Chapter 170: Plans for Tomorrow

When Yan Lao’er and Qi Si returned, exhausted from travel, the brick buyers had mostly dispersed.

Yan Yu’s sworn brothers were helping the big customer, the Cui family, move their bricks.

After receiving one tael of silver from Madam Cui, Yan Yu was searching for change.

“Auntie, do you want broken silver or copper coins?” Yan Yu asked.

Her aunt, Madam Cui, beamed at the child’s address and couldn’t stop smiling.

“Oh, you sweet child! Give me whatever you like—it’s all money in the end.”

Yan Yu giggled. “That’s right! Here’s one tael and five qian in broken silver, plus twenty copper coins. Auntie, take it. If you ever need copper coins, just come to me for an exchange. Our homes are so close, it’s convenient.”

Madam Cui left happily.

Da’ya carried over a basin and set out fragrant soap, calling everyone to wash their hands.

The children thanked her with smiles—some called her “Big Sister Da’ya,” while others said, “Thank you, Little Sister Da’ya.”

Yes, Da Tie and the others were older than Da’ya.

It was remarkable that Er’ya could boss them around.

Da’ya wanted to explain that she wasn’t the one who heated the water or adjusted its temperature—Aunt Rong had done it.

She turned her head, but Aunt Rong was nowhere in sight.

She asked her second aunt, “Aunt, where did Aunt Rong go?”

Li Xuemei smiled. “She went home. She worked with us all day—thank goodness for her help.”

Da’ya nodded. “Aunt, are we starting construction on the house tomorrow? Will Aunt Rong come to work?”

“Yes, I already spoke with her. She’ll help cook in the big pot, but as you saw, she’s very diligent and can’t stay idle. She helped us with all sorts of things today.”

Yan Lao’er washed his hands three times before the layer of brick dust finally felt somewhat clean.

Hearing their conversation, he asked, “She helped us today? What did she do?”

Li Xuemei gave him a brief rundown.

Yan Lao’er nodded seriously. “Alright, I’ll remember that. I’ll make sure to count her wages from today onward.”

Da’ya went to fetch meat pies that Aunt Rong had made for her father and second uncle.

The crust was crispy, and the inside was soft.

Yan Lao’er took a bite—ah, pork and fennel filling.

“Where did the fennel come from?” he asked curiously.

Li Xuemei laughed. “There’s a whole patch of it in the wild land near the mountain.”

“This… was made with dried meat?” Yan Lao’er could taste it.

Li Xuemei nodded repeatedly. “Yes, it was. She boiled it first, then chopped and seasoned it. She’s really skilled.”

Yan Lao’er was impressed.

Restoring dried meat to this level—he couldn’t do it himself.

Yan Huaiwen had heard from both Heng’er and Da’ya about this Madam Rong’s capabilities. He recalled the woman from the household registration day—a lone woman, mute, but literate enough to write her own name. She had claimed to be separated from her family.

He took a bite of the meat pie and chewed thoughtfully.

Initially, he had planned to ask familiar village women for help.

He hadn’t expected his sister-in-law to take a liking to their neighboring Madam Rong.

Perhaps she pitied her for being alone.

He said, “Since she’s all alone, hiring her as a worker is fine. Sister-in-law is getting farther along in her pregnancy—it’s not good for her to overwork herself. If she proves capable, we can ask if she’d like to work at our house. As for her five mu of land, we can help her with farming. And her search for her family—we can keep an eye out.”

Yan Lao’er: ……

Li Xuemei: ……

Yan Yu: ……

A search for her family?!

Boss Yan was really considerate!

But… totally unnecessary!

Still, since the character had been introduced, they had to play along.

“We’ll observe her for a few more days before deciding,” Yan Lao’er said.

Yan Huaiwen didn’t fully approve, but after a moment of thought, he said nothing more.

However, Yan Xiangheng and Da’ya stood up for Aunt Rong.

“Uncle, Aunt Rong is a good person—she works quickly, and she’s diligent and clean,” Yan Xiangheng gave a fair evaluation.

Da’ya added softly, “Second Uncle, Aunt Rong is very capable and takes care of people. Look, she arranged the table and stools—it’s much more comfortable for Auntie now.”

If she hadn’t pointed it out, Yan Huaiwen and Yan Lao’er wouldn’t have noticed.

They had assumed a family member had done it.

Yan Huaiwen nodded slightly, a hint of satisfaction in his expression.

Yan Lao’er, reluctantly cast as the bad guy, chuckled dryly. “Even if we’re willing, we still have to ask if she is. Fine, I’ll handle it. You all don’t have to worry.”

He finished his meat pie in a few bites. Hmm, even cold, it was delicious.

With this skill, if she opened a snack shop, business would be booming.

Unfortunately, running a shop likely wasn’t part of household service.

Yan Huaiwen ate more slowly, but he still managed to finish four.

After they finished eating, Yan Yu signaled Yan Xiangheng to speak.

Yan Xiangheng, a bit nervous, picked up the ledger he had kept and placed it in front of his father and second uncle.

“Father, Second Uncle, this is the ledger for today’s red brick sales.”

Yan Lao’er was immediately interested—his eyes lit up as he grabbed the book.

“Let me see! Whoa! Quite a few buyers!”

He quickly skimmed through and flipped to the last page.

His wide mouth stretched into a grin. “Haha! We sold this much? Not bad, not bad! Heng’er, your bookkeeping is clear. Xiao’er, what about the money? Does it match?”

It was a redundant question. His daughter—such a little money-grubber—there was no way she would shortchange them.

“Heehee! Daddy, Uncle, look!” Yan Yu pulled out the silver and copper coins.

“Not a single coin missing.”

Yan Lao’er had already said, “The capital was split between our family and the Qi family. Whatever we earn, we split evenly.”

Yan Huaiwen, after reviewing the ledger, sighed. “Didn’t you say bricks were hard to come by? Now that we’ve sold them all, how will we build the house tomorrow?”

“That’s no problem,” Yan Lao’er chuckled. “We’re using stone as the foundation for our brick house. Tomorrow, I’ll haul a few more cartloads of stone—there should be enough.”

Yan Yu kept nodding at the side. That was her plan all along, which was why she had no reservations about selling the bricks.

Besides, they had only sold red bricks—not a single green brick had been touched.

Well, no one had tried to buy any, either.

As for the Qi family’s house, it was also in Yan Yu’s calculations.

They didn’t plan to hire workers and wanted to build it themselves.

They shouldn’t rush—it would be best to watch how her family built theirs and learn secretly.

So, borrowing some red bricks temporarily was no big deal.

And they could even make some extra money—perfect.

“You’re busy with house construction, but the farmwork is all left to Sister-in-law—that won’t do,” Yan Huaiwen said.

Li Xuemei blushed. The children had done more work than she had.

Yan Lao’er said, “It’s just two or three days of busyness. Once things settle, I’ll catch up on farmwork.

“Today, they cleared half the land. Tomorrow morning, I’ll plow it—Qi Wu has already fixed my plow. At noon, I’ll burn off the weeds, and in the evening, I’ll plow again with the ox.

“That way, we can plant the day after tomorrow.”

The schedule was tight—but except for being exhausting, there were no issues.

Yan Huaiwen felt bad for him and said softly, “No need to rush. Only half the land is cleared—wait a couple of days and plow it all at once.”

Yan Lao’er disagreed. “We plant as we clear—it’ll yield sooner. The land by the river looks promising.”

After all, building a house and seeing the fields flourish—that was how life should be.