Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Seeing that Lin Chunyan ignored her, Mrs. Zhang had no choice but to approach Lin Taohong and ask how sales were going today.

Lin Taohong could see through her intentions at once and quickly pulled herself closer, "Just this one bowl; I can barely have enough for myself."

She had overheard the previous conversation and, like everyone else, felt a mix of disdain and envy towards Mrs. Zhang's secret stash of money. She secretly hoped Lin Chunyan would retrieve the money from Mrs. Zhang soon.

Mrs. Zhang couldn't argue and didn't want to actually fight with her daughter over the brown sugar water. At this moment, she felt a bit regretful, fearing Lin Chunyan might not give her food.

After some thought, Mrs. Zhang went into the house and took out three copper coins, keeping three for herself.

"It was only because your Aunt Qian and Aunt Sun came to visit me and bought it out of respect for me."

Upon hearing this, Lin Taohong accidentally choked on the brown sugar water and started coughing.

Lin Chunyan snorted, "It seems Mother’s face is quite valuable. Next time, we should have them buy more."

Mrs. Zhang blushed slightly, relieved when Lin Chunyan didn’t ask for the three copper coins.

However, Lin Chunyan wasn't in a hurry to dismiss them. She planned to hold a small meeting to discuss the current situation.

The larger their stall grew, the more money they would earn.

"From now on, we will distribute the copper coins based on effort—more work, more pay; less work, less pay. No one will be favored."

Both Mrs. Zhang and Lin Taohong listened attentively. Lin Taohong even asked, "Will we get copper coins as long as we work?"

Lin Chunyan nodded, "Mother always complains about me taking money from her. From now on, let's put all the earnings together, and I'll distribute them to you.

We’ll also set aside some money for common expenses, such as oil, salt, and condiments, which can be taken from the common fund."

Neither of them had ever heard of such a system before. Mrs. Zhang hurriedly asked how much Lin Chunyan would give them.

"Of course, the more you work, the more you earn. If Mother does more work this month, I’ll give you twenty percent."

To clarify, Lin Chunyan gave an example, "If we earn five hundred cash this month, Mother will receive one hundred cash."

Mrs. Zhang gasped; there was so much.

Lin Taohong quickly asked, "What about me?"

"Of course, it depends on your performance this month."

Only then did they understand what "pay based on effort" meant. After some consideration, both agreed it was a good idea.

Mrs. Zhang was relieved that she wouldn't have to hand over money anymore and could earn extra by working harder. She had already dug holes until her hands blistered today.

To prove she hadn't been lazy, she showed Lin Chunyan the holes she had dug. Satisfied, Lin Chunyan took a piece of paper and marked a check with charcoal.

"What does this mean?" Both Mrs. Zhang and Lin Taohong leaned in to look.

"This is for attendance. If you complete tasks well every day, I’ll mark a check. At the end of the month, we can see how well you’ve done."

Both were intrigued. Lin Taohong pointed to a drawing of a peach, "Is this me?"

Lin Chunyan nodded, while Mrs. Zhang drew a star. As long as they could be distinguished, it was fine.

The rain came suddenly and left just as quickly. The air was no longer stifling but had a slight chill.

Mrs. Zhang went outside and touched the chicken’s bottom. The last remaining chicken was under constant surveillance. Whether due to tension or being scared by the previous killing, it hadn’t laid any eggs recently.

"How about having hot pot?"

Lin Chunyan dried her hair and picked some vegetables from the back garden. Lin Taohong, avoiding the mud, stood on the ridge and asked Lin Chunyan, "We don’t have mutton; won’t the hot pot taste bad?"

Indeed, without mutton, it was a bit disappointing, but mutton was expensive, and Lin Chunyan couldn’t afford it.

"We’ll add some mushroom broth and fish; it’ll still be flavorful."

Lin Taohong had never eaten fish hot pot before and was still disappointed about the lack of mutton. She tiptoed to peek at the neighbors.

Mrs. Zhao’s words still cast a shadow in Lin Taohong’s heart.

"Big Sister, did you see what Mrs. Zhao was holding earlier?"

Lin Chunyan placed the vegetables in a basket, noticing the cucumbers had ripened further. She brought them all back to make pickled cucumbers later.

In response to Lin Taohong’s question, Lin Chunyan simply said she hadn’t noticed.

Lin Taohong was a bit annoyed, "Big Sister, haven’t you seen that Mrs. Zhao has been dressing and eating differently lately? They say Lihua has become a third-class maid."

Lin Chunyan glanced at her, "Are you thinking about it again?"

Lin Taohong knew Lin Chunyan disliked the idea of becoming a maid, so she didn’t dare mention it. Instead, she talked about how many families in the village were eyeing the Zhao family, hoping Lihua could help them.

"There’s also our village’s Meizi. I saw her mother visiting Mrs. Zhao’s house several times recently, carrying baskets full of something."

Mrs. Zhang had just rested for a bit and was sitting in the courtyard eating melon. Lin Chunyan brought her a table and asked her to slice the cucumbers.

Used to being instructed, and perhaps influenced by the work log, Mrs. Zhang didn’t resist. When Lin Chunyan told her to cut, she picked up the knife.

All the greens were washed with well water. Lin Chunyan then went to the cellar to fetch some mushrooms and wood ear fungus.

The tree covered in wood ear fungus had been brought home by Lin Chunyan and placed in the cellar. Due to the less humid environment, it didn’t grow as much as before.

Lin Cuixiang’s shrimp were thriving; the large jar was filled with densely packed shrimp. Lin Taohong peeked in and immediately stepped back.

Afraid that others would mock him, Lin Taohong quickly said, "It's because the shrimp were too densely packed."

Lin Cuixiang now had some experience in raising shrimp, and since these shrimp could be sold for money, she worked particularly hard.

Seeing this, Sanlang thought of the small crabs he had caught before. After Lin Chunyan cooked them, they tasted incredibly fresh and many were sold.

Every day, he went to the small river to catch crabs, earning a few copper coins each day. Both siblings were very motivated.

However, unlike Lin Cuixiang, who felt secure, Sanlang always feared that one day he would run out of the small crabs and freshwater snails.

He casually mentioned this concern to Lin Cuixiang, who unexpectedly suggested that he ask Lin Chunyan if she could raise small crabs.

Sanlang felt as if Lin Cuixiang had changed, even her way of speaking was different from before.

He hesitated, "I see Yan Niang is quite busy; I wonder if she has time? Otherwise, I'll go check the small pond in the east of the village."

The small pond in the east of the village wasn't particularly large, but it had a variety of fish. It was only drained once a year in winter.

This way, people could have some meat throughout the year.

No one usually fished there, at least not the adults.

Few children went there either, as the pond was deep and there was a fear of accidents.

Sanlang and Silang secretly went fishing there several times, keeping it from Erlang and not telling anyone else.

When they went again, they were discovered by Doggy and the others.

With the hot weather and not much work in the fields, these children ran around the village all day. Doggy was tanner than before.

Ever since being threatened by Lin Chunyan at the riverside, he was afraid of those two girls and avoided them, fearing that Lin Chunyan's knife might end up on him accidentally.

But after tasting the dried fish given by Zhang Muyang, Doggy couldn't stop thinking about it.

Since his parents wouldn't buy it for him and Doggy had no copper coins, he decided to target Sanlang and Silang.

Noticing that the two often went to the village center, he led a few kids to watch and saw them catching fish, thinking he had found their weakness.

Sanlang and Silang exchanged glances and pointed to the basket, "You saw clearly; these aren't fish, just some small crabs and freshwater snails!"

"Those still belong to the village; who gave you permission to catch them here?" Doggy persisted.

"What do you want?" Silang stopped Sanlang from getting angry. They were outnumbered, and fighting would be disadvantageous.

Doggy replied without hesitation, "Bring us some dried fish, and we won't mention this."

Sanlang and Silang never expected Doggy to make such a request. Sanlang's anger subsided, and he even found it amusing.

"If you like the dried fish so much, why don't you buy it from Yan Niang?"

Blackie, standing next to Doggy, said, "If we had copper coins, we wouldn't need your advice."

Sanlang, with a bit of wit, came up with an idea based on what Doggy and Blackie had said.

"If you really want the dried fish, why not catch some crabs and freshwater snails? Then I can exchange them for dried fish for you."

Doggy and Blackie didn't believe him, "What's good about crabs and freshwater snails?"

"You don't need to worry about that. Whatever Yan Niang cooks tastes delicious. Just go catch them."

After some consideration, the temptation of the dried fish was too great, and they agreed.

If they were tricked, they decided to beat up Sanlang and Silang.

Unexpectedly, when they caught the crabs and freshwater snails, Sanlang did bring some dried fish to exchange.

Although the fried fish were limited, it was better than nothing.

Lin Chunyan noticed that there were more small crabs and freshwater snails recently, so she decided to make crab salad.

At this time, wealthy families enjoyed crab salad, which involved chopping raw crabs and mixing them with sesame oil and seasonings.