Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

Old Man Mu also said, "When I go to the village to repay the money later, I'll borrow Uncle San's carriage back. You can drive the carriage tomorrow!"

"There are carriages available? I wonder if I could come along and take a look at the county town?"

Thinking this to herself, Wang Qing'er quickly followed suit with her words, "Brother Mu Nan, can you take me with you?"

"Qing'er, you shouldn't go this time. Wait until you're less busy and then let Mu Nan take you. You can stay in the city for a few more days."

Wang Cuiying hurriedly stopped him. Her son was going to his ex-wife's house to repay a debt, and it wouldn't be appropriate for him to bring his current wife along! What if Qing'er found out? Would it affect the relationship between the young couple?

"Alright, come with me." Mu Nan looked at Wang Qing'er with affection, then said to her father, "Father, borrow the carriage for two days. I'll take Qing'er to play in the county for a day."

"Okay," Old Man Mu readily agreed.

Seeing that her son had agreed, Wang Cuiying didn't say anything more, but she was still a little worried.

Zhou separated the outstanding debts and handed Mu Nan two hundred taels of silver notes and ten taels of silver, saying, "These two hundred taels are for the Yun family, and the ten taels are for expenses in the county."

He then took out a hundred-tael silver note and five taels of silver and handed them to Wang Cuiying, saying, "These are borrowed from our in-laws. Go and pay them back when you have time, and then go buy some things."

"Mother, two taels is enough for buying things, you don't need so much." Wang Cuiying only accepted the one hundred taels of silver notes and two taels of loose silver.

Zhou said, "That's fine. Then take a few more pounds of brown sugar and share it with your sisters-in-law. Also, buy some sweets and pastries for the children, and get some cloth for your in-laws to make clothes."

"Yes!" Wang Cuiying quickly responded.

"The rest is borrowed from a few families in the village. You and your husband should go and repay them, and give each family a pound of brown sugar."

"And all of Mu Lin's tuition fees over the past few years have been given to him." As she spoke, Zhou pushed the account book and silver in front of Old Man Mu.

"it is good."

Zhou slowly spoke again, "Now that all the debts have been paid off, our family will settle down and live a good life. We don't expect to go back to the way things were before, but at least we can eat white rice every day."

When Wang Qing'er heard Zhou Shi say that she ate rice every meal, she secretly sighed, "So Grandma thinks the same way as me!"

Zhou continued unhurriedly, "Qing'er has only been in our Mu family for about twenty days. The fact that our family's debts have been paid off so quickly is all thanks to the good fortune she brought. Otherwise, all these years you three, father and sons, have been wandering in the mountains without ever seeing any good things like Ganoderma lucidum, Polygonum multiflorum, Tremella fuciformis, or tea!"

"I want to hand over this household to Qing'er. Do you have any objections?" After saying the last sentence, Madam Zhou glanced around the table at everyone.

"Grandma, I can't, I can't manage the household." Wang Qing'er quickly declined. She was thinking that after paying off the debt, she would go to the mountains every day to find the flowers, plants, soapberries, and soap pods she wanted to develop her essential oils, soaps, and shampoo bars.

When I don't feel like moving, I just lie at home and relax. But I don't want to worry about the house, because that's a responsibility! If I manage it well, fine; if I don't, I'll definitely get complaints.

Although the family's debts have been paid off, there are only about a hundred taels of silver left. If something happens, she won't be able to earn money.

“I have no objection.” Wang Cuiying was the first to agree. She didn’t want to manage the household anyway, so this way, the responsibility would be passed directly to her daughter-in-law, which suited her perfectly.

Old Man Mu said, "I also agree with Qing'er being the housekeeper."

Mu Xiao said, "I have no objection."

"I disagree." Mu Nan said those four words in a surprising and firm tone.

"Why?"

"Yeah, boss, why don't you agree?"

"Big brother-"

……

Everyone stared at Mu Nan in bewilderment, including Wang Qing'er, who looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Why is he objecting? Why would he object to his own wife managing the household?..."

Although Wang Qing'er didn't want to manage the family, she couldn't understand why her husband was the one who opposed it.

The whole family was waiting for Mu Nan to give them a reasonable explanation. Wang Qing'er was also staring at the man sitting next to her; she was the one who most wanted to know the answer.

After waiting for a long time, Mu Nan sat quietly without saying a word. However, Wang Qing'er said in a huff, "Grandma, I promise the steward!"

"Qing'er—"

Mu Nan wanted to say something, but Wang Qing'er said, "The minority must obey the majority. There are six adults in the family. If you are the only one who disagrees, it doesn't count."

Wang Qing'er was holding back her anger, so her tone was naturally a bit harsh, and she even changed her form of address to "you." Everyone knew that the girl was angry.

Wang Cuiying couldn't understand what her son was thinking. In other families, their wives would be overjoyed to have the power to manage the household, but her silly son was so dense that he even came out to oppose it.

"Since Qing'er has agreed, then it's decided that Qing'er will be in charge of the household from now on." Zhou made the final decision, and she put the remaining 113 taels of silver into a wooden box and handed it to Wang Qing'er.

Wang Qing'er took the wooden box. "Grandma, Father, Mother, Mu Xiao thanks you for trusting me. I will definitely take good care of this family and make sure we have white rice every meal."

“Before, we had to pay off debts, so all the money in the house was kept by Grandma. Now that we have some extra money, I'd like to give you all a monthly allowance, two taels each. Muqin, Mulin, and Yao'er will also get pocket money every month. What do you think?”

Mu Xiao scratched his head blankly, "Sister-in-law, it's good to receive monthly allowances, but we don't need to give so much. We won't be able to use it all."

"Sister-in-law, I have one too?" Mu Qin looked at Wang Qing'er in disbelief.

"Well, how about Muqin saves five hundred coins a month, Mulin gets one hundred coins a month for pocket money, and Xiaoyao gets ten coins a month?" Wang Qing'er asked Muyao affectionately, gently stroking her little face.

"Okay, Yao'er has money, let's buy candy for Mom." Mu Yao clapped her hands happily.

Wang Qing'er then said to Mu Xiao, "Second brother, the monthly allowance we give you isn't for you to spend all of it. You can save it and use it to buy gifts for the girl you like in the future."

The last sentence made Mu Xiao, who was usually glib and talkative, blush with embarrassment.

Upon hearing this, Mu Nan thought to himself, "Uh, is my wife giving me some pointers?"

Wang Qing'er distributed the monthly allowances to everyone one by one, and finally counted out two thousand copper coins and placed them in front of Mu Nan. "Grandma, Father and Mother, I'm going back to my room now!"

After saying that, he picked up the wooden box and went back to the room in the backyard.

Mu Xiao looked at his older brother with a gloating expression, and his nonchalant attitude made Mu Nan want to punch him.

"Dad, let's go pick bamboo shoots." Mu Xiao made a quick getaway before his older brother's fist landed on him, and also called his father away.

Wang Cuiying glared at her eldest son, her eyes saying, "Hurry up and go coax your wife."