A farmer has a shrewish wife; he's busy making money every day.

When they returned to the noodle stall, the sun had set. The group packed up, got on the donkey cart, and headed back to the deserted village.

On the way, Chen finally had a chance to ask, "Qingxue, are we really going to rent a bigger shop?"

Her voice was a mix of excitement and nervousness.

Ye Qingxue nodded, then glanced back at Madam Chen, "Aunt Chen, I'll hire more chefs later, and you'll be in charge of teaching them."

Ms. Chen nodded solemnly: "Yes!"

A hint of worry flickered in her eyes. "Qingxue, are you really sure I can do this?"

She wasn't a professional chef after all, and she was afraid that she wouldn't do a good job, and she was also afraid that others wouldn't listen to her.

Ye Qingxue gave her a reassuring look, "Don't be afraid, just do it. I trust your abilities."

Aunt Lu comforted him, saying, "Don't worry, believe in yourself, your cooking skills are really good!"

A hint of emotion flickered in Chen's eyes, but her gaze gradually hardened. "Okay, I will try my best."

Ye Qingxue added, "Also, with the new store open, we'll need to launch new products and some promotional activities. I'll think about the details when I get back."

Aunt Lu waved her hand generously: "Qingxue, go for it! We'll all support you!"

Debao even let out two loud cries.

It made everyone laugh.

Back in the deserted village, Ye Qingxue put the sweet soup she had brought back in the kitchen to heat it up, and then went to Lu Meng's room to hand over twenty coins.

This is something that must be submitted every day, otherwise Ye Qingxue has no idea what kind of trouble those two will cause.

Normally, after paying the money each day, Lu Meng would wave her away, but today, Lu Meng held the money without saying a word.

He stared at the money, deep in thought.

Ye Qingxue's heart sank, wondering if Lu Meng knew that she earned more than this.

"Father-in-law? Then I'll be going?" Ye Qingxue asked.

"Qingxue, wait a moment, I have something to tell you." Lu Meng's voice was relatively calm.

Ye Qingxue was relieved. "What's wrong?"

Lu Meng looked up at her. "Don't you take Chen Shi and Aunt Lu to Qingshui County every day? You don't have to pay tolls, right?"

Ye Qingxue nodded, a bad premonition rising in her heart.

“The villagers came to me today and asked me to talk to you. I’ll take them to the county in a few days. They also want to find work.”

Lu Meng rubbed his knees with his hands, his tone nonchalant, "This is simple, you just need to gather the people, you don't need to worry about anything else."

He spoke with absolute certainty, leaving Ye Qingxue no room for refusal.

A hint of displeasure flashed in Ye Qingxue's eyes. "Father-in-law, did you take money from them?"

Lu Meng is petty; how could he possibly let her take people to the county for free?

"So what? They used my donkey and bothered my daughter-in-law, so shouldn't they pay me something?"

Ye Qingxue was so angry she almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

Is this his house? No, this belongs to Ye Qingxue!

"I disagree." Ye Qingxue's face turned cold.

Lu Meng was stunned, not expecting Ye Qingxue to go against his words.

He slammed his hand on the table. "You've gone too far! I'm the head of the household, and what I say goes. What right do you, a woman, have to object?"

Am I not qualified?

Ye Qingxue placed her hand on her stomach, her expression pained.

"You..." Lu Meng's arrogance immediately subsided.

For the past month, Ye Qingxue has been working outside to earn money to supplement the family income, and she hasn't eaten much of their food. She's also pregnant.

Lu Meng couldn't find anything to say to her, but since he had already accepted the money, he had to take people with him!

"I don't care about you, you have to agree, or I'll go talk to your mother."

Anger surged in Ye Qingxue's eyes. They knew her mother was kind-hearted and easy to bully, so they used this to threaten her, didn't they!

She couldn't move out immediately; her parents still had to live in the Lu family home, and she couldn't let Lu Meng bully them!

Ye Qingxue's eyes darted around, and her tone softened a bit, "That's not what I meant. I was just angry. Actually, I'm very happy that it gives the villagers a way to get to the county."

Lu Meng looked up at her: "So you agree?"

Ye Qingxue shook her head.

Lu Meng's face darkened again.

“But…” Ye Qingxue spoke up in time, “I am actually communicating with the county government to ask them to provide us with a route so that our fellow villagers can enter and leave Qingshui County at any time.”

Ye Qingxue had a plan in mind, but she didn't know if it was feasible. For now, she could only appease Lu Meng.

Lu Meng paused and asked, "No toll?"

Ye Qingxue shook her head: "No need. In fact, the county government has already taken action against those scoundrels who collect tolls. They may not need to collect tolls anymore in the future."

Lu Meng's eyes widened; he hadn't expected such a thing to happen.

"So, father-in-law only needs to wait another half month, and maybe his daughter-in-law will have taken care of things by then,"

He reached down to his waist and touched it, "But I've already taken all the money..."

A hint of annoyance flashed in Ye Qingxue's eyes; she knew that Lu Meng would never return the money.

“It’s alright. Just tell them that you gave me the money to smooth things over. Once they can freely enter and leave Qingshui County, they won’t ask for your money back.”

Hearing this, Lu Meng breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good, but can you really make this work?"

He was still somewhat uneasy, but more so dissatisfied with not being able to continue receiving money.

"Once this path is successful, will I still be able to make money?"

Ye Qingxue felt disgusted, but she didn't show it on her face. "Now that the channels are open, you can go to the county to make money at will. Isn't that good for you too?"

"It's more comfortable to sit and collect money than to work yourself to the bone," Lu Meng disagreed with Ye Qingxue's words.

Ye Qingxue rolled her eyes at him in her mind.

Yes, you let her pick people up and drop them off, and all the money goes into your pocket. I even have to go to the county to buy the goods. You get all the benefits.

“Father-in-law, you are the village chief. You have business dealings with the county. How could you not get kickbacks? Don’t worry, you will definitely benefit from it.”

Hearing this, Lu Meng finally relented: "Okay, then go ahead and do it."

"Thank you, Father-in-law," Ye Qingxue said before leaving.

She earns her own money but still has to put up with other people's attitudes, which is really unpleasant.

Holding her breath, Ye Qingxue returned to her room, but her anger dissipated the moment she saw her parents and younger brother.

When Ye Hao'er saw her return, he exclaimed happily, "Sister! It's delicious!"

There was still some red bean soup on the corner of his upturned lips.

Lin Zhi looked up, smiled gently, and wrapped her cotton coat tighter around herself: "Xiao Xue, come quickly, wrap yourself in this cotton coat, and Mom will ladle some sweet soup for you."

Ye Jing smiled without saying a word.

As her earlier displeasure dissipated, Ye Qingxue smiled and turned to see Lu Chuci holding a bowl of sweet soup, smiling at her.

His smile was so beautiful that she momentarily forgot he was a fool.

Ye Qingxue's heart suddenly raced, and she stared at him blankly.

"Xiaoxue, come quickly," Ye Jing urged her from the other end.

"Okay." Ye Qingxue ran over, put on her cotton coat, and picked up the hot sweet soup to drink.

"Is it good?" Lin Zhi gently smoothed Ye Qingxue's hair with her hand, her gaze filled with tender affection.

Ye Qingxue nodded: "Mm!"