absolutely!" Qin Xiaoyao replied with a smile.

"From now on, you will be Xiaohu’s mother. I am his aunt!"

"I am his second aunt!" Sister-in-Law Qin the Second chimed in.

The kitchen erupted into laughter.

After eating, Sister-in-Law Qin washed her own bowl before joining Qin Xiaoyao to meet Qin Dazhuang and the others.

At that moment, the three of them were cooling off under a tree in the courtyard.

Upon seeing Sister-in-Law Qin and Qin Xiaoyao approach, they stopped their conversation.

Then, Qin Dazhuang inquired about Qin Xiaohu’s condition.

Hearing that Qin Xiaohu was doing well, the three of them felt relieved.

Qin Dazhuang then proceeded to share his thoughts and plans.

Having already heard about this from Qin Xiaoyao while in the kitchen, Sister-in-Law Qin agreed without hesitation.

Thus, Qin Xiaohu’s identity was settled.

After the joy subsided, Sister-in-Law Qin turned to Qin Xiaoyao again.

"I still need to check on the Liu family. Xiao Mei, if I go to work today, I’m afraid—"

According to their previous arrangement, she had to help the Song family from the afternoon until evening.

However, with Xiaohu just returning, she needed to spend more time taking care of him.

Although Sister-in-Law Liu had promised to watch over him, it wouldn’t be ideal in the long run.

Qin Xiaoyao smiled.

"Don’t worry, taking care of Xiaohu is more important."

"Also—" Qin Xiaoyao paused for a moment.

After some thought, she continued, "Now that Xiaohu is back, let’s adjust your working hours."

"The amount of goods I deliver to Fu House has decreased. Many tasks can be handled alone."

"Therefore, from now on, you can work one hour less each day. Come to my place after the afternoon hour of Shen, giving you more time to take care of Xiaohu."

Sister-in-Law Qin’s expression changed.

"How can that be?!" she immediately refused.

After a moment’s thought, she added, "Otherwise, I can come to your place for an extra hour at night during the hour of Hai to make up for the lost time."

Seeing that Qin Xiaoyao didn’t respond, Sister-in-Law Qin hesitated.

"Or, you could reduce my pay. Deduct the wages for one hour each day," she suggested.

She certainly didn’t want less pay, but she needed to prioritize Xiaohu’s care.

Moreover, her sister-in-law was pregnant, and she needed to look after her as well. It was getting overwhelming.

Qin Xiaoyao hesitated for a moment.

After some consideration, she finally said, "Alright, then work one hour less each day, and your pay will be forty coins."

Sister-in-Law Qin realized that her sister-in-law was being generous.

She was about to object when Qin Xiaoyao spoke first.

"It will be forty coins. The extra is from me, your aunt, for Xiaohu."

With these words, Sister-in-Law Qin couldn’t argue further.

Touched, she accepted the offer.

The rest of the Qin family did not say anything either.

After Sister-in-Law Qin left, Qin Xiaoyao sat down beside her father.

She joined her father and two brothers in conversation.

"Although it’s hard to acquire live pigs now, we don’t slaughter pigs frequently. We can wait for now," Qin Dazhuang said to his second son.

"But the docks over there."

"Boss has already gone there and thinks it’s fine. Do you want to go as well?"

A hint of hesitation flashed across Qin Erhu's face.

"I have no problem going. But then, you’d be alone at the stall—"

"So what if I’m alone? We only sell meat on market days. On regular days, we just sell some bean sprouts and straw shoes. Can’t your old man handle it by himself?" Qin Dazhuang replied.

Seeing his second son’s concern, he added, "Just rest assured."

"Now that Xiaohu is back, even if the Zhangs come begging, I won’t show any mercy."

"If they know what’s good for them, they’d better not come. Otherwise, they’ll just get beaten up."

He had divorced the Zhangs long ago and had thought everything through.

Now that the family had finally regained its harmony, things were fine as they were.

He certainly wouldn’t bring trouble back home again.

Qin Erhu still hesitated, looking at Qin Dahu and Qin Xiaoyao.

This made Qin Dazhuang somewhat annoyed.

"Stop looking! There’s only so much work at the stall. Keeping both of us there would be a waste."

"Your wife will give birth soon. If you don’t find ways to earn more money now, how will you manage when you need it?"

Qin Erhu’s heart stirred, and his brows furrowed.

Of course, he was worried about this too.

While his elder brother’s situation seemed worse than his own, since Xiaohu was already back,

in reality, their family might face even greater difficulties ahead.

After all, his wife was also about to give birth.

And neither he nor his wife currently had jobs.

Although working with his father, buying live pigs, slaughtering them, and selling the meat did earn him some money,

when business was bad, the amount he could take home was very limited.

"Why don’t you come with me? If we both go to the docks, we can look out for each other." At this moment, Qin Dahu spoke up.

"Besides, taking leave from the docks is easy. If Father needs help later, we can just take leave!"

Qin Erhu finally nodded.

"Alright!"

Seeing this, Qin Xiaoyao’s lips curved upward.

With both brothers having jobs, the family would fare better.

Then, he asked the three, "By the way, have you eaten the grain you stockpiled? How much is left?"

The three of them looked stunned.

After exchanging glances, Qin Dahu spoke.

"We’re eating together now in our two households."

"The grain we bought before was combined."

"At first, your two sisters-in-law didn’t plan to use that grain."

"But with the grain prices continuously rising, they couldn’t bear to spend money on new grain and ended up using what we had."

At this point, Qin Dahu couldn’t help but sigh.

"When I found out two days ago, it was already too late."

"Right now, we probably have less than five hundred catties of grain left."

Hearing this, Qin Erhu’s expression turned gloomy.

"Big Brother told me about this two days ago. We were thinking of buying more grain to replenish the stock, but—"

But the current grain prices at the store were sky-high.

Coarse rice and coarse flour had risen to ten cash per catty.

Back then, even refined rice and flour didn’t cost that much!

Even after going to the store, they ended up buying nothing and returned empty-handed.

Hearing this, Qin Dazhuang’s eyes widened.

His sons hadn’t mentioned this to him before!