Zhang Zhaodi looked at the things Zhou Wangshu was carrying, casting a skeptical glance at him.
"Did you really catch this?"
Zhou Wangshu's eyes were clear, and he nodded sincerely: "Of course, Aunt."
"Mom, Wang Shu is amazing," Su Yaoguang boasted. "Wang Shu, show my mom."
Zhou Wangshu took out a slingshot, aimed at the sky, and with a bang, a bird was shot down.
Zhang Zhaodi's expression softened a bit and she spoke coolly: "Not bad, it covers the money spent on buying him and his medicine expenses."
"Aunt, I'll do more work in the future, definitely won't let you make a loss-making deal."
"That's more like it."
Su Yaoguang gave Zhou Wangshu a look, and he received the signal, immediately starting to settle the rabbit in his hands.
Zhang Zhaodi planted the flowers Su Yaoguang brought back around the courtyard.
Su Yaoguang continued to make rouge and powder.
At the current pace, the first batch of goods can be completed in a few days. Whether this business can succeed will be revealed on the next market day.
They made braised chicken chunks that night, and the aroma spread, making the neighbors all dizzy with hunger. The mischievous kid next door clamored for chicken and got a slap from an adult, and his wailing spread, so the whole village knew that Zhang Zhaodi and her daughter were eating chicken again, and this time it was caught by the ten cents little husband.
Zhong Lanhua entered the courtyard with a vegetable basket and saw Xiao Yanci chopping wood, with Jiang Yihuan handing him water. She coughed softly and looked at them unkindly.
Jiang Yiyi saw Zhong Lanhua return, tiptoed over, took the vegetable basket from her, and said softly: "Mom, why hasn't Big Brother arrived yet?"
"Go meet him at the village entrance, he should be arriving soon." Zhong Lanhua glared at Xiao Yanci.
"Okay, I'll go wait for Big Brother now," Jiang Yihuan said, and pleaded for Xiao Yanci. "Mom, Brother Xiao has been working for a long time, let him rest!"
"If he doesn't work, should us two weak women do it? I bought him to work, not to enjoy life," Zhong Lanhua barked harshly with her hands on her hips.
Jiang Yihuan's eyes reddened, and she choked grievance: "Mom, why are you being so harsh, he didn't say anything wrong. Brother Xiao is a person, how could he work all the time?"
Seeing Jiang Yihuan being yelled at to tears, Xiao Yanci harbored more resentment toward Zhong Lanhua, and felt more pity for Jiang Yihuan.
Such a good girl as Yihuan, how did she end up with such a mother? Forget it, if he does a bit more work, and it means Yihuan gets scolded less, then let him work more!
"Miss Yihuan, it's alright, I'm not tired. I can chop some more."
Jiang Yihuan looked at him with heartfelt concern: "Thank you, Brother Xiao."
Jiang Yihuan wiped her tears and went out. As she stepped out, she glanced back in the direction of Xiao Yanci, and a smirk appeared. She walked away with large strides, eyes full of mockery.
Men in the world are all the same after all, boring.
At the village entrance, Jiang Yihuan saw a slender figure, approached him, took the bookcase from his back, and called out, "Brother."
The person nodded coldly, handed the bookcase to her, then shook his sore arm, with a stern face, not speaking.
Since Jiang Yihui didn't speak, Jiang Yihuan didn't dare to speak either.
Since childhood, she was afraid of this brother, and as long as she had conflicts with him, her mother would never take her side, always siding with this elder brother.
The siblings from the Jiang Family walked home one after another. When they passed by Su Yaoguang's house, the aroma in the air drifted over. Jiang Yihui glanced in the direction of Su Yaoguang's house.
Jiang Yihuan took this opportunity to chat with Jiang Yihui: "Brother, Su Yaoguang bought herself a husband."
Jiang Yihui frowned: "She's only fifteen, that eager to marry?"
"Her grandmother wanted to betroth her to the foolish son of the Su Family's great-aunt. To settle down sooner, she sought out a human trafficker, saying she wanted to buy a man to be a live-in son-in-law..."
Jiang Yihuan shared the recent happenings with Jiang Yihui, talked about other families, and then started discussing her own family. She mentioned their mother deliberately buying Xiao Yanci, and the fact that Xiao Yanci had studied.
Upon hearing his family also bought a man but for work, Jiang Yihui's previously tightly knit eyebrows relaxed. When Jiang Yihuan mentioned that the person with the surname Xiao was literate, a look of disdain passed through his eyes, and he harshly said: "If he really studied, would he have been sold? He probably just knows a couple of words, claiming to be educated to inflate his status. Only womenfolk like you would fall for it."
Jiang Yihuan didn't dare to oppose.
As soon as Jiang Yihui entered the house, Zhong Lanhua excitedly came over: "My son is back. My son has had a hard time studying. My son is so thin now..."
Jiang Yihuan pouted.
Thinner? How come she didn't see it?
All the money she and her mother earned was spent on her brother. His yearly tuition, and the 300 cents he needed every month, they worked so hard to earn it, almost sewing their eyes blind.
Jiang Yihui immediately noticed Xiao Yanci, who was chopping wood, and was a bit surprised when he saw his appearance, because this face was quite decent after all.
But soon, he thought about the fact that there were two women in the house, and with a good-looking man staying at home, it felt unsafe no matter how he thought about it.
"Come inside with me." Jiang Yihui called Zhong Lanhua and Jiang Yihuan into the room.
Xiao Yanci frowned.
The only 'male head' of this household seemed to have hostility toward him.
He stood outside the door, listening to the conversation inside.
"Why sell him? He can help us with a lot of work. Hui'er, your sister and I are finally just weak women, having a man help with the heavy tasks, it's been much easier for us during this period," Zhong Lanhua was displeased.
The most important thing is, everyone in the village knows our family has a servant now, and we've just been showing off for a few days, if we sell him, people might think we can't afford a servant.
She now was someone who had a servant to command, and the village women were full of envy. Most importantly, the servant she bought is much better than the live-in son-in-law Zhang Zhaodi purchased.
"You two women at home, he is an adult servant living under the same roof as you, and if it's spread out, it doesn't sound good. Yihuan hasn't been arranged for marriage yet, do you want her to be ridiculed by people?"
Jiang Yihuan weakly said: "We are upright people, not afraid of shadow slanting, not afraid of gossip. Brother, please don't sell him, he's really pitiful."
"How can it be as severe as you say?" Zhong Lanhua said, "Alright, you just came back, you must be starving, right? Huan'er, come with mom to make something delicious for your brother. The Su Family had chicken today, let's have braised pork."
Jiang Yihuan readily agreed: "Okay, mom, let's go make something delicious for Big Brother!"
Her mom rarely did anything beneficial for her, and she wasn't about to let her big brother interfere. Her big brother spent every day at the academy, even brought their dirty clothes back for them to wash, of course, he wouldn't know how hard they worked at home. Ever since they had Xiao Yanci, at least someone was there to take on the heavy tasks.