After becoming a top-notch peasant woman, she continues to be a top-notch

Because they were going back to her parents' home tomorrow, after lunch, Qiao Chen helped her and Qian prepare things for the trip back tomorrow.

Each person had a big basket, which contained a few large white radishes, a large bundle of vegetables, a piece of bacon, some rice and flour, and a bag of peanuts and melon seeds as snacks.

Zhen Yue looked at the white rice and immediately said, "Change the white rice into brown rice. Five catties is too much. One catty is enough." The Zhen family does not deserve to eat white rice. It is really a hassle to get this white rice.

Qian immediately said, "Let's change mine too. It's not easy to get white rice at home." This white rice is expensive, but it's really delicious and doesn't choke the throat at all.

Mrs. Qiao Chen: “…Okay.” In the past, the two daughters-in-law always complained that there were not enough things at home, so when they went back to their parents’ home, they always brought a lot of things to save face. They didn’t expect that there would be times when they didn’t want to bring so many things and had to bring less.

"By the way, sister-in-law...that donkey cart..." Qian was a little hesitant. She wanted Qiao Er to pull the donkey cart to take her and Xiaonian back together.

Zhen Yue didn't care, but Qiao Chenshi said, "Let the elders take the donkey cart back. Little Ah Chu is still young, and it's not good for him to be exposed to the wind all the time. You can take the donkey cart back next year."

In her spare time, Zhen Yue asked Qiao Dashan and others to modify the donkey cart and build a shed so that they could shelter from the rain and block the wind when it rained, and they wouldn't have to worry about people discovering the things they put inside.

Qian was a little disappointed. Although she felt uncomfortable, she did not object. Zhen Yue shook her head and said, "No need. My house is closer. Let Qian and Qiao go back in the donkey cart. They have a long way to go. Otherwise, it may be difficult for them to come back at night."

Qiao Chen: "But little Ah Chu..."

Zhen Yue: "Qiao Chao and I can just hold him. Let him wear more clothes. We'll walk faster and we'll be there soon."

Qiao Chenshi: "Okay."

Qian immediately said, "Thank you, sister-in-law."

Zhen Yue nodded and looked at the others, "Where's the third brother? And where's dad? Let them come back and we'll have a meeting."

Qiao Chen: “Hold a meeting?” What is it?

Zhen Yue: "I have something to say."

Qian stood up immediately and said, "I'll go call them over."

Soon, everyone gathered in the living room and looked at Zhen Yue, not knowing what she was going to say.

Zhen Yue looked at Qiao San, "Third brother, show me the accounts I asked you to make before."

"Oh. I'll get it right away." Qiao San quickly brought over a pile of papers, which were strung together with needle and thread.

Zhen Yue flipped through the documents and said, "Last year, starting from the second half of the year, our family earned a total of 48 taels and 3 cents from selling vegetables, pigs, and hunting, but we also spent 27 taels and 7 cents. The 27 taels here of course also includes the money given to us, so in the end, we were left with 20 taels and 8 cents."

"So much!" When the data came out, everyone was very surprised. Did their family spend so much money? It seemed that they didn't buy anything? More than 20 taels of silver, they actually spent the money that other families would have spent in several years!

Zhen Yue: "First of all, the big money spent on the donkey cart was over seven taels, the tiles for the roof, the cotton for everyone's clothes, shoes, piglets and chickens, pork bones from time to time, and medicine for medical treatment, the salary for my third brother, some personal relationships, and food and other miscellaneous things."

Every time I make money, I have to buy some food, so I spend a lot. If you don’t count it, you won’t know. Once you count it, you will find that many things cost money. A little bit adds up to a lot, so I spend a lot.

Zhen Yue: "I'm going to tell you the main point next. I'm going to use ten taels of the remaining twenty taels and eight cents to buy land. According to the price the village chief mentioned before, we can buy four medium-quality fields and two low-quality fields. Does anyone have any objections? If you have any, please speak up."

Qian: "Isn't ten taels a bit too much? And if there are too many fields, it will be very hard for us to farm them." She was heartbroken to spend ten taels of silver in one go, even though the money was not in her hands.

Zhen Yue: "I'll see if I can buy them all together, but we must buy the land, we have too little land." If we only rely on a few acres of thin land and buy food from outside, the risk will be too great. If there is chaos one day and the price of food soars, it will be terrible.

"If you can't finish planting, ask someone for help. Twenty cents a day is enough." You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a child. You can only gain if you give.

Mrs. Qiao Chen: "Why do we need so much? Working in the county town only earns a dozen coins a day at most, and farming in the village earns only ten coins a day."

Zhen Yue: "Well, we can hire someone when the time comes."

Qiao Chao was already used to the extremes of the villagers here, so he said with some concern: "If we hire people, the village will think we are making a lot of money."

Zhen Yue: "It doesn't matter. After all, we will make more money in the future. When you have money, some people won't dare to mess with you. Besides, money makes the world go round. They may be begging us for alms."

"Do you have any other opinions?" Zhen Yue looked at everyone.

Everyone shook their heads. Zhen Yue looked at Qiao San and said, "Write this down."

Qiao San: “Ah?”

Zhen Yue: "Write this down. It will cost ten taels of silver to buy the land. Four medium-quality fields and two low-quality fields. Write down the results of our discussion today."

Qiao San: "Oh, okay."

Zhen Yue continued, "The second thing is, if we buy land, then in addition to growing crops, we should leave some land for growing vegetables. We need to grow more vegetables to sell. How many more acres do you think should be planted?"

No one had a clue, and it was Qiao Dashan who first suggested: "Why don't we use the two inferior fields to grow vegetables first, and plant grain with the rest." The more grain, the better.

Zhen Yue: "Okay. Third brother, write it down."

"Yes."

"Then let's discuss the division of labor. Second brother has delivered food with your eldest brother so many times before, you should be familiar with it. You can deliver food next time. You can go with Qian."

Qian: "Me? No, no, no, I can't do it." Qian waved her hands desperately.

Qiao Er also felt uneasy, "I... I don't think I can do it. What about big brother? Is he going to do anything?"

Zhen Yue looked at them steadily: "He has other things to do, so you have to support this family."

Qiao Er & Qian Shi: !!! Support? Did the sister-in-law give them such a big task?

Zhen Yue: "It's settled then. By the way, I remember telling the butcher that I'd let you help fan the pigs in the spring. This is a good career, so remember to work hard."

Qiao Er: ...Sister-in-law didn’t say he had forgotten everything.

Zhen Yue: "If you two do well in the future, you will get more of this money."

When Qian heard this, her eyes lit up immediately, "Okay, okay, Qiao Er and I will work hard!" Let's fight for money!

Zhen Yue looked at Qiao San who was recording, "Third brother, do you still want to study? The situation at home can indeed support you to go to the academy."

Qiao San was stunned. He thought for a long time and finally shook his head, "Sister-in-law, no need. In the future... in the future, the family can make more money to buy books for me to read." In fact, he knew how well he was at studying. His family conditions were not good and there was no family background. It was good enough for him to recognize a few words.

He originally planned to go to the town this year to see if he could find a job as an accountant. If he continued to study, he would have to take the imperial examination. However, he knew that he really could not pass the examination.