Chapter 273

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Protagonist:

Chai Mi

Before, Chai Mi had told herself.

Live off the mountain if you rely on the mountain, live off the water if you rely on the water. As for myself, having nothing to rely on, I must rely on my own two hands to earn money.

Whether it was working hard to support myself in my previous life, or making and selling dumplings for money now.

It is all money earned by my own two hands.

Some things cannot just be thought about.

There is an old saying in the Northeast: Just do it.

Chai Mi smiled as she tidied the bowls and chopsticks, and Liu Zhijing also came over to help.

Song Qiushui held the money herself and started counting it in the corner of the wall.

Today's money was all collected by Song Qiushui.

Song Qiushui, in this life of hers, has always been on the road to losing money... catching scorpions and angrily losing eight hundred, stealing watermelons and angrily losing one thousand, eating and drinking, and still owing Second Uncle over ten thousand...

This was still the first time she felt the joy of earning money.

Although, this doesn't seem to be money she earned herself...

But money Chai Mi earns is money she, Song Qiushui, earns. No matter whose pocket it ends up in, she is just overjoyed that money was earned.

At least she didn't lose money, and it's enough to brag about for a good while when she goes back.

"Ten... twenty... one hundred twenty-five yuan. Chai Mi, a total of one hundred twenty-five yuan. If you ask me, Liu San and his wife ate those two bowls, they should pay. Look, you didn't charge them. I did a quick calculation, the cost is about sixty-five yuan, the two of us earned sixty. Earning less than half. If Liu San's ten yuan had been collected, it would have been just over half profit. This drops the profit margin from over fifty percent by a full ten points..." Song Qiushui sighed, feeling uneasy at having earned ten yuan less: "In a bit I'll go fleece him, go take two bunches of grapes from him. I can't just lose ten yuan for nothing."

Song Qiushui chattered on endlessly.

"Qiushui, that's enough. When I was a kid at my maternal aunt's house I ate at least a thousand meals. My cousin eats a meal and I'm supposed to charge money? What kind of person would that make me?" Chai Mi hehehe'd with a laugh: "But, swiping a few things from him isn't bad either. Let's see if he has any fresh fruit recently. I remember the South has greenhouses, there really are grapes, just don't know if he's started stocking them yet."

"So are we going to the market fair and then heading home?" Song Qiushui immediately perked up with interest.

But Song Qiushui still counted the money once more and handed it to Chai Mi: "Exactly one hundred twenty-five yuan. You check it."

Chai Mi pulled out twenty yuan and stuffed it into Song Qiushui's hand: "No more than that, just giving you twenty. Consider it wages. Anyway, we made money, so I'll give you some wages. If we hadn't made money, I wouldn't give you any."

Song Qiushui's eyes instantly lit up, her big spirited eyes blinking rapidly: "Holy cow! Twenty yuan huge sum... Sis, nothing else to say, just this twenty yuan is enough for me to go home and brag to my mom for a lifetime. Their precious Village Belle daughter, blood-earned twenty yuan... I only worked half an hour and earned twenty. Just ask, among all the men, women, old and young in the whole village, who can do that? Only my cousin sister, that is, your Second Uncle's family... Your Second Uncle only earns two hundred a month. If I work hard at this rate, won't I earn his monthly salary in four or five days? At this speed, if I sell dumplings for two days, I can match your Second Uncle working for a year."

Song Qiushui didn't want to let today pass without "comparing" notes on her cousin sister's good idea.

"When I go back in a bit, I'm going to give my cousin sister some eye drops. Chai Mi, you don't know, that dead old bitch Song Qiuping, every time she returns to her mother's family she says: 'Oh my, our Chai You Fu earns two hundred yuan a month in wages. You farm the land and after a year one mu only leaves a hundred or so. How many mu does your family have, Qiushui? Our Chai You Fu's monthly wage matches your family farming for a year.'" Song Qiushui akimbo, furious: "I absolutely have to go back and properly make things difficult for her."

"I don't oppose it." Chai Mi wasn't too fond of Chai You Fu, and wasn't too fond of Song Qiuping either.

If Song Qiushui goes and stirs things up a bit, it would be quite entertaining.

Moreover, Chai Mi knew well this Song Qiushui, she's very smart. Don't look at how Song Qiushui always acts carefree, but basically when she's not being love-brained, she's extremely smart.

"You come with me."

Chai Mi: "Uh... not too good, right."

"No problem, it's not like we're fighting..." Song Qiushui indicated she was definitely going to go make things difficult for her cousin sister.

Chai Mi helpless, could only reluctantly agree.

Afterwards Chai Mi said to Liu Zhijing: "Da Zhi, Qiushui and I are going to stroll the market fair. Let's leave the inverted donkey with you. You ride it over, and when we're done with the fair in a bit, we'll come find you there."

Liu Zhijing then helped organize the things again and rode off on the inverted donkey.

Song Qiushui, holding the twenty yuan huge sum, for the first time went to the market fair daring to buy things freely and at ease.

The two strolled leisurely and arrived at Liu San's fruit stall.

Liu San had done the fruit business for many years, had quite a few regular customers, and right now there were many people buying things.

Song Qiushui looked around, picked up two bunches of grapes, hehehe'd with a laugh, and started eating directly.

After all, grapes don't need washing...

Other things still need a wash.

Oh right, bananas don't need washing either...

Song Qiushui then swiped a few bananas as well.

Regardless of whether Chai Mi was willing or not, Song Qiushui planned to eat ten yuan's worth from him first.

Otherwise, Song Qiushui would always feel she took a blood loss today.

With Chai Mi there, Liu San and his wife not only didn't mind, but enthusiastically asked Song Qiushui if she had enough to eat... afterwards they even packed a plastic bag of apples for Song Qiushui.

Directly stunned Song Qiushui.

"No wonder they say you guys are the real relatives. Eating things without ever paying. Look at Second Uncle, every time I eat something at his little shop, when has he not put it on the tab..."

Chai Mi was also flustered by Song Qiushui: "Problem is, you put it on the tab but don't pay it back?"

"Look at what you're saying. Isn't it because I have no money? If I had money, would my Second Uncle not let me pay it back?" Song Qiushui hehe'd with a laugh, asking Liu San: "Then does Big Cousin need to put this on the tab?"

Zhang Hailan smiled and said: "It's not worth money, just take it and eat. This fruit is for eating..." Then she said in a low voice: "Purchase price is cheap, sell high. Eating it ourselves isn't worth money."

As Zhang Hailan spoke, she also packed a big bag of fruit for Chai Mi, but Chai Mi didn't want it, only took a few apples.

Liu San insisted Chai Mi take it, and Chai Mi felt too embarrassed.

In the end Song Qiushui just stepped over: "Thanks, Big Cousin."

Chai Mi smiled helplessly, then led Song Qiushui to stroll other stalls. Spent eight yuan to buy a new sickle, preparing to use it for the autumn harvest. Then spent twenty yuan to buy Chai Xiu a pink jacket and pants, spent twelve yuan to buy a pair of pink little cloth shoes.

Mhm mhm, little girls are still better in pink.

Chai Mi thought it over, and in the end still spent thirty-some yuan to buy a set of pink-and-white little kid's dress, and a pair of red-and-black little shoes, and a pink-flower-white-trim little hat, preparing to give them to Laosan Chaxin.

Although this guy might grow up to be a white-eyed wolf, at least she hasn't grown up yet.

Just treat her as a real younger sister for now……

Liu San gave a lot of fruit, so there's no need to buy any. Chai Mi didn't plan to buy much food either. So she strolled around with Song Qiushui for a circle, then arrived at Liu Zhijing's repair shop.

After a few simple pleasantries, she rode the inverted donkey, pulling Song Qiushui back to the village.

Chai Mi first sent Song Qiushui home.

As a result, the cart hadn't even stopped yet when Song Qiushui slid down with a whoosh, one hand carrying several packages of fruit, the other holding a twenty-yuan bill, and started shouting: "Mom, your daughter earned twenty yuan in half an hour today…… nothing else to say, make me something good to eat at noon, notify my Second Uncle and my Grandmother, I'm going to arrange a meal……"

As a result, the courtyard was quiet.

Song Qingshan and the Meng Clan should have gone to the market and not returned yet.

Chai Mi covered her face, a wave of awkwardness.

She called out: "Qiu Shui, that's about enough. Your mom hasn't come back yet…… you go eat at my mom's place at noon."

Song Qiushui was a bit disappointed, but then she put those fruits into the room, only holding half a bunch of bananas, and came out again: "Let's go, to the small shop. I'm going to see my Grandmother."

Chai Mi was speechless: "No, is this seeing your Grandmother? Or going to show off to your Second Uncle?"

"Hey, aren't they the same thing? What's that thing called, like wearing brocade at night……" Song Qiushui scratched her head, thinking for half a day, then looked at Chai Mi.

Uncultured as she was, she felt for the first time that her vocabulary was a bit insufficient.

"Wealth not returning to one's hometown is like wearing brocade at night." Chai Mi answered helplessly.

"Ah, right." Song Qiushui slapped her thigh: "That's it, wealth not returning to one's hometown, like wearing brocade at night. So, now that I, Song Qiushui, have made it big, I have to go show off. I'm going to return all those white eyes my Second Uncle gave me over the years."

Chai Mi's face was awkward: Uh…… as expected, this is so Song Qiushui.

You say she holds twenty yuan and doesn't know her own surname anymore, it's a bit…… that……

But Chai Mi had no choice, knowing Song Qiushui was just going to go crazy with boredom for a circle, anyway it was still early for lunch, so she might as well go stroll over.

Thus, Chai Mi followed Song Qiushui to the small shop not a hundred meters away.

The village only has this one small shop, even on market days, Da Lao Song can't go to the market, he stays home too, but his wife went to the market.

When Song Qiushui arrived, Da Lao Song was boredly sunbathing at the door.

Mainly it was truly boring, this time is still quite hot, but his small shop room isn't too big, inside is even hotter, so he stayed outside, chatting with a few old men and old ladies.

Song Qiushui walked over, shouting from far away: "Second Uncle, look, what's this in my hand?"

Da Lao Song raised his head to look, then frowned in confusion and asked: "There's nothing there……"

Song Qiushui walked up close, waved the money in her hand: "This is twenty yuan, didn't you see it?"

"I saw it……" Da Lao Song didn't quite understand. He did see the money in Song Qiushui's hand, but he didn't understand what Song Qiushui was doing coming here holding twenty yuan.

Surely she wouldn't be kind-hearted enough to come repay the ten thousand plus yuan of famine debt she owes him…… that difference is a bit too much.

"Then why are you pretending to be confused. Second Uncle, I'm telling you, this is what I earned back in half an hour. Me and Chai Mi, we went to the market, went to sell dumplings. That business…… how to describe it to you…… anyway it was good to the point of explosion, it was all snatched up, just half an hour, we earned sixty yuan." Song Qiushui was extremely excited: "Second Uncle, do you know what concept this is?"

Da Lao Song also felt that earning sixty yuan in half an hour was indeed quite a lot. In this era, normal people working, a small laborer gets ten-odd yuan a day, a skilled big laborer gets twenty-odd yuan. Unless they go to the city, go to a big city to work, they might earn more, but if it's just within the Sanjiacun area, sixty yuan is indeed quite a lot.

Da Lao Song originally didn't want to bother with this crazy niece, but he didn't dare say much else, so he could only cooperate and say: "How would I know what concept this is? Can it buy half a bag of rice? Or what? I don't know either…… then Niece, you say, what concept is this?"

Song Qiushui hehe'd a laugh, patted Da Lao Song, then looked at the few old men and old ladies watching the excitement on the side, and said with feigned mystery: "This means, me and Chai Mi, the two of us only need to busy ourselves for a day and a night, to equal your son-in-law, a year's salary ah……"

Da Lao Song instantly felt a knife stab in his heart: Hiss…… turns out she ran here to mock me……

Song Qiushui looked at Da Lao Song clutching his chest, and even pretended to care: "Second Uncle, what's wrong with you?"

Da Lao Song shook his head, brushed it off saying he was fine.

After a while, Da Lao Song asked: "Then what are you holding bananas for? Is it because you earned money, giving Second Uncle something to eat?"

"Overthinking it. This is for my Grandmother…… you want to eat bananas, go find my Cousin Sister, my Cousin Sister's husband can earn money ah, work a year, equals me and Chai Mi working a day and a night……"

Another knife.

Da Lao Song didn't want to listen to Song Qiushui speak anymore.

Too infuriating!

But, his own son-in-law earning two hundred yuan a month is indeed a bit little.

Too stifling!

If he earned more, would Song Qiushui have any chance to run here and infuriate him?

"Then you go send it to your Grandmother, your Grandmother is in the room."

Song Qiushui hummed in acknowledgment, went in, and not long after giving the bananas to Grandmother, Song Qiushui ran out again.

After coming out, Song Qiushui vividly said: "Second Uncle, my Grandmother said. The bananas I bought aren't sweet, she wants to eat the bananas your son-in-law buys. My Grandmother said, my Cousin Sister has been married nearly twenty years, your son-in-law besides bragging, hasn't even bought a bunch of bananas…… also said, you Second Uncle, are nothing……"

Da Lao Song's face flushed red with shame, head lowered not speaking, silently chanting in his heart: Song Qiushui, you hurry up and leave, stop infuriating people.

But Song Qiushui didn't want to leave, she held the twenty yuan, entered the small shop, picked a pile of stuff herself, then handed the twenty yuan to Da Lao Song: "Second Uncle, I'm buying things today, spending money."

Da Lao Song raised his head looking at Song Qiushui, a bit suspecting life: Damn! Ten-plus years buying things without giving money, today she actually gave money? Is this real?

Thus, Da Lao Song's loose mouth said: "Ai, we're all family, eating a bit of stuff you still give money……"

As a result, the next second, the money hadn't even warmed in Da Lao Song's hand before Song Qiushui took it back: "You all listen, I gave money, my Second Uncle doesn't want it……"

Then Song Qiushui took the stuff and left.

Da Lao Song's face was dazed: Uh……

Nothing more to say.

Heart hurts!