The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 716 Godfather Buys You Candy (2)_1

Chapter 716: Chapter 716 Godfather Buys You Candy (2)_1

Pei Qian’s eyes flashed with cold ridicule, "Am I your mother, that you should care so much about how much of a gift to send?!"

Li Baoxiang, having been confronted in such a manner and seeing several others around laughing, could not help but flush with embarrassment and feel a mix of shame and annoyance. He cupped his hands towards Pei Qian, "Sister Qian! I indeed don’t know much about century eggs, which is why I asked."

Pei Qian did not even want to bother with him and snorted disdainfully before turning and entering the house. Cheap man! Follow me into the house, why don’t you!

Pei Qin and Grandma Fang were sitting inside, but Li Baoxiang did not have the courage to approach Pei Qian and try to win her favor in front of them.

Grandma Li had already taken a liking to a niece from Lady Yu’s family kin. Her niece was grown and already married. It was this cousin who had reached the marrying age. Entrusted by the elder sister-in-law of Yu, she brought her over to visit relatives, and a girl did not eat much; the Fang family did not care about one more person at the meal. By bringing her over, they also hoped to talk about a potential marriage with one of the Fang family’s relatives.

That niece from Lady Ruan’s family kin was indeed fair and quiet, but too young at only ten years old. It was just Yu Qingxiu who barely passed muster and was easier to speak of.

After speaking with the elder sister-in-law of Yu for a while, Grandma Li started whispering excitedly.

The Li family was in better circumstances, and although Li Baoxiang was married, his first wife had no sons, only a daughter. When she grew up and was married off, it was possible to receive a considerable bride price. Also, he was quite handsome, not like those boys who do farm work, rough and tanned. Scholars were always more valuable. Marrying there meant no worries about food and drink, and less work too. If Li Baoxiang ever ranked high in the examinations, that would be an even better fate.

Considering this, the elder sister-in-law of Yu felt that it was a decent match for her cousin and began discussing it with Grandma Li.

Seeing this, Lady Yu could not help but frown slightly. Grandma Li was utterly unprincipled! For the sake of Li Baoxiang’s scholarly reputation, she first sent word wanting to form a marital alliance and then sought to climb the ranks by proposing marriage to Pei Qin’s family for Pei Qian. Li Baoxiang’s scholarship was subpar, he failed to study diligently even when taught, and he even had the audacity to think of marrying a bride sought by their family.

Many visitors had come, and while they talked to Pei Qin, they also approached her about finding a match for Pei Qian, but no one dared to bring up the actual engagement. Pei Qin held a Decree; Mo Heng was an official; Pei Wendong had passed Scholar; and so Pei Qian’s standing had risen as well. Those beneath them could not reach that high and thus did not harbour any false hopes.

No one could speak of marriage, but they could certainly get involved in business. The business of Pei Qin and the others was growing larger, and they always needed more manpower. Furthermore, they needed to purchase things like melon seeds and duck eggs from outside. If they could take on such jobs, their families could slowly prosper as well.

Pei Qin was quite happy to help, suggesting those who had spare cash to buy mountain land to cultivate sunflowers. The melon seeds harvested from Taiping Mountain, along with those from the mountain included in Pei Yuan’s dowry, were insufficiently supplied to be sold; when merchant caravans wanting to buy some to resell came through, they were out of stock. They only supplied to their neighbors or took some to the Capital Jingcheng.

"If you have spare land to grow sunflowers, our family can provide the seeds. When it’s time to harvest, I’ll have the shop’s people go down to collect them," Pei Qin addressed the several people.

Each relative’s farmland was registered under Fang Fu or Fang Liuming, so they didn’t have to pay the grain tax, and the harvest was all their own, leaving them with a bit more silver coin in reserve. When it came to investing spare money in buying mountain land to grow sunflowers, with Pei Qin offering seeds and buying the crop at fair prices, they just had to ensure the sunflowers grew well; it was a potential source of income. They all showed interest and discussed the matter with Pei Qin.

Pei Qian listened and frowned. Among these people, who knew how many harboured dishonest intentions, hoping to take advantage? Her elder sister was giving away benefits again!

They were all relatives, and going to the south to find a few villages to raise ducks and collect eggs brought its own set of issues. It wasn’t too favorable to say they had no available ponds for raising ducks, only Bear River which wasn’t near their village. Raising ducks would prove difficult. Pei Qin suggested those who were willing to try could do so at home. They would report an approximate number of how many duck eggs they could provide. As for growing sunflowers, that venture was not loss-making, and proper effort would yield profit.