Chapter 1574 - 1563: Honest Fool

Chapter 1574: Chapter 1563: Honest Fool

Niu Xue Mei and Ye Qiu didn’t care how much Wang Po regretted in her heart. They were finally going to move out and be their own masters. Niu Xue Mei was especially motivated. They didn’t have many things to begin with, so they quickly cleaned and tidied up the inside and outside of the thatched cottage.

By this time, most of the villagers had finished their harvest, and those with nothing to do helped Niu Xue Mei clear the weeds outside the house. This moment made the Ye Family seem particularly cold-hearted, as neighbors were helping, but Wang Po, Ye Chun, Wang Hong, and Ye Dong didn’t move at all.

Ye Xia sighed inwardly. To prevent people from gossiping more, she could only work harder.

The thatched cottage had been uninhabited for a long time, very dilapidated, and there was a musty smell inside. At least now, the roof and windows had been slightly repaired, so they weren’t afraid of rain making the place uninhabitable. They could only improve it slowly in the future.

What made Niu Xue Mei happiest was that there was a piece of land behind the house that was ownerless. As long as she worked hard to cultivate it, there would be enough space to plant many vegetables. But if they wanted to raise chickens, they needed good protective measures to prevent the mountain’s weasels and foxes from stealing.

Farmers were quick with their hands and feet, and many hands made light work. Before long, they tidied the house spotlessly, and Ye Qiu was slowly helped to lie down on the new bed in their home.

He looked better than he had a few days ago, and the villagers said that eating well made a difference, as he had only eaten a few good meals to show such improvement.

They sighed, saying Ye Qiu was foolish before. Looking at him now and then at Ye Chun and Ye Dong—the latter were much better fed—unlike him, who worked the most and ate the least. Now, things were better; they could make whatever they wanted to eat, and their children wouldn’t have to envy their cousins’ eggs anymore.

"It’s not for us to say, but whether it’s a son or daughter, it’s good to have your own. If you and your spouse make more money, then when marrying off your daughter, you can give her a substantial dowry so your son-in-law will respect you," a friendly villager suggested.

"Isn’t that right? If you ask me, you can’t rely on sons or daughters; silver is the most reliable."

"You’re good at talking. So why are you always supporting your son and daughter then?"

"Aren’t they young? I can still work. When their children are grown, I’ll naturally save for my own coffin fund."

"I can’t believe your nonsense."

The villagers chatted and laughed, and Niu Xue Mei brought them sugar water as Ye Qiu instructed, "Thank you for your hard work today, have some water to refresh yourselves."

"Huh? It’s sweet?" Third Aunt Wang looked at her in surprise.

Niu Xue Mei smiled shyly, "My husband said drinking something sweet would help restore energy, so I added some sugar."

"You’re so sincere," said one lady with a laugh, looking at her more kindly.

In truth, neighbors helping each other was common, but treating others with sweet sugar water like Niu Xue Mei did easily left a good impression. Although sugar wasn’t hard to find in these times, sugar like this that dissolved without changing color was considerably more expensive than ordinary sugar, showing Niu Xue Mei’s generosity.

The neighbors chatted for a while before heading back, as they still had rice to turn and dry and weren’t particularly idle.

Ye Xia finished eating and bid farewell to Ye Qiu and Niu Xue Mei, "I’ll go back first. If you need anything, just come to me, don’t be shy."

"Thank you, Second Sister," Niu Xue Mei sincerely thanked her, then personally saw her out the door.

After seeing everyone off, Niu Xue Mei sat on a chair and heaved a sigh of relief. She looked at the not grand home but felt content that it was clean. Most importantly, this home was entirely hers. From now on, whatever she wanted to do, how much money she wanted to make, it was all up to her. Just thinking about it made her happy.

"How is it, my idea to split from the family wasn’t bad, right?" Ye Qiu walked out with a smile.

"Why did you get out of bed?" Niu Xue Mei was shocked, "The doctor told you to rest well."

Ye Qiu laughed, "I was faking being sick, did you forget?"

Niu Xue Mei didn’t believe him, "The doctor diagnosed it, and you’re still trying to fool me? How could you fake it so well? Although it wasn’t that severe, you were so exhausted and ate so little before, surely that’s taken a toll. You should rest more."

"Alright, I know what I’m doing." Ye Qiu sat and looked at the courtyard, "It’s great. We won’t have to suffer anymore. Although we didn’t divide much of the money we made before, we stopped the losses in time. From now on, all the money we earn will be ours."

"Yes." Niu Xue Mei was also filled with anticipation, "I still have energy. I’ll raise a few more pigs and ducks in the future. I’m also planning to cultivate the backyard to grow more vegetables."

"We can’t raise or grow too much." Ye Qiu shook his head, "Did you forget what my goal was?"

"But don’t we still have enough money now? Why do we still need to do business?" Niu Xue Mei was puzzled, but she was more afraid of taking risks, thinking that farming was the safest bet.

"But did you forget that we already sold our land to the village chief? How much can the money we have buy back? Even if we want to buy, is anyone selling?" Ye Qiu asked rhetorically, leaving Niu Xue Mei speechless.

She sighed, "If I had known earlier, I would have known that hiring a doctor wouldn’t have cost much."

Then she suddenly brightened up, "Don’t we still have a gold block?"

Ye Qiu shook his head, "That can’t be taken out unless it’s a critical moment. Trust me, let’s try doing business first, and if it really doesn’t work out, I’ll listen to you and farm honestly, and besides, it’s not like both of us are leaving. I’ll try setting up a stall first, and you can look after the two kids at home."

"Alright, but have you thought about what kind of business to do?"

"Let’s do food." Ye Qiu pondered, "When I was working at the dock before, I noticed many people only had dry food with them. Either they couldn’t eat enough, or they didn’t eat well. We can try making pancakes or something like that."

"Will this work?" Niu Xue Mei worriedly said, "Those working at the docks may not be well-off, can they afford to eat out?"

"Don’t worry, not everyone is poor, and I didn’t plan to make the pancakes too expensive. We can put vegetables in the pancakes so that they’re filling and taste good."

"Putting vegetables inside too? Can we still make a profit?" Niu Xue Mei expressed her doubts.

"This you don’t understand. How expensive can vegetables from our village be? Trust me, I know what I’m doing, no problem," Ye Qiu said confidently.

Niu Xue Mei could only agree when she saw Ye Qiu was so sure. She thought nothing could be harder than before the family separation. At worst, she would grow more vegetables, anyway she’s idle, minimize the losses if they can’t profit much.

In truth, Ye Qiu didn’t plan to only make vegetarian pancakes. People doing manual labor wanted to eat well, so he planned to talk with the butcher to sell offal to him in the future. Offal wasn’t expensive but was hard to process, but it was still meat, and if it was cooked well, those who liked it loved it, and he was sure he could sell it.