155 Chapter 155: Business Was Getting Tough
Her father-in-law had promised to let her raise the child. Therefore, in the future, that child would be a member of their eldest son’s household.
As long as she raised the child well, even if she could not give birth to a child in the future, her husband would not have any other thoughts with her father-in-law around.
She could also continue to stay in the Qin family and be their daughter-in-law.
Qin Dahu looked at his wife and could not help but pat her back to comfort her.
He had always known his wife’s worry, but he had no way to untie the knot in her heart.
It might be good for the eldest son’s household that this incident had happened at home.
When the child was taken back, the couple would be able to live a good life.
Yes, he had never thought of divorcing his wife.
His wife had been with him for three years and had taken good care of the house and him. She was very thoughtful.
They had a good relationship, so how could they break up just because they didn’t have a child?
Moreover, he was a butcher, so it wasn’t easy for matchmakers to get him a match.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had to wait until after the age of twenty before he managed to marry this wife.
Eldest Sister-in-law turned her head to look at her husband, the tears in her eyes brimming even more.
She quickly lowered her head and wiped her eyes.
“Alright. Let’s eat!” Qin Dazhuang said.
Only then did everyone ignore Eldest Sister-in-law and continue eating.
After the meal, the men left first, leaving Qin Xiaoyao behind to wash the dishes with Eldest Sister-in-law and Second Sister-in-law.
The two sisters-in-law didn’t let Qin Xiaoyao do anything.
Eldest Sister-in-law immediately pulled Qin Xiaoyao outside.
“Sanya, in the past… In the past, it was I who let you down. This time… I really have to thank you for this outcome!” Eldest Sister-in-law said to Qin Xiaoyao gratefully. She could not conceal the joy in her eyes.
She had never thought of adopting a child from elsewhere and raising him before. Besides, the Qin family would definitely not agree to such a thing.
However, everything turned out well now. That child was the Qin family’s child, to begin with.
She had also helped her father-in-law in the process, so the Qin family would only remember her kindness.
This time, it was all thanks to her young sister-in-law that she could receive such a blessing.
Qin Xiaoyao chuckled. “What are you saying, Eldest Sister-in-law? Speaking of letting down, it was I who had let Eldest Sister-in-law and Second Sister-in-law down.”
“You and Second Sister-in-law have been magnanimous enough not to hold it against me. For that, I’m very grateful.”
“As for this matter, since you are willing to help Father take care of the child, the entire Qin family should thank you!”
Qin Xiaoyao reached out and held her Eldest Sister-in-law’s hand when she saw the latter’s eyes glistening with tears again.
“After you bring the child back, you can just raise him as your own. When he grows up, he’ll treat you and Big Brother like his own mother and father!”
Eldest Sister-in-law’s heart skipped a beat.
“Yes!” she answered quickly.
After that, Qin Xiaoyao led Eldest Sister-in-law back to the hall.
Then, she went to the kitchen with Second Sister-in-law to wash the dishes.
It was time for Qin Xiaoyao to repair her relationship with her two sisters-in-law.
Sure enough, after working together for a while, Qin Xiaoyao and her two sisters-in-law put aside their previous enmity and became much closer to each other.
After she finished her chores in the kitchen, Qin Xiaoyao saw her father and two elder brothers enjoying the shade under the big tree in the courtyard. They seemed to be discussing something, so she walked over to them.
When they saw Qin Xiaoyao walking over, Qin Erhu quickly patted the seat next to him and beckoned her over.
Qin Xiaoyao didn’t stand on ceremony either, and she walked over and sat down.
“Father are you guys talking about?” she asked.
Qin Dazhuang squinted his eyes and looked at the glaring sun in the courtyard. He looked a little worried.
“We’re talking about the weather.”
“If it doesn’t rain soon, I’m afraid we can only slaughter one pig every two days.”
Qin Xiaoyao was a little shocked.
Qin Erhu chimed in, “It’s not just the meat stall’s business that’s not doing well right now. Uncle Zhao has also given us notice to reduce the amount of pork sent to Fortune Mansion daily by 30% from tomorrow onward.”
“Yesterday evening, your Uncle Yang came to look for me. He asked if we could share some of the meat with them. He said that his family won’t be slaughtering pigs for the time being.”
Qin Xiaoyao was stunned.
Uncle Yang was also a butcher, and his meat stall was not far from her father’s.
However, his family’s business had never been as good as the Qin family’s. In addition, the Qin family had a big customer like Fortune Mansion, so naturally, Uncle Yang’s family couldn’t compare.
However, even so, Uncle Yang had been a butcher for many years, and his family’s business in the market on West Street was not bad. He should not have given up so quickly…
“Then what are your thoughts, Father?” Qin Xiaoyao asked.
Qin Dazhuang frowned.
“I agreed,” he said.
Seeing his two sons and daughter looking at him, Qin Dazhuang said, “If I allocate him some meat, we can still slaughter pigs according to our previous quota.
“We can’t lose our business at Fortune Mansion. We’re relying on this meat business to make a living.”
...
Moreover, now that something like this had happened at home, it was even more critical to keep the business going.
Qin Dahu and Qin Erhu were both silent, their expressions grim.
“Oh yes. There’s one more thing.” Suddenly, Qin Dazhuang turned to look at Qin Xiaoyao.
“Go ahead, Father,” Qin Xiaoyao replied hurriedly.
“We raise and kill pigs at home, so we use a lot of water every day. However, there are too many people drawing water from that well at the street junction recently. I have to queue for half a day to get two buckets of water. It’s too much of a hassle.”
“I was thinking that if we go to your house, it won’t be too far if we go by the alley.”
“I was wondering whether you can let your eldest brother and second brother go to your house to get water in the future?”
Qin Dahu and Qin Erhu immediately turned to Qin Xiaoyao.
There were indeed some problems with the water supply at home.
The reason was that when they went to collect live pigs, they would not kill them on the same day. Sometimes, they would even keep a few in the pigsty.
Raising pigs consumed not only food, but also water.
...
Furthermore, when they slaughtered the pigs, they needed to scald the pig’s fur and wash the pork, which also required a lot of water.
Requiring such a large amount of water was causing them problems.
“No big deal. We are not able to use up our well water. If you need water, just go to my family’s well and get it! Or, I can also help send a few buckets over to you every day!”
“I don’t need you to send us. Younger Brother and I will go and carry them ourselves!” Qin Dahu hurriedly said.
It was already bad enough that they were going to his younger sister’s house to get water. If he still let his younger sister bring the water to them, they might risk the ire of her in-laws.
Qin Erhu also nodded in agreement.
Qin Dazhuang also said, “Let them go and fetch by themselves.”
Qin Xiaoyao then smiled and nodded.
“Alright, then. But don’t forget to inform me if anything else happens at home in the future,” she reminded them.
“Take for example this incident. If I hadn’t bumped into Second Brother at Fortune Mansion that morning and interrogated him, I wouldn’t have known that such a big matter had happened at home.”
Qin Dahu and Qin Erhu’s faces froze as they turned to look at their father.
Qin Dazhuang finally sighed.
“Fine! In the future, if anything happens at home, we’ll discuss it together,” he said.
Qin Dahu and Qin Erhu were both surprised and delighted to hear their father say this.
Their father was not going to insist on having the final say and allowed them to have a say in the family’s big decision? This was a good thing!
Qin Xiaoyao also had a smile on her face.
Then she seemed to recall something and added, “Oh, yes. There is some recent news that said that the price of food will rise.”
“Have you ever thought of stocking up on food?” Qin Xiaoyao asked.