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

The younger ones in the family gathered around him, and Song Cheng looked at his second brother with admiration and asked, "Second brother, how much money is there?"

Song An paused, "I...I haven't had time to count." After saying that, he glanced at Song Zhi out of the corner of his eye.

Song Zhi took the opportunity to say to the children, "Let's count and see how much money we earned today."

She did not dare to show off too much, and followed the method her aunt had used to count, counting ten copper coins as a pile. She made six piles in total, with three extra coins.

Song An clapped his hands and said, "I earned sixty-three coins today!"

Seeing this, the children also clapped happily.

Song Zhi quickly went over the figures in her mind. After deducting the cost, she made a net profit of about 40 cents in half a day's work, which was better than nothing.

She took out three coins and handed them to Song An, "This is Xiao An's salary for helping to sell jelly today! Take it."

Song An pointed at himself in disbelief, "Is this really for me?"

Song Zhi nodded. "The money I have now must be used to buy materials. From now on, if you help me with the work, I will pay you when I make money."

All the children looked at Song Zhi with starry eyes.

Nowadays, which adult would give money to a child of a certain age?

For this reason, the children were extremely excited after Song Zhi said this.

Song An's hands were shaking as he took the three coins. He was happy, but he didn't know if he could take the money. He turned around expectantly and called out, "Grandma?"

Song Zhi was worried that her grandmother would disagree, so she quickly explained, "Grandma, Xiao An helped a lot today and contributed a lot."

It was a rare occasion for Wu to be happy, so she didn't spoil the fun. She just told her grandson, "Save it well, don't spend it carelessly!"

Seeing grandma's approval, Song An jumped three feet high with joy.

It was a rare occasion for Song Zhi to see the childish side of her cousin for the first time.

As for the remaining sixty coins, Song Zhiquan handed them to Wu, "Grandma, we still have to make cakes this afternoon. Take this money and go to the village to buy some mung beans."

Making pastries is the top priority in the family. Wu took the silver and was about to go out.

Before leaving, Song Zhi reminded him, "Oh, grandma, don't forget to go to the clan leader's house and buy another bucket of goat milk."

"I understand..." After saying that, Wu left without looking back.

After Wu left, several children gathered around Song An and looked at the three copper coins with great curiosity.

Song Cheng, "Brother, now that you've made some money, can you buy us some candy at the market next time?"

Song Kang nodded repeatedly, obviously agreeing with his third brother's statement, his clear black eyes staring at Song An eagerly.

Song An patted his two younger brothers on the head and said earnestly: "We can't spend this money carelessly now. We have to save it to pay off the family debt."

When the two children heard this, they stopped clamoring for food and just nodded their heads.

Song Zhi was busy watering the wheat on the bamboo weaving. She couldn't help but smile when she heard a few children whispering.

She thought to herself, "Just wait, when the malt sugar is ready, I'll let you eat as much as you want!"

.....

In the fields, villagers in twos and threes, carrying hoes, are returning home one after another. The wheat is growing very well this year. In just over a month, the grain will be stored in the warehouse!

Tian, returning from the fields with a hoe on her shoulder, wondered how much grain she could harvest and how much would be left for the family after paying taxes.

Is it enough for the grandparents and grandchildren to survive until the autumn harvest?

Tian walked home with a lot on her mind, and didn't even hear Wu calling her from behind.

Wu finally caught up with her elder sister at the Tian family's gate. She coughed a few times and panted heavily, saying, "Old sister, what are you thinking about? I called you several times from behind, but you didn't respond."

Tian quickly moved the gate open and invited Wu in. "It's too hot outside, let's talk inside."

Wu followed Tian into the courtyard and sat down under the jujube tree. Looking at her tired old sister, Wu couldn't help but advise, "You should take care of yourself. If you get sick from working yourself to death, what will happen to the children at home?"

Tian said, "I saved it."

Wu knew that no matter how much she said, it would be of no use.

This is the reality. She is the only laborer in the family, her grandson is still young, and she can't help but do farm work. Plus, she probably has to save on food...

Mrs. Wu also knew that it was pointless to talk more, so she changed the subject and explained the purpose of her visit. "I remember you planted some mung beans on the dry land last year. I wonder if you still have any at home? If so, could you sell some to me?"

"But there's no food at home? How about taking some from me first? It will help us get by for a few more days."

Mrs. Wu waved her hand quickly. "Thank you for your kindness. I really want to buy mung beans. I have sixty coins here. I'll give you the market price of four coins per pound. How much can you sell it to me?"

"Why did you buy so many mung beans? Soybeans are better than mung beans. They're more filling."

Mrs. Wu followed her granddaughter's words and said that she used it to cook.

When Tian heard this, she didn't ask any more questions. She stood up and said, "Wait a minute, I'll get it for you." After that, she went back to the house and came out after a while with a cloth bag.

"Do you think this is enough? If not, I'll go dig more."

Wu took it and shook it, estimating that there must be at least seven or eight liters of beans in the bag. "That's all for now. I'll come back when you're done."

The Tian family had nothing to weigh, so Wu suggested, "Wait a minute. I'll go to the clan leader's house and borrow his grain bucket."

Farmers don’t have scales, so they use a grain bucket to weigh the grain. This bucket is only available in the family of Patriarch Song in Xiaohezi Village.

"It's not that troublesome. Just take it with you."

The two of them still had some trust in each other. Wu thought, "That's fine. I'll send the money to you later." After saying that, she picked up the cloth bag and walked towards the home of the Song clan leader.

At this time, Zhao was talking to her husband vividly about what happened at the fair.

"That girl used to quarrel with her aunt all the time. I was just a scoundrel at the time. But today I see that I was wrong."

The Song clan leader tapped the pipe in his hand and said, "Stop talking about people behind their backs."

"I'm just sighing that the girl has grown up. It's not a bad thing to say, so why is it so unacceptable?"

The Song clan leader glared, "How can the word 'unruly' be a good word?"

Zhao was speechless and muttered softly, "I didn't tell anyone about this..."

Clan leader Song didn't want to argue with his wife, so he changed the subject and said, "Later, you can squeeze some goat milk and give it to the people as a thank you gift."

Zhao nodded repeatedly, "I thought so too. I'll have Datou deliver it later."

Today, thanks to the kid's matchmaking, she was able to make a dozen extra bucks selling bamboo shoots. Zhao was still grateful for this favor.

The old couple were sitting in the room chatting when they heard their daughter-in-law calling from outside, "Mom, Aunt Wu is here!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao quickly opened the curtain and walked out of the house.