I'm dressed up as the timid eldest daughter, and the whole family has to listen to me!

Su Banxia took the broom from Wang Guihua's hand.

"Mother, let me sweep. You rest for a while. We only sold five hundred coins today, which is not enough. Tomorrow, I'll make more and ask Wei Kezhi to come with me to the city to sell. That way, we can sell a little more."

Wang Guihua nodded.

"Okay, you keep sweeping, I'll go to the backyard to prepare the ingredients."

Hearing Su Banxia say this, Su Mo, who was leaning against the window, immediately said anxiously:

"I never imagined that a candied hawthorn could earn so much money. If you sell it for another day tomorrow, wouldn't that help me return the betrothal money to Su Feng?"

Su Banxia glanced at Su Mo sideways.

“I told you long ago that I would no longer help you, and you shouldn’t even think about my money. The fact that I’m letting you stay here is already out of consideration for my parents.”

Upon hearing this, Su Mo immediately said anxiously:

"Mother, you see? You told me I should get along well with Su Banxia, ​​but that's just how she is. Nobody can get along with her!"

Wang Guihua glared at Su Mo.

"Stop making trouble out of nothing. Aren't your father and older brother out there earning money for you? Why are you saying all this nonsense? Your sister earned the money herself, and she knows exactly how much she earns!"

Su Mo gave a disgruntled snort.

"What unmarried daughter doesn't have her earnings managed by her parents? It's just that you spoil my sister all day long, letting her do whatever she wants!"

Su Banxia walked to Su Mo's window, glared at her, and abruptly slammed the window shut.

"Su Mo, stop trying to sow discord. If you can support our entire second branch of the family by doing 'Hu Li' and build such a big house, then I'd be happy if you did it too!"

Su Mo was speechless after being rebuked by Su Banxia, ​​and could only angrily bury her head in the quilt and curse Su Banxia as a scoundrel.

Just as Su Banxia was about to go to the backyard to prepare ingredients for making candied hawthorns with Wang Guihua, she saw Lin Shi standing at her front door, constantly peering inside.

"Third Aunt, what brings you here today?"

Su Banxia's sudden voice startled Lin Shi, who quickly entered the courtyard with a smile and handed the basket she was carrying to Su Banxia.

“Look, I went up the mountain today and picked some wild vegetables. They look very fresh. I happened to pass by your house on my way down the mountain, so I thought I'd bring you some to try.”

Su Banxia smiled and pushed the basket back.

"Third Aunt, you don't need to worry about our family all the time. I live at the foot of the mountain. If I want to eat any wild vegetables, I can just go and dig them myself. There's no need for you to go through the trouble of digging so many wild vegetables and bringing them to me."

Mrs. Lin smiled awkwardly and slung the basket back over her arm.

"If you don't want it, I'll take it back and make some wild vegetable soup."

As she spoke, Madam Lin glanced around, then pulled Su Banxia to sit down on the stone bench in the courtyard.

"Banxia, ​​your third aunt is a straightforward person with no bad intentions. Don't take it to heart if she didn't do something right at the Su family before."

Su Banxia smiled.

"I didn't take it to heart, don't worry, Third Aunt."

Mrs. Lin nodded.

"You see, you probably know what kind of person your grandmother is now. Ever since your grandmother sent me back to my parents' home last time, I've come to terms with it. It's actually quite good that you've separated your families like this."

As she spoke, Lin picked up some wild vegetables from the basket and began to pluck them.

“You know, your third uncle and I are still young, we can’t always rely on the elderly to support us, can we? If word gets out, everyone in the village will laugh at our third branch of the family.”

Mrs. Lin sighed.

"Now, I'm not afraid to say it to your face. Actually, your third uncle and I have wanted to separate from your grandmother for a long time, but your grandmother has been blocking us from doing so."

Lin glanced at Su Banxia's expression and continued:

"Banxia, ​​I've finally mustered up the courage to come and ask you for a favor today..."

Su Banxia looked up at Lin Shi and smiled:

"How can I, a junior, possibly be of any help to you?"

Lin slapped her thigh.

"Tell me, I... well, let me be frank, I just want to learn how to identify medicinal herbs from you, so that your third uncle and I can go up the mountain to dig for herbs every day. We don't ask for much, we just want enough to support our family."

After listening for a while, Su Banxia finally understood Lin's purpose, and then she sighed.

"To tell you the truth, Aunt, it's not that I'm unwilling to help you, it's just that there aren't many medicinal herbs left on the mountain at this time of year. Otherwise, I wouldn't have to go to all this trouble to do business in the city."

Su Banxia pointed to the sky and said:

"The medicinal herb business is seasonal and depends on the weather. Right now, there really aren't any valuable medicinal herbs in these mountains. I even went to the city to sell candied hawthorns today!"

As she spoke, Su Banxia pointed to the straw saddle standing by the courtyard wall.

Lin looked back and frowned, saying:

"Is selling candied hawthorns profitable?"

Su Banxia sighed.

"Third Aunt, to be honest, our family is just a small business with a shiny exterior. You can think about it and see. How much money can we make from such a small business? We can barely make ends meet. Now my father and eldest brother have gone to work in the city."

Lin gritted her teeth, stood up, and said:

"Okay, I understand. I'll think of another way. If you find any profitable business opportunities in the future, don't forget your third uncle and aunt."

Su Banxia nodded.

"Don't worry, Third Aunt, you'll be the first person I think of when something good happens!"

Hearing this, Lin nodded in satisfaction, picked up her basket, and left.

After seeing Lin Shi off, Su Banxia closed the courtyard gate. Now that only the three women, Su Banxia and her companion, lived in such a large house, she felt a little apprehensive.

It seems that when Little Black has puppies, we'll need to keep one of them in this yard to guard the house.

Su Banxia went to the backyard and found that Wang Guihua had already washed all the ingredients she had prepared in advance, such as hawthorn and tomatoes. She then began to teach Wang Guihua how to make the filling and cook the sugar – these were the technical tasks.

Su Banxia intended for the recipe to be known only to herself and Wang Guihua, so she had already agreed with Wang Guihua beforehand that the recipe could not be revealed and that it should be made in secret, not even to Su Mo.

Although Wang Guihua didn't understand the implications, she simply did as her daughter instructed, figuring her daughter wouldn't harm her.

Su Banxia was thinking that even if she got busy in the future, she could only ask for help with simple tasks such as cleaning, pitting, and stringing candied hawthorns. She needed to keep the key skills firmly in her own hands.

Su Banxia and Wang Guihua worked all afternoon and evening to make only one hundred skewers of candied hawthorn. Su Banxia was thinking that with Wei Kezhi accompanying her to sell them tomorrow, they could probably sell more.

However, due to insufficient manpower, we cannot produce too much. Tomorrow, we can only sell this much and see how it goes. We will have Wang Guihua prepare the ingredients at home later, and if necessary, we will ask Aunt Wu to come and help.

If this candied hawthorn business really takes off, it would be great to invite Erzhuzi, Gousheng, and Tieniu to help sell it in the future.