Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

"Well, the owner of Fuxianglou wanted to buy out our braised meat recipe, but I didn't agree. Instead, I suggested we cooperate on other food businesses. According to their young master, Fuxianglou in other towns, and even the Fuxianglou in the county seat, will need our braised meat in the future."

Wang Cuiying then asked, "How can we deliver it to such a far county town?"

"Then we won't worry about it, just deliver it to town."

"You still haven't told me why the young master calls Mu Nan 'Senior Brother'?" Wang Cuiying was very curious. She had never heard her son mention knowing the owner of Fuxianglou before! Not only her, but the other members of the Mu family were also very curious and looked at the couple with eager eyes.

"Grandma, Father, Mother, he was my classmate at the academy, and he also learned martial arts from Master Wu, so he calls me Senior Brother. I didn't know he was the young master of Fuxiang Restaurant until last night," Mu Nan explained simply.

“Mom, there will be more and more meat to braise in the future, so many offal pig heads to wash, and ducks to kill. You definitely won’t be able to handle it all by yourself. Why don’t we spend some money to find an aunt in the village to help you?” Wang Qing’er was worried that her mother-in-law would not be able to manage, so she suggested finding someone to help.

"No need, no need, I finished that work in one morning, and I still have time to pick mushrooms in the afternoon." Wang Cuiying waved her hand hurriedly. Her family had just recovered, and she was reluctant to spend money to hire someone to help.

"Alright, if you're too busy, find someone else. Don't exhaust yourself." Seeing her mother-in-law's pained expression, Wang Qing'er had no choice but to give up.

Mu Yan then spoke up, "Sister-in-law, I can also help you with some chores, and Zihan and Zitong can do them too."

Wang Cuiying waved her hands repeatedly, "No, no, no, you should get well first. Once you're better, I'll ask you to help me every day. Zihan and Zitong are too young to do these kinds of work. They can stay with Qing'er from now on."

Madam Zhou also said seriously, "Yan'er, you should recover first before we talk about anything else."

Wu Zitong suddenly said to Wang Qing'er, "Sister-in-law, I can do a lot of work."

"Alright, sister-in-law knows how capable Zitong is. From now on, you'll follow me!"

"Zitong, from now on, we'll follow your sister-in-law and help her pick flowers."

"Okay!" The two girls smiled at each other.

Wu Zixuan said, "From now on, I will be in charge of feeding the cows, sheep, and rabbits. Before, I was in charge of feeding the cows at home."

Wu Zihao: "I can also help my second brother."

Wu Zihao said, "From now on, I will work with my uncle and Mu Xiao."

When Zhou heard that her children were all taking on chores for themselves, she was very happy. "Look, suddenly there are so many more people in the family who can do chores."

Wang Qing'er said, "Grandma, I think Zihao and Mulin are about the same age, so let's send him to the village school! They'll have each other for company. I think Sister Zihan likes animals, so she can help Zixuan feed the cattle and sheep in the future."

Wu Zihan, "..."

When did I ever tell her I like animals? Does my cousin even tell her that?

"Qing'er, do you mean you want to send Zihao to school too?" Zhou Shi looked surprised. She had never thought of sending her nephew to school, but her granddaughter-in-law had. What a good girl.

"Yes, any child in the family who wants to study can go. Even if they don't pursue a career in government, it's good to be literate. There are also Muqin, Zitong, Yao'er, and a few other girls. They will be with me from now on, and I will teach them to read when I have time."

Mu Qin said, "Sister-in-law, I've memorized all the characters you taught me a few days ago."

"Okay, Muqin is the smartest. Tomorrow, your sister-in-law will test you and teach you to recognize new characters. I bought you a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone so you can start learning to write. Mulin and Zihao both have them, but I bought more."

"Mother, I want to study and learn to read too," Yao'er said in her childish voice.

"Okay, Mother will teach you. Mother bought you some nice storybooks." Wang Qing'er had completely accepted this new identity and affectionately picked up Mu Yao and placed her on her lap.

Mu Yan hesitated. It would certainly be good if her youngest son could go to school, but her whole family had returned home penniless, not only eating and living at her parents' house for free, but she also needed to treat her illness and take medicine. If her youngest son also had to go to school, that would be too much...

Thinking of this, Mu Yan said, "Qing'er, Zihao will no longer go to the private school. I know about what's going on at home. The family's situation has only just started to improve, and the cost of his education is quite high."

Wang Qing'er said, "Auntie, don't worry, the family can afford it. Just focus on getting better now, we'll take care of everything else."

Zhou also said, "Just listen to what the maid said; she knows what she's doing."

The Mu family ate and chatted, with Wang Qing'er doing most of the talking, while the Mu family members and Wu Zihao listened.

Everyone in the Mu family knew that their new daughter-in-law was capable, so they just listened quietly. The Wu siblings, on the other hand, looked at their eloquent sister-in-law with blank expressions.

Seeing how strong her opponent was, Wu Zihan felt a little scared. Under the table, she twisted her clothes into a pretzel and tore a hole in her already faded clothes.

Originally, Wang Qing'er didn't plan to say these things in front of Mu Yan and the Wu siblings, but after seeing Wu Zihan's silly look, she changed her mind.

He arranged all the family affairs right in front of them, which was a necessary way to assert his dominance and make someone back down, so that the two families wouldn't have to fall out later.

After dinner, Wang Qing'er handed all the pastries to Zhou Shi and took out the clothes she had bought to distribute to everyone. Fortunately, all three of her Wu brothers had bought clothes.

I didn't see the mother and daughter at the time, so I didn't know their sizes and didn't buy the finished clothes, but I did buy the fabric.

She gave all the fabric she had bought for the mother and daughters to Mu Yan. There was enough fabric for both the inside and outside, enough for the mother and daughters to make several outfits.

The rest was left to Wang Cuiying, who was to make clothes for her family.

When she has free time, she'll try designing a raincoat for Mu Nan with those oilcloths, then have her mother-in-law help her make it, and she also needs to practice her needlework.

Mu Yan and her son were assigned to two rooms next to Zhou's. Mu Yan and her youngest daughter shared one room, while Wu Zihan and Zitong shared another.

Wu Zihao has a room by himself, while Wu Zixuan and Wu Zihao share a room. They all live in the front yard, but luckily there are many rooms in the house.

After a busy day, Wang Qing'er felt very tired, but there were still many things to do! She soaked a pot of soapberries; she still needed to make soap tomorrow.

They discovered that the prepared braising spice packet was also used up, so they prepared several days' worth, put it in a small cloth bag, sewed it up, and took it to the kitchen to give to Wang Cuiying.

The other spices were locked away in an empty room in Wang Qing'er's own courtyard.

Since her family started selling braised meat, Wang Cuiying locks the kitchen door every night before going to bed.

The two half-grown puppies that I brought back from Sister Hua's house the day before yesterday were also tied up at the kitchen door in the evening.