107 Chapter 107: Sealing The Cellar
About 80 to 90 taels of silver were the money she had earned recently. The remaining 50 taels were left over from purchasing the courtyard dwelling after her attractive husband had sold the books.
Song Que frowned.
He thought, “The money is still too little…”
However, he also knew that Qin Xiaoyao was already working very hard.
Moreover, if it had been an ordinary person, even if he worked hard for seven or eight years, he might not be able to save up the same amount of money Qin Xiaoyao had earned recently.
“Then take out 120 taels of silver to buy the rice and flour. Brown rice and coarse flour will do. You can buy more coarse flour. In fact, buy as much as possible. After buying them, we’ll store them in the cellar,” Song Que continued.
“But…” This time, Qin Xiaoyao finally didn’t agree to his request.
As soon as she opened her mouth, she saw Song Que turn his head to look at her.
Whatever words of objection she had, were swallowed back.
Song Que was very satisfied with Qin Xiaoyao’s reaction. He continued, “After the cellar is completed, make sure rain doesn’t leak into it, or water penetrates it. After that, put the food inside.”
“However, from tomorrow onward, you can buy the food in advance.”
“Put the food in the storage room first after buying. When the cellar has been tested to be problem-free, we can then move the food into the cellar.”
“Before summer, we have to move all the grain into the cellar.”
“After that, we will seal the cellar. Without my permission, you are not allowed to open the cellar again.”
As Song Que said this, he turned to look at Qin Xiaoyao.
“Also, you can’t tell anyone else about this. No one else other than us must know, including Mother and the others.”
Qin Xiaoyao’s heart shuddered momentarily.
The frustration she felt earlier was gone, and only excitement was left in her heart.
Although her attractive husband didn’t tell her the reason for hoarding grain, this… this was their secret. Even Mother didn’t know about it. It was a secret that belonged to the two of them.
“Okay!” Therefore, as the blood rushed to her head, Qin Xiaoyao nodded again.
What did it matter? Anyway, when the money was exchanged for food, the food would still be there. It couldn’t run away.
Now that her attractive husband trusted her so much, she couldn’t let him down over such a small matter.
Besides, there was still half a month before summer. Wasn’t she still earning money?
Money could be earned again after spending it!
Besides, the reason she was working so hard was to earn money for her attractive husband to spend, wasn’t it?
When she thought of this, Qin Xiaoyao was able to convince herself completely.
Seeing Qin Xiaoyao’s reaction, Song Que was very pleased inwardly.
Even as he turned his head towards her, the corners of his mouth curved up again.
In his previous life, there were many people who followed his orders and obeyed him. Due to his looks, there were also women who were obsessed with him and were used by him.
However, this woman in front of him was the one who was least likely to throw tantrums and the one with the least demands.
If he said she was stupid, according to his observation, she was not stupid, but rather, quite smart.
However, if he said she was smart, she was too subservient to him…
Forget it. This was a good thing for him, wasn’t it?
As such, at Song Que’s request, the matter of telling his family that they had bought a courtyard dwelling was to be delayed until after the cellar was sealed.
Thereafter, after cleaning up the cellar, Qin Xiaoyao had a new task, which was to buy food from the grain store.
For the next few days, Qin Xiaoyao would go to the grain store to buy grain and flour every afternoon.
She didn’t just buy from one grain store, but talked to a few different stores.
After that, she pushed the handcart and transported sack after sack of grain to her new home.
This situation continued until she had spent all 120 taels of silver.
The storage room was already filled with food, and the test for the cellar’s water resistance had been completed.
Under Song Que’s guidance, Qin Xiaoyao moved the grain from the storeroom to the cellar.
The purchasing power of 120 taels of silver was still enormous. Although the food they bought could not fill the entire cellar, it was enough to fill up more than half of it.
Qin Xiaoyao only sealed the cellar after she had stored all the food inside.
The outside of the cellar had been redone so that the entrance was concealed in the grass.
“All done. Those who don’t know about this won’t realize that we’ve opened a cellar here, even if they are standing here!” Brushing her hands off, Qin Xiaoyao spoke with a hint of pride.
She had dug and set up the cellar herself.
Now that she had finished her task, of course, she was happy.
Song Que glanced at the entrance of the cellar, then looked around, and nodded in satisfaction.
“We can start preparations to move house,” he continued.
Qin Xiaoyao was stunned for a moment, but then her face lit up with joy.
“We’re not going to wait until summer?” she asked Song Que.
There were still five days before the month of May, and the beginning of summer was on the 5th of May.
Therefore, there were still ten more days before the start of summer.
“There’s no need to wait any longer. The weather is already getting hot. It’s better to move early,” Song Que said.
...
He then looked at Qin Xiaoyao. “The date three days from now is not bad. You can make some arrangements for the work on hand, and then we’ll move.”
“Alright!” Qin Xiaoyao quickly agreed.
The weather was indeed getting hotter day by day. She and Big Girl had already stopped selling the Chinese Toon shoots and bamboo rats.
It was difficult to harvest the mountain products in the mountains because of the sunny days.
Right now, they were only sending some farm produce, fish, bamboo shoots, and some poultry that Liu Daniu had helped to collect to the restaurants.
The fish harvest was already not as good as before, and the bamboo shoots were getting harder and harder to find because it was not raining and summer was coming.
Therefore, Qin Xiaoyao was not as reluctant to leave Brook Falls Village as before.
During this time, her focus was basically on preparing the century eggs and selling goods at the stall.
She and Big Girl Li had gotten the business of selling woven bamboo products off the ground. As the supply of bamboo products in their hands started to increase, she began planning to set up a stall separately from Big Girl Li to earn more money.
Therefore, after they returned to Brook Falls Village, Qin Xiaoyao couldn’t wait to tell her mother-in-law and the two kids that their family had bought a courtyard dwelling.
Madam Liu thought she must be dreaming.
...
She couldn’t help but pinch her own arm. Ouch! After she cried out in pain, only then did she know that this was real.
“When did you buy the courtyard dwelling? Where did you two get the money?” Madam Liu asked two questions in a row.
Qin Xiaoyao laughed as she exchanged glances with Song Que.
“I earned it by selling goods! Gosh, Mother, you don’t have to ask about this. In any case, the courtyard dwelling has already been bought and tidied up.”
“Hubby has arranged for someone to check for a date to move house. The date three days from now is suitable for moving. Let’s make preparations in advance and move to the town in three days!”
Her husband had told her to keep the book sale a secret and gave her all the credit. Of course, she was happy to take the credit.
“So rushed?” Madam Liu felt that the surprise came too quickly, and she could not quite digest it yet.
“How is it rushed? We have three days to prepare,” Qin Xiaoyao replied with a smile.
“Our new house is very big. There are five bedrooms, a hall, a storeroom, a kitchen, a woodshed, and a lavatory with a bathroom.”
“The courtyard is also big. Other than having a well, we can still set aside a few plots of land. When the time comes, you can even plant vegetables and flowers!”
After they had moved, Qin Xiaoyao was going to tidy up the courtyard.
They could forget about planting flowers, but it was good to plant some vegetables and fruits.
“Really?” Madam Liu found it hard to imagine.
Qin Xiaoyao laughed as she took Madam Liu’s hand.
“It’s true!”
“Mother, if you want to go and take a look in advance, you can come with us to town tomorrow.”