84 Chapter 84: Making Century Eggs
“As long as I’m here, I won’t let you and my little brother suffer.”
If that day really came, the child would definitely not end up well if he followed Madam Zhang.
“However, I don’t care about the others.” As she spoke, Qin Xiaoyao looked at Qin Dazhuang with a playful look.
The ‘others’ was evidently referring to Madam Zhang.
Her expression made Qin Dazhuang laugh.
After laughing, Qin Dazhuang patted his daughter’s arm with a grave expression.
He then opened his mouth and said, “That day won’t come. If it really doesn’t work, after the child is born, I’ll send her back.”
His daughter’s words today had given him a big wake-up call.
Madam Zhang’s own family had a huge problem indeed.
Today, that woman had actually said that she would let his unborn son be buried with her.
She didn’t think of herself as a member of the Qin family at all. She only thought that she was giving birth to a son for him.
If her heart was not with the Qin family and she only wanted to help others, he would only hurt his own family if he indulged her.
His unborn son was naturally important, but surely his eldest son, second son, and daughter were equally important?
It was really unnecessary to cause unrest in the family and separate father and sons just for a wife.
As for his daughter’s offer to raise him and the child, he could not possibly allow such a thing.
Qin Xiaoyao was shocked.
Qin Dazhuang didn’t continue the subject and said, “Alright. Father won’t send you off. Go back now.”
Then, without waiting for Qin Xiaoyao to leave, he turned around and returned to the courtyard.
At this moment, Qin Xiaoyao still didn’t know that because of her words today, Qin Dazhuang had finally made up his mind to face some things.
And Madam Zhang finally hardened her heart and began to refuse to be her brother’s money tree.
Back at the Song family’s house.
As soon as Qin Xiaoyao arrived, she saw that Big Girl Li was there as well.
Madam Liu was relieved when she found out that her daughter-in-law had already eaten.
After she put away the handcart and explained some things to Madam Liu, Qin Xiaoyao returned to her room to pack up.
Then, she entered the mountains with Big Girl Li.
“Where there is a bamboo forest, there will be bamboo shoots. Actually, we don’t have to go to that particular mountain to dig for bamboo shoots,” Big Girl Li suddenly said.
Qin Xiaoyao was surprised.
“Isn’t there also a bamboo forest at the front mountain?” Big Girl Li immediately looked at Qin Xiaoyao. “Perhaps, there are bamboo rats there too.”
She was referring to the bamboo forest where the villagers would occasionally go to chop bamboo.
The bamboo forest was close to the village, and the bamboo grew thickly.
It was hard to say whether there would be bamboo rats. After all, she rarely went there and had never encountered bamboo rats there.
However, the number of bamboo shoots was definitely more than what the earlier bamboo forest had.
Qin Xiaoyao also remembered the bamboo forest that Big Girl Li mentioned, but she didn’t agree with her suggestion.
“Although the bamboo forest in the front mountain has no owner, the villagers have been chopping bamboo there for so many years. That bamboo forest has long been regarded as the common property of the village.”
“Just like the ramie forest. If anyone needed them, they would just go and take some. As long as one doesn’t go too far, no one will say anything.”
“But if people found out that we are using the bamboo shoots in the bamboo forest to earn money, and it’s a long-term deal, I’m afraid things won’t be that simple.”
“That’s true…” Big Girl Li replied.
She had only thought that digging bamboo shoots there would be closer, so she had neglected these considerations.
If people knew that bamboo shoots were edible and so expensive, even if no one stopped them from digging bamboo shoots there, there would be many people who would follow their lead.
If too many bamboo shoots were dug up, it would affect the reproduction of the bamboo.
When she and Sister Sanya were digging, they did not completely dig out the bamboo shoots. Instead, they left some for them to grow.
However, other people would not take so much into consideration.
“However, I can still go there and look for bamboo rats later,” Qin Xiaoyao continued.
Digging up bamboo shoots would cause some damage to the bamboo forest. Anyone who saw it would be able to guess what had happened.
However, killing the bamboo rats was much easier. If no one watched from the side, who would know what she was doing in the bamboo forest?
Big Girl Li smiled.
Immediately after that, she stopped smiling.
“I still don’t know if Boss Fang will buy bamboo rats from us later on,” she said with some worry.
“Don’t worry. He will,” Qin Xiaoyao replied with complete confidence.
Since the bamboo shoots would only be delivered the day after tomorrow, the two of them did not go to the mountain where they first discovered that bamboo forest.
Instead, they went to a nearby mountain to explore.
In the end, they only got some edible fungi and mushrooms, and Qin Xiaoyao caught a wild hare.
What made Qin Xiaoyao happy was that she found quite a number of hickory trees on that mountain.
Unfortunately, spring was not the season for hickory to bear fruit and ripen. Her discoveries were not useful for the time being.
...
In the next few days, Qin Xiaoyao found more chestnut trees in the mountains, as well as a large field of jujube trees.
Unfortunately, she was still restricted by the season. Other than memorizing the approximate location of these trees, she could do nothing else.
Although the search for new mountain products to earn money did not go smoothly, they still encountered some good things.
And that was, she and Big Girl Li had found another bamboo forest in one of the mountains.
Moreover, this bamboo forest was even larger than the bamboo forest in the front mountain near the village. There were also many bamboo rats living inside this bamboo forest.
In addition, after seeing what the bamboo rats looked like, Boss Fang agreed to continue purchasing Qin Xiaoyao’s bamboo rats.
And it was a big-volume purchase, with a temporary daily purchase of 50 catties of bamboo rat meat.
For the sake of secrecy, he even asked Qin Xiaoyao to process the meat before sending it over.
The processed bamboo rat meat was 20 copper coins per catty. The daily income of bamboo rat meat alone was one tael of silver.
This income made up for Qin Xiaoyao’s income shortage from the depletion of Chinese yams, which made her feel more at ease.
However, Qin Xiaoyao also knew that even if she could hunt bamboo rats in three bamboo forests, the number of bamboo rats was limited. The business of selling bamboo rat meat was destined not to last long.
...
Therefore, she started to set up the century eggs business.
After Madam Liu helped her sew the gloves, she made the first batch of century eggs.
Then, she wrapped some of the chicken and duck eggs she had bought recently to preserve them and turn them into century eggs.
After that, Qin Xiaoyao placed the wrapped-up century eggs into the jar she had bought and sealed it.
“There are too few eggs in the village. I’ll buy some more from town after I sell some goods,” Qin Xiaoyao said.
Madam Liu was stunned.
“Now that I’ve calculated it, I can collect about 40 to 50 eggs a day. This is still considered too few?”
“Yes.” Qin Xiaoyao looked at Madam Liu.
“I want to collect more than 200 a day.” Fortune Mansion’s business was getting better and better, so they could easily use up to 200 century eggs every day.
Moreover, the century eggs with green pepper would be even more popular in the summer. By then, even 200 a day might not be enough.
“200?” Madam Liu was a little shocked.
Seeing her daughter-in-law nod, she then calmed down a little.
“But chicken and duck eggs are fragile. If you buy too many, how are you going to transport them back?” she said worriedly.
Qin Xiaoyao looked at the straw beside Madam Liu. “Let’s make some egg trays. They can absorb the shock.”
“Egg trays?” Madam Liu was puzzled.
Qin Xiaoyao chuckled.
“Mother will know once I’ve made it.”