Chapter 210 Selling a Thousand Pounds

Chapter 210 Selling a Thousand Pounds

"Since I've come to talk about it today, we shouldn't delay."

"Later, Big Brother and Second Brother, you two should come to my house to collect the grain. Just take a thousand pounds."

Qin Dahu and Qin Erhu looked hesitant, exchanging glances before turning to their father.

With San Ya saying this, it was hard for them to refuse.

Qin Dazhuang thought for a moment and finally nodded.

"Since San Ya has said so, you two go ahead and get the grain. But don't delay with the payment. I can put up one tael, and the remaining four taels, each of your households should contribute two taels."

Qin Dahu and Qin Erhu exchanged another glance.

"Alright!" they agreed.

Then, the three of them got up and went to fetch the money from their respective rooms.

Qin Xiaoyao: ——

In a short while, the three of them returned, having gathered five taels of silver, which they handed over to Qin Xiaoyao.

Qin Xiaoyao, somewhat helplessly, accepted the money.

She then reminded her two brothers again to go to her house to collect the grain.

"Don't worry. When the sun is less intense, we'll go. We'll need to borrow one of your carts," Qin Dahu said.

"Sure thing. The cart is in the storage room; I'll show you where it is." Qin Xiaoyao readily agreed.

Having settled the matter of collecting the grain, the family soon moved on to other topics.

The entire afternoon was filled with joyous conversation at the Qin household.

Qin Xiaoyao stayed at the Qin household until evening before leaving.

She returned to the Song household with her two brothers.

Mainly because, ever since Qin Dashao started helping out at home, she wasn't as busy as before.

With business at Fu House decreasing, she now only needed to deliver some bean sprouts daily, and even the frequency of selling preserved eggs had decreased.

After finding it harder to collect eggs and duck eggs, she now made preserved eggs every two days.

Currently, the main tasks at home were taking care of the bean sprouts in the shed and selling water.

In terms of manpower, they were more than sufficient.

Back at the Song household,

Qin Xiaoyao led Qin Dahu and Qin Erhu directly to the storage room.

Then she helped them count the goods.

"These bags of rice and flour are packed by the grain store, each weighing exactly fifty pounds."

"For a thousand pounds, that's twenty bags."

As she spoke, Qin Xiaoyao pointed to two piles of grain.

"This pile is coarse flour, and that pile is coarse rice."

"How much of each type you need is up to you."

Qin Dahu and Qin Erhu exchanged a glance.

After discussing briefly, they reached a decision.

"Let's take twelve bags of coarse flour and eight bags of coarse rice," Qin Dahu said.

Coarse flour could be used to make flatbreads, which could be eaten directly with chili sauce and pickles.

Coarse rice, when cooked, would require additional dishes to accompany it.

If a famine truly occurred, coarse flour would be more practical than coarse rice.

"Alright, let's load it up then." With that, Qin Xiaoyao started loading the bags.

Qin Dahu and Qin Erhu knew their younger sister was strong and didn't stop her.

Soon, the three siblings loaded the twenty bags of coarse rice and flour onto two carts.

Then, Qin Xiaoyao personally saw them off.

Afterward, she went to the courtyard to help her husband and mother-in-law sell water.

Seeing her daughter-in-law arrive, Lady Liu smiled and offered her seat.

"Since you're here, why don't you two take over here? I'll start preparing dinner," she said.

Not many people came to buy water these days.

Mainly, everyone now knew the Song household had enough water and no longer lined up early.

Some who were not in a hurry came later.

In any case, the Song family sold water for an hour each time, so as long as one came within that hour, they could usually buy water.

"Ha ha, thank you, Mother!" Qin Xiaoyao replied with a smile.

He sat down in the spot where Lady Liu had moved away from.

She was not very skilled at cooking and did not particularly enjoy it either.

Therefore, on a regular basis, cooking at home was usually handled by her mother-in-law, her sister-in-law, and her younger sister, who would discuss and decide together.

"What hard work? You silly child!" Lady Liu chided gently before smiling and walking away.

Once Lady Liu was far enough, Song Que turned his head to look at Qin Xiaoyao.

"How did things go with your father-in-law's family?" he asked curiously.

Qin Xiaoyao’s lips curled up.

"With me handling it, of course everything was resolved!" he said proudly.

Recalling the scene earlier when he disciplined the Zhang family members, Qin Xiaoyao still felt somewhat unsatisfied.

Then, Qin Xiaoyao recounted how he had dominated the Zhang family, subduing everyone there, and how he had covered for his father and two brothers, leading Xiaohu away first.

"After returning, Father announced that Xiaohu should be given to Elder Brother and Sister-in-Law to raise as their own son."

Song Que nodded as he listened.

"Indeed, this can save a lot of trouble," he said.

"Yeah, that’s the idea."

After some thought, Qin Xiaoyao leaned closer to Song Que.

Covering Song Que’s ear with his hand, he whispered more quietly, "Also, just now, I had Elder Brother and Second Brother take back a thousand catties of grain. They paid five taels of silver."

Song Que was taken aback.

He looked at Qin Xiaoyao.

Qin Xiaoyao quickly explained, "It wasn’t me asking for it; it was Father insisting on giving it."

"At first, Father wanted to charge eight cash per catty."

"But I was smart and lied, saying we had agreed beforehand to only charge five cash. That’s how Father finally agreed."

Song Que’s expression improved slightly.

After some thought, he said, "Tomorrow, when you go to the cloth store, get some good fabric and send it to Sister-in-Law and Second Sister-in-Law."

"Just say it’s for the two children."

Since the money for buying grain was mostly earned by his wife, he had no qualms about sharing some with her family.

Now that they had received payment, they should find a way to give something back.

Besides, Xiaohu was back now.

Also, Second Sister-in-Law was about to give birth soon.

Sending them some fabric to make clothes for the children would be good.

Qin Xiaoyao’s eyes lit up.

"That’s a great idea! My husband is indeed clever!" he said, giving Song Que a thumbs-up.

Song Que was amused but quickly regained his composure.

He glanced around to ensure no one was watching before resuming his usual demeanor.

Qin Xiaoyao found this amusing.

Without pointing it out, he added, "I’ll also buy some coarse cloth to shield Father and the others from the locusts."

The houses at his wife’s family were not as well-sealed as their own.

If they didn’t cover up, many locusts might fly into the house.

"Mm." Song Que acknowledged.

Soon, the water-selling time ended.

Lady Liu and the others had already prepared dinner, and the Song family gathered in the main room to eat.

Then, Lady Liu inquired about the situation with the Qin family.

Upon learning that everything had been resolved satisfactorily, Lady Liu was relieved.

When she heard that Qin Xiaoyao planned to sell grain next, she was also very supportive.

"I heard that the price of coarse rice flour has risen to ten cash per catty. Selling now would yield quite a profit," Lady Liu smiled.

Mainly, there's just too much food stored at home, selling some of it off would be just right.

Wang Xiaomei, however, was somewhat surprised and looked at Qin Xiaoyao, but she did not speak.