177 Chapter 177: Eldest Sister-in-law Qin Came To Work
Qin Xiaoyao looked at Qin Dahu with a smile.
“This matter is settled then. Big Brother, when you go back later, talk to Eldest Sister-in-law and see if she’s willing to come.”
“If she’s willing, then she can start work tomorrow morning.”
“If she’s not willing, then I’ll have to… look for an outsider to help.”
Qin Dahu and Qin Erhu exchanged looks with each other and finally nodded.
Their younger sister’s business was so important. How could she let outsiders get involved?
Qin Xiaoyao nodded with a smile.
“After that, it’s the matter of building the sheds.”
“Since my two brothers have a way to sell bean sprouts, and my courtyard has enough space, I’ll build four more sheds.”
“It doesn’t matter even if the sheds can’t be used up. In the future, if you open up more sales channels, I can plant more bean sprouts at any time.”
As soon as she said that, the eyes of the Qin brothers lit up.
Their younger sister was too supportive of them!
Qin Xiaoyao could guess what the two brothers were thinking when she saw their expressions. She couldn’t help but laugh again.
“But it’s not all for you two, my brothers.”
“The profit is still quite substantial when I sell the bean sprouts wholesale to you. The more you guys sell, the more I earn.”
The two brothers nodded in unison.
“That may be so. But you can sell wholesale to anyone, and we have no issue. This business is clearly profitable! We’re all grateful to you, Little Sis!” Qin Dahu said.
The corners of Qin Xiaoyao’s lips curled up in a smile again.
“We’re all family. You don’t have to be so polite.”
The three of them looked at each other and laughed.
“I won’t get involved in the construction of the sheds. I will contract the job out to you two, my brothers.”
“I’ll buy the required raw materials, and you guys help me build it. I’ll pay you 300 copper coins after they are completed,” Qin Xiaoyao said.
The last time she built the sheds, she realized that she was far inferior to her father and two brothers in this field.
Rather than blindly struggling through the job, it was better to let them help her.
“How can we allow this? We’ll just help you. Why talk about money?” Qin Erhu was the first to protest.
“That’s right! Little Sis, you’re treating us like outsiders!” Qin Dahu added. He didn’t look too pleased.
Qin Xiaoyao chuckled.
“I’m not treating you as an outsider. It’s only right that I pay you!”
“From now on, we have to sell water at home, and we don’t have enough manpower to cook. When you guys come over to help, I can’t possibly not cook anything, right?” Qin Xiaoyao said.
“So, I won’t keep you for a meal this time. I’ll just pay you directly. This way, I’ll feel better inwardly.”
Seeing that the two of them still wanted to protest, Qin Xiaoyao retracted the smile on her face.
“If two elder brothers do not agree, I will go outside to look for someone else to do this job.”
“At that point, someone else will earn this sum of money.” As she said this, Qin Xiaoyao looked at her two brothers deliberately.
Sure enough, the brothers’ expressions changed when they heard this.
“Why would you need to look for someone else?” Qin Dahu immediately replied.
When Qin Dahu saw Qin Xiaoyao staring at him, he finally sighed helplessly.
“Alright then. Leave this to us,” he said.
Since their younger sister had the heart to take care of them, they should just accept it.
After a few more words, Qin Dahu and Qin Erhu went to the well to get water.
When he saw that there was not much water left in the well, he felt grateful to his younger sister.
The two brothers fetched the water and brought it home.
After that, Qin Dahu went to look for his wife and told her that his younger sister wanted her eldest sister-in-law to work for her.
Eldest Sister-in-law Qin’s face lit up when she heard that.
“Younger Sister is offering 50 copper coins?” she asked her man in surprise.
“Mm-hmm.” Qin Dahu nodded.
“I asked her to pay less, but she refused. She’s taking care of our family,” he continued.
The reason he told her all this was that he hoped that his wife would remember his younger sister’s kindness.
Eldest Sister-in-law Qin quickly nodded.
“Younger Sister is indeed good!” she responded.
Her words made Qin Dahu very pleased.
“Then do a good job at the Song family’s place. You can’t take so much money from Little Sis for nothing,” Qin Dahu reminded her.
“Okay! You don’t have to tell me!” Eldest Sister-in-law Qin agreed readily.
50 copper coins a day, and she only had to work two hours in the morning. Where else could she find such a good job?
Even if her husband didn’t say anything, she would still do her best.
...
Now that her family was leading a life of hardships, she had to think of ways to earn some money.
Otherwise, the pressure would be even greater when the child came back.
Qin Dahu was finally satisfied.
After that, he went to the Song family’s place again with Qin Erhu.
Before the sky turned dark, they would be able to dig out the holes for the pillars in advance today.
Then, they would be able to set the wooden pillars in tomorrow.
At the Song family’s house.
Qin Xiaoyao was relieved to know that her eldest sister-in-law had agreed to work at their home.
She then worked with her two brothers and got busy in the courtyard.
That night, after dinner, other than Wang Xiaomei and next door’s Liu Xiaomei who went out to set up their stall, the rest of the Song family members did not go out.
Before 9 pm, people were already queuing up with buckets to buy water.
...
Song Que saw that the well was almost full again and did not make everyone wait any longer. He arranged for this round of water collection to start earlier.
After that, the lanterns in the courtyard were lit until after 11 pm when the Song family finally closed the door for the night.
The next day, before 5 am, Eldest Sister-in-law Qin arrived at the Song family’s house.
When Madam Liu went to open the door, she found that not only was Eldest Sister-in-law Qin there but there were also people who had come early in the morning to buy water.
Hence, the Song family’s courtyard was bustling with activity again.
Qin Xiaoyao first brought Wang Xiaomei, Song Yun, Song Ye, and Eldest Sister-in-law Qin to work in the sheds for a while.
After Liu Xiaomei and Big Girl Li came over, she sent Wang Xiaomei and Song Yun to the kitchen to make breakfast.
In this way, she managed to cope with the morning’s busy workload.
They even managed to sort out the bean sprouts ahead of time.
“Alright, Eldest Sister-in-law! The work’s done. You can go back first and come back again in the afternoon.” After finishing her work, Qin Xiaoyao looked at her eldest sister-in-law with a beaming smile.
Her eldest sister-in-law was quick at work and was indeed a good helper.
“But…” Eldest Sister-in-law Qin looked at the people who were coming in from outside the courtyard to buy water.
“The time isn’t up yet,” she said.
Didn’t they agree that she would work for two hours?
“It’s fine. I’m mainly harvesting bean sprouts in the morning. After this is done, there is nothing else to do for the time being. You can go back first. I’ll still pay you the same salary,” Qin Xiaoyao explained.
“How can I allow this? I… I can also help to sell bean sprouts!” Eldest Sister-in-law Qin said immediately.
When they were sorting out the bean sprouts, some of the people who came to buy water would also buy some bean sprouts.
It was two copper coins per catty, which was twice as expensive as the wholesale price that her younger sister-in-law charged them.
Qin Xiaoyao chuckled.
“No need. There are fewer people coming to buy water now, so I can just let Mother and my husband handle the selling of water. Even if more people show up, we still have so many people here. So we can handle it.”
“You can go back first. If you go back now, you can still help Second Sister-in-law make breakfast. Later, Father and the rest will have to open their stall so time is tight.”
Upon hearing this, Eldest Sister-in-law Qin no longer protested.
“Alright then.”
“Then I’ll take my leave first. If there’s more work next time, I’ll work a little longer,” she said.
Her younger sister-in-law was pregnant, so it would indeed be better if she went back to help.
“Mm-hmm!” Qin Xiaoyao answered with a smile.
Only then did Eldest Sister-in-law Qin leave in a hurry.