Before sleeping at night, everyone else suffered from diarrhea due to eating too much rich food. Qin Junyao took a piece of paper filled with words and went to find her mother.
"Mother, did my father go out too?" Qin Junyao only saw her mother alone in the room at the door.
Her mother put down the fabric in her hands and sighed, "He went out. All that good food was eaten in vain. The money you spent today is enough for our family to eat for a month."
"Junyao, you can't do this anymore."
Qin Junyao touched her eyebrows, "Mother, can I come in?"
"Yes, come in. What are you holding?" Her mother only saw the paper in her daughter's hand as she approached.
Qin Junyao walked into the room and sat on the kang, "I wrote something. Mother, do you have any private savings?"
"How can I have private savings if we haven't divided the family?" Her mother hesitated for a moment, then continued, "I didn't have any dowry when I got married."
Qin Junyao looked at her mother, who was sewing.
Her mother had been married for twenty years, had never returned to her maiden home, and had never had a copper coin in her hand. She was managed by a fierce mother-in-law in this home, and sometimes she was beaten and scolded.
Qin Junyao greatly admired her mother, unaware that women here lived like this, and many were not as well off as her mother.
"Mother, do you want a job to save some private money now?"
Hearing her daughter's words, her mother immediately grabbed Qin Junyao's wrist, "Listen to your grandmother, don't use your Bodhisattva's mercy to earn money anymore."
"If you want to use that money to do good deeds, I won't stop you. You say you used this money to buy pigs and sheep, be careful not to shorten your lifespan."
Qin Junyao patted her mother's hand, "It's not like that. You should earn money with your own skills."
"Mother, don't refuse first. I heard my second uncle say that those who collect salt cook their own meals. What delicious food can be made there?"
"We have a donkey cart. If we make some local snacks and sell them, we can earn money."
Her mother shook her head, "No, no. What Madam Ma made today was all white flour, meat, and precious things. They couldn't sell them and lost money. Besides, I can't do it."
"I have a lot of things to do at home. I can't do it."
She said twice that she couldn't do it herself. The last time she went out to earn money was when she was a child and helped her mother cook.
Later, as the sisters at home grew more numerous, she stayed home to take care of her sisters, do farm work, cook, and clean.
After marrying into the Qin family, her mother repeated the cycle of giving birth, raising children, and working. She had long lost the courage to take the lead.
Qin Junyao took the sewing from her mother's hands and said earnestly to her mother, "Mother, when my elder brother gets married, do you want to give your daughter-in-law a red envelope yourself? It's New Year, do you want to buy fabric for Father and Xiaoyu to make clothes?"
"Don't you want to ask someone to inquire if my maternal grandmother is still alive? How are my aunts doing?"
By the time Qin Junyao finished asking, her mother was already in tears.
She wanted to.
Not to mention her parents, she had fed her five younger sisters with rice soup, one spoonful at a time. She didn't know where they were now, or if they were still alive.
Seeing her mother like this, Qin Junyao added fuel to the fire, "Mother, I'm not asking you to do it alone. You and your second aunt will be in charge of the cooking, and I'll take care of the rest. We'll give half of the money earned to Grandma, and you'll save the other half."
Seeing that her mother was wavering, Qin Junyao continued, "Mother, my elder brother and third uncle will be nineteen this year."
Although there was no rule in Qingguo that men had to get married at a certain age like women, it was rare for them to marry past twenty.
Her mother didn't speak, so Qin Junyao took it as her tacit consent, "Mother, this is settled."
"This paper lists the approximate cost of the food today. Mother, think about which food is easy and quick to make. In a couple of days, we'll go to Salt County to buy supplies. I'll leave this paper here, and I'm going back to my room."
That night, her mother didn't go to take care of her father, who was somewhat weak from diarrhea. She didn't sleep all night, holding the paper Qin Junyao left, her mind filled with her daughter's words.
Perhaps she could try.
Qin Junyao and her second aunt also didn't sleep well that night, giving their greedy family members a lot of diluted salt water to drink.
The next day, the Qin family all woke up late.
Qin's mother and second aunt, who cooked, didn't overeat, and Qin Junyao, who didn't eat much, ate the leftover delicacies from yesterday. The rest of the Qin family could only drink millet porridge.
Qin Erniu drank his porridge while watching Qin Junyao eat roujiamo and felt a bit upset. He turned to ask Qin Sen, "Uncle, is this what we call the stomachs of the poor can't hold the food of the rich?"
"Nonsense," Grandma Qin didn't care if they were at the dining table. In her bad mood, she indulged no one, "You deserve it for eating too much."
"Grandma, didn't you also get an upset stomach?" Qin Erniu was unconvinced. They were all in the same boat, so no one should criticize the other.
Grandma Qin's eyebrows shot up, "I was tasting the food for your mother and aunt to see if it was good, how can that be compared to you gluttons?"
"Eldest daughter-in-law, go ask that Madam Ma again to learn. Your skills are still inferior to hers."
Qin Erniu was about to speak when Qin Ersao stepped on his foot under the table. The others eating at the table looked at each other and no one spoke further. Whatever Grandma Qin said was right.
.
When the wheat in the reclaimed land grew an inch high, Qin Junyao, along with her mother, second aunt, and father, who was driving the donkey cart, went to Salt County.
First, they went to the carpenter's shop to install a wooden frame on the donkey cart. A horizontal board was placed in the middle of the frame to hold bowls, chopsticks, and seasonings during business.
A small platform could also be extended from the donkey cart to serve dishes and bowls.
After picking up a large iron pot and cooking utensils from the blacksmith's shop, Qin Junyao and her mother began to shop.
Stoves, bowls, and chopsticks were basic necessities. Her mother wanted to make some soup, so she bought a large vat that was as high as her waist. Qin Junyao didn't know what that had to do with making soup.
New items were purchased for grains, seasonings, cutting boards, and other things needed for the business.
Qin Junyao felt that this would make cost accounting convenient, and in the future, when they made a profit, they could buy their own cart instead of using the family's.
When they reached the cloth shop, her mother stopped Qin Junyao, "Junyao, what are you going to buy at the cloth shop?"
"Buy cloth, of course. If we all wear the same aprons and sleeve guards, we'll look clean."
"If I don't wear an apron, I can still cook cleanly, so there's no need to spend more money." Her mother looked at the things on the donkey cart with heartache. Junyao bought good things.
"Don't worry, Mother, I won't buy too much. An apron doesn't use much cloth."
After saying that, Qin Junyao walked into the cloth shop and generously paid for the cloth, showing no timidity or shyness despite her patched and worn clothes.
Qin's father patted Qin's mother's shoulder, "Our Junyao has grown up."
Her mother sighed and said nothing.
When they returned home, they attracted the attention of the Qin and Hou families. The extra frame on the donkey cart was particularly eye-catching.
It was then that Qin Junyao revealed her plan to sell food at the Salt Lake.
Qin's mother nervously awaited her mother-in-law's scolding. She had made up her mind that night. As long as she could earn one copper coin, she would continue.
It didn't matter if her mother-in-law scolded her. Her children were not yet married, and as a mother, she had to contribute to her children.