The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 519 - 508 Discussion (For the reward from book friend "RainღCold＇◇")

Chapter 519: Chapter 508 Discussion (For the reward from book friend "RainღCold＇◇")

Zhou Erlang took off his shoes, pulled the blanket over him, and seeing Ms. Feng still sulking, couldn’t help but ask, "Still angry?"

Ms. Feng just huffed at him.

Lying comfortably on the bed, Zhou Erlang let out a sigh of relief and said with his arms as pillow, "Don’t be mad, Manbao was raised by your elder sister, she doted on her even more than she doted on Third Son, how could it be the same?"

Ms. Feng kicked him, nearly sending him tumbling under the bed. "You think I don’t know that? I just made one jealous remark, did you really have to bring up my cooking skills?"

Zhou Erlang felt somewhat embarrassed, coughed lightly, and said, "I just didn’t want you to lose face, that’s all."

"So you saying my cooking is bad makes me save face?" Ms. Feng huffed, "Just wait, once your elder sister starts her business in the county town, I will cook every day."

Zhou Erlang: ...

The idea of giving Junior Ms. Qian the shop so they could often eat delicious food was merely something Manbao said, and everyone else just went along with it.

That reason probably accounted for less than ten percent of the decision.

If it were really for the sake of delicious food, it would make more sense for Manbao to simply buy more ingredients than for Junior Ms. Qian to go to the county town. Who would cook at home then?

Ultimately, it was mainly because Manbao wanted to show her filial piety towards Junior Ms. Qian, to ensure she had a better life.

Ms. Feng couldn’t help but feel envious and a bit sour, but she wasn’t jealous.

Manbao had been raised by Junior Ms. Qian. At that time, their mother-in-law had been unconscious and gravely ill, so all of Manbao’s eating, pooping, and sleeping had been closely supervised by Junior Ms. Qian, even more attentively than for their Third Son.

Because she was frail, Junior Ms. Qian had even weaned Third Son early and focused solely on feeding Manbao.

As a child, Manbao hadn’t called the wrong mother, but she was certainly more attached to Junior Ms. Qian. If anyone were to be jealous, it should’ve been their mother-in-law, shouldn’t it?

With this thought, Ms. Feng couldn’t help but quietly ask Zhou Erlang, "Hey, do you think mother is angry?"

"I don’t think so," Zhou Erlang scratched his head and said, "When my uncle was alive, he also treated mother with the same respect as his own."

He couldn’t help but laugh, "Manbao is just like her dad in this aspect, except that she’s better. When my uncle was young, he called my mother ’mother,’ which angered our grandmother quite a bit."

Ms. Feng said, "Indeed, whoever nurses is the mother."

"If you had given birth to Second Son two years later, you could have been the one nursing Manbao."

Ms. Feng actually kicked Zhou Erlang out of the bed.

With the sourness in her heart dispersed, it was unlikely that the other women in the family would have any issues—let alone Ms. Fang and Lu Zhi, who had joined the family later and had not nursed Manbao, even Ms. He hadn’t thought much about it.

When Manbao was brought back, Ms. He had been a newlywed; a nervous bride involved in concealing a major secret. By the time she had fully grasped the situation, she was already pregnant.

By the time she gave birth to Fourth Son, Manbao could already walk with the support of walls.

If Ms. Feng had also taken part in raising Manbao, Ms. He had not contributed much, so she wasn’t concerned. Zhou Sanlang had broader thoughts and was whispering to her, "Once your elder sister goes to the county town, it will probably be you, Fourth Brother’s wife, and Fifth Brother’s wife taking turns managing the kitchen, unless you let my eldest sister take over entirely."

"Why?"

Zhou Sanlang fretted, "Second Sister-in-law cooks the worst meals. Once your elder sister leaves, she’ll be the one in charge at home."

Upon hearing this, Ms. He became worried and suggested, "Isn’t there also my eldest sister-in-law? Her cooking isn’t bad either, why don’t we let her manage?"

In the neighboring small courtyard, the rest of the family were also discussing the matter—a major topic concerning everyone’s meals.

Zhou Silang complained to Manbao, "You should have told us earlier, so your elder sister could’ve spent more time teaching your Fourth Sisters. With your elder sister gone, who will be in charge of the kitchen?"

"It’s not like the moment we buy the shop we can start the business; there’s still time to learn," Manbao replied.

"If we don’t open the shop right after purchasing, we’ll just be wasting money. Don’t you know, every day the shop remains closed we lose money?" Zhou Silang immediately said, "No, tomorrow, we’ll have Second Sister-in-law and Third Brother join us, and as soon as the shop is bought, we’ll get it ready. After the second day of the new year, we open for business."

Zhou Wulang nodded repeatedly, "The Lantern Festival in the county town is always bustling every year. By then, selling food will definitely make a lot of money. That’s why starting a business sooner rather than later is advisable."

"See, you should have told us earlier. Once your elder sister leaves, Second Sister-in-law will be in charge. Can you even eat what she cooks?"

Even Second Son and Erya shook their heads, "No, we can’t."

Manbao retorted resentfully, "How is that my fault? I just happened to meet Eldest Master Shi in town today. If he hadn’t been selling the shop, would I have thought of buying one?"

Zhou Silang sighed, "Having money is great indeed; to talk of buying a shop and just buying one."

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang nodded in agreement.

Zhou Silang always felt something was not quite right, "You’re supposed to hand over sixty percent of what you earn, how do you manage to save so much? Our family also has a hundred acres of land and we rear chickens and geese all year round, but all the profits go to dad, yet that’s still not as much."

Manbao said, "Are you foolish? Don’t you eat the grain? The produce from our small farm supports just three laborers, even Manor Head Bai eats at the Bai Family. Count how many people are in our family."

"The money spent on meat each year, the eggs we eat, the cloth bought for nephews and nieces, and the medical expenses for illnesses in the family—all these expenses come from dad and mom. But our farm has none of these expenses..." Manbao mused, "Now that our farm has an income, shouldn’t we be paying for the laborers’ clothing and such?"

Zhou Silang immediately cut off Manbao’s train of thought and asked loudly, "What do you think we should price our food items at?"

Manbao was thus diverted from her prior concern, putting it aside to engage in the discussion about opening the shop.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Although those three laborers only needed a couple of sets of clothes a year, it was still a substantial amount. The saved money divided three ways meant that their youngest sister would get a share too, right?

It’s proper to save where one can.

No, that’s not right; it’s not stinginess, it’s frugality!

While the people in the small courtyard were enthusiastically engaged in the discussion and couldn’t sleep, just over the wall, Zhou Dalang and his wife were also awake. Seeing his wife’s eyes were still red, Zhou Dalang couldn’t help but ask, "Still crying?"

Junior Ms. Qian wiped away her tears and said, "I just didn’t expect to receive Manbao’s filial offering first. Have you told dad and mom?"

"I did; and I’ve got the registry documents."

Junior Ms. Qian breathed a sigh of relief, "Tomorrow, you hold Manbao back, and you and Two personally see to it. Remember to put the shop in Manbao’s name."

"I know, don’t worry."

Junior Ms. Qian finally felt at ease and leaned back on the bed, saying, "Although this is Manbao’s way of showing filial piety, dad and mom haven’t received anything yet. It should be recorded in Manbao’s name, and later, when she gets married, it can serve as her dowry."

Zhou Dalang smiled at her, "You really think things through, specifically listing it in Manbao’s name. Are you worried dad might pocket the shop?"

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