Chapter 170: Chapter 169: Damn Diligence

Qin Yao looked up, displeased, and said seriously:

“Put away your thoughts. The raw material is pig fat. We can’t do this business, and I have other uses for this recipe. Save your effort; it can’t make our family rich.”

Hearing that the raw material was pig fat, Liu Ji exclaimed silently, “My goodness.”

No wonder it’s so effective, turns out it’s made with pig fat.

But…

“Wife, what do you want to keep this recipe for?” Liu Ji asked curiously.

Qin Yao gave him a sidelong glance, “Don’t pry into the old lady’s business!”

Liu Ji smiled, “Alright, I’ll take my leave now. Wife, rest early, don’t read the account book too much at night, you’ll strain your eyes.”

He retreated with a strong will to survive.

Before leaving, he went to the kitchen to find an old clay bowl, added a layer of ash inside, and put a few pieces of charcoal to avoid freezing to death at night.

Actually, Qin Yao never skimped on bedding; there were thick quilts in the room.

However, since the room hadn’t been lived in for a long time, it was dark and damp, with a chill creeping into the quilt at night. Without burning some charcoal to warm the room, one could really catch a cold.

Qin Yao plans to lay wooden flooring over the dirt floors in the rooms next year for a more comfortable resting space.

If she had more time, she’d add another room, reinforce the stable, and build a shed for the carriage.

Also, teaching Da Lang to ride is urgent, and he must undergo intensive training after the year ends.

If conditions allow, the family should get a small pony for the children to ride to school.

Old Huang is too tall, unfriendly to the heights of Da Lang and Second Lang. If they fall off the horse, they’d split their buttocks.

The carriage was initially customized for school convenience, but driving it requires an adult as the coachman. Qin Yao later realized she couldn’t manage school runs all the time.

After all, she had many things to do like installing equipment at the water mill and farming work in the fields, all needing her attention.

In order to realize these plans, she needed silver in hand.

Qin Yao took a deep breath, and with the bothersome people gone, she finally had a moment of peace to focus on accounting.

She settled the order from Manager Wu, received fifty taels of silver, subtracted the costs, and the profit remained twenty taels, which she’d split with Liu the carpenter, ten taels each.

This ten taels of silver, plus the original household amount of 206 taels and eight maces, totaled 216 taels and eight maces.

Near the year’s end, the family bought a lot of new year goods and half a piece of pork, leaving a balance of 214 taels.

The earnings from the water mill are mostly spent each month and not counted.

Qin Yao had been organizing the purchase of fields since October but still hadn’t succeeded. The fields were either too scattered or just medium fields.

Output from medium fields wasn’t as good as continuing to rent good fields from Liu Dafu.

But the place she fancied, Liu Dafu wouldn’t sell; she’d have to wait since purchasing fields is a big matter not to be rushed.

Old Liu thought the same. He helped Qin Yao enquire from many families but found nothing suitable, advising her to wait as rushing might lead to a loss.

Next year’s situation is unknown. This year’s snowfall was light, leaving thin salt-like snowflakes that quickly melted. Old Liu, after dinner, checked the sparse snow outside and worried.

Only auspicious snow heralds a good harvest. If the snowfall is too light to kill field pests, next year’s harvest will be affected.

Severely, there might even be a locust plague.

Liu Bai and others thought their father worried too early as it was just the first snow of the year. Maybe it would snow heavily in a few days.

Qin Yao took all the silver out, counted it again, feeling a thrill of excitement looking at the gleaming silver ingots.

It’s a pity there’s nowhere around here to spend it, otherwise, she’d indulge in some revenge shopping as a reward for her year’s hard work.

Counting the silver thrice got more addictive each time. If not for fatigue setting in, Qin Yao would have gazed at it more.

After reorganizing the assets, she decided to keep 180 taels for land purchases untouched. The remaining thirty-four taels would go towards buying a horse and the rest for tuition and house renovations.

The orders from the water mill next year were uncertain, but selling components piece by piece and occasionally taking orders should cover daily expenses for her and Liu the carpenter.

Perhaps because the basic need for warmth and food was met, and after years in the apocalypse, she’d developed a ’live in the moment’ mindset; Qin Yao seldom worried about future matters.

Putting away the account book and glancing once more at the lovely silver ingots, she turned off the light and slept soundly.

Finally, during the New Year holiday, she didn’t need to wake up early for work, everything in the fields was finished, and she planned to sleep in regardless of any disturbance!

As Qin Yao slept peacefully, Liu Ji on the other hand couldn’t fall asleep.

He had ’accidentally’ overheard “two hundred and fourteen taels of silver” muttered in the main room, which made his heart race.

Liu Ji knew Qin Yao had a lot of silver, but he didn’t know the exact amount.

The impact of his speculations versus hearing it directly from Qin Yao was vastly different.

There were actually over two hundred taels of silver at home!

Over two hundred! Back in the day, selling him by the pound wouldn’t have earned this much.

In the entire village, only the Liu Dafu family would have this kind of wealth.

Just thinking about the number 214 excited Liu Ji so much he couldn’t close his eyes, resolving that even if Qin Yao wanted to beat him to death, he wouldn’t leave this family!

Lying under the thick quilt, Liu Ji almost wanted to slap himself for offending her earlier.

If only he had rejected Fan Xiucai at the start and obediently followed that shrew’s study plan, good days would have arrived long ago!

Liu Ji felt both regret and relief, his thoughts chaotic, staying up half the night before sleeping.

But as the courtyard rooster crowed, he practically shot up, “swish,” eyes wide open.

Though his eyes were shadowed with exhaustion, with a hint of bloodshot, they shone brightly.

He got dressed, lit the candle, took out his books, spread them on the small table, and suddenly became alert.

Liu Ji held his head, cursing his diligence.

But since he was already up, he decided to continue studying.

Outside, it was still pitch black. The snow had stopped at midnight, fallen mildly, melting into the ground. The candlelight reflected spots of light.

Feeling cold, Liu Ji exhaled visible white breath, freezing cold.

The charcoal from last night still had some embers, so he rushed to the main room to add more charcoal, using a fan to blow it into flames. He also lit the stove, filled a kettle with water, and set it on top.

After all these, he returned to his room, warming up while quietly reciting his books.

He read two sentences, lacking energy, so he took out a headband from his bundle and tied it on, with ’Wenquxing bless me’ engraved on it, he instantly felt the momentum.

When dawn broke, he set down the books, walked to the kitchen, started the stove, and prepared the family’s breakfast.

While the food cooked, he carried water in buckets, filled the water vat to the brim.

Da Lang, up for morning exercises, noticed the kitchen and main room lights, curiously entering the main room, warm from the stove, where freshly boiled water was left on the table.

“Da Lang, use the warm water on the main table to wash up, it won’t freeze your teeth.” Liu Ji quietly instructed from the kitchen.

Second Lang leaped out of his room, and Liu Ji immediately hushed him, pointing to the main bedroom, not to disturb your stepmother’s sleep.

The two brothers looked up simultaneously, wondering if the sun had risen from the west today?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep