The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 202: The Hero Seizes Wealth and Beauty (2)_1

Chapter 202: Chapter 202: The Hero Seizes Wealth and Beauty (2)_1

Pei Qian glared at her and asked, "Weren’t you with Sun Tiezhu? How did you run into robbers!?"

"Maybe I’m just easier to rob!" Pei Qin guessed that the robber must have followed them for a while, seeing that Sun Tiezhu was tall and strong, and she, a frail little girl, obviously had silver on her because they were building a house—so he decided to shamelessly target her! And then he even had the nerve to double the return, coward!

"Now we’re down by another ten taels of silver, and we don’t have enough to finish the house!" Pei Qian stamped her foot in anger. They were already poor, earning money was tough enough, and then getting robbed on top of that! Damn bandits, they won’t have a good death!

The robber who had just gotten hold of the silver and spent it sneezed violently twice.

Before going to bed, Pei Qin threatened her three younger siblings, "If any of you dare not practice martial arts diligently, I’ll throw you into the river!"

All three of them responded in unison, "We will definitely practice diligently!"

The next day, they got up very early, warmed up, did basic training, and Pei Qin taught them some simple fighting techniques.

After getting robbed, the four siblings took their martial arts training much more seriously. There were no adults at home, just a few children—if someone really did come to attack, they could only get beaten up! Therefore, they must learn powerful martial arts!

Pei Qin’s teachings were somewhat disorganized, and although it wasn’t quite what they had imagined learning martial arts would be like, all three learned seriously.

After training, they grabbed a quick breakfast, and Pei Qin started preparing roasted peanuts, "I won’t set up the stall at noon today, I’ll sell another batch of sugar-roasted peanuts first!" She planned to sell these sugar-roasted peanuts; twenty taels of silver could turn into thirty, and now with a loss of ten, all her hard work was wasted!

Once the sugar-roasted peanuts were ready, half were taken to Ju Xian Building and the other half to Moon Restaurant.

Boss He burst into smiles upon seeing Pei Qin, thanking her for the tip, as his tea house business had greatly benefited from those novelty sweet dumplings during the Lantern Festival, and he took the initiative to suggest buying sugar-roasted peanuts in the future.

"Great! Boss He, make sure you have paper bags made of cowhide, or sealed jars, or some kind of container ready. I’ll come over once every five days, on the fifth day. I’ll bring fifty pounds to start, and I’ll bring more if it’s not enough!" Pei Qin immediately signed a contract with Boss He.

The other half was taken to Moon Tavern, where the shopkeeper also quickly agreed to buy them and asked when the snow vegetables would be on the market, instructing her to send them all to Moon Tavern when available.

Pei Qin readily agreed, as she wasn’t planning on opening a tavern anyway. If she did dig up bamboo shoots in the spring, aside from what her family would eat, she naturally intended to sell the rest.

By the time she got home, the few taels of silver she had earned were all spent on peanuts and white sugar.

And so it went—selling noodle pancakes at the stall at noon, shelling peanuts in the afternoon, studying, practicing calligraphy, with another round of training before bed.

When Pei Qin found the time, she took Pei Wendong to the town school and met with Teacher Sun.

Teacher Sun assessed what Pei Wendong had learned and was amazed to find he was nearly done with the "Three-Character Classic"; having also dabbled in "The Four Books," he took a liking to this student and agreed to accept him right away.

When Pei Wendong heard the tuition was two taels of silver for a term—not including the cost of ink, paper, and inkstone—thinking of the family’s situation, he didn’t want to attend school anymore. "Big sister! I can study at home too, and I promise I won’t neglect my studies. I’ll be faster than those who learn in school! I’ll come to school after a couple of years!" If he attended school, it would not only cost money, but no one would help at the noodle stall either.

"There are some things that your big sister can’t teach you, only a teacher who knows can! Listen to me! You’ll enroll today and start school tomorrow! Let your second sister make you a book bag!" Pei Qin patted his little head and paid the tuition.