167 Chapter 167: Production of Bean Sprouts
“Not… nothing. It’s just that I haven’t seen her for a long time, so I’m asking her about her situation,” Wang Laoshuan stammered.
Qin Xiaoyao smiled and looked at Wang Xiaomei.
“Is that true?” She opened her mouth and asked casually.
Wang Laoshuan’s heart was in his mouth when he heard that.
!!
Wang Xiaomei looked at her father’s nervous expression and wanted to laugh in her heart.
“It is true,” she replied.
Wang Laoshuan heaved a sigh of relief.
“Er… I still have things to do at home. Since I know now that Xiaomei is safe and sound here, I… I’m relieved. I’ll take my leave now!” Wang Laoshuan said and started walking away.
Qin Xiaoyao didn’t move. She only turned around and looked in the direction that Wang Laoshuan walked off.
“Then Uncle, take care! Be careful on the way!”
As soon as she finished speaking, Wang Laoshuan staggered and almost fell.
Pfft! Qin Xiaoyao nearly burst out laughing.
Wang Xiaomei almost burst out laughing herself when she saw her father’s reaction, but she managed to control herself.
Wang Laoshuan became even more nervous when he heard the laughter.
He didn’t dare to turn his head back and hurriedly left the courtyard.
Qin Xiaoyao turned her gaze back and looked at Wang Xiaomei.
“You didn’t give him any money, did you?” she asked.
Wang Xiaomei was stunned.
She thought to herself Mrs. Song was really very perceptive.
“No, I didn’t,” she replied.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Song. I know what to do,” she continued.
Qin Xiaoyao nodded.
“If you find that you can’t deal with it, just look for me or my mother. You’re a member of my family now, so he has no right to bully you.”
Wang Xiaomei’s eyes were filled with gratitude.
“Mm-hmm. Don’t worry, Mrs. Song. I don’t think he’ll come again.”
She had already made it clear to him that she would not give him any money, so there was no point in him coming.
Qin Xiaoyao’s eyes flickered slightly. She was quite pleased with what Wang Xiaomei said.
“Let’s go, Mrs. Song. Let’s unload the goods.” Wang Xiaomei smiled as she walked towards the handcart.
Qin Xiaoyao smiled as she followed suit.
“Let me push it. You won’t be able to move it,” Qin Xiaoyao said as she walked over.
That was right. She had gone to order another 2000 catties of soybeans.
She was very confident in the bean sprout business, and she would start making arrangements immediately.
“Hehe! Alright!” Wang Xiaomei answered.
She worked with Qin Xiaoyao and helped bring the handcart to the storage room.
After unloading the goods in the storeroom, Qin Xiaoyao went out again to continue transporting goods from the grain store.
Meanwhile, Wang Xiaomei went to the kitchen and started preparing lunch with Madam Liu.
When Madam Liu saw Wang Xiaomei, she was also very worried that Wang Laoshuan had tried to make things difficult for her.
Wang Xiaomei was very touched and explained the situation to Madam Liu.
Madam Liu’s heart ached immensely, and she repeatedly comforted Wang Xiaomei, telling her not to care too much about Wang Laoshuan.
Wang Xiaomei simply said that she would bear that in mind, feeling very touched and at ease.
In the evening, Qin Erhu came to the Song family’s residence to fetch water.
He also took the opportunity to help Qin Xiaoyao put the straw onto the shed’s roof.
Then, he tied the remaining straw into big bundles.
At this point, Qin Xiaoyao’s shed was finally completed.
The next day, Qin Xiaoyao used her free time to carry out the final modifications to the interior of the shed.
After that, she went to buy the cloth and other tools needed to grow bean sprouts.
Then, before the sky turned dark, she took out a sack of soybeans.
After organizing everyone to help filter out the beans, they soaked about 50 catties of soybeans.
Once the seeds were soaked, they would be able to start sprouting shoots early the next morning.
The next day, Qin Xiaoyao woke up early and brought the soaked soybean seeds into the first shed.
No one knew what she was doing inside. They only learned later that she had already planted the seeds.
Over the next three days, Qin Xiaoyao did the same thing and planted soybeans in the three sheds at the back.
At the same time, she would also go to the first shed to water the plants every day.
Everyone in the Song family, as well as the people next door, were very curious when they saw her doing all this.
...
Finally, on the morning of the fourth day, Qin Xiaoyao took out a basket of bean sprouts from the first shed with a beaming smile.
These bean sprouts were white and tender, and they appeared very plumb. Their leaves were pale yellow, and there were even dewdrops on them. At first glance, they looked fresh and delicious.
Song Que was the first person Qin Xiaoyao shared the news with. He was very surprised to see the bean sprouts and even touched them a few times.
Madam Liu and the others heard the commotion and came over for a look.
When they saw the fresh and tender bean sprouts, they all liked them very much.
“Is this thing to be stir-fried?” Madam Liu’s interest was piqued very quickly.
“You can stir-fry or make soup! It’s no different from any other vegetables,” Qin Xiaoyao replied with a smile.
“You can bring this basket of bean sprouts to the kitchen, Mother.”
“You can fry it later and have a taste.” As she spoke, Qin Xiaoyao handed the bamboo basket to Madam Liu.
“Alright!” Madam Liu quickly took it.
She then left happily with Song Yun.
...
Next, Qin Xiaoyao turned to look at Wang Xiaomei.
“Go get a few baskets, and come with me to harvest the bean sprouts.”
“Following what we have discussed previously, we’ll set aside 50 catties for Fortune Mansion and my father, respectively. You and Big Girl will each take half of the remaining 200 odd catties. Later, we’ll send them to the market to try and sell them.”
“Alright!” Wang Xiaomei’s face lit up with joy, and she quickly agreed.
If they sold 100 catties of bean sprouts for two copper coins per catty or three copper coins for every two catties at the market, they would get at least 150 copper coins.
Mrs. Song had told her to hand over 125 copper coins after she sold all of them.
The rest of the earnings was her share.
If she calculated in this way, after selling this basket of bean sprouts, she could earn at least 25 copper coins.
This was more than the total amount she earned when she went out to the morning market and sold the woven bamboo products and straw sandals.
After Wang Xiaomei left, Qin Xiaoyao turned to look at Song Que.
“This little girl…” she said with a smile.
Song Que laughed and reached out to brush Qin Xiaoyao’s hair away.
“It’s a good thing,” he replied.
Qin Xiaoyao smiled shyly.
“Sister Sanya…” At this moment, Big Girl Li’s voice rang out from the door of the courtyard.
When they looked in the direction of the voice, the couple saw Big Girl Li entering, followed by Liu Xiaomei behind her.
When the two visitors saw the couple behaving so intimately, they were visibly surprised.
Seeing their reaction, Qin Xiaoyao hurriedly backed away, keeping a distance from Song Que.
Song Que furrowed his brows slightly and lowered his hand.
“Er… you are here, Big Girl and Xiaomei!” Qin Xiaoyao greeted the visitors opposite her.
Big Girl Li quickly came back to her senses.
“Didn’t you say yesterday that the bean sprouts would be ready today? I brought Xiaomei over to help. How was it? Have the bean sprouts grown well?” With Liu Xiaomei by her side, she walked toward Qin Xiaoyao with a smile.
“They are ready. I just picked a full basket for my mother. If you two haven’t had breakfast, you can stay and have a taste together,” Qin Xiaoyao replied with a smile.
“Gosh, that’s a pity! We only came over after taking our breakfast!”
“Hehe! No problem. Then I’ll leave two catties for you two later, and you can try stir-frying it at noon for a taste!” Qin Xiaoyao said straightaway.
“I knew Sister Sanya would treat me well!” Big Girl Li said quickly.
At this moment, Wang Xiaomei had also brought over the baskets.
Qin Xiaoyao led the three of them to the shed.
She entered the shed and removed the cloth covering the bean sprouts.
When the three of them saw the luxuriant bean sprouts, they were all shocked.
“These… plants are growing so well!” Big Girl Li was the first to speak.
“They are very tender too. One look, and I can tell it’s delicious!” Liu Xiaomei chimed in.