208 Half of Stocked Up Grains Consumed

“After that, she fed the baby milk. I’ve already coaxed the child to sleep.”

Thinking of the adorable demeanor of the sleeping child, Eldest Sister-in-law Qin couldn’t resist smiling.

Although the child looked wrinkly, he was still very cute.

When she saw this, Qin Xiaoyao smiled and exchanged a look with her second sister-in-law.

After that, Qin Xiaoyao explained her father’s intentions to her eldest sister-in-law.

When Eldest Sister-in-law Qin heard this, she was both surprised and delighted.

“Did Father really mean it?” she asked.

“He sure did!” Qin Xiaoyao replied with a smile.

“In the future, you will be Xiaohu’s mother, Eldest Sister-in-law. I’m his little aunt!”

“And I’m his second aunt!” Second sister-in-law Qin chimed in as well.

The kitchen was filled with laughter in an instant.

After dinner, Eldest Sister-in-law Qin washed her own dishes before going with Qin Xiaoyao to meet Qin Dazhuang and the others.

At this moment, the father and sons trio were enjoying the shade under the tree in the courtyard.

When they saw Eldest Sister-in-law Qin and Qin Xiaoyao coming over, the three of them stopped talking mid-conversation.

After that, Qin Dazhuang asked Eldest Sister-in-law Qin about Qin Xiaohu’s condition.

When they learned that Qin Xiaohu was fine, the father and sons trio were relieved.

Qin Dazhuang then explained his thoughts and arrangement.

Qin Xiaoyao had already told Eldest Sister-in-law Qin about this when they were in the kitchen. Thus, Eldest Sister-in-law Qin was already aware, and so she naturally agreed to the arrangement.

In this way, Qin Xiaohu’s identity was confirmed.

After the initial joy, Eldest Sister-in-law Qin turned to look at Qin Xiaoyao.

Then she spoke up, “I still have to go over to the Liu family’s place for a look. Younger Sis, I’m afraid the work today…”

According to their previous agreement, Eldest Sister-in-law Qin had to go to the Song family’s residence to help out from 1 pm to 7 pm.

However, Xiaohu had just returned, so she had to spend a lot of time taking care of him.

Although Mrs. Liu had agreed to help Eldest Sister-in-law Qin look after the child, Eldest Sister-in-law Qin was afraid that it would not be good in the long run.

Qin Xiaoyao laughed.

“No problem. It’s more important to take care of Xiaohu.”

“Besides…” Qin Xiaoyao paused for a while.

“Now that Xiaohu is back, let’s change our working hours as well,” she continued after some thought.

“The amount of goods I send to Fortune Mansion every day is less than before. I can do many things myself.”

“How about this, Eldest Sister-in-law? You will work two hours less every day. Come to my place after 3 pm. Then you’ll have more time to take care of Xiaohu.”

Eldest Sister-in-law Qin’s expression drastically.

“How can I do this?” She immediately refused.

After pondering for a while, she continued, “How about I go to your house at 9 pm and help out for another two hours to make up for the time?”

When she saw that Qin Xiaoyao didn’t reply, a hint of hesitation flashed across Eldest Sister-in-law Qin’s face.

“Or, you can reduce my wages. You can deduct two hours from the total wages every day,” she said.

Of course, Eldest Sister-in-law Qin didn’t want to be paid less, but now she had to take care of Xiaohu.

She also had to take care of her second sister-in-law at home since the latter was pregnant. Eldest Sister-in-law Qin was struggling somewhat to cope.

A look of hesitation flashed across Qin Xiaoyao’s eyes.

After thinking for a while, she finally said, “Alright. Then you will work two hours less in the afternoon, and the wages will be changed to 40 copper coins.”

Eldest Sister-in-law Qin pondered for a moment and realized that her younger sister-in-law had calculated too much wages for her.

When she was about to object, Qin Xiaoyao spoke up first.

“We’ll set it at 40 copper coins. As for the extra pay, take it as a gift to Xiaohu from me, his aunt.”

With these words from Qin Xiaoyao, Eldest Sister-in-law Qin could find no way to refute her.

Touched by the gesture, Eldest Sister-in-law Qin agreed.

The other members of the Qin family didn’t say anything either.

After Eldest Sister-in-law Qin left, Qin Xiaoyao returned to her father’s side and sat down.

She continued to chat and keep her father and two brothers company.

“Although it’s not easy to harvest pigs now, we don’t kill pigs so often. There’s no need to get worried,” Qin Dazhuang said to his second son.

“But the dock..”

“Dahu has already gone to work there, and he thinks it’s fine. Do you want to go too?”

A look of hesitation flashed across Qin Erhu’s face.

“I can go. But if I do that, you’re managing the stall all alone…”

“What’s wrong with managing the stall alone? Now, we only sell our meat during big market fairs. Usually, I only sell some bean sprouts and straw sandals. You think I can’t do it alone?” Qin Dazhuang replied.

Seeing his second son’s worry, he added, “Don’t worry.”

“Now that we have brought Xiaohu back, I won’t be soft-hearted even if the Zhang family comes to beg me.”

“If they know what’s good for them, they’d better not come. Otherwise, there’s no other outcome for them other than getting beaten up.”

He had already divorced Madam Zhang for so long and had long thought things through.

It wasn’t easy for the family to restore harmony. Things were good now.

Naturally, Qin Dazhuang would not want to cause any more trouble for his family.

Qin Erhu was still hesitant as he looked at Qin Dahu and Qin Xiaoyao.

Qin Dazhuang was a little annoyed by his son’s expression.

“Stop staring! Isn’t it a waste to keep both of us at the stall for so little work?”

“Your wife is about to give birth soon. If we don’t think of ways to earn more money now, what will we do when we need money?”

Qin Erhu’s heart skipped a beat as he frowned.

Of course, he was also worried about this.

His eldest brother’s household seemed to be in a more difficult situation than his. After all, Xiaohu had returned.

However, in reality, his own household’s future would probably be more tenuous than his elder brother’s.

After all, his wife was about to give birth.

As for Erhu and his wife, they didn’t have any work to do.

Although he could make some money by running a stall with his father, buying pigs, killing pigs, and selling their meat, Erhu’s share of the earnings was really limited in a situation where business was not good.

At this moment, Qin Dahu spoke up, “Just come with me! Let’s go to the dock together. We can take care of each other.”

“It’s convenient to ask for leave at the dock anyway. When the time comes, if Father needs help, we can just apply for leave!”

Qin Erhu finally nodded his head.

“Alright!”

Qin Xiaoyao’s mouth curled up in a smile when she heard them.

The family would be better off if her two brothers had jobs.

Then, Qin Xiaoyao recalled something and asked the three of them, “By the way, have you consumed the food that you’ve been stocking up? How much is left?”

The father and sons trio were stunned.

After exchanging a few glances, Qin Dahu spoke.

“Both our households are having meals together now.”

“The batch of food that we bought previously has been combined and stored together.”

“At first, your two sisters-in-law didn’t intend to touch the food.”

“But we didn’t expect the price of grain to keep rising.”

“The two of them couldn’t bear to spend money on new grain. They thought that since there was still grain at home, they used the existing stock instead.”

At this point, Qin Dahu couldn’t help but sigh.

“It was already too late when I found out the day before yesterday.”

“I estimate that we have less than 500 catties of grain left at home.”

Upon hearing this, Qin Erhu also appeared extremely dejected.

“The day before yesterday, Big Brother told me about this. We were still thinking about going to the grain store to buy some more grain to make up for it. But…”

The price of the grain in the grain store had already soared sky-high.

The price of brown rice and coarse flour had already risen to 10 copper coins per catty.

Back then, not even refined rice and flour were sold at this price!

Even though the two brothers went to the grain store, they didn’t buy anything and came back empty-handed eventually.

Qin Dazhuang’s eyes widened when he heard this.

His two sons had never mentioned this to him before!

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