Chapter 98: Chapter 98: The Groom Ran Away on the Wedding Night (Part 9)

No wonder Jiang Hongying just found out about this. First, she didn’t want to pay attention to the Lv Family over there, and second, even though they belonged to the same town, Wenshi Village and Shuifeng Village weren’t that close.

It took two hours to walk from the Shen Family to the Lv Family, and a bit more than half an hour by bicycle.

Neither village was in the mountains. Small roads ran through the villages, and when going out, people either rode bicycles or took motorcycles. If those weren’t available, they could walk a stretch to the main road to catch a bus.

Occasionally, if luck was on your side, you might spot a village truck heading out and would be able to hitch a ride. Adults might pay fifty cents to a dollar; some kids going to and from school would sometimes get a free ride from the driver.

Every market day, there would be three-wheeler carts heading to town. Many villagers would seize this opportunity to attend the market, making it quite crowded, often crammed full to the point of making children cry, with a few people hanging on the back, swaying the whole way.

This small road was quite flat and good as long as it didn’t rain.

But since it wasn’t paved with cement, just dirt and stones, a single rain—whether a drizzle or a downpour—could spell disaster for this road. One step in, and you’d have a leg full of mud. Schoolchildren hated rainy days, but they couldn’t avoid walking on it. The village had paths leading to the main roads, and people often opted to walk along those little paths when it rained. However, when too many people used them, they’d get slippery, and without care, one might stumble and roll into the fields, covered in mud.

It’s said that every field by the road to the outside world has made a child cry.

Jiang Hongying’s question startled the Shen Family.

What, the Lv Family opened a chicken farm?

Shen Mingqiang glanced at Shen Xun as if asking, “You work at the same quarry as Lv Ling every day and didn’t notice this?”

Shen Xun felt awkward. He hadn’t talked to Lv Ling at all, though he wanted to. But every time Lv Ling came over to haul stones, he looked at him with indifference, clearly still upset about the third brother running off. Shen Xun didn’t dare approach to get scolded.

Besides, didn’t he have anything else to do? Recently, a woman had come to cook at the quarry, who was very attractive, and he would often go over to her just for fun.

So, the Lv Family went and opened a chicken farm; they really did something impressive.

Shen Xun couldn’t help but curse in his mind, that idiot third brother! If only they could switch places, how great would that be? If the third brother hadn’t run off, he could have at least benefited a little from the Lv Family.

Now it’s turned to this; it’s already great if the Lv Family doesn’t give them a hard time, let alone benefiting from it. That’s just wishful thinking.

Ah Chen looked up, “My mom opened it.”

So she knew.

Jiang Hongying’s expression darkened slightly. Such a big matter, and she didn’t mention it to them? Doesn’t she consider herself a member of the Shen Family?

With great effort to keep her emotions in check, Jiang Hongying asked again, “Why didn’t you mention it?”

“What’s there to say?” Ah Chen’s expression was strange. “After all, it’s something from my own family, it doesn’t really concern us much.”

Jiang Hongying felt a little anxious. How is it not related? Aren’t you part of the Lv Family? Even if you don’t get the largest share of the profits, you should still get something.

What she didn’t know was that Ah Chen wasn’t getting just a little.

The business was secured by her, the procedures handled by her, and as the chicken farm expanded, the business side would still rely on her. Consider how much she might earn.

Ah Chen had discussed with the Lv Family: once the chicken farm was completely stable, Lv Ling would stop hauling stones and learn to manage business and external matters. After all, he was young, could drive, and could deliver goods; it would be good for him to venture out more and take people with him.

As for Lin Shumei, at Ah Chen’s suggestion, she had already bought books and was preparing to further her education. During her free time, she would occasionally visit the chicken farm. The whole Lv Family supported Lin Shumei’s educational pursuits wholly, letting her focus without worry about home.

The atmosphere at the Lv Family was excellent.

Besides raising chickens, Ding Haiying also raised a batch of ducks, because Ah Chen had recently negotiated a contract with a chain restaurant specializing in old duck soup.

Ding Haiying’s pigs were plump and strong, but she was too busy to deal with them now. It was enough to manage the chicken farm well.

To get rich, you had to be ahead. At Ah Chen’s suggestion, relatives were to be involved, with Ding Haiying preparing the pig feed.

But not everyone had the courage. Relatives with the surname Ding and Lv hesitated, feeling the cost and risk were too high, so they didn’t participate. Just hearing about the various processes was challenging, they felt incapable, even though Ding Haiying was adept at preparing pig feed, they still lacked confidence.

In the end, the ones willing to take on the task were actually Lin Shumei’s eldest sister and her husband.

Lin Shumei had three siblings: the eldest sister and her husband had been working outside for several years, saving some money, just repaired their house, and still had some money in hand. Lin Shumei herself was an elementary school teacher. Their youngest brother was still in school; his grades weren’t particularly good, but he didn’t want to stay in the village to farm or go out to work. He at least wanted to get a diploma. For rural kids wanting to leave the countryside, this was a shortcut. Fortunately, the Lin Family’s conditions were decent, and they could continue to support him. The youngest brother had initially not been admitted and worked with their eldest sister for two years. Faced with a life he could foresee in an instant, he decided to return and retake his exams. During those two years, he had saved some money, now used for daily expenses, while tuition was covered by the Lin Family parents.

For the Lin Family opening a pig farm, Ah Chen helped them secure the first few orders, of course taking a commission. But this was already fortunate for the Lin Family’s eldest sister and her husband, as she would also guide them through the processes.

Ah Chen had other plans for the pig farm.

By the time they were truly stable, Ding Haiying’s feed factory should be up and running.

Rather than raising pigs herself, it was better to sell feed to those raising pigs. Once the brand was established, pig farmers nationwide would want to buy Ding Haiying’s feed.

Not just pig feed, but also feed for various livestock and poultry. She believed that Ding Haiying could learn to mix any feed. As living standards improved, people would commonly raise various pets in the future, and pet feed would be more profitable.

The path to wealth she chose was the most suitable for Ding Haiying to start.

They didn’t talk much about it at the dinner table, leaving Jiang Hongying frustrated and unwilling to accept it.

After washing the dishes, she decided to talk to Ah Chen again, seeing her in the living room with a book in her hands by the heater, she moved over to sit.

Ah Chen raised her eyes, looking at her: “Mom, is something the matter?”

“I just wanted to ask if the other family needs more people. It’s this cold winter, and there’s not much work in the fields, so our whole family has become idle. Your second sister-in-law just gave birth to a son, and there’s another mouth to feed. If we could find some work, we’d have some income. Your dad has been working hard recently too, doing odd jobs here and there, helping people build houses and such. But not every family needs repairs, times are tough.”

Although they weren’t quite wealthy, life wasn’t as bad as Jiang Hongying made it sound.

Shen Mingqiang not only helped with building but also did some carpentry. He was good at bamboo weaving and occasionally sold some, but the prices were low, so earnings were minimal. Whenever there was a big event, he could cook for banquets; he might not touch the kitchen at home, but he was great at preparing large meals.

He could be considered a capable person.

Jiang Hongying was indeed good at managing the household, but she wasn’t particularly friendly towards the Commissioner.

“You’ve said so, so I’ll take my thick clothes back to my family tomorrow to wash and ask around for you,” Ah Chen said. “But my parents are still angry, and I don’t know if it will work, and I haven’t heard they’re short of people.”

The Lv Family had bought a washing machine, making laundry convenient.

Jiang Hongying’s face fell, but she didn’t dare lose her temper.

“I’m a bit sleepy, so I’ll go nap for a while.” Ah Chen put down the heater.

Jiang Hongying gritted her teeth, but there was nothing she could do.

Just eating and sleeping every day, like a pig.

The next day, Ah Chen loaded thick clothes onto her bicycle and headed back to her family.

Wei Menglan watched her back with envy; the Lv Family had a washing machine. In the freezing winter, doing laundry was truly a chore.

Previously, she wanted to heat some water to wash her hair but got scolded by her mother-in-law, who said firewood was scarce in winter and she was being wasteful.

She wouldn’t dare heat water again.

Wei Menglan looked down at her red, swollen hands, covered in chilblains. Her hands looked red and puffy, with some chilblains nearly festering, making them hard to look at twice. On winter nights, when she tried to curl up with Shen Xun, he would push her hands away.

With a silent sigh, Wei Menglan looked at the child in the basket beside her and smiled again.

Isn’t life just like this? When the two children grow up, she’ll finally be able to enjoy some comfort.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep