The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 102 - 91 Jiang and Meat

Chapter 102: Chapter 91 Jiang and Meat

Ms. Qian was taken aback and remained silent for a long time.

Manbao threw herself into her arms, raised her little head, and gazed at her with bright, sparkling eyes, "I also want Fifth Brother to go buy meat to come back, so when it’s chopped up, it can be cooked into a soup for Third Brother, and it would be perfect to eat with steamed buns."

Anxiously worried, Ms. Qian couldn’t help but laugh, stroking her little head, "If you really do that, it might be better to just take out the money to help your Third Brother with his service. Eating meat every day and then needing another pair of hands to cook, not to mention the expense, just one person in the same service complaining would create dissent. It would isolate your Third Brother, and the loss wouldn’t be worth the gain."

But how could Ms. Qian not feel distressed about her own son?

Since my daughter needs to go there to write articles anyway, Ms. Qian thought for a moment and said, "Now that it’s cold, even boiling hot water will chill by the time it gets there. Tomorrow, have your eldest sister-in-law bake two big pancakes for you to take along. Bring along the jar but forget the idea of buying meat. Just cook some water for them, and don’t give it only to your Third Brother. Share it with the laborers from the same village and from the same county."

After thinking it over and realizing that one jar of water wasn’t much, Ms. Qian added, "Bring along one of the wooden buckets from home, pour the boiled water into it, and cover it tightly with a cloth. Once a jar of water is ready, pour it in. Even if the last of the boiled water isn’t scalding, it won’t be ice-cold either; it might barely warm the stomach."

Manbao listened, dumbfounded, then counted on her fingers and asked, "Mom, did you give Third Brother any money?"

Ms. Qian looked at her suspiciously, puzzled at how the topic had changed. She nodded and said, "A little goes a long way on a journey. I gave him a hundred coins, thinking if he gets hungry, or sick, he could spend a little to buy some food or buy a little peace of mind. What’s wrong?"

Manbao’s eyes sparkled as she said, "Since mom gave Third Brother some money, other families must have given their laborers some as well. Mom, let’s go earn their money."

Ms. Qian leaned back in her chair and asked, "How do you plan to earn their money?"

Manbao replied, "I’ll sell them meat soup, one coin a bowl!"

Ms. Qian felt that the child was not only wasting her own family’s resources but the resources of others as well. She asked, "Do you know how much a pound of meat costs? How much meat would be needed to cook soup for so many people? Moreover, making meat soup is not the same as boiling water; a clay pot definitely won’t do. You’ll need to take the family cauldron. Such a large cauldron means you will again need to borrow a cart. With all this trouble back and forth, not making money is one thing, but you could also end up losing money."

Manbao scratched her head, uncertain, and asked Keke, "Will we lose money?"

After calculating the cost, the system asked, "Host, how many pounds of meat do you think is suitable for one pot of soup?"

Manbao, how should Manbao know?

She crawled into the kitchen to look at their pot - oh, Keke calls it a pot, but actually, it’s not called a pot, it’s called a cauldron, and it’s quite big. At home, whether for boiling water or making soup, they always use it.

Because they were a big family, they even had two prepared.

As for the type of pot Keke was talking about, Manbao had only seen it in Keke’s images - she had never seen a pot herself, especially the iron pots that Keke mentioned, all her life.

Manbao squatted in front of her family’s big cauldron at a loss; she didn’t understand things like cooking soup and meals, so she went to ask Junior Ms. Qian, "Eldest sister-in-law, if I boil a cauldron of meat soup, how much meat do I need?"

Junior Ms. Qian asked, "Little sister, did you come into a fortune?"

Manbao touched her little belly and smiled embarrassingly.

Junior Ms. Qian answered, "It depends on how you’re going to eat it. With a cauldron full of water, if you put in one piece of meat, it’s meat soup, and it’s still meat soup if you put in a pound of meat, two pounds, or three pounds - it will hold it. What’s important in soup is the flavor and the richness. Just add enough salt, and for such a pot of water, about half a pound or eight ounces would be about right."

Right, seems like you need to add salt too.

Manbao glanced towards their family’s salt jar and grew sorrowful.

Keke remained silent while Manbao, with her little head sagging, went back to the room to ponder - what kind of soup uses little salt and meat, yet can still ward off cold?

Without hesitation, Keke said, "Ginger soup."

Manbao then asked, "What’s ginger?"

After searching, Keke found the entry for ginger and showed it to her, giving her a glance at the image as well.

Manbao recognized it immediately, "I’ve seen this. We buy it during the New Year."

Keke said, "Ginger has the effect of expelling cold and warming the body. If the host is reluctant to buy meat, buying ginger is also an option and it shouldn’t be expensive."

Manbao was delighted, took out all her money to count it, and decided to go to the market early the next morning to buy ginger, then to visit Third Brother.

Of course, Manbao wouldn’t keep her ideas to herself; the first person she told was Fifth Brother, because she wouldn’t know how to make the soup, but Fifth Brother would.

Zhou Wulang became excited about his sister’s idea, which he trusted completely, "Manbao, you’re amazing. You think of ways to make money just by taking a trip. If you go out every day, wouldn’t you have a new idea every day?"

Manbao found his logic convincing and laughed along, "Can’t help it, I’m just that smart."

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang looked at her and laughed foolishly too.

Zhou Silang had already eaten and had lain down in bed. He was still building a house for the Bai Family, and every day he was too tired to move. He pulled the quilt over himself and yawned, "Stop your silly laughter. Ginger pieces are even more expensive than meat, you three dummies."

Manbao was displeased and said, "You’re the dummy. In our house, our village, our county, I’m the smartest."

This was what Keke said!

And how could ginger pieces be expensive? Keke said they’re very easy to grow. As long as the soil is rich, one piece can grow many, many more; they’re very easy to cultivate.

Zhou Silang’s eyes were almost closed as he murmured, "But it’s expensive... it’s medicine after all..."

Manbao couldn’t hear clearly and was already discussing tomorrow’s plans with Zhou Wulang.

They were in luck; tomorrow was a big market day. They could go early and find sellers of all sorts on the streets. Ginger pieces shouldn’t be hard to find.

For the sake of Third Brother, and wanting to earn money, Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang woke up before dawn to follow. Today, as usual, Zhou ErLang was going to the market, and he didn’t mind bringing along these two brothers and sister who were keen on the commotion.

Since it was winter now and there was nothing to do at home, a bunch of kids at home would just be playing with cats and walking the dog. It was better to go out and use up some energy.

The family’s winter stockpile of firewood was also gathered, and now Junior Ms. Qian and her two sisters-in-law were at home sewing and mending shoes and socks for them every day, with even the vegetable garden free of work. Naturally, they weren’t strict about the children running outside.

After Zhou ErLang took the younger siblings away, Zhou Silang finally looked up at his parents and said, "Manbao says she’s going to buy ginger to make soup instead of meat soup. Mom, why don’t you persuade her against it?"

"What’s the use of persuasion? Once she gets to the big market and sees the prices, she’ll hit the south wall and turn back on her own."

Zhou Silang sighed with an "oh" and sat waiting for the time to come.

Then Ms. Qian instructed him, "Go, fill the water tank."

Zhou Dalang, who was about to fetch water, stopped in his tracks as Ms. Qian said, "Yesterday your eldest brother fetched the water; today it’s your turn. From now on, you’ll take turns with your three older brothers."

Zhou Silang felt like crying.

He reluctantly rose and headed out with the wooden bucket.