The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 231: Only Managed to Hold in a Fart (4)_1

Chapter 231: Chapter 231: Only Managed to Hold in a Fart (4)_1

Feng Bo always felt that his cousin Pei Qin acted with quite the authority of an older cousin, and joked, "I’m only five days younger than you, just by a bit, you should be calling me ’big brother’!"

Pei Qin just gave him a glance, not too keen on cooking in the scorching heat. If it were just her and her sibling, a simple fried rice, some cold mixed vegetables, or noodle soup would suffice. In preparation for cooking, she headed to the kitchen with Pei Yuan, while instructing Pei Qian to take some money and buy some braised meat and pickles.

Pei Qian took the money with a somewhat uneasy expression, went out and bought a piece of pig’s head meat, as well as a pig’s ear, but didn’t purchase any pressed beef. The beef was more than half as expensive again. If she really bought pressed beef for him to eat, with that small amount of money, it would be better for them to buy it themselves at the market rather than owing favors to his family!

The braised meat was sliced for a cold dish, rice porridge boiled in the pot, three-grain steamed buns were prepared, green beans were stir-fried until dry, and a small bok choy dish was cooked.

The food was just ready when Pei Wendong returned from his studies with Mo Heng. The school had closed for the busy farming season, so Pei Wendong studied and practiced calligraphy with Mo Heng every day.

Feng Bo didn’t get many opportunities to visit. The last time he ate with them was when they moved into their new place, celebrating with white flour buns, and many meat dishes on the table.

Seeing that their usual fare was three-grain buns, and upon breaking them open to find they were mostly made of white flour with only a small amount of corn and sorghum flour mixed in, he thought about their daily stall and asked Pei Qin with a smile, "You sell things at your stall every day and should make a fair amount of money. Now that the new grain has also been harvested, it’s not necessary for you to eat mixed grain buns anymore!"

"If we eat white flour every day, wouldn’t all the money we earn be squandered, leaving nothing behind!?" Pei Qian said somewhat aggressively. In the future, they would need to farm their fifty-plus acres of land, and they couldn’t manage it alone; hiring help would cost money, as would the autumn harvest. They didn’t even know how much it would cost to plant sweet potatoes, and Wendong was still in school paying tuition, needing to buy brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. There were a lot of expenses at home!

Feng Bo looked somewhat embarrassedly at Pei Qin.

Pei Qin didn’t join the conversation. She too wanted to switch to white flour buns, but Pei Qian disagreed, always buying corn and sorghum flour because it was much cheaper and they could eat their fill. If she didn’t want to eat mixed grain buns, then in the future, dumplings and steamed buns wouldn’t be allowed to be made entirely with white flour, so Pei Qin had to compromise. After all, it was just buns, nothing more than a mix with cornmeal paste.

After eating, Pei Yuan went to clean the pots, while Pei Qian and Pei Wendong went to fetch grass to feed the donkey.

"No need! I’ll do it myself!" Feng Bo hurried over to help.

Pei Qian, carrying the fresh grass, headed straight for the animal shed.

Only then did Feng Bo notice the donkey lying in their animal shed. His eyes widened in surprise, "You’ve bought a donkey!?"

Oxen were expensive, but donkeys were even more so. Seeing the donkey stand up, tall and robust, Feng Bo turned to Pei Qin, "A donkey like this one, especially bought during the busy farming season, must have cost more than twenty taels of silver, right?" His family had bought a young donkey at its cheapest, raised it themselves, and even that had cost over ten taels of silver.

"About that much," Shen Songming had bought it, and Pei Qin didn’t know exactly how much the donkey had cost.

They had actually earned so much silver coin in such a short time!? Feng Bo couldn’t quite believe it and felt somewhat uneasy.

In the afternoon, Pei Qin had to deliver sugar-roasted peanuts to the county. She unloaded the tables, chairs, and stove from the cart, cleaned them up, and hitched up the donkey cart.

After cleaning the pots, Pei Yuan came out to help load the sugar-roasted peanuts onto the donkey cart, washed her hands, and went with her.

Pei Qin spoke directly to Feng Bo, "We’re going to the county town to deliver goods, and your family is busy too, so I won’t keep you any longer." She also had Pei Qian fetch a bag of sugar-roasted peanuts to give to him as a gift.

Feng Bo nodded absent-mindedly and watched her put on a straw hat and easily drive the donkey cart out the door, his mind a tangled mess. He turned to ask the younger ones, Pei Qian and Pei Wendong, for some information, only to meet Pei Qian’s cool and deep gaze, which made him feel uneasy.

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