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

Song Zhi did some calculations in her mind. If she delivered two kilograms of cakes to the cake shop, she could earn 160 coins a day.

Now the jelly business is gaining momentum again. Starting today, we can grind 20 kilograms of jelly beans every day, which can earn us about 80 yuan.

In this way, he could earn two hundred and forty coins from selling jelly every day, which is four hundred coins in total. After deducting the cost of raw materials, he could make a net profit of three hundred and twelve coins every day.

Finally, taking into account firewood, seasonings, and wages for family members, I can probably still earn 280 coins.

In this way, there will be a surplus of about eight taels of silver in a month.

Song Zhi took into consideration that running a business requires capital turnover, and not all of this money can be used to pay off debts.

There are more than 30 households in Xiaohezi Village. She only knows that her family now owes foreign debts to at least half of the households in the village.

Among them, Doctor Zheng's family and Clan Leader Song's family owed the most. As for the specific amount involved in each household, her grandmother would have to ask when she came back.

Song Zhi put the matter aside, tidied up a bit, and started working.

She first went to check on the malt on the bamboo sieve. After three or four days, the malt on the bamboo sieve was growing well.

Song Zhi was in a good mood as she saw the malt growing stronger and stronger. She knew that she could try making malt sugar in a few days.

She sprinkled some more water on the malt and went back to the mill.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law spent the whole morning preparing the goods. They prepared the beans for making pastries and also ground ten pounds of beans.

As for the remaining beans that had not been ground yet, the little ones ran to the mill as soon as they came back, soaking the beans and grinding the beans.

They don't need adults to do anything more and are very active.

There were limited wooden basins at home, so Song Zhi took them to the city. Wu then used the large water vats and wooden barrels at home to wash the mung bean starch.

Song Zhi sighed helplessly. There was really nothing missing at home!

The children worked for a while until Mrs. Wu came back from outside with a smile on her face. Seeing that they were still busy, she hurriedly said, "Take a break first and continue after lunch."

The millstone in Song An's hand was whirring as he turned it. He was not in a hurry when he heard this. He lowered his head and said, "Grandma, wait until we finish grinding this little bit on hand."

Song Zhi deftly scraped the ground pulp into the adjacent wooden basin with a bamboo stick and urged, "There's no way the work will ever be finished. Let's go and eat first."

The children were now very convinced of Song Zhi's words. When they saw her stand up and greet them, they roared, rushed out of the utility room, and ran to the kitchen laughing and making noises.

Wu shook her head helplessly and shouted, "There is water in the pottery jar, wash your hands!"

"Oh..." A series of responses rang out, followed by another burst of laughter.

"I'll go first."

"Oh, little brother, you got my clothes wet."

The noise and full of energy make this dilapidated farmyard seem even more full of the atmosphere of life.

The lunch meal was still simple, porridge made from the leftover mung bean dregs, served with jelly from the broken leftovers from the morning, drizzled with soy sauce cooked by Song Zhi, and mixed with green onions and garlic.

It’s no wonder that the children ate with great satisfaction, their eyes filled with smiles.

The porridge may not be thick enough, but every child can drink it to their heart's content.

This is already a very happy day for them.

After dinner, the family sat under the pear tree. Song Cheng touched his round belly and sighed casually, "This jelly is really delicious. It's a pity that Dad and Big Brother can't have it."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Wu and Mrs. Yang's expressions darkened noticeably.

The family was short of money, so the eldest son and grandson had no choice but to stay and work for the Wang family. They not only did not earn any money, but also owed the Wang family money because they lost their sheep.

Not knowing whether the father and son were bullied by anyone in the Wang family, both the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law looked worried.

Song Zhi had wanted to call them back a long time ago. Seeing the worry in their eyes, she simply suggested, "Grandma, our family can make money now. Why don't we call uncle and brother back?"

Mrs. Wu shook her head. "There's no need to rush this matter."

Yang's heart sank, but she immediately thought of the land that her family rented from the Wang family.

What if we offend the landlords and their land is taken back?

Farmers' livelihood depends on the income from the fields. Yang understood her mother-in-law's decision and could not refute it.

Song Zhi lowered her brows and thought. It seemed that she still had to expand her ways of making money as soon as possible. Just one or two small businesses were not enough to shake the small peasant mentality in the hearts of the two people.

Although the Dashun Dynasty did not emphasize agriculture over commerce like the Ming and Qing Dynasties that Song Zhi knew about, under the agricultural-oriented ideology, the people still felt that land that could produce food was more important.

Therefore, neither the Wu family nor the Yang family dared to give up the land they rented easily.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a little heavy for a moment, Song Zhi simply brought up a new topic and told Wu again what she had said to her aunt this morning.

"Grandma, I think what my aunt said is right. Our family was struggling to make ends meet, so it's understandable that we couldn't pay back the money.

"Now that we can make money, but still don't pay back the money, I believe the villagers will have opinions in their hearts. What I mean is that we can't pay it back in one go, but we still have to make our attitude of paying it back clear.

"How about this? First, list out how much each family owes. At the end of this month, we'll each pay back two hundred coins.

"For families like Doctor Zheng's and Clan Leader Song's who owe a lot, we should also give them a deadline to pay off their debts so they can have peace of mind."

Mrs. Wu opened her mouth wide, obviously not expecting her eldest granddaughter to have such awareness.

Even she, as an elder, could not have imagined such an arrangement. She, a child, could actually consider it so carefully.

Mrs. Wu rubbed Song Zhi's head with satisfaction and said contentedly, "Our Ah Zhi has really grown up. She is more capable than Grandma!"

Yang also looked at Song Zhi in a daze. She didn't expect that this child would do what she said. In such a short time, she had even thought of a plan to repay the money.

But as an adult, how could she let a girl go to her house to express her feelings?

If she really did that, the villagers would probably talk about her being mean behind her back.

Yang said hurriedly, "It's not appropriate for a child like you to express your opinion on this matter. Not to mention whether everyone believes you have the ability to repay the debt, even the rumors can destroy our family!"

Song Zhi nodded. "It's true that my credibility is lower if I go, so I'll have to trouble Grandma or Auntie to go with me."

Mrs. Wu is actually the head of the family, so it would be best for her to go with Song Zhi.

But Mrs. Wu, considering that her daughter-in-law should establish a good image in front of the villagers, entrusted the matter to her, "You will go with Azhi later."

"This will also dispel all the rumors about you and Azhi not getting along."

Yang's throat choked with sobs, "Mother-in-law..."

She had indeed been at odds with her niece in the past, but now she felt a little ashamed when she thought about it.

Mrs. Wu patted her shoulder and said, "Okay, we're all family. It's inevitable that our teeth and tongues will clash sometimes. Don't take it to heart."

There was no blame, no resentment, only warm words.

Yang's eyes reddened and she nodded heavily.