The Peasant Wife: The Prime Minister's Beloved

Chen Xi couldn't help but laugh when he saw this, and secretly sighed in his heart that for this gluttonous master, everything in the world seemed not as tempting as a table of delicious food.

She shook her head gently, turned her eyes to Xie Tianyi, and said with some relief in her tone: "Don't worry too much about me, I'm fine. Besides, with this table, I can continue to review my lessons."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Tianyi slowly pulled out a heavy silver note from his sleeve and handed it to Chen Xi, his eyes full of sincerity: "By the way, please accept this five hundred taels of silver note."

Chen Xi took the heavy banknote, with a flash of surprise in her eyes. She looked at Xie Tianyi in disbelief, wondering in her heart: "How did you make so much money?"

You know, this amount is almost comparable to the private money she has saved over the years. How can it not be surprising?

Xie Tianyi smiled slightly and explained, "This is the proceeds from the sale of the wonderful stories you told Xiaoyang and Xiaochen that I compiled into a book. I didn't expect to earn five hundred taels by accident."

Chen Xi was so surprised that he could hardly speak after hearing this, and his smart eyes were full of disbelief.

You know, even though she used precious ginseng and scarce spiritual spring water to cure Liu Niangzi's stubborn illness, she only charged five hundred taels as a reward.

"Yes, but the bookstore has bought out the copyright all at once, and I can't sell it to anyone else." Xie Tianyi added, with a hint of regret in his tone.

Chen Xi nodded thoughtfully, thinking to himself, as expected, good things in this world never come too easily.

"Besides the five hundred taels, I also earned an extra ten taels of silver by copying the Three Character Classic and the Thousand Character Classic. I want to use the money to buy some books and improve myself, so I can only give you the five hundred taels."

Xie Tianyi spoke frankly, and his plan was revealed in his words.

In fact, Xie Tianyi originally planned to give all his income to Chen Xi without reservation, but considering that their living expenses in the town were also a considerable amount, he gave up.

"Five hundred taels, that's too much. Didn't we agree to split it in half? Give me two hundred..." Chen Xi was halfway through his words when he suddenly realized the unlucky meaning of the number "two hundred and fifty" in local slang and quickly changed his words.

"You keep it. The care and help you have given me during this period of time is worth far more than the mere five hundred taels of silver." Chen Xi insisted. She didn't want to owe Xie Tianyi's friendship because of money.

After some refusals, Chen Xi proposed a compromise: "How about this, I get 300 taels, and the remaining 50 taels can be used as a fund to build a new home together, how about that?"

Seeing her firm attitude, Xie Tianyi had no choice but to accept his share of the 200 taels of silver, but he felt warm in his heart for Chen Xi's understanding.

"I almost forgot, the owner of the bookstore also asked to meet you, but I didn't agree at the time, saying that he wanted to ask for your opinion first. What do you think about this?" Xie Tianyi changed the subject and mentioned another thing.

"No." Chen Xi answered almost without thinking, with a resolute tone.

She knew that the shopkeeper was only interested in those stories with profound meanings, and those stories were not written by her, she just learned and recorded them.

Xie Tianyi respected her choice and did not force it.

"Although we won't meet, the opportunity to make money is still real. It's still early now, I can tell you a few more stories, you are responsible for recording them and then selling them. What do you think?" Chen Xi suggested, with anticipation in his eyes.

Xie Tianyi looked at her, as if he was infected by her pure enthusiasm.

When his thoughts returned to normal, Chen Xi had almost finished narrating a story.

A warm smile appeared on Xie Tianyi's lips, and he immediately took out a pen and paper from his side, concentrating on recording the stories that flowed from Chen Xi's mouth.

As time went by, dozens of stories took shape one by one, and Chen Xi's creative fountain temporarily dried up, but she did not force it, knowing that creation requires timely rest and accumulation.

"These stories are enough to be compiled into a wonderful book. Next, I would like to trouble you to organize them into a volume!" Although Chen Xi can read ancient Chinese, he is not good at writing calligraphy, so this task naturally falls on the shoulders of Xie Tianyi, who is more skilled in calligraphy.

She believes that through the joint efforts of the two, those stories will be able to shine with new brilliance on paper.

"Don't worry, we will divide the money we earn equally between the two of us, without any distinction between you and me." Xie Tianyi said in a firm tone.

Chen Xi smiled brightly upon hearing this.

She is not greedy for wealth, but she deeply understands that in this era when women's voices are weak, many things will be difficult to achieve without an economic foundation.

As the journey home drew near, Chen Xi's heart was filled with tender care for the children in the village.

So she lightly opened the space capsule she carried with her and took out a few brightly colored, juicy fruits, each of which was carefully selected.

This kind of day lasted for seven days in peace.

On the morning of the eighth day, the high-quality blue bricks that Mr. Fang had someone send appeared in front of the Chen family's door on time.

"This batch of blue bricks has a solid texture, uniform color, and exact quantity, neither more nor less. It is exactly worth fifty taels of silver." The man who delivered the bricks gave a detailed introduction, with pride revealed in his words.

Chen Xi carefully inspected each brick, running his fingertips lightly across the smooth surface to confirm that they were flawless and their quality far exceeded that of ordinary items.

Satisfied, she handed over the banknote without hesitation.

In that era, it only cost about twenty taels of silver to build an ordinary house, but Chen Xi insisted on using the best materials and spared no expense.

Mr. Fang was deeply touched by his sincerity and specially collected a batch of top-grade blue bricks which were rarely seen on the market. Not only were they as warm and smooth as jade in color, but they were also strong and durable enough to withstand the erosion of wind and rain.

With the bricks in place, the house construction project can finally be officially started.

When Xie Tianyi learned that everything was ready, he proposed to go back to the village to gather people and take advantage of the good weather in recent days to speed up the progress of the project.

"I should go back. As a man, I should shoulder this responsibility. I will find some reliable helpers in the village and try to complete the new house as soon as possible." His words were full of responsibility.

Chen Xi understood his considerations. Although she had originally planned to handle it alone, the house construction project was huge and complicated, and it really needed a strong assistant like Xie Tianyi.

So, she proposed to return together, and warmly invited Xie Tianyi to stay at Chen's house temporarily to relieve him of the trouble of traveling back and forth.

Under the active coordination of the village chief, a group of strong craftsmen quickly gathered in the spacious courtyard of the village chief's house.

Chen Xi and Xie Tianyi stood in the middle of the crowd, surrounded by a dozen men with expectant looks and curious eyes.

"Well, Tianyi family, how much are you going to pay us per day?" A burly man spoke first. His question immediately resonated with everyone, and everyone started whispering and talking.