Wealthy beyond measure, yet you call me a sister-supporting-brother demon?

Old Yuan's family had already given them rice, and now they were giving them this opportunity to make money. Old Mrs. Zhang felt very warm inside.

She couldn't help but think of the unfounded rumors circulating in the village about Yuanbao. It was said that Yuanbao had probably made money selling cooked food, and the Yuan family didn't deny it, naturally not wanting others to know the truth. Now, however, they had entrusted her with the task of buying firewood, which showed their trust in her family. In that moment, Old Lady Zhang felt even warmer inside.

Yuan Laifu said, "Sister-in-law, I hope you will keep my request for firewood a secret..."

Before Yuan Laifu could finish speaking, Old Lady Zhang said, "Laifu, Guihua, don't worry about that. My family is tight-lipped. By the way, we don't lack firewood now, and we live close by. Even if we only pay eight coins for a load of firewood, we're getting a good deal."

Yuan Laifu waved his hand, "No, sister-in-law, it'll be ten coins. Yuanbao said he'll come to you personally if it's lower than that."

Grandma Zhang was deeply moved. "This child... is truly grateful. I, this old woman, am so blessed."

Yuan Laifu and Sheng Guihua agreed wholeheartedly. "Yuanbao is indeed a sensible child. Sister-in-law, if Shuren and the others have time, they can send more firewood. It's okay if they send less when they're busy, as long as there's always firewood available where I store it."

Grandma Zhang naturally expressed her gratitude again.

After Yuan Laifu and Sheng Guihua left, Old Lady Zhang told her three sons, Zhang Shuren, Zhang Shufa, and Zhang Shuchun, as well as her three daughters-in-law about the incident.

The three sons were overjoyed. They had watched Yuanbao grow up since he was a child. When he was on the verge of death, they didn't even consider whether the Yuan family could repay the loan, and they gritted their teeth and lent him the money. Unexpectedly, the Yuan family not only repaid the loan quickly, but also gave them a pound of the best white rice, and now they were giving them such a good gift.

Now that there's plenty of firewood, each of them can chop four loads a day—it's such an easy job! Delivering at least two loads of firewood a day costs at least twenty coins! That's... Zhang Shuren, being quick-witted, was the first to calculate it: six hundred coins a month, seven taels of silver a year! And firewood is expensive in winter; knowing the Yuan family's nature, the price might even rise! How much would that be in a year!

It's incredible that they can earn so much money from chopping firewood in a year!

Originally, Grandma Zhang only realized that her family was making money, but she had no idea how much they could earn in a year. Now, after hearing what her eldest son said, she felt even more grateful to the Yuan family.

The three daughters-in-law were also incredibly excited. When their husbands and mothers-in-law asked to borrow money, they had refused, worried that the Yuan family wouldn't be able to repay it. Now, not only had they repaid the money, but they had also been given such a wonderful job. The Yuan family truly knows how to repay kindness! What a wonderful family!

Seeing her son and daughter-in-law so excited, Old Lady Zhang warned, "Don't get cocky just because you've made a little money. Remember this: keep your mouths shut about the Yuan family's cooked food business and our delivering firewood to them. Anyone who speaks out of turn and causes trouble for the Yuan family, making us lose this job, will have to kneel in the ancestral hall for three days without food or drink."

Everyone quickly shut their mouths; this was of utmost importance.

"Also, Yuan Nian'er and her son-in-law, when your children come to stay with us, please take good care of them. Don't be stingy and unwilling to bring out anything nice." Originally, even without the firewood sale, Old Lady Zhang would have been hospitable, but she was afraid that her daughters-in-law would be stingy and not give her a good look, so she gave them this special instruction.

The three daughters-in-law chimed in excitedly, "Don't worry, Mother, when Nian'er's family comes, we'll make sure they stay comfortably."

In the evening, Yuan Nian'er's family came over and were indeed warmly welcomed. The three children were a little reserved at first, but later they stayed at home as if it were their own.

The next day, when the rooster crowed twice, Zhao Mingde and Yuan Nian'er got up to help.

When Li Changshun came to deliver pork, Yuansheng told him about asking his second brother-in-law to help with the pig collection.

“This is great news. We’re shipping a lot of pigs now, and I’ve collected almost all the adult pigs from the surrounding villages. I don’t have the energy to go to more distant places. Brother Zhao’s help in collecting the pigs is a huge help to me.” Li Changshun said sincerely.

He thought to himself that Brother Yuansheng was already being very kind of him to continue buying goods from him. He was now earning more than one tael of silver a day, all thanks to Brother Yuansheng. Now, he was only asking his brother-in-law to help him buy pigs, paying twenty coins per pig, which was a very reasonable price.

Yuan Sheng smiled and said, "Brother Li, what are you saying? You're the one who helped me with this. You can talk to my brother-in-law about what to pay attention to when buying pigs."

Li Changshun thought for a moment, "First of all, we should find out in advance who has adult pigs, scout out the locations beforehand, and go to buy pigs early in the morning. Otherwise, if people feed the pigs before you buy them, you'll lose out, as a single meal of pig feed can weigh several kilograms."

"Another point is that it depends on the fatness of the pig. Some fat pigs can yield seven and a half pounds of meat from one pound of live pig... which means that a hundred pounds of live pig can yield seventy-five pounds of meat. Some pigs are thin and have more bones, so a hundred pounds of live pig can only yield seventy pounds of meat. So, this aspect is also very important."

Li Changshun thought for a while and said, "Brother Zhao, let's do this: you follow me for two days to learn how to collect pigs. If you collect pigs and the meat yield is good, I'll give you an extra twenty coins per pig. If the meat yield is average, we'll do as Brother Yuan said and give you twenty coins per pig."

Li Changshun was quite uneasy about earning so much money every day, but now that he could give some benefits to his brother-in-law Yuansheng, he felt much more at ease.

Yuan Sheng hadn't expected there to be so much to know about buying pigs, and he couldn't help but feel that his previous suggestion of twenty coins per pig was somewhat ill-considered. "Brother Li, aren't you being too unfair by doing this?!"

Li Changshun excitedly grabbed Yuan Sheng's hand, "Brother Yuan, how did I lose out? Brother Zhao helped me buy more good pigs and get more meat, so I'm the one who's benefiting."

Zhao Mingde knew that Li Changshun was only doing this out of respect for Yuansheng, so he patiently listened to the two of them finish speaking before saying, "Brother Li, thank you for teaching me. I will definitely follow you and learn how to take care of pigs."

"Brother Zhao, you're doing me a favor by learning from me." Li Changshun's words were as sweet as honey.

After finalizing the matter with Li Changshun, Yuansheng and Zhao Mingde went to the kitchen to help make braised meat and braised offal.

Looking at his brother-in-law, who was three years older than his son, Zhao Mingde was impressed by his brother-in-law's skill in dealing with people and his gentle and pleasant manner of speaking.

Yesterday, in front of his family, he was still that childlike, pampered little Yuanbao. Today, in front of strangers, he presents himself as a shrewd and capable mature man.

At this moment, Zhao Mingde understood what his brother-in-law had said yesterday: Yuanbao had been a pillar of support for them.

Putting everything else aside, the butcher's polite attitude towards him just now, and the fact that he offered to pay twenty extra coins for a fat pig, were all because of his brother-in-law's influence.

The whole family worked together to make braised meat and braised offal. Yuansheng took his second brother-in-law, Zhao Mingde, to town to deliver the goods.