Divorcing your wife might feel good for a moment, but seeing me make money will make you regret it f

As the oxcart slowly drove out of Shijia Village, Old Man Qian finally couldn't hold back any longer and asked repeatedly:

Why did you build such a big house? Do you own land? Where did you get the money?

Do you know how much money it costs to build such a big brick house? You also need to lay sewage pipes with ceramic pipes... that's something even landlords wouldn't dare to do!

Could it be that your mother borrowed money to pay for the renovations just to save face in order to marry Bai Zhi? There's no need for that. I'm not that kind of materialistic person.

Xu Qing then realized that Dr. Qian was right; her current house was not nearly that big.

Moreover, her family has sold all their land, so if she wants to build a house, she has to buy land from the village chief first.

Looking at Xu Qing deep in thought, Old Man Qian thought he had hit the nail on the head and earnestly advised him:

“Go back and tell your mother that I valued your family’s character.”

Besides, my family is rich. When Baizhi marries into the family, we'll bring plenty of money to build a mud-brick house.

Just need a place to stay. But whatever you do, don't borrow from loan sharks! You absolutely mustn't touch that stuff…”

Seeing that Old Man Qian was going off on a tangent, Xu Qing quickly explained, "Dr. Qian, please don't worry, we didn't borrow money at high interest rates, it's money we earned from doing business."

Old Man Qian asked with some skepticism, "Really? What kind of business do you run? You can't be doing anything illegal!"

Xu Qing told Old Man Qian about how he sold roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) and jelly in town.

Xu Qing trusted Old Man Qian's character, so she didn't hide anything and frankly said that she could earn more than 6 taels of silver a day.

Old Man Qian was finally relieved.

Xu Qing first took Old Man Qian back to Qianjia Village. On the way, she passed by Butcher Qian's house and saw some cleaned pig offal hanging in Butcher Qian's yard. She bought it all and took it back to make braised pork offal.

When passing by Xu Wulai's house, the road was completely blocked, and a large crowd had gathered around.

Xu Qing had no choice but to stop the oxcart and inquire what had happened.

Sun, Zhao Da Niang's eldest daughter-in-law, happened to know what had happened. When Xu Qing asked, she quickly told him.

"Didn't that scoundrel Xu irrigate his rice paddies the other day? As a result, this morning, all of his rice and his neighbor's rice got sick."

Then the two of them started arguing. This disease is contagious, and when everyone found out, they all came to demand an explanation from Xu the Scoundrel.

If you ask me, that scoundrel Xu deserves to die. He was hoping to have enough to eat for a few days after the rice harvest. Now look what's happened, our whole village is probably going to starve to death.”

After learning the reason, Xu Qing turned around and went to the village chief's house, telling him that the county magistrate had developed a method to treat the disease.

The official announcement will be made by tomorrow at the latest, so everyone shouldn't panic. I also asked the village chief if there was any unused land left in the village for sale.

Hearing the good news brought by Xu Qing, the village chief breathed a sigh of relief; otherwise, he really wouldn't know what to do.

As for wasteland, there is plenty in the village. When people buy land, they will prioritize fertile land, which can be cultivated immediately. Although wasteland is cheap, it is time-consuming and laborious to cultivate, so basically no one will buy it.

The village chief asked Xu Qing how many acres he planned to buy.

Xu Qing first asked where the wasteland was located. After learning that the entire area at the foot of the mountain was available for purchase, Xu Qing decided to buy it all without hesitation.

After discussing the matter, the village chief went to Xu Wulai's house first and told everyone that there was a solution to the disease, and then everyone dispersed.

Xu Wulai, who had been ganged up on and beaten, was now barely breathing.

The village chief and Xu Qing then went to Xu Qing's house together.

Xu Qing soaked the pig's offal in flour, called the whole family into the house, and told them about her plan to buy land and build a house.

Let Xu Gongxian go with the village chief to measure the land; it's more reassuring to have a family member present for this kind of thing.

The village chief thought so too; buying land is a big deal, and both sides need to have people present to oversee it.

After Xu Gong left, Xu Qing asked Xu Jian if he could find people to dig the foundation.

Wen spoke first: "How about finding a man from the village? We know each other well, so they're more reliable."

Xu Qing nodded: "Okay, then tomorrow Mom will go to the village to ask. I'll go to town to buy bricks and tiles."

Wen: "How are the wages calculated?"

Xu Qing thought for a moment. Digging the foundation was hard work, so he tentatively asked, "How about 30 coins a day? And lunch included?"

Wen thought it was feasible, as the price was about the same for villagers who used to hire people to repair their houses.

After everything was arranged, Xu Qing was still quite excited, as she would soon be able to move into her new house.

I couldn't stay at home at all. In the morning, I delivered jelly to town, but the oxcart couldn't fit it all, so I didn't bother with the black lumps.

Now, under the pretext of taking the black lumps to town to sell, Xu Qing went out for a walk. Wen helped pack 10 bags of black lumps, and Xu Qing drove the oxcart and set off again.

After leaving the village and driving into a dense forest, Xu Qing sold all the black truffles and then turned back to the village.

Xu Gong is exceptionally meticulous with his organization, almost to the point of obsessive-compulsive disorder; each bag of black truffles contains exactly 40 jin (20 catties).

This batch of black truffles has been sitting for a while, so they're a bit dry, and they're also small. They're 200 coins cheaper per pound than the last time I sold them.

Ten bags of black truffles sold for 240 taels. It seems I need to sell the rest in the house as soon as possible, otherwise they'll just get drier and drier.

Xu Qing parked the oxcart at the foot of the mountain. She planned to go up and pick some jade before going back. She had said she was going to take it to town to sell, so going back too quickly would give her away.

Xu Qing huffed and puffed as he climbed the mountain to start picking aiyu (a type of jade). Aiyu likes to grow by clinging to trees, and some of them grow particularly tall, making them difficult to pick.

Xu Qing only picked the lower ones, walking as she picked, and unknowingly walked further and further away, deeper and deeper into the mountains.

In a canyon, Xu Qing stopped and looked around. The canyon was covered with konjac plants.

Xu Qing's mouth started watering as soon as he thought of braised duck with konjac and konjac soup.

I decisively dug up two; they were still a bit tender, but edible. I put them in my basket and started walking back.

They had walked so far that when they returned, they carried a large basket of Aiyu jade on their backs, leaving Xu Qing, who hadn't done heavy work in a long time, panting heavily.

When he got home, Xu Gong had already measured the land, which totaled 30 mu.

The village chief asked Xu Gong to come back and ask if it was really necessary to buy so much wasteland. He also advised against buying so much wasteland, saying that one mu of wasteland cost one tael of silver, while fertile land cost three taels. He suggested that it would be better to buy less fertile land than wasteland.

Xu Gong also felt that the village chief made sense. Even if they were to build houses, they could buy less wasteland and use the rest to buy fertile land.

Xu Qing took out 30 taels of silver and gave it to Xu Gong, telling him to make another trip to the village chief's house and try to buy the land and complete the formalities today.

Don't delay starting work tomorrow.

Alright, it's my little sister's money anyway, Xu Gong will do as she says. But when did my little sister earn so much money!

He's such a failure as the second brother. He should be the one earning money to support his younger sister. I don't know when it started, but the younger sister has been the one holding up the family.

Xu Qing washed the pig's offal and put it into a pot to braise. Wen helped to stoke the fire, while the two girls and Xu Jian peeled the jade.

Xu Qing took out the konjac to wash it again, but under everyone's watchful eyes, she couldn't very well take out gloves and put them on.

But if you accidentally touch this konjac, it will itch terribly, and may even cause redness, swelling, hives, and rashes.

After thinking for a long time, Xu Qing found a wooden stick, stuck it into the konjac, and held the stick in one hand and a straw brush in the other.

When Wen came out of the kitchen, she saw Xu Qing working with konjac. She strode up to Xu Qing, snatched the konjac from him, and threw it far away.

"Daughter, are you crazy? You can't touch this! At best it'll make you itchy, at worst it can kill you! Let me see, did you touch it? Are you alright?"