The billionaire girl: Daddy and Mommy, love me again

"cotton!"

"No, no, cotton is so expensive. We can't bear to use too much of it when making cotton-padded jackets, let alone using it to fill seat cushions. Your butt is so precious, you need to use cotton to pad it."

"That's right. We dare not sit on cotton cushions. The two quilts in my house were bought when I got married to my wife. They are as hard as lumps of earth now. I am reluctant to change them even though they are caked with dirt.

This sofa has five cushions, and I estimate that each cushion must contain at least three kilograms of cotton.

Don't we produce cotton here? All the cotton is shipped from the north. One pound of cotton costs at least three hundred coins. So just buying cotton in this place will cost four and a half taels of silver.

My goodness, although linen and wood are not valuable, but with the labor, a set of sofas can't be made without five or six taels of silver."

"The cost is too high. I feel uncomfortable for ordinary people like us to use such a good thing.

This sofa is not suitable for us, it is only suitable for those gentlemen."

As soon as the old men heard Cheng Zeli say that cotton was needed, they all felt a sudden pain in their hearts.

"That's right, our sofas are made to be sold to the rich. Do you think that if our sofas were made of straw, catkins, or sand, would they be popular with the rich?

Only if we ensure the quality will those people be willing to pay for our furniture.

Besides, although the cost is high, we can set the selling price higher. They are not short of money, and if the price is low, they will feel that it is not worthy of their status.

We will first make a few sets and put them in the store as exhibits. If someone wants to buy, we will let them choose the style and make a reservation. This way, we won’t have too much inventory and unsalable products that will lead to waste.”

After Cheng Zeli's explanation, the old men were convinced, their minds were instantly opened up, and they all nodded in agreement.

"I have to say that our scholar has a broad vision. We old guys are really old. We have only known how to dig for food in the soil all our lives. We have developed this habit of being stingy and it is no longer useful."

The old patriarch's younger brother, Grandpa Seven, said somewhat dejectedly.

"Seventh Grandpa, that's not what I meant. An old man in the family is like a treasure. It is because of you treasures in Chengjia Village that we, the younger generations, can venture out without worries, and our entire Cheng family can become more and more prosperous."

Afraid that the old man would misunderstand what he meant, Cheng Zeli hurried forward to support Grandpa Qi and comfort him.

"Zeli is right. Uncles, don't underestimate yourselves. You are our treasure and our support.

You have worked hard for our family all your life. Now that you are old, if we still ask you to worry about us, I am afraid that God will think we are unfilial.

There is no need to do anything else. As long as you are healthy, sit there and chat happily in peace, we, the younger generations, will feel at ease.

Besides, all our houses have been sold, and the two brick factories are doing a booming business. The oil we squeeze out is not enough to sell, and the costs have been recovered long ago.

When the New Year comes, Zeyi will bring the account book back and we can get our dividends.

Everyone will get a lot of money this year. Now that there are still a few days before the New Year, we can't just take in the money and not spend it. Let's take out the money we earned from selling fish some time ago and buy some New Year's goods, such as some cloth and a few pounds of cotton, and make some new clothes to wear.

New Year, new atmosphere. This year is different from previous years. We can’t be wearing tattered clothes when we have mountains of gold and silver.”

At this time, Cheng Dafu also stood up and spoke.

"The village chief is right. We have no shortage of food and money this year. It's time to dress ourselves up so that we don't end up dressed like beggars and get laughed at, bringing shame to Chengjia Village."

"Yes, yes, yes. I used to think that it didn't matter what I wore. Now that you said that, it does make sense. Our Chengjia Village is different now. If we continue to wear shabby clothes, people who don't know the truth will think that we can't afford to pay their wages."

"Then what are you waiting for? Go home now and ask the women to go down the mountain to buy cloth."

The old men were quick to act and left without hesitation, fearing that the shops would be closed if they arrived too late, so they all staggered home on their crutches.

Only Old Man Cheng, Cheng Dafu and Cheng Erfu, three brothers, remained in the yard.

Ever since Cheng Xingwan was born, there were very few sick people in the village, so Cheng Erfu became idle. Apart from going to the fields with his family, he spent the whole day doing carpentry work with Old Man Cheng.

Cheng Zeli did give him a few medical books, but he felt that they were of no use to him and gradually lost interest.

This was a good thing for Cheng Laosi. After finishing his work every day, he would read medical books with great interest and was addicted to them.

In just two months, he had memorized the uses of the herbs recorded in half of the "Compendium of Materia Medica".

Cheng Erfu has expressed his admiration for Cheng Laosi's great talent in medicine in front of Old Man Cheng and Cheng Dafu more than once.

"Ze Li, when did you come back? I remember you went down the mountain. How is it going? Did you find the master?"

Old man Cheng was so obsessed with making furniture that he didn't even know when his son would come back.

“The Master’s matter is not urgent. My father-in-law is trying to contact his classmates to see if any of them are willing to come.

I came back mainly to talk to you about children's books, as well as the issue of writing brushes, inkstones, and paper."

Cheng Dafu frowned slightly: "In the past, few families in our village could afford to support scholars, but now it is different, everyone has an income and can indeed afford these.

But every household has at least six or seven children, and some have more than a dozen. It is a considerable expense, even if our village can afford to send the children to school.

The same cannot be said for the working class families. I guess not many of them can afford to send their children to our college.

I have a suggestion. Let the two children share a set of stationery and books, which can save half the cost. "

"That's not right. If so, who will take the books home after school? Besides, pens, ink, paper, and inkstones are all consumables. Even if we share them, we can't save money."

"Then what should we do? Our school has already been built. If we can't recruit students, then it would be a waste of time."

"Not really. I have a plan. Since pens, ink, paper and inkstones are expensive, we can make them ourselves. Books are expensive, but I have a way to print them. As long as we succeed, everyone will be able to afford books and everyone's children will be able to go to school."

"Really? Am I dreaming? If you can really make cheap and easy-to-use paper, pens and books, it will benefit the country and the people. All the readers in the world will benefit from you. This is a great merit."

After hearing what Cheng Zeli said, Old Man Cheng couldn't help but scream out in surprise.

"Ze Li, if there is anything we can do, just tell me!"

"Yes, Second Uncle believes in you. All along, you have done what you said you could do. I believe that the day when everyone can afford books and all children can go to school is not far away. You can tell me what you need us to do, and I will say no."