It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

After eating and drinking to their heart's content, the villagers returned home with great satisfaction.

The women who came to help at home did not leave immediately after eating. Instead, they helped clean the yard and wash the dishes before leaving.

Before leaving, Mrs. Wu gave each person four big meat buns, and everyone was so happy that they smiled.

Song Zhi escorted Doctor Zheng and his family out the door and said to him, "Grandpa Zheng, someone will be delivering apricots to our house later today. I might not have time to discuss herbs with you today. Could I ask for half a day off?"

Doctor Zheng nodded. "You have a happy event in your family today, so it's okay to take a day off. However, you must remember to take good care of the herbs you have learned. Don't be lazy."

Song Zhi responded respectfully.

On the other side, Xue finally found an opportunity to pull her daughter aside to talk.

Yesterday, her daughter's family invited them to a party to celebrate the grandson's birthright. She thought it was just because her grandson was old and the family was renovating the house.

When I saw it today, I was shocked. Not only was the house huge, but the smooth earth and cement road in the yard was so enviable.

She clapped her daughter's hand with emotion and said, "You now have hope for the future. You must get along well with your mother-in-law and nieces."

"Don't make things awkward like before. It's causing the whole family to lose their spirits."

Yang nodded repeatedly, "Mom, I know. I was petty before. As an adult, I would argue with a child. I won't do that again."

After saying that, she returned to the box and took out a bunch of money and stuffed it into Xue's hand. "Mother, take this money. I seldom go back home on weekdays, and I rarely buy you good things to honor you. Take this money and buy some meat to nourish yourself. Don't skimp on what you chew."

"I didn't feel that way before, but now that Ah Zhi takes care of the family and eats three meals a day, I don't feel as tired as before when I do work, and my body feels much more relaxed."

When Mrs. Xue heard her daughter say this, she was very happy for her, but she refused to take the money that was stuffed into her hand.

"A few days ago, your family picked leaves and your father and others helped the county magistrate stir-fry and make tea and made a lot of money. You can keep this money for yourself."

Seeing that her mother refused to accept it, Yang said, "I earned this money myself, and my mother-in-law allowed me to spend it freely. You can keep it without worry. This is my filial piety to you..."

That being said, her daughter also had a heavy burden and she couldn't help her much, let alone take her money.

She patted her daughter with satisfaction and said, "As a mother, I am content to see you live a good life."

"Your father and I can still work hard now, so we don't need your money. You should save this money and find a wife for Aping."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. A few days ago, a matchmaker came to our house and offered to propose. After your father and his men finish their work at the county government office, we will go to your house to have a look at Jin Zhu. Ah Ping is not young anymore, so you'd better hurry up."

The mother and daughter exchanged greetings in the house for a while, and then Old Yang called his wife to go back.

In the end, Yang was unable to give the money away and had to send her parents off reluctantly.

Seeing that her in-laws were about to leave, Wu hurriedly packed the dozen or so meat packages she had prepared in advance into a cloth bag and chased after them.

"It's not a good thing. Take it back and let your nephew who didn't come here have a taste." After saying that, he stuffed the cloth bag into the hands of Tiezhu who was looking at him eagerly.

The big meat bun has thin skin and big meat. You can taste the fragrant meat in one bite. Tiezhu likes it very much.

Although his little face was full of longing, he still looked at grandma.

The expression on his grandson's face was clearly written on it, and Xue Shi couldn't help but notice it. He smiled and said, "Then we'll shamelessly accept it!"

Mrs. Wu waved her hands repeatedly, "It's unethical for my in-laws to say that!"

The eldest son's wife's parents are very kind and reasonable.

He came to my house for a banquet today and not only gave a gift of fifty cents, but also brought a basket of eggs.

You should know that on ordinary days, neighbors only contribute five or ten cents to a banquet.

These fifty cents are already a considerable expense for a farmer's family.

Besides, my in-laws’ family life is not good and they don’t have any money-making business.

Wu took this to heart. After sending her in-laws off, she told her daughter-in-law, "I've been busy at home lately. After the summer harvest is over, I'll have Aping and Dashan build a kang for your parents."

"With this kang, life will be more comfortable in winter!"

After hearing this, Yang nodded repeatedly.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law turned around and returned home, but were called over by Song Zhi again.

"Grandma, Auntie, come here quickly. I have something to discuss with you."

Mrs. Wu knew that her granddaughter had taken sweet fruit peels to the county town to sell this morning, and she had some idea of what her granddaughter was going to say.

So he asked directly, "Have you reached an agreement with Shopkeeper Zhou? Can you sell her the sweet fruit peel?"

Song Zhi nodded. "Not only will I sell it to Weiyuefang, I've also negotiated with the Wang family's shop! I'll sell it to them at 38 wen per jin."

Upon hearing this, the whole family was stunned, and then they were extremely surprised.

In their understanding, the apricots that cost two cents per pound could be sold for thirty-eight cents per pound after being processed by their granddaughter.

This was completely beyond their imagination.

Yang asked curiously, "How much can we earn by selling one pound of sweet fruit peel?"

Song Zhi shook her head. "If you only sell one pound, you won't make much money."

"How could that be?" Song An asked, tilting his head.

Song Zhi did the math for them. "Five pounds of apricots can only make one pound of sweetened fruit peel. Buying the apricots alone costs ten coins. Add to that the labor and firewood costs of fifteen coins a day, and finally the cost of sugar. Think about it, isn't that a loss?"

Everyone calculated in their minds and realized that it was true. This was when they made the candy themselves. If they bought candy from a shop and made it themselves, they would lose money!

Song Zhi watched as everyone's expressions changed from excitement to depression. She was about to explain when she heard Song An suddenly say, "No, Sister just said that it was only for one pound."

"One person can certainly make more than one pound a day. If the labor cost is fixed, then the more they make, the more they earn, right?"

Everyone's eyes turned to Song An again.

Song An was suddenly being stared at by everyone, and he felt a little nervous, but he had followed his sister out to set up a stall before, and although he couldn't figure out the relationship, he just figured out something.

Mrs. Wu still couldn't wrap her head around it. "Even though we're making more, we're also using more apricots and sugar. Doesn't that mean the cost is even higher?"

Song Zhi began to calculate with them, "For example, if we make 50 kilograms of apricot jam, according to the above estimate, we can make 10 kilograms of sweet fruit peel. The cost of 50 kilograms of apricots is 100, and the sugar is still 130 according to the above estimate, but the labor cost remains the same, so we can make money!"

After Song Zhi's careful calculation, she found that she could really make money as she said.

The whole family finally came to their senses!

"Isn't this price too low? After spending half a day on this, I didn't make as much as I did from the Jinyu Cake!" Yang blurted out subconsciously.