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Eighties Sweetheart Wife-Chapter 80 - Living in the City and Taking Advantage at Home_1
Chapter 80: Chapter 80 Living in the City and Taking Advantage at Home_1
Chapter 80 -80 Living in the City and Taking Advantage at Home_1
Old Mrs.
Song came to her youngest son’s house, actually to discuss this matter with Song Nian.
As long as no one interferes, she was determined to continue the business.
But it didn’t necessarily have to be this particular trade.
There were plenty of options available.
Even Old Man Song had made over twenty yuan from selling firewood.
Not only selling ornamental combs, she could also sell shepherd’s purse, water celery, and tiny garlic shoots.
These would soon spring up in the fields, and taking them to the city while they were fresh, even if she only got a dime for a basket, it was pure profit.
As for labour, in the countryside, nothing was cheaper than manpower and time.
She said to Sun Jinrong, “Let’s not dwell on the past.
I’m not here to play; I came to talk business with you.
Think it over in the next few days, whether you want to work on a private venture with the family, or if you’re ready to be a worker.
If you want to do private work, then come back to Erdao River Village, and we’ll work together.
If you want to be a worker, then you definitely won’t be involved in the family business.
Or perhaps, you can come home and let Song Nian work at the timber mill by himself.
In any case, discuss it with him when he gets back.”
On the other side, Lian Xiang and Xia Guilan also said, once they sold out the bags, they would have to gather wild vegetables or chop firewood.
Song Liang, however, said, “The land you and Song Nian divided is with us, and we are currently converting it into paddy fields.
You also have to consider whether to work as temporary laborers in the city or to return to the village.”
Several people started discussing at once, all talking over each other.
There should be clear settlements among brothers.
It was better to speak unpleasant truths upfront to avoid future rifts.
It was fine when the land belonged to the collective; if you didn’t work, you got no work points.
But now the land had also been divided.
Who would farm it and to whom the yield would belong had to be agreed upon in advance.
When Song Nian finished work, he was startled to see the Song family gathered in the yard.
After understanding what was going on, he began to think seriously.
Meanwhile, Song Yunuan took Little Nuan to the nearby Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
By the time she returned, dinner was ready at home.
A large bowl of eggs in a marinade, a large bowl of spicy shredded pork in marinade, and two sizable basins of blanched noodles.
This was, at that time, the standard for treating honored guests.
Today Sun Jinrong had indeed spent a pretty penny, even borrowing three jin of noodles from a neighbor.
She didn’t feel any imbalance.
The mother-in-law had not played favorites; both options were laid before her and her husband, to choose as they would.
Old Mrs.
Song was quite satisfied.
The day before yesterday, Song Nian had delivered food to Tingting at the cultural troupe and also sent boiled eggs, steamed buns, and pickled vegetables to Abo.
That was acceptable.
There was no need to do it every day; it was the thought that counted.
After all, their daily life seemed to be quite tight.
Today, although Sun Jinrong was envious, she said nothing.
When Song Nian returned, they discussed the land, and then Sun Jinrong went to buy meat and eggs to prepare the meal.
In the end, without contention or scrambles, the atmosphere was quite good.
Song Yunuan bought Little Nuan a pound of egg cakes, along with ten notebooks and pencils as a reward.
Unexpectedly, Huzi had achieved dual hundred-percent scores in his exams.
Entering the house, Song Yunuan said this was her reward for Huzi.
Song Nian felt proud, and then resolved to stay in the city for the sake of his child.
It was undeniable that the schools in the city were superior.
Old Mrs.
Song said, “You’re right to think this way, but it’s not easy to become a regular worker as a temp, and life isn’t easy either.
If you’re hoping for help from the family, that won’t work.
In the end, if you’ve thought it through, you can’t take advantage of the family by living in the city.
If I don’t treat everyone fairly, our family’s life won’t go well.”
Song Nian immediately expressed his stance, “Mom, don’t worry.
Jinrong and I have thought it through.
We’ll let you farm our share of the land; we don’t want it.”
“Our family is short on manpower, and the plot of land we divided isn’t that great, but we still have duties to fulfill.
Let’s wait for the autumn harvest; if there’s a surplus, we’ll split it between us.”
This was something Old Mrs.
Song had discussed with Old Song in advance.
Song Yunuan didn’t care for boiled noodles; she preferred rolled noodles.
Sun Jinrong had specifically mixed a lump of dough for her, waiting for Song Yunuan to come home and roll out the noodles.
Old Mrs.
Song didn’t understand; dried noodles were so delicious.
As for the household affairs, Song Yunuan’s stance was to not meddle; she was just a child, and all she should be concerned with was eating and drinking.
Her aunt had a strong hand at kneading dough, and considering that most flour these days got sticky in the teeth, her aunt added a pinch of salt and an egg to the mix, which resulted in exceptionally chewy noodles.
They were all for her, a whole big bowl, and Song Yunuan ate them all up.
After finishing the meal, the Song family prepared to walk back to Erdao River.
Just as they left the city, they saw a carriage parked not far away—it turned out to be Old Man Song who had driven the carriage to pick them up.
Quite the spectacle, the carriage was also carrying three kids.
Old Man Song had made a meal for the children: ready-made steamed buns with a side of egg soup, plus a piece of peach and half a slice of egg cake for everyone; they all ate their fill.
It was Chu Zizhou who suggested to Old Man Song that they should go and pick them up, using the brigade’s carriage, at the cost of fifty cents.
Old Man Song also mentioned to the old lady that the family should consider getting a carriage; if it was feasible, he would look into getting a pony.
As for the carriage frame, that wasn’t urgent.
The carpentry-skilled Old Man Song, with agile hands and plenty of wood stockpiled at home, could build it himself.
As for how much money they had made, no one brought it up.
By the time they got home, it was time to settle accounts and keep the books.
Yesterday they made 502 yuan, and today they made 1409 yuan.
They deposited 1000 yuan into the savings bank.
After deducting 50 yuan for Sun Jinrong and 100 yuan for Little Nuan’s bicycle, they still had 761 yuan on hand.
At that moment, the men of the Song family had all gone out to work.
Old Man Song was returning the carriage and, on the way, brought some fresh fish and shrimp for Chu Zizhou.
Only the four women of the Song family were in the house.
Since they were the ones who made it happen, naturally, they had the final say.
Lian Xiang, not waiting for the old lady to speak, immediately pledged her loyalty: “Mom, elder sister-in-law, and Little Nuan, I really have no opinions at all; I’ll go along with whatever you decide.”
She had seen through it all.
As long as she followed orders, there would be meat on her plate.
If she harboured any second thoughts, the old lady would immediately leave her out in the cold.
Besides, without the old lady saying a word, she knew exactly what she was going to say.
It didn’t matter to her that Little Nuan was to receive a share, even the lion’s share, because there was nothing she would say about it.
Without Little Nuan, there wouldn’t have been any of this money at all.
This fact, she had to clearly acknowledge.
Old Mrs.
Song was pleased with Lian Xiang’s attitude and spoke to the eager Song Yunuan, who was ready to go out and play: “Wait, before you go out, I want to talk to you about the money.
You have a forty percent share, and your mother, your second aunt, and I, for now, we each have a twenty percent share…”
Old Mrs.
Song had obviously thought this through beforehand.
Song Yunuan nodded: “That’s fine.
We still need to continue selling, starting from tomorrow we’ll split up for sales.
We’ll talk about the specifics tonight.
Oh, and here’s the savings book with 1000 yuan in it.”
Song Yunuan took out the savings book and gave it to Old Mrs.
Song.
The old lady had been prepared, but her excitement and trembling hands proved she wasn’t as calm as she appeared.
Before they reached a certain scale, it was good to keep earning and dividing the money this way.
And so the money was distributed.
Song Yunuan received 300 yuan, and everyone else got 150 yuan each.
Adding the 44 yuan from last week, there was a miscellaneous sum of 55 yuan, which was left with the old lady.
As for expenses like sewing materials, they would be calculated later; the house still had plenty of sling bags and headdresses.
Old Mrs.
Song sighed, feeling like life was like a dream.
Song Yunuan didn’t mention giving her money to Old Mrs.
Song or Xia Guilan, and though she was a child, she knew getting used to handling money was a good thing.
The main point was the convenience of having money in her own hands.