The road to wealth of a peasant widow

On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, the brother and sister returned home with large and small bags of shopping.

Chen Cuixian went to Chenjiagou with Chen Dahe and returned to her parents' home.

Ever since Chen Shangen announced that his family would burn charcoal for Chen Cui, Chen Cui's status in the Chen family has risen to another level.

She was originally just a sister-in-law treated with courtesy by her natal family. The daughter-in-law of the Chen family was kind to her for the sake of her parents-in-law and her husband.

But now, because she brought wealth to the Chen family, she became a respected aunt by the whole family. Not only her sister-in-law and brother's wife were more enthusiastic towards her, but even her niece-in-law who just married this year was respectful to her.

After all, there is no work in the fields in winter, but the family still needs to eat. In such cold weather, even odd jobs like building houses for others are not available, and people can only stay at home and eat idle meals and waste food.

With this charcoal burning job, although the whole family was busy, everyone got paid, and they didn't feel cold while guarding the charcoal pile. How could the Chen family's wives not be happy!

Although they have not seen the cash yet, their father-in-law has said in advance that the wages will be paid after the charcoal is sold, so they are not worried that their sister-in-law will default on the payment.

After all, Daha went with the sister-in-law to deliver the goods, and he always brought back a lot of food and daily necessities for the family. They were all bought by her sister-in-law, and they all had a share.

Even if they are not paid, they have taken advantage of their sister-in-law.

Since the beginning of winter, everyone in the family has a new cotton-padded jacket. The fabric and cotton were all bought by Chen Cui, which cost a lot of money!

It’s just that my parents-in-law seemed unhappy and kept blaming them for spending money recklessly.

Sure enough, this time when Chen Cui and her brother came back with so many things, they were scolded by their parents again.

"Look at you, you spend all the money as soon as you get it. Why do you buy those things? You can live just fine without them. But you save it to build a house for Changping and his family and marry them off. You have to do both for your son. You need to think more about the future!"

In Chen Shangen's opinion, his daughter has become arrogant after earning some money and has been buying things indiscriminately. Although he knows that it is the child's filial piety, he thinks it is totally unnecessary and can't bear to see her spending money recklessly.

After talking about his daughter, seeing Chen Dahe grinning beside him, Chen Shangen started to spray again.

"And you, you didn't even stop your sister from buying things, you look quite happy, right?"

Chen Dahe shut up immediately.

He felt very wronged. It was clearly you who told him to listen to my sister in everything, and I was wrong to be obedient.

Besides, the money was earned by my sister. What can I do to stop her from spending the money she earned herself?

However, no matter how many reasons he had, he didn't dare to say them out loud at this moment, because that would definitely lead to more attacks from the old man, which he couldn't afford.

Seeing Chen Shangen's frown, Chen Cui couldn't help but step forward, tug at his clothes, and lead him to another room. She smiled and said, "Dad, come here. I have something to tell you."

Although Chen Shangen's brows were still furrowed, his expression was much more relaxed, but he was still rude: "What's the matter? Why do you insist on me going over to talk to you?"

Having said that, he followed Chen Cui into the house where the old couple lived.

Seeing this, Chen Dahe quickly dodged.

After entering the room and closing the door, Chen Cui took out a bag of silver from the bag behind her and handed it to Chen Shangen.

"Dad, this is the 516 taels I made from selling charcoal over the past month. After deducting the 21 taels for shipping, there are still 495 taels left. I'll give you 30%, which is 165 taels. Keep it."

Although Chen Shangen had guessed that his daughter might be here to give him money when he entered the room, he didn't expect it would be so much.

He was shocked by the number at first, then he refused repeatedly: "No, it's too much. I told your sister-in-law and the others that this is work for you, and the payment is calculated by the day. I didn't tell you the specific amount, so you just pay according to the market price outside."

This was really too much, beyond his imagination. Originally, he thought that if his daughter gave him twenty or thirty taels of silver, he would take it and put it to use next spring.

But more than a hundred taels was too much, and he really didn't dare to accept it. He would feel guilty about it.

Chen Cui stuffed the silver into his arms: "Dad, we agreed at the beginning that I would give you 30% of the money. Why are you going back on your word? It's not like I gave you all the money I earned. I still have more than 300 taels left, which is enough. Don't worry!"

Chen Shangen's expression softened a little. Yes, his daughter earned more than 500 taels, and she herself still had more than 300 taels. Not to mention marrying off her three sons, even if she had two more sons, this money would be enough.

Chen Cui took the opportunity to speak again: "Dad, look at how many people there are in our family. You will have a great-grandson soon. It is so inconvenient for four generations to live together in one yard. Please use the money to build houses for my brothers. Even if we can't have one yard for each family, just build a few more houses in the yard so that every family doesn't have to live in such a cramped space!"

What Chen Cui said is true.

Although the Chen family had quite a few houses, including five main rooms, two west rooms and two east rooms, they had a large population. Their three sons had seven grandsons and one granddaughter.

Except for Jinzhu who was already married, the other six boys of the third generation lived together in two rooms.

Also because there was no vacant room, the eldest wife's daughter, Caixia, who was already nine years old, still lived in a small compartment made of wooden boards in her parents' house.

When Jin Zhu was proposing marriage, the girl had been picky about the house issue, but at that time there was at least a room that could be used as a new home. In the end, the matchmaker found a way to mediate and the matter was finally settled.

Now Jin Zhu's wife is pregnant and will give birth after the new year. In the blink of an eye, another generation has been added, and the Chen family has four generations living under the same roof.

However, the next year, Yinzhu was already sixteen years old, and there was really no place for him to get married.

The reason why Yinzhu's marriage has not been finalized yet is because the Chen family has no place to hold the bride.

If Yinzhu gets married, the remaining five brothers will have to live in one room.

Besides, the second wife's husband is about to turn fifteen, and by the time he arranges marriage again, there will really be no room for him.

This is also what Chen Shangen is struggling with. On the one hand, he doesn't want to owe his daughter a favor and rashly accept so much money, but on the other hand, he has to consider building a house for his children and grandchildren in the future.

If he received the more than one hundred taels, he would be able to realize the two things he had in mind: buying a cow and building a house.

Chen Shangen thought about it again and again, and finally the Chen family and his children and grandchildren prevailed in his heart.

He let out a long sigh, stretched out his hand tremblingly, and placed it on the bag of silver.

"Alas, I never thought that when I get old, I would start to take advantage of my daughter."

Chen Shangen sighed.

Chen Cui smiled and said, "Everyone has been busy all winter. This money is earned by our family. It doesn't matter whether it's just taking advantage of others or not. Anyway, I'm giving this money to you. As for how you tell my brother and sister-in-law, it's up to you."

Anyway, after handing over the money, Chen Cui's mission for the day was completed, and she had to hurry home to reunite with her children.