Chapter 190

Everything at home remained as before.

With the village head and Zhao Dasao overseeing them, the workers at the soap workshop did not slacken one bit despite Jiang Shi and her daughter's departure.

On the contrary, each one worked with all their might, afraid that any mistake might be reported upon their return, causing them to lose this easy, well-paying job.

Jiang Xiaoxiao went to the storage room to check—it was fine; the soap inventory had already reached several thousand pieces.

At this rate, her family's soap workshop produced at least five hundred pieces of soap per day.

Yet the shops in Yong'an Town sold no more than three hundred pieces of soap daily.

Production far exceeded sales.

Yong'an Town was still a small place and could never absorb such volume; they needed another way to sell the soap.

In the Shang Fang residence, Zhao Dasao was reporting the past few days' situation to Jiang Wei.

"During your absence, we used up most of the pork at home. I feared we'd run out, so I took the liberty of selling part of the rendered lard residue and used the money to buy more pork back…"

Saying this, Zhao Dasao pulled out a small cloth bundle from her bosom and poured out some broken silver, "This is the remaining money from selling the lard residue—I kept it all here and didn't dare spend much."

"You did well," Jiang Wei praised. "You've been a great help these past few days."

Jiang Xiaoxiao looked at the broken silver—it amounted to about five taels.

On the market, pure pork generally cost over twenty wen per jin, and roughly five jin of pork yielded one jin of lard residue.

The market price for rendered lard residue was ten wen per jin; previously, her mother had always swept the residue directly into her space and replaced it with fresh pork, never considering selling it.

Before leaving, her mother had only left three or four days' worth of pork, but unexpectedly, due to the matter with the Sun magistrate, they stayed in town longer than planned, and the pork nearly ran out—luckily, Zhao Dasao sold part of the workshop's lard residue and bought new pork back.

Undeniably, Zhao Dasao was very clever and capable in certain matters.

After this incident, Jiang Wei grew even more appreciative of Zhao Dasao and decided to appoint her as the head of the soap workshop, responsible for all internal and external affairs, supervising the workers, and paying her seven hundred wen per month.

Zhao Dasao was both shocked and delighted.

She never expected that merely doing her duty would earn her such favor from Jiang Wei—it was a joy beyond her wildest hopes.

Jiang Xiaoxiao was also very satisfied with her mother's arrangement.

With Zhao Dasao, a capable and meticulous person, overseeing the soap workshop, mother and daughter no longer needed to spend much time on it, allowing them to focus more energy on selling soap.

Yet Jiang Xiaoxiao never expected that barely a short while after returning from town, the Li family had come knocking.

"Er Ya, are you home?"

The courtyard gate banged loudly; Jiang Xiaoxiao, who rarely had a proper meal with her mother, instantly lost her good mood upon hearing "Er Ya."

"Ignore them," Jiang Wei said, placing a piece of pork in her bowl. "If no one answers, they'll leave on their own."

The courtyard gate was made of thick solid wood; even if the Li family pounded their hands to pulp, they couldn't break it down.

Jiang Xiaoxiao sullenly shoveled a mouthful of rice—the Li family's sudden visit this time probably wouldn't end so easily…

"Er Ya, Grandma knows we Li family wronged you and your mother before. Open the door, please! Grandma misses you so much—I came all this way just to see you. Can you really bear to lock your own grandmother out?"

Li Old Matriarch's loud voice carried to every neighbor on the block.

Jiang Xiaoxiao put down her bowl and chopsticks and rubbed her temples hard twice.

Great—now they've learned to play the emotional card; their intentions must be big.

Jiang Wei also put down her bowl and chopsticks, her expression clearly impatient.

"This shouting won't solve anything, Mother. Let's go out and see what they want," Jiang Xiaoxiao said.

The Li family wouldn't give up until they saw the coffin—letting them shout like this wasn't an option.

So the mother and daughter hastily cleared the dishes and stepped outside.

Unexpectedly, when they opened the gate, the entire Li family stood outside.

Good heavens!

What on earth were the Li family up to, coming here with everyone?

The First Branch's Li Shoude stood with Sun Shi and Yun Ying on one side of the Li Elders; the Second Branch's Li Shoucai and Zhu Shi stood on the other.

"Oh my, Third Daughter-in-law, you finally opened the door!" Seeing Jiang Wei, Li Old Matriarch rushed forward as if meeting a long-lost relative, eagerly reaching to take Jiang Wei's arm.

Jiang Wei sidestepped, avoiding her, and frowned: "Don't touch me. I don't know you. Say what you came for—no touching."

Jiang Wei's cold dismissal and contemptuous gaze made Li Old Matriarch angry; she instinctively wanted to snap back.

But catching Li Old Master's glance, she swallowed her rage and stepped back sullenly.

"Cough, cough… Third Daughter-in-law…" Li Old Master stepped forward himself. "You know Third Son died early. Our Li family did wrong before. As head of this household, I apologize to you now…"

After saying that, he knelt directly before Jiang Wei in front of everyone.

Jiang Xiaoxiao's eyelid twitched.

This old man is serious!

She quickly pulled her mother aside.

Li Old Matriarch's earlier shouting had drawn half the villagers.

With so many eyes watching, if Jiang Wei truly accepted this bow from an elder, the village's blame wouldn't fall on the Li family—it would fall on Jiang Wei.

Even though they had severed kinship and split households, if an elder knelt to a younger, word would spread—and Jiang Wei's reputation would be ruined.

"Third Daughter-in-law, we Li family wronged you before. Today I declare this: if you and your daughter refuse to forgive us, I will stay kneeling here until you do."

Li Old Master clearly came prepared to lose face—he wiped his tears, wore a pained expression, and signaled to Li Old Matriarch beside him.

Seeing this, Li Old Matriarch looked reluctant but forced herself to comply, stepping forward and dropping to her knees beside her husband: "Yes! If you won't forgive us old couple, we'll die kneeling on your doorstep!"

Jiang Xiaoxiao's ears throbbed from Li Old Matriarch's shrill voice.

She rubbed her earlobe, suppressing impatience, and saw neighbors whispering and pointing—her gut told her this was bad.

The Li family must have planned this thoroughly—what should they do?

As Jiang Xiaoxiao worried, her mother suddenly took her hand and turned back toward the courtyard.

"Let them kneel if they want to—kneel as long as they like," Jiang Wei said lightly. "Oh, by the way—my home keeps snakes. They'll be let out soon to hunt. If they get bitten…"