Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

The cheapest sketchbook she bought in the county town last time cost 500 coins, the cheapest paper was 500 coins for 100 sheets, and the cheapest set of brushes and ink cost 600 coins.

However, the cheap paper and ink were really unusable, but luckily she only bought a cheap set.

She bought a hundred sheets of paper for one tael of silver, and a set of writing brushes and ink for five taels of silver. The shopkeeper gave her a hundred sheets of paper as a gift because he saw that she bought a lot.

Every single item costs money; managing a household is indeed difficult.

Wang Qing'er shook off her worries, cleaned up the fish on the ground, and headed home.

Everyone carried a full basket of mint leaves on their backs, and Zihan also carried two small baskets in her hands.

Wang Qing'er was carrying a bucket in one hand and a basket in the other.

Muqin and Zitong, the two younger ones, carried the fish basket together. Inside were two large fish, weighing more than ten pounds in total.

It was too heavy, and it was uphill, so all four of them were panting heavily and walking very slowly, occasionally leaning against tree stumps or rocks to rest.

Zihan leaned against a rock to rest, wiping the sweat from her face with her sleeve. Looking at the fish in their hands, she thought to herself, "I really don't know why they're catching so many fish! They don't even taste good! Aren't they tired?"

Of course, she only complained in her heart and didn't say anything out loud. She was too lazy to talk to the others and was very noisy every day.

If it weren't for their mother telling them that if they didn't work hard and behave themselves, they would go back to the days when they had nothing to eat and nowhere to live.

She wouldn't follow them around all day.

Then she thought about how at the Mu family's house, she could eat rice and meat, wear new clothes, and the work wasn't heavy.

There was also the peach blossom dew that Wang Qing'er applied to their faces. After using it, she felt that her skin was indeed much smoother and whiter.

During this period of time, I have seen that the eldest cousin's wife is indeed the housekeeper of the Mu family. If she has any more ideas about the eldest cousin, she will be kicked out sooner or later, which will also implicate her mother and several younger brothers and sisters. So I temporarily put aside my little schemes and worked quietly.

When the girls arrived home, only Zhou Shi and Mu Yan were peeling bamboo shoots in the yard with Mu Yao and Zi Yuan.

Mu Yan's health is improving day by day, and she can now help with some simple chores.

"Grandma, Auntie, we're back!"

"Grandma, Mom, we're back."

Muqin and Zitong happily called out to Zhou Shi and Muyan as they entered the courtyard.

Upon seeing Wang Qing'er, Xiao Muyao happily rushed into her arms and asked, "Mother, are you tired?"

"Is Mom not tired? Is Muyao being good at home?" Wang Qing'er reached out and touched her little face. The two were getting closer and closer.

"Yao'er, my dear, Yao'er is helping to peel bamboo shoots."

"Take a break and have some water." Zhou got up to help them take the baskets off their backs. Seeing the fish in the buckets and baskets, she exclaimed, "Wow, how come there are so many fish, and they're so big! Did you go into the river?"

"Grandma, we didn't go into the river. My sister-in-law put the grass that the fish like to eat into the fish basket, and then put the fish basket into the pond. The fish went in to eat the grass and that's how we caught them," Muqin told Zhou Shi, explaining how she caught the fish.

"Oh, it's good that they didn't go into the water. The river water is still cold, and it would be troublesome if they caught a cold," Zhou muttered to herself as she reminded them.

"Grandma, didn't you say there weren't many bamboo shoots left? Why did you break off so many?" Wang Qing'er poured herself a cup of tea and gulped it down, her eyes glancing at a pile of bamboo shoots under the eaves.

Zhou said with a smile, "Mu Xiao and the others found another bamboo forest, but most of the bamboo shoots had already grown into mature bamboo, and there weren't many tender ones. They all ran to pick them, saying that if they waited a day to pick the bamboo shoots, they would become too old."

"Brother Mu Nan, did Zihao and Zixuan all go? There are so many to pick, we can't even keep up with them all." These people are really something, won't they just get old if we just keep them here? It's better to leave them in the mountains.

Wang Qing'er now feels it doesn't matter whether there are bamboo shoots or not, as her family has already dried over a hundred pounds of bamboo shoots and has several large vats of pickled bamboo shoots.

Our family is busy every day, so giving up one or two things wouldn't affect our income.

Besides dried bamboo shoots, the family also had a lot of dried mushrooms. All kinds of mushrooms were growing. Mu Xiao and the others would pick several baskets of mushrooms every day. Apart from those sent to restaurants, the rest were dried.

Wang Qing'er hadn't inquired about these matters for a long time, and she hadn't gone to the mountains to pick mushrooms for a long time either.

Zhou added, "It seems they found other things as well, and they even took sacks with them."

"Oh! Grandma, I'll go cook first. We'll make fish for lunch!"

Zhou moved her lips slightly, wanting to say that the fish was delicious but strangely fishy, ​​but then she remembered that her granddaughter-in-law could even cook pig offal well, so she should be able to cook fish well too. So she changed her mind and said, "Okay, you cook it. Do you need my help?"

"No need, no need! You peel the bamboo shoots!"