Splendid peasant girl busy farming

Chapter 12101

Seeing that Yang Huamei didn't want to argue about food, Madam Tan also felt it was pointless and didn't want to say anything more that might upset her youngest daughter.

However, watching Yang Huamei deftly scrape the fish scales, gut it, and then make incisions on its back, she did everything in one go.

Mrs. Tan was very pleased; her youngest daughter had finally grown up and become a capable housewife.

On the other hand, she couldn't help but feel sorry for her daughter. Her daughter was born to enjoy a life of comfort. She was supposed to marry a man who would provide for her, but she never expected that no matter whether she married that sickly Wang Shuanzi or Xu Yuanming, her youngest daughter was not destined to enjoy a life of comfort.

There are so many things that break my heart, such as my daughter having to go out into the world and do business just like men.

For example, while the daughter is busy with the shop, she also has to take care of the three children at home. Those are three children of the same age, who cry together and make a fuss together.

There's absolutely no age gap of three to five years in between, and the older ones can even help take care of the younger ones. Sigh, my Mei'er is really working too hard.

Because there are so many things to feel sorry for, I don't know which one to feel sorry for...

“Mother, there were too many people in the main room earlier, including Fourth Brother and Fourth Sister-in-law, so there were some things that Old Xu and I couldn’t say.”

"Since it's just the two of us right now, I might as well tell you something first, so you won't always worry about me..."

While busy with her work, Yang Huamei talked to Madam Tan without looking up.

Madam Tan suddenly raised her head, staring intently at Yang Huamei: "What is it? Tell your mother, I'm the most discreet person!"

I can't guarantee anything else, but when it comes to Mei'er, no one can pry her mouth open even with pliers.

For example, Mei'er didn't tell anyone about her barbecue stall!
“Mother, as you can see, the house we’re living in now is far too small and cramped,” Yang Huamei continued.

Mrs. Tan nodded repeatedly, agreeing that it was true. The three children were running around on the ground, with three adults following behind them. Sometimes they were practically touching buttocks, and it was difficult to even turn around.

"Old Xu and I are planning to spend some money to buy a house in town."

"What? Buy a house in town? Why not go back to the village, get some land, and build a big courtyard?" Tan asked in surprise. "That way you'd be closer to your parents' home, and a big courtyard in the village would be so spacious!"

Yang Huamei shook her head. "Mom, we originally thought about going back to the village to build a house, but after thinking about it more deeply, it's better to settle down in the town."

"Why? You're in town, without any relatives or friends around. That's not good!" Mrs. Tan said anxiously.

Yang Huamei, however, was very patient and said with a smile, "Mother, don't be in a hurry, let me explain it to you slowly."

If anyone else had said this, Ms. Tan would have covered her ears and shaken her head: "I don't want to hear it, you're just talking nonsense."

But when the other party was Yang Huamei, Madam Tan could only take a deep breath and suppress the surging emotions in her heart: "Tell me first, and I'll hear whether it makes sense!"

Yang Huamei continued, "We've settled down in town, and in the future, whether it's Lao Xu and I traveling between home and the shop, the journey will be shorter and faster."

“If we were building a house in the village, it would be very tiring for Lao Xu and me to travel back and forth in the wind and rain, or in the winter when it gets light late. We might have to get up in the middle of the night and not get home until dark.”

Mrs. Tan frowned, it seemed... that made sense.

"With the three kids at home, if anything happens, my husband and I can rush back to take care of them."

"And what's the second reason? Go on," Mrs. Tan asked again.

Yang Huamei continued, "The second reason is to save money!"

“Save money? That can’t be right! You’re absolutely mistaken!” Madam Tan directly rejected Yang Huamei’s claim.

"If you build a house in the village, your mother can guarantee that apart from paying the bricklayers and providing them with food and drink, you won't have to spend any money on the sand, wood, bricks, and tiles for building the house and making furniture. Oh, and the bricks and tiles will cost a little more. I'll just ask your brothers and nephews to go to the mountains to help you haul sand and wood!"

Yang Huamei shook her head, "Mother, what's free is the most expensive!"

Asking his brother and nephews to put aside their own work to help him gather building materials creates a huge debt of gratitude.

Repaying favors is often the most expensive thing to do.

"Your brother and nephews dare to ask you for anything in return? I'll curse them to death!" Madam Tan was already indignant.

Yang Huamei just smiled and said, "Mother, a tree grows big and branches out. When the children grow up, they each have their own small families. They are relatives. There should be proper boundaries between relatives, otherwise they will be disliked!"

Tan gritted her teeth, opened her mouth, and wanted to argue, but found that her words of argument were somewhat pale and powerless in the face of Mei'er's words of social wisdom.

“Don’t you spend money building a house in town? You have to buy materials, hire craftsmen, and spend money and favors in every aspect!” said Mrs. Tan. “It might even cost more in the end!”

Yang Huamei said, "Mom, we're not building a new house. We've found a place we like and plan to talk to the original owner. If the price is right, we'll buy it, do some minor repairs, and move in. It'll save us a lot of trouble!"

"What?" Madam Tan thought she had misheard, and her old, slender face twitched a few times. "You mean, you want to buy the old house that someone lived in? No way, absolutely not! You can't buy it, you can't buy it!"

“Mom, even if it’s a house that someone else has lived in, there’s nothing wrong with buying it. It’s good quality and inexpensive, and we can move in right away. Isn’t that great?” Yang Huamei said.

"Have you gone to see that house?" Madam Tan asked again.

Yang Huamei nodded: "Of course, Lao Xu and I looked at three places and compared them before choosing the second one."

Yang Huamei could tell that Mrs. Tan was very reluctant to buy an old house that someone else had lived in, so she continued to talk about the advantages of the house: "The house is in a good location, in the alley behind Washi. Although the alley in front of the door is a bit old, the courtyard is quite spacious when you open the door. The front yard is not very big, but it is enough for the three children in the family to run around and play there."

"The backyard is bigger than the front yard. There's a vegetable garden and a toilet in the backyard. With the vegetable garden, I can grow my own vegetables and save myself the trouble of buying vegetables from outside."

"Yes, it has a front and back yard, which is not bad. For us, eating vegetables three times a day is also an expense," said Mrs. Tan.

"That's right, Mother, the main thing is that there are many rooms, five rooms in a row."

“One main room and four side rooms are just right for our family of five. There are also three small rooms on the left: one for the kitchen, one for the storeroom, and one for the guest room. This way, when you and Dad come to town, you can stay for a longer period of time.”

As she listened, Madam Tan's expression changed, sometimes showing surprise as if somewhat satisfied, and sometimes gently shaking her head, seemingly not quite agreeing. Finally, after Yang Huamei finished speaking, Madam Tan pondered for a moment and asked her, "Mei'er, how much would it cost to buy that house you've got your eye on?"

Yang Huamei said, "The original owner asked for 35 taels of silver, but we should be able to negotiate the price down to around 28 taels."

"If it's less than 28 taels of silver, then it's probably hard to say anything."

The original owner of the house was also well-off. His son and daughter-in-law were successful and bought a bigger house in the county town, leaving only the old man living in the courtyard.

It was inconvenient to take care of the house over the years, so the father-in-law wanted to sell the house and move to the county town to live with his son and daughter-in-law so that the whole family could live together and take care of each other.

The money from selling the house can be kept by the father-in-law, or half can be given to his son and daughter-in-law. In short, the sincerity in selling the house is there, and as long as we negotiate, we can reach an agreement.

"My God, those dilapidated houses that people have lived in are selling for a minimum price of 28 taels of silver! That's too expensive. With that money, you could build a house like your third brother's in the village!" Madam Tan exclaimed. 28 taels of silver wasn't an exorbitant price; it was just the cost of six years' living expenses for a farming family!

The idea of ​​using the money to sell secondhand houses in town was something the Tan family fundamentally resisted!

"Mother, please don't use my third brother's house as an example." Yang Huamei washed her hands and then found some ginger and garlic to prepare.

"Although my third brother's house only cost 30 taels of silver, you have to consider when that was, it was 20 years ago! Qing'er wasn't even married yet back then!"

"Were the prices of craftsmen and other goods back then the same as they are now? Even pork prices have gone up!"

Twenty years ago, you could build a house like the one my third brother owned for 30 taels of silver. But today, it would cost at least 60 taels to renovate it!
"Moreover, the furniture in Third Brother's house was all made by carpenters after they went to the mountains to cut down trees and brought them back themselves."

"These timbers weren't even included in the cost. I bought a second-hand house in town for 28 taels of silver, and it's fully furnished. It saved us so much manpower and resources!"

Yang Huamei used the back of a cleaver to smash the garlic cloves, making a crackling sound. The garlic skins easily slipped off with a gentle twist, leaving only the white garlic cloves.

Yang Huamei used a cleaver to chop the garlic cloves into small pieces, then put them into a rice bowl next to her.

Next, I sliced ​​the old ginger into shreds and put it in another bowl for later use.

The dried, wrinkled red chilies had been soaking in the water nearby. Now, they were scooped out, chopped into chili flakes, and took up another bowl.

These three bowls, when placed together, can be considered the golden three-piece set for housewives in the Mianniu Mountain area when cooking.

With these three items, no matter what dish you cook, it will taste delicious!
Of course, if it's roast chicken or duck, adding one or two star anise will elevate the flavor even further.

While preparing ingredients for lunch, Yang Huamei was also trying to persuade the Tan family to recommend the second-hand house that she and Xu Yuanming had their eye on.

In the end, Tan was also confused by Yang Huamei's words. Although she still had some resistance and felt that someone else had lived there, she couldn't resist Yang Huamei's approval!
Moreover, although the old lady could openly or secretly give Yang Huamei a little something extra, when it came to the amount of money needed to buy or build a house, the old lady was powerless to help.

“Mei’er, don’t give me all that flowery talk. Let’s see what it’s really like outside,” said Madam Tan.

“Just take me to see it; I need to see it with my own eyes,” Mrs. Tan said again.

Yang Huamei looked at the sky outside. It was still early, and there was still a long time before it was time to cook lunch.

Just then, Sanjin fell asleep in Tan's arms, so Yang Huamei wiped her hands and said, "Mother, I'll go tell Sister Guihua and Sister Hua that we should put Sanjin in the room to sleep, and I'll take you to the house I mentioned for a walk."

"to make!"

And so, Yang Huamei and her daughter Tan got right to work. They arranged everything and left the courtyard together.

"While your fourth sister-in-law is away, let's go take a look first. If I think it's alright, then you can take your father to take a look later." On the way there, Madam Tan instructed Yang Huamei again.

Yang Huamei, supporting Tan's arm, nodded with a smile: "Okay, whatever Mother says goes!"

Mrs. Tan smiled with satisfaction and gently touched Yang Huamei's cheek: "She truly is my good daughter!"

……

In Washi, at Xu Yuanming's roast duck shop.

We have guests at home today, and Xu Yuanming plans to roast one batch of ducks this afternoon, which should be enough. In addition, some of these ducks are intended as gifts for guests.

The remaining few can be sold as much as they can earn. Then, the barbecue grill was lit, and various ingredients were placed on a tray next to it.

Although the peak time for the morning market had passed, the flow of people coming and going in Washi was still quite good.

Especially after the aroma of barbecue wafted out, it quickly attracted many people to come and inquire and buy.

The Liu family has already started eating!
She held a grilled leek in one hand and a grilled chicken wing in the other, her eyes fixed on the sizzling chicken feet on the grill.

It's true that their eyes, mouth, hands... none of them are idle.

Yang Huaming was helping Xu Yuanming prepare roast duck, and he was working very hard on it.

Old Yang stood aside, making room for the onlookers, and greeted them with a smile.

Seeing that his daughter and son-in-law's small business was now quite successful, and that his son-in-law seemed to be very capable, the stall owners from the neighboring shops all came over to greet Old Yang.

Old Yang brought out his treasured tobacco to serve them. Everyone gathered together to smoke and chat. Old Yang was in high spirits, and they all wished they could set up a stall in the market and do business there.

A little while later, Kang Xiaozi arrived with Liangliang.

Mrs. Liu was overjoyed. She casually wiped her greasy hands on her clothes, reached out and took her precious grandson Liangliang into her arms, while also stuffing a skewer of barbecue into Liangliang's hand, saying, "Eat."

Kang Xiaozi also rolled up his sleeves and went to the stove to help carry the roast duck. Everyone was busy and enthusiastic.

A stall owner, who was more than ten years younger than Old Yang, was smoking a pipe with Old Yang. This stall owner had already inquired about the relationship between Yang Huamei and Kang Xiaozi, and they were both from the Old Yang family in Changping Village.