Exiled to Lingnan, the Crown Prince's wife raises children, cultivates the land, and leads the

"Mother, I'll go see if I can exchange some eggs nearby."

Cheng Qiqi still didn't have to go to work. She planned to take a walk around the neighborhood to see if she could find out any useful information.

"Then be careful."

Liu Suyi was taking care of the old lady at home. At the same time, she was sewing cloth shoes with a needle and thread basket in her hand. Whether it was the Marquis of Zhongyong going up the mountain to work or Cheng Qiqi going out, they all needed a good pair of shoes.

"Don't worry, I'm taking An'an and Xiao Yun with me, we won't go far."

Cheng Qiqi took her daughter and went out with Jin Yun. Gao Shenglan, who had confirmed her pregnancy, was left at home to rest by the third branch of the Jin family. This was the third branch's first grandson, so they naturally valued him very much!

"Mother, what is that?"

As soon as Jin Suian stepped out, he was drawn to the oyster shells that were everywhere on the road.

"These are oyster shells," Cheng Qiqi explained, noting that the neatly arranged oyster shells formed a wall, creating a unique scene.

What are oysters?

"She looks so strange."

Jin Sui'an is like a curious child, asking about everything.

Cheng Qiqi answered patiently; she had seen the old lady drying betel nuts again.

"Auntie, what kind of fruit are you drying here? We've never seen it before."

Cheng Qiqi was with two little girls, and she was smiling brightly.

The elderly woman was very hospitable: "This is betel nut, children can't eat it."

"You're from out of town, aren't you?" The old woman looked at Cheng Qiqi, whose face was unfamiliar.

"Yes."

Cheng Qiqi was a little embarrassed. To be honest, she was still a prisoner.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. A lot of exiled prisoners have come to our Guihuali Village. It's already quite remarkable that they were able to get here safely."

The old woman's eyes narrowed with laughter: "Eating betel nuts is invigorating and helps remove dampness; it's a good thing, want to try some?"

The old woman handed it to Cheng Qiqi.

"Thank you, ma'am."

Cheng Qiqi took the small betel nut with both hands. It smelled quite fragrant. She asked, "Can you really eat this?"

"It's a bit astringent. You have to chew it with the ash from the clam shell and some withered leaves. The more you chew, the more fragrant it becomes."

The old lady encouraged Cheng Qiqi to try it. Cheng Qiqi took a small bite, and the astringency made her shudder.

"Haha, you out-of-towners aren't used to this kind of food at first."

The old lady was amused by her actions.

"Thank you for the betel nut, ma'am. I... I don't have much to give you, ma'am. I just embroidered a handkerchief myself. Please don't mind it."

Cheng Qiqi took out a brand new handkerchief.

"Ouch."

The old woman stared at the flowers on the handkerchief, wiping her hands on her apron as she asked, "Really giving it to me? How could I possibly accept that!"

As the old woman said this, she took the handkerchief with both hands without slowing down at all. She went into the house, grabbed a handful of dried fish, and gave them to Jin Sui'an and Jin Yun, saying, "These are homemade dried fish. Try them."

"Auntie, this is unacceptable." Cheng Qiqi looked at the handful of dried fish; after all, it was still meat.

"Take this and eat it. We have plenty of dried anchovies here."

The old woman, upon receiving the handkerchief, acted as if they were old friends: "These two are your daughters, they're both so beautiful."

Cheng Qiqi: "Thank you, Auntie."

"Thank you." Jin Sui'an said crisply, holding the dried fish. With her mother's permission, she couldn't wait to put it in her mouth. The dried fish was fragrant and delicious.

Jin Yun held the dried fish and ate it with great joy.

"Good girl."

Aunt Rong praised the two little girls repeatedly: "Just call me Aunt Rong."

"My name is Cheng Qiqi, this is my daughter, and this is my niece."

Cheng Qiqi introduced, "Aunt Rong's dried fish is very good."

Praise is always pleasing to the ear.

Aunt Rong's eyes crinkled with laughter at Cheng Qiqi's praise. She asked, "Did you embroider this handkerchief yourself?"

"Yes."

Cheng Qiqi thought: There are so many people in the Jin family who know how to embroider, so even if we round it up, it was probably her who did the embroidery.

"With this skill, you can take on embroidery jobs and earn money. In the county's embroidery workshops, you can earn more than ten coins for a single handkerchief like this."

Sister-in-law Rong's words made Cheng Qiqi's eyes light up; this was also a way to make money.

Cheng Qiqi continued to inquire, "Sister-in-law Rong, we just arrived, and Grandma and the child both need to recover. Do you know where we can exchange eggs?"

Cheng Qiqi adopted a humble attitude, addressing Arong as "Sister-in-law Arong" repeatedly. Arong carefully put the handkerchief away and said, "How do you want to exchange it? If you have any more handkerchiefs like this, I can exchange them for you. One handkerchief for three eggs."

Considering what Sister Rong had just said about earning a dozen or so coins, Cheng Qiqi thought to herself that these eggs were a bit expensive.

"Qiqi, don't think I'm heartless. Your handkerchief is pretty, but eggs are nutritious. You can't buy them in the county for less than three or five coins."

Sister-in-law Arong explained with a smile.

Cheng Qiqi seemed to understand but not quite, and after hesitating for a long time, she finally said, "Sister-in-law Rong, may I exchange two handkerchiefs?"

After this performance, Sister-in-law Rong thought: It seems that this family is quite poor; they don't even have many handkerchiefs.

Cheng Qiqi took six eggs home and also got a handful of betel nuts. After a conversation, she actually got a lot of useful information.

Firstly, the embroidery workshop can take on jobs; whoever in the Jin family has the best embroidery skills can earn money based on their skills.

Secondly, areca nuts are not valuable, so if you're doing business, the cost can be kept very low.

Thirdly, there are several days each month when you can catch a lot of fish at the beach.

Since she had already come out, Cheng Qiqi naturally wouldn't leave empty-handed. On her way home with the two children, she came across a sugarcane field. Wow, there were so many sugarcanes planted here!

Does that mean there are brown sugar workshops?

Cheng Qiqi thought to herself that as long as she worked hard, she would definitely be able to earn a lot of money and live a good life!

When I got home, I smelled the bitter smell of medicine.

"Qiqi, you're back?"

Liu Suyi was preparing to decoct the medicine, but why was there so much smoke?

"Mother, I'll do it."

Cheng Qiqi took the fan from Liu Suyi's hand, picked up the bubbling medicine pot, and saw the charcoal piled up like a cake inside. She immediately understood why it was full of smoke.

This place is so airtight, there's no way it could catch fire!

Cheng Qiqi poked around in the middle with a wooden stick, then fanned herself, and instantly, bright red flames appeared. Liu Suyi praised, "Qiqi, you're really amazing!"

"..."

Burning charcoal has absolutely nothing to do with being skilled.

"Uncle Beard!"

When Jin Sui'an saw Jin Mo on the roof, he immediately shouted excitedly.

Cheng Qiqi looked up and saw Chongshan and Jin Mozhi repairing the roof.

Liu Suyi explained, "The Marquis said that we should take advantage of the low rainfall in winter to repair the roof quickly, otherwise we'll suffer when it rains."

"Huh, there are still roof tiles?"

Cheng Qiqi walked into the house and saw the repaired roof. It was clearly a thatched roof, but a piece of roof tile had been sandwiched in the middle, which looked a bit out of place.