Chapter Thirty-Five: Sitting on the ground and starting the price
By the time the tent was set up, it was already noon and the snow was still falling.
Cheng Qingwan and Song Qiaoqiao went to return the copper pot together, but before they got closer, they heard the woman cursing.
"You damn girl, you make me eat vegetables and leaves every day. How much money did you get from selling grain in the past two months? Don't you know how to go to town and buy some meat?"
"It's snowing so much outside, how do you want me to go there? If you want me to freeze to death on the road, just say so." Song Zhaodi said with her usual expression on her face while eating vegetables.
"Can't you learn from Cheng Qingwen? Go hook up with a high official. Isn't there a carriage?" Mrs. Qin slapped her chopsticks on the table and said angrily: "What's the use of me giving birth to you? I won't marry you."
If you are willing to marry, you can't get it with money. If you know this, I might as well strangle you to death when you are born, so that you won't make me angry!"
After hearing this, Song Qiaoqiao quickly glanced at the person next to her and pulled her sleeve.
Cheng Qinghan shook his head at her and stood there for a while longer.
Song Zhaodi glanced at her own mother wiping away tears and rolled her eyes: "It's not like you haven't strangled a child to death. If my fourth brother was still a daughter, I don't think he would be alive now. Mother, I won't be able to survive this year."
I'm eighteen, but I'm still not that forgetful. I remember everything you did."
Mrs. Qin pointed at the person in front of her, and then said after a while: "You are quite a talker. If you have the skills, learn from that girl Qiaoqiao. Use your talk to make Cheng Qingwen happy and bring some meat back to the family."
"Auntie, you let your eldest sister do everything. What are you, dad, and your brothers doing? You can't just lie down and wait for death. If we get married, do we have to take two of us to our husband's house?"
Song Pandi was furious when she looked at her fat and white younger brothers.
"That's what it should be. We've raised you so much, what's wrong with supporting us in old age? What's wrong with supporting your brother?" Mrs. Qin said matter-of-factly: "If it weren't for someone to help my son in the future, I would have thrown you away long ago.
He entered the latrine and drowned."
Cheng Qingwen curled her lips after hearing this. In less than ten minutes, Mrs. Qin said this for the second time. It was really chilling.
"If you don't want us daughters to stay in this home, just say something and we'll leave immediately. Even if we starve to death on the streets, you won't have to collect our bodies." Song Zhaodi put down her chopsticks and said calmly.
"Okay, that's great. The daughters born by Mrs. Cheng are here to repay their kindness, and the girls I gave birth to are here to beg for their lives." Mrs. Qin sat on the ground the next second, crying loudly and saying: "Oh, there is no justice, I am so miserable
I worked so hard to raise you so big..."
Cheng Qingwen had a headache listening to these mournful words. He had only been standing here for a long time, and this was the third time he mentioned her.
However, Song Zhaodi's temperament aroused her great interest.
She pulled Song Qiaoqiao back and asked softly: "Does your cousin always talk to her mother like this?"
"No, she was obedient when she was little, but she had a fever the year before last, and she was like this when she woke up. Maybe she heard the second aunt say that she would not give her medicine and let her burn to death."
Cheng Qingwen frowned and asked, "I remember you said that his family has three daughters and four sons, right?"
"Yes, my second aunt's first few children were all daughters, and the fifth one is a son."
Cheng Qinghan shuddered when she remembered what she had just heard, and quickly led her back home.
As soon as they entered the house, they got in front of the kitchen stove to warm themselves.
Cheng Hua'er handed over two bowls of hot water and said with a smile: "Drink quickly to warm yourself up."
Cheng Qingwen slowly drank hot water, watched the woman kneading the dough skillfully, and asked softly: "Mom, what kind of pasta do you know?"
"Steamed buns, steamed buns, spring rolls, and noodles. What's wrong?"
"It's okay, just asking. I've been thinking about what kind of store to open these days."
Cheng Hua'er smiled and put the noodles into the pot: "If you want to open a shop, we have to save a hundred taels of silver next year. But having said that, the sugar cane and eggplants in your fields really won't freeze.
Die?"
Cheng Qingwen was also a little unsure and said vaguely: "Probably not."
During lunch, Song Qiaoqiao told her mother what she had just heard at the door of Song Zhaodi's house.
The sound was neither loud nor quiet, and almost everyone at the table heard it.
Aunt Liu sighed and said with pity, "If Zhaodi hadn't had such a mother, she would have married a good family and had children long ago."
Cheng Hua'er thought for a while and said, "Huanhuan, will the grain in our fields be ready to be harvested in a few days?"
Cheng Qingwen nodded and said, "Yes, when the snow stops, we can almost finish it."
"We're afraid we won't be able to harvest those acres of land, so why don't we let Zhaodi and the others come to help?"
"Okay, fifty cents a day, but the Qin family is difficult and I don't want to talk about it."
When Cheng Hua'er heard this, he immediately laughed and said, "Go and talk to your Aunt Liu."
After Song Qiaoqiao heard this, she came over and asked softly: "Did you really agree like this?"
Cheng Qinghan nodded and said with a smile: "What's wrong?"
"I don't worry about grandma and Aunt Cheng going together. The second aunt will definitely dislike the small amount of money and will have to refinance the money."
"Fifty cents a day is still less? You don't even do this in your daydreams. She is obsessed with money." Cheng Qingwen rolled her eyes, looked at the two weak women in front of her, and thought for a while: "Forget it, I
Let’s go with you.”
The next day, everything was as expected by Song Qiaoqiao. Qin's first words were "Qian Shao".
Cheng Qingwen sat in front of the table and looked at her funny: "Then how much do you think is appropriate?"
"At least one tael of silver a day." Ms. Qin straightened her back and said, "These daughters in my family are all very capable. They have been working in the fields since they were young. Moreover, you see, they are also very good-looking."
Song Zhaodi rolled her eyes and pulled Mrs. Qin behind her: "Auntie, please shut up. No brothel madam can sit down and raise prices like you."
Cheng Qingwen burst out laughing after hearing these words, and looked up at the woman in front of her. She had an oval face, pink and phoenix eyes, and a delicate appearance that made her feel very comfortable.
"What do you know? Without this money, how can our family celebrate the New Year? Your brothers don't have new clothes yet." Mrs. Qin said angrily.
"Miss Cheng, don't listen to her nonsense. I think fifty cents is fine. When will you start work?"
"It will take a few more days. I will notify you when I come back to your house." Cheng Qingwen looked into her eyes with a smile and said, "I will provide breakfast and lunch. If you don't mind, you can also have dinner at my house.
"
When Mrs. Qin heard this, she immediately jumped out and said: "No, if they all leave, our family will have no one to cook. You have to come back every day to eat, otherwise our meals will be included."