The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 730 Shameless to Death (3)_1

Chapter 730: Chapter 730 Shameless to Death (3)_1

Pei Qin asked the kitchen to prepare a meal.

"This house has a Cook woman, so you don’t even need to lift a finger to cook! You don’t even have to step into the kitchen!" Fang Hui said enviously, "In our house, let alone a Cook woman, we haven’t even saved up enough silver for Er Lang to take a wife yet. A few days ago, when the weather changed, his grandfather fell ill. The money spent on medicine, seeing the doctor, and getting acupuncture treatments really added up." She sighed as she spoke.

Listening to her lamenting about poverty, Pei Qin laughed but said nothing.

Fang Hui, seeing that she wasn’t responding, felt annoyed. They really didn’t care about her, their aunt! Seeing her family struggling probably made them feel even more pleased with themselves! But since Pei Qin wasn’t responding, Fang Hui couldn’t just stop talking; how else would she bring up the matter of the spicy pickled cabbage!? So even though Pei Qin remained silent, Fang Hui kept on complaining, "Your cousin Dalang is still working as a shop assistant, earning only a few taels of silver a year. After spending a little here and there, it’s all gone; there’s no chance he can contribute to the family expenses. Just a few days ago, when I was at your maternal grandfather’s house, they were talking about this. If we could open a shop for him, or manage something, he could slowly start to build things up, and the family wouldn’t be so hard-pressed!"

"But you know what your eldest uncle is like. You handed the Sweet Potato Flour Workshop directly over to them, and he’s been treating it like it’s his own. If you hadn’t spoken about it beforehand and let people from the village take a share, he would certainly have kept it all for himself! Even so, he doesn’t let our family get involved at all. Er Lang wanted to manage something in the workshop but he wouldn’t allow it. Nobody can talk him round, and I’m out of options, so I had to come to you to see what can be done."

"Allowing only the villagers of Fang Family Village, Horse Temple, and Xiao Yang Village to participate in the Sweet Potato Flour Workshop was a rule I set," Pei Qin explained with an ’oh’.

Fang Hui’s face froze, "You set this rule!? Why make such a rule?"

"I established that rule to prevent people from other villages from meddling," replied Pei Qin.

Was it to prevent their family from interfering!? Fang Hui’s expression became somewhat displeased, and she let out a wry laugh, "No wonder. Your eldest uncle says exactly that; he doesn’t let our family have any part of it, hogging it all for himself. He’s an uncle and I’m your aunt, doesn’t it seem a bit unfair to favor one side so heavily? Don’t you think?"

Pei Qin raised an eyebrow.

Fang Hui’s eyes turned red, "Qinqin! I really had no other choice; that’s why I had to come begging to you! We don’t make much from the spicy pickled cabbage every year, and after a few months of hard work, we don’t earn much money. Those who want to buy pickled cabbage always buy yours, and we are forced to sell at lower prices. With so many mouths to feed at home, and Er Lang not yet wed, and with no hope for Dalang to open a shop, if things keep going like this at home, and if one more thing goes wrong, we’ll have to borrow from outside!"

"You’re in such dire straits already?" Pei Qin exclaimed in surprise.

Fang Hui choked up a little, "When Fang Fang got married, I also thought about growing sunflowers like you said. But where will our family get the silver to buy a piece of mountain land to grow sunflowers?"

"So what do you want to do?" asked Pei Qin.

Fang Hui glanced at Li Hualing before repeating, "Our family can’t make much from spicy pickled cabbage each year, we don’t earn much money. Since everyone buys from you, we have to lower our prices. Now, you’re busy making soy sauce, and preserved eggs, and you’ve started a breeding farm. With you pregnant again, you won’t have the time to make it, right? Wendong isn’t at home either, and even if he were, he’s going to study and sit for exams to become an official. Sooner or later, you’ll leave this place for Capital Jingcheng to enjoy wealth and honor. The spicy pickled cabbage..."

"What about it?" Pei Qin pretended not to understand.

Fang Hui felt a surge of silent resentment. Was she really a brainless person? They had reached this point in the conversation; could she really not understand what was being said?

Li Hualing was extremely embarrassed; Pei Qin was obviously pretending not to understand.

But Pei Qin kept responding. Fang Hui had no choice but to spell it out, "This spicy pickled cabbage... If you don’t have much spare time, and if you’re not going to make it anymore, we can take all the cabbage this year and make more."