Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Striking It Rich
This time, Gu Xiaoqing has already returned home with Gu Xiaojie.
Dinner was simply eaten.
The whole family sat around the kang, starting their daily routine of accounting.
Li Xuemei had gotten the hang of it, and by the end, she was grinning so wide her mouth nearly reached the back of her ears.
Gu Ruhai was still sitting on a stool at the side, looking at his wife who seemed on the brink of madness with laughter, and couldn’t help but ask, "What’s up with you, dear?"
No matter how he saw it, his wife seemed a bit hysterical.
Li Xuemei slapped the table, scaring the whole family with a shiver, what’s going on?
Gu Xiaoqing understood inside, it was likely today’s income was quite an improvement.
She had full confidence in her own skills, plus these foods were commonplace delicacies, but her own had secret recipes within. If her own goods couldn’t sell, those in the provincial town definitely wouldn’t either.
This was a time-honored secret recipe method, no less.
"How much did we earn today? Take a guess?"
Li Xuemei’s face was full of joy.
Looking at her family sitting there with one hand resting on her face, Gu Xiaoqing glancing at her with a half-smile, her heart was full of delight.
A big tile-roofed house.
Oh my, the big tile-roofed house seemed right within sight.
Gu Ruhai spread out the rough paper in his hand, placed tobacco leaves on it, and started rolling, knowing today’s business was not bad, surely only more, not less.
But specifically how much they earned, Gu Ruhai didn’t know, nor did he want to guess.
Gu Xiaoying thought for a moment and said, "Maybe twenty?"
Mainly, today’s lamb offal sold out, only some meatballs were left, but not many. Gu Xiaoying had gone to school for a few days, she could do some calculations.
Judging by today’s situation, it could be that number.
Xiao Jie playfully said, "Twenty-five maybe!"
This was purely Xiao Jie’s random guesswork; mainly because his sister said so, and he just thought it should be more than his sister mentioned. Actually, twenty or twenty-five, to Xiao Jie, were about the same; he had no concept of it.
Li Xuemei was so excited, her eyebrows dancing with joy as she said, "It’s thirty-five!"
She waved the neat stack of paper in her hand with a look of triumph.
Gu Ruhai was so startled that his hand shook, and the cigarette he had just rolled fell to the ground, the paper spread out, scattering tobacco leaves everywhere, and he stood up in a daze, not knowing what to do, and asked, "How much?"
Li Xuemei waved her hand, her eyes filled with joy that was so dazzling it couldn’t be ignored.
"Thirty-five bucks even!"
The voice was decisive.
Gu Ruhai chuckled foolishly for a long time, and then seemed unsure of what to do, pacing back and forth, rubbing his hands together, and headed out into the courtyard.
Li Xuemei didn’t know what Gu Ruhai wanted to do and hurriedly asked, "What are you doing, him?"
"Don’t worry about it, I’ll be right back!"
Gu Ruhai’s trembling voice echoed from the walls of the courtyard.
Li Xuemei felt relieved.
But then she was a bit worried and told the three kids, "You three keep your mouths shut, don’t let anyone know. Just say we earned a little bit of money. If outsiders find out, who knows we might attract thieves. That would be trouble."
It was a normal concern indeed. In the countryside, if a family had a little money, they’d keep it under wraps; that’s what people believed was sensible.
After all, in these times, simplicity and honesty were still prevalent.
There was no such thing as flaunting wealth.
Gu Xiaoying, Gu Xiaoqing, and Xiao Jie all nodded repeatedly. In their minds, if the family attracted thieves, that would be a big issue.
Xiao Jie even childishly clamped his mouth shut with his hands, his big round black eyes darting around nervously, his worried little face delighting the whole family.
Making Gu Xiaoqing laugh so hard she bent over backwards.
Gu Ruhai soon came in holding a thin bamboo stick, squatted at the entrance, and started sketching on the ground.
Li Xuemei, Gu Xiaoqing, Gu Xiaoying, and Xiao Jie all curiously went over to see.
Ha ha.
Gu Ruhai was illiterate.
So he was using a stick to draw the structure of a five-room big tile-roofed house on the ground.
Li Xuemei laughed too.
For the first time, these two acted like kids, starting to discuss bit by bit about the big tile-roofed house.
In their hearts, thirty-five a day, that’s a thousand a month.
With that, they could be prepared to build the house in a month.
Couldn’t help but feel happy inside.
The good days seemed to appear right before their eyes in the blink of an eye, how could they not be zealous?
In the countryside, building a house was a major event, linked to the prosperity of the whole family.
Gu Ruhai was an unambitious man, an honest type, neither courageous nor resourceful. In his heart, he never thought he could see the day he’d build a house.
Perhaps he dreamed of it once.
But in real life, Gu Ruhai had long since given up without the slightest ripple.
In Gu Ruhai’s heart, in recent years, even having enough to eat was a problem, never mind money. Year-round, they needed to ask for some from Li Xuemei’s family to make ends meet, otherwise, even basic seasonings like salt, soy sauce, and vinegar would run out.
Earlier this year, land reform reached their area, each family contracted a few more acres, hoping for a bit more surplus.
Gu Ruhai also contracted eight more acres; this was perhaps the boldest thing he’d ever done, hoping to earn a bit more by year’s end.
But even if the year’s blessings were good, with a decent harvest, Gu Ruhai optimistically estimated maybe a hundred or so would be a good thing.
To build a house would require the whole family not to eat or drink, tightening their belts for thirty years.
Thirty years.
Thirty years is a long time; by then, even Gu Xiaoying and Gu Xiaoqing’s weddings would need family money, and Xiao Jie would need schooling.
So, adding it all up, thirty years wouldn’t be enough to build it.
Gu Ruhai was a man too, wanting to achieve things others could.
Which man wouldn’t want to be impressive and dignified?
But he simply didn’t have the capability.
But in just a few months, everything changed, only three months or so.
Everything at home was different.
During these three months, Li Xuemei would calculate daily, estimating money for house-building. The two of them estimated if things went on, they nearly had a thousand bucks now, and enduring for six or seven more months would be enough.
But now, everything was different.
Thirty-five each day.
That means a thousand a month.
It means three months would be enough, without even needing the new year.
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Thanks to Mimoca for the reward, thank you for your support.