Stepmother in charge: Making a fortune through farming and raising her children to fight back

After explaining the matter of the earthen kang, Yun Zhenzhen walked over to the side where the foundation was being dug.

There have been a lot of people working these days. A group of people are working hard. There is strength in numbers, and the foundation is almost laid.

Once the green bricks and other bricks are transported back, construction can officially begin.

Yun Zhenzhen was still thinking at the door when suddenly there was a noise and a group of women came over in groups.

"Sister Yun, is your nephew here?"

"We came here specifically to deliver Shu Xiu. This is enough for a month. You don't have to carry it every day. It's very troublesome."

"Yeah, you don't know. Yesterday, my kid went back and even wrote his own name. Thanks to your nephew, I brought a few pounds of millet. You must accept it."

"These are five eggs my family saved. Ask your nephew to take them home and cook them. They are very nutritious."

"That's right, this is my house..."

It was particularly lively outside Yun Zhenzhen's house.

Dozens of aunts were gathered at the door with bags big and small, all of them were here to pay the tuition fee.

Those who were better off brought their own wheat, but before they had time to thresh it, the remaining corn, brown rice, potatoes, eggs... everything else was piled up at the door, forming a small hill.

Yun Jing heard the noise and came out. Seeing the scene in front of him, his thoughts were a little complicated.

The aunts were afraid that he would not accept them, so they put down their things and left.

Yun Zhenzhen had no choice but to call the children out and move them to the cellar one by one, running back and forth several times.

After moving, Yun Zhenzhen carefully counted and found a total of 150 kilograms of wheat, 50 kilograms of corn, 20 kilograms of brown rice, 50 kilograms of potatoes, 12 eggs, and a homemade embroidered silk scarf.

Adding up all the money, you can get one or two taels of silver.

Yun Zhenzhen looked at Yun Jing and said, "Brother Jing, keep these things. They will be used as your travel expenses for the college entrance examination. If it's not enough, I'll give you some more."

Yun Jing shook his head. "I can't accept these things. My aunt calculates my wages every day, and I've saved quite a bit myself. Plus the pocket money you gave me, I have more than enough for my travel expenses."

In addition, he is still copying books, and when the time comes, he can sell them in the county and the money will be enough.

These were all collected by my uncles and aunts. I would feel guilty collecting them myself, so I might as well save them and hand them over to the village chief as funds for building a school.

Yun Zhenzhen looked at Yun Jing with a lot of admiration. She was not wrong about him. Yun Jing was impeccable in both knowledge and conscience. He was a promising talent.

"Don't worry." Yun Zhenzhen patted his shoulder and said, "Our village has the silver awarded by the county magistrate, enough to build a school. But you, on the other hand, do you think a few taels of silver will be enough to take the exam? Food and accommodation will cost money."

Hearing this, Yun Jing could only nod slightly.

......

the next day.

Yun Zhenzhen just got up when she heard a sound coming from outside the door.

"Is anyone in the house?"

She rubbed her face hastily and walked over to open the door.

A skinny old man in his forties or fifties was waiting outside the door. When he saw her come out, he suddenly made eye contact and chuckled, "You must be Madam Yun, right? I'm Carpenter Li from our village. I heard you're looking for new furniture."

Yun Zhenzhen opened the door, welcomed the person in and served him tea.

I did mention it to Old Zhang yesterday, but I didn't expect it to come so soon.

Carpenter Li sat down without even drinking any water. He got straight to the point: "Girl, tell me what kind of furniture you want to make."

He took out an old booklet from his pocket and handed it to me. I flipped through the pages and saw that it was full of charcoal drawings of furniture, including cabinets, cupboards, washstands, tables, chairs, benches, and even a dressing table.

After finishing their work, a few children came over to take a look out of curiosity.

Yun Zhenzhen looked through the collection slowly, asking a few questions from time to time. Finally, considering the cost and time, she selected several simple and easy-to-care-for styles.

She closed the booklet and said with a smile, "Uncle Li, I'm going to order four wardrobes, a cupboard, two long tables, and a new set of tables and chairs."

Carpenter Li's pupils gradually widened after hearing what she said: "Sister Yun, do you want all of these?"

He had also taken a look when he first came in. Although they were going to build a new house, the original thatched house was small and dilapidated, and it didn't look like a wealthy family at all. He thought it was just a small business that would be completed in two days, but he didn't expect that this young lady was actually a hidden big customer.

"I want them all, just go ahead." Yun Zhenzhen nodded.

After seeing her admit it, Carpenter Li smiled so hard that his wrinkles were squeezed into a ball. "Okay, okay, if there is any leftover wood, I will give you two racks. You can use them to store miscellaneous items."

It's no wonder he was so excited. The market is really not good this year. The villagers are lucky enough to have enough food to eat. Who has the spare money to customize furniture?

Yun Zhenzhen suddenly remembered that there were many children in her family who were studying, so she continued to ask, "Can you make an abacus?"

"Abacus?" Carpenter Li frowned slightly, obviously not expecting her to ask this question suddenly. "I can make one, but there are not many people in the village who make it, so we've hardly ever opened a shop. I wonder how big one you need."

This question really stumped Yun Zhenzhen.

She knew about the abacus, but she had never heard of its size.

Seeing her standing there in a daze, Carpenter Li also laughed and said, "Don't worry, I'll make you an old-fashioned abacus that can be used for anything."

"Okay, thank you very much." Yun Zhenzhen smiled.

After the two of them finalized it, they discussed the wages.

The whole set was originally priced at ten taels and one qian of silver, but since she ordered more, Carpenter Li gave her the difference and also promised to give her two shelves.

Yun Zhenzhen gave him five taels of silver as a deposit, and the rest would be settled on the day of delivery.

After seeing them off, Yun Zhenzhen saw Yun Jing packing up to go out, and walked over to ask with concern.

"But we're going to the county?"

"Yes, the list will be announced today." Yun Jing replied with a smile in his eyes.

"Then I'll go with you. It's just right for us to go to the county and take a look."

The family has been busy building a house recently, and they are all very busy. Now everything is arranged in an orderly manner. She wants to take the children to the county town for a walk, and temporarily leave the house to Old Lady Qin to help look after for a day.

The family of five boarded the ox cart to the county town.

When we arrived at the place, the crowd of onlookers had already surrounded the entrance.

Everyone knows that today is the day when the results of Yueming Academy's entrance examination will be announced, so they rushed over to watch the excitement. Many students' families also came to see the results.

Soon, the door opened.

A man in gorgeous clothes came out, raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and then waved his hand.

Two yamen runners behind him walked up quickly and posted the list.

Everyone came forward to watch.

Qin Li also squeezed forward and finally got forward. He checked the names in front of him one by one.

After a while, he squeezed out with a dejected look on his face and shook his head at them.

"How is this possible? Did you see it wrong, brother?" Qin Wen said anxiously. After spending some time together, Yun Jing seemed to him to be omnipotent. How could he fail the entrance examination of an academy?

"Will not."

Qin Li shook his head. Before coming here, he had memorized the two words "Yun Jing" clearly in his mind and would definitely not make a mistake.

Yun Zhenzhen also felt that the chance of being wrong was very small, so there was only one last possibility left.