Chapter Fifty-Seven: Make Money While You Can

  The dishes were not made by Zhou at all, and Zhou was not good at answering questions, with an unpleasant expression.

  "My mother hasn't been feeling well lately. The kids have all grown up, and today's meal was prepared by my two daughters-in-law, Zhi'er and Man'er." said Lian Shouxin.

  Everyone turned to praise Lian Zhi'er and Lian Man'er instead.

  "Zhang, you have a good daughter and a good son-in-law. The daughter you raised is also great. They're still young, but they can already host such a grand banquet. In our village, it's definitely the best..."

  "Man Er is still young, but she's already fourteen and has become a big girl. Her mother was the same age when she was in charge of all the household chores at home." Zhang Qing Shan said with a smile after taking a sip of wine.

  "Is Branch fourteen already? I've always heard that this child has a good temperament and is capable, but with just this one skill of cooking, even the older girls in the village can't compare to her."

  Lian Tzer was fourteen years old and Lian Piao was ten, so everyone assumed that the dishes were cooked by Tzer and Piao was just helping.

  "I don't know who spread the rumor, but Brother Lian, I want to tell you something... " Li Zheng smiled and started talking about a family with a son around the same age as Lian Er. "Lian Er hasn't been engaged yet, why don't I be the matchmaker? That family is well-off and of good character..."

  Lian Yier's face turned red on this side of the dinner table. Zhou Shi looked stern, glancing at Lian Yier and then at Lian Xiu'er who was pouting beside her, feeling somewhat uneasy in her heart, yet unable to say anything.

  Lian Wan'er's heart was filled with joy, this time cooking and showing her face, not only gave Zhang Shi and Lian Shouxin a sense of pride, but also made Lian Lao Yezi and Zhang Qing Shan look delighted. It can be seen that these two old men also felt honored. If let the people inside spread the word, Lian Wan'er would have earned a reputation for being capable. This is extremely beneficial for a 14-year-old girl.

  After eating for a while, Wang said she wanted scallions, so Lian'er got down from the kang and went to the outer room to get scallions for Wang. As soon as she came out, she saw He carrying Liu Lang and lifting the lid of the pot, searching everywhere. According to Lian's family rules, when guests come home, no matter if they sit at the table or not. Except for a few who accompany the guests, others, especially daughters-in-law and children, have to wait until the guests finish eating before they can eat the leftover food.

  Today, even the old master had his four sons and eldest grandson sit at the table to entertain guests. The Lian Man'er and others were only able to join in because of Zhang Qingshan and Li Shi's relationship, while He Shi and several children were not allowed to sit at the table. Just now when cooking, He Shi came over to take a look and didn't show up again, but now she comes to rummage for food to eat.

  "Man Er, you and your sister cooked, why didn't you leave any for us?" He Shi said as soon as she saw Lian Man Er come out.

  Lian Man'er didn't want to bother with He Shi at first, but then she thought about it and smiled, saying, "What's Second Aunt talking about? Whenever our family hosts a banquet, we always bring out all the dishes. This rule wasn't set by me."

  "What's fair or unfair, you guys get to eat big fish and meat, while we can't even get a bite."

  "What can I do about it?" Lian Man'er deliberately sighed, "Or else Second Aunt and Mother can discuss and make something else to eat, since Grandfather and Grandmother are in a good mood today."

  "Mother, I want to eat meat." Liu Lang pulled at He Shi's sleeve and said.

  "The meat is just afraid of being gone, however..." Lian Man'er glanced towards the chicken coop.

  "Mother, let's kill another chicken and eat it." Liu Lang thought of the chicken meat he had eaten two days ago, and his mouth began to water.

  "Those few chickens are not yours, you can't move them." Lian Man'er said casually, took the scallions and went back into the house.

  After dinner, Lian Zheng and others were sent out. Lian Man'er smelled the fragrance of braised chicken coming from the east wing. Because Lian Shouxin's family had moved out, Zhang Qingshan said he would stay overnight and leave after burning the bottom of the pot for his daughter and son-in-law the next day. Old Master Lian let Zhang Qingshan rest in the upper house.

  "Grandpa, mother hasn't seen you yet." Lian Man'er whispered to Zhang Qingshan.

  "Older brother, I'll go take a look at my daughter first and come over later," said Zhang Qing Shan.

  Everyone then returned to the west wing.

  In the upper room, Madame Zhou gathered up all the remaining dishes and went to the outer house to check how much oil and salt had been used by Lian Qiu and Lian Man. Her eyebrows were furrowed in distress. Suddenly she noticed that only Zhao Shi had brought Lian Ye over for dinner, while He Shi and several children from the second house hadn't come. Madame Zhou was puzzled and came out of the upper room. As soon as she did, she caught a whiff of stewed chicken and turned pale with shock. She hastily searched around in her small shoes and discovered that one of the big roosters with a flower-like comb on its head had disappeared.

  Lian Wan'er was in the west wing when she heard Zhou Shi scolding He Shi. After a while, she also heard Lao Ye coming out and stopping Zhou Shi.

  "Your relatives are still there, what's with your nagging and complaining!"

  "What's wrong again?" Zhang asked.

  "Second Aunt doesn't like leftover dishes and secretly killed a chicken to stew and eat." said Lian Man Er.

  "These past few days have been quite lively, I think Second Aunt is no longer afraid of her mother-in-law." Zhang Shi sighed, "This has gone down smoothly for now, but who knows what will happen later."

  "It's not that they're tired of you being a burden and forcing the family to split up? Now that we've split, just focus on living your own life well from now on." said Wang.

  Before long, they heard the sound of the outer door opening and saw Zhao's wife returning with Lian'er.

  "Your third sister-in-law is ill? I think she's even more timid than before, and doesn't even dare to speak," said Wang Shi to Zhang Shi.

  "It's not that now, we're separated, and in the future, most of the family affairs will be pushed onto those two women, it's really pitiful." said Zhang Shi.

  "Mother, look." Lian Mian'er took out a large bowl from the corner of the cabinet, with several pieces of fried eggplant, several golden-fried squash cakes, and several white potato pancakes. "I deliberately left some for San Bo's wife and Yezi to try, is that okay?"

  "That won't do, thanks to you for having this intention." said Zhang.

  "This child Man Er is good, doesn't pick at food, has a kind heart and thinks things through." said Wang Shi.

  Lian Man'er took the pancake and handed it over to Zhao Shi and Lian Ye'er.

  Zhao and Lian Ye were both surprised and delighted.

  "Meng er, what's this?"

  "I deliberately left these few dishes for Third Aunt and Ye to try, you guys hurry up and eat, Third Uncle has already eaten at the dinner table, I won't let him have any more." Lian Man'er said with a smile, and then lowered her voice to whisper in Lian Ye's ear, "Don't let Nai and the others know."

  Lian Ye'er nodded hastily.

  "I know, don't worry, Man Er," said Zhao Shi.

  "Thanks to you for thinking of your Third Aunt and your sister Ye'er," said Lian Shouli.

  Lian Man'er stood at the door of the west wing, and saw Lian Xiu'er coming out of the east wing with a gloomy face, carrying a basin of chicken meat to the upper house. It seems that they still haven't eaten that chicken meat, He Shi and the others. Lian Man'er sneered in her heart, and when she turned her eyes, she saw the two cyan mules inside the gate and the large cart parked beside them, and her heart moved slightly.

  It's time to brew wine. The barrel for brewing wine has been looked at, and the neighbor Zhao Lian Sheng's family next door is firing kilns, with twenty liters of wine jars being fired, and Lian Er is preparing to buy from his home. Then it's going into the mountains to pick wild grapes, and then transporting the wild grapes back home. She originally planned to use the board car at home, but the board car is not as fast as a horse-drawn carriage, nor can it hold as much as a horse-drawn carriage.

  Zhang Qing Shan won't leave until tomorrow, so can she borrow this horse carriage for a while? Lian Man Er called over Xiao Qi and instructed him thus.

  The two men went to find Zhang Qingnian, who was giving water to the cattle.

  "Big Uncle, I want to discuss something with you." Lian Man'er then told Zhang Qingnian about using a horse-drawn carriage to transport the grapes.

  "Big Uncle, help us out," Xiao Qi rushed into Zhang Qingnian's arms.

  Zhang Qingnian laughed and picked up Xiao Qi, holding him high in the air.

  "My nephew and niece are going to use the car," said Zhang Qingnian, "However, Man Er, you can't eat that wild grape, what do you want it for."

  "I want to take the grape wine," said Lian Wan'er.

  A few people walked back to the west wing, and brewing this matter, relying solely on her alone would definitely not work, so Lianer simply said his idea in front of everyone.

  "Making wine is great!" Zhang Qing Shan said after hearing it.

  Xiao Qi immediately jumped into Zhang Qing's arms, "Grandpa agreed."

  "This isn't a one-jar or two-jar affair, just something for you kids to play with." Lian Shou said, "Man Er, how much do you plan on brewing?"

  "We can make as much as we want." Lian Wan'er said, "Dad, this business is absolutely profitable and won't lose money."

  Lian Man'er was settling accounts with Lian Shouxin.

  "The wine in the town is said to be from the Western Regions, at least two silver coins per catty. We can brew our own wine using wild grapes from the mountains, which won't cost us a thing. I asked about the wine jars last time, and a 20-catty jar only costs 10 copper coins. If we brew several hundred catties, we'll only need to buy around 50 jars, which is 500 copper coins. Even if we can only sell half of it, after deducting the cost, we'll still make over 100 silver coins."

  "Dad, you don't have any money on hand, I've saved up for this a long time ago." Lian Man'er climbed onto the kang, dug out a small cloth package from a corner of the kang cabinet, and took out a small piece of silver.

  "My daughter is rich." Zhang smiled.

  "Man Er, is your method of brewing reliable?" Lian Shou Xin asked again.

  "Reliable," Lian Man'er made up a story on the spot, saying that she had heard it from a man with a big beard and blue eyes in town who was talking about brewing techniques.

  Xiao Qi then served as a witness for Lian Man Er, "I also heard it."

  "That should be the Westerners." Zhang Qing Shan said, "Grape wine is not just fruit wine, we mountain people brew fruit wine in the same way, it's just unknown whether wild grapes can also make wine. I think this will work."

  "When it comes to wine, no matter what, you always say yes." Li gave Zhang Qingshan a sideways glance.

  "When the wine is ready, pick the best ones for my grandfather and uncle." said Lian Man Er.

  Lian Man'er can earn money with her bitter girl, and these days Lian Man'er's words and deeds have also made people convinced. Moreover, looking at several children who are kind-hearted and using their own earned money as capital, Lian Shou feels that he can only show his support.

  "Alright, then let Meng'er make all the arrangements."

  There's pink powder, come and support it, hehe.

  Highly recommended books: "The Little Prince", "To Kill a Mockingbird", "1984", "Pride and Prejudice", "Jane Eyre", "Wuthering Heights", "Great Expectations"

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