Chapter 47: A Net Profit of Three Hundred and Seventy-Eight Yuan!

Could this really work?

Could these things, which were a waste of cooking oil just to put in a pan, really be traded for money?

Xie Cheng moved quickly.

The river snails in the basket went onto the scale. Because they were too heavy, he had to switch to a hook. The moment they were hung, the tail of the scale tipped up instantly.

“Twenty-one catties and three taels!”

Xie Cheng said.

Xie Zhao took a piece of charcoal and quickly wrote it down in the ledger.

“At fifty cents a catty, that’s a total of ten yuan and sixty-five cents!”

Xie Zhao said with a smile. As he finished speaking, he pulled a thick stack of money out of his blue cloth bag.

“Aunt Liu, here’s your money! Keep it safe!”

Ten yuan and sixty-five cents!

Good heavens!

This figure almost knocked Liu Cuihua senseless!

How could she care about being embarrassed now?

Zhao Delong reacted a step faster than she did. He quickly took a few steps forward, reached out, and took the money from Xie Zhao’s hand.

It was a thick stack of loose bills.

Zhao Delong’s eyes went wide!

It was real!

Holding the money in his hand made him feel so lightheaded he could barely process it. In all his years growing up, he had never earned so much money at one time!

“Give that to me!”

Liu Cuihua rushed over in a few strides, snatched the money from Zhao Delong’s hand, and turned around to carefully stuff it into her pocket.

“Let’s go, let’s go, hurry home! It’s not dark yet, we can go pick more! We’ll come back tonight!”

She was incredibly excited, dragging Zhao Delong along as she ran out.

Inside the courtyard, the villagers finally snapped out of their daze.

Heavens!

It was true!

The stuff the Liu family gathered had actually been exchanged for real money!

“Mine! Weigh mine first! There are tons of them in my fields!”

“Why should yours be weighed first? I got here first! Weigh mine!”

“Hey, hey, hey! My kid is still waiting for me at home! Let me go first!”

…

The rowdy crowd jostled together, everyone trying to cut the line.

Xie Cheng kept a cold face and refused to indulge them. He suddenly slammed his hand down on the table.

“Anyone who cuts the line gets weighed last! Keeping this racket up will only waste more time!”

With a dark expression, Xie Cheng snatched Second Aunt Niu’s basket. “I remember the order!”

“Eighteen catties and six taels!”

After weighing it, he handed it to Xie Youzhen and turned to shout at Xie Zhao.

The crowd finally quieted down.

Although everyone was scratching their heads in anxiety, wishing they could grab their money and run back to the fields to gather more, one look at Xie Cheng made them hold themselves back.

“Second Aunt Niu! Here is nine yuan and thirty cents! Keep it safe!”

Xie Zhao took out the money and handed it over. Second Aunt Niu grinned so widely her mouth wouldn’t close. She muttered a few thank-yous and bolted back home.

Good heavens!

She had to rush home and tell her husband. Why do any other work?

They were going to pick up money in the fields!

“Wang Dayong, eleven catties!”

“Li Xiumei, four catties and three taels!”

“Yu Xiuxiu, nine catties and six taels!”

…

Once the crowd quieted down, the weighing and bookkeeping went quickly and smoothly.

Half an hour later, the crowd dispersed. Xie Youzhen and Xie Tian stared blankly at the river snails filling the wooden buckets and water vats of all sizes around the house.

There were so many!

“How much money do we have left?”

Xie Cheng packed up the scale and turned to look at Xie Zhao.

He had handled the quantities himself just now and had a rough idea. There shouldn’t be much money left in Xie Zhao’s hands.

“Only one yuan and sixty cents left.”

Xie Zhao was very honest, turning the blue cloth bag inside out to show Xie Cheng the few coins remaining inside.

“Second Brother? What do we do then? When they bring more river snails later, won’t we have no money to pay them?”

Xie Tian poked her head out, looking worried.

Xie Cheng frowned as well.

His eyes were fixed on the ground, lost in thought. Beside him, Xie Youzhen gritted his teeth and said, “Maybe I should go borrow some. Your grandparents should have…”

“Dad!”

Xie Zhao interrupted Xie Youzhen. “It’s not a big deal.”

He knew all too well that if Xie Youzhen actually went, he would surely be pointed at and cursed behind his back.

Making money was about building confidence.

A person lives for their pride, just as a tree lives for its bark.^[1]

There was no need for that.

Xie Youzhen fell silent.

Xie Zhao only then continued, “If all else fails, we’ll buy on credit. Our whole family is right here, it’s not like we can run away.”

On credit?

Xie Cheng was a bit unsure. “Would they agree to that?”

“Why wouldn’t they?”

Xie Zhao tapped the table and smiled. “It’s not like we’re asking to borrow money directly from them. It’s just a few dozen catties of river snails. At worst, they’d waste a bit of effort. Farmers have plenty of time to spare, especially during the slack season.”

True.

At worst, they would have worked a whole afternoon for nothing. But by the next day, when Xie Zhao returned, they would get paid directly!

Besides, their entire family lived in Shishui Village. It wasn’t as if they could run away carrying hundreds of catties of river snails.

Xie Zhao’s analysis was spot on.

From then until it was pitch black, villagers kept coming to deliver river snails.

Although they were somewhat disappointed when they heard Xie Zhao say he had to write it down and pay them tomorrow, they cheered up again after a second thought.

“Ah, we’re all from the same village, what’s there to worry about? Besides, the Liu family’s daughter-in-law and the others already got their money! How could I not trust you?”

And so, by the time the night turned pitch black, a very impressive number had been recorded in Xie Zhao’s ledger.

“Six hundred and thirty catties!”

Xie Cheng stared at the number, his head spinning. He took a breath and counted on his fingers, but couldn’t figure out the math even after a long time.

“We can make three hundred and seventy-eight yuan!”

Xie Tian’s crisp voice rang out.

She was squatting and washing diapers with a basin in her arms. Seeing Xie Cheng and Xie Zhao look over, she grinned at the two of them.

“Little Sister is correct.”

Xie Zhao gave her a thumbs-up.

Xie Tian immediately puffed up with pride.

She straightened her back, banging her wooden laundry paddle loudly, her face full of pride. “Of course! When I was in school, the teacher praised me for being smart! They said I was the smartest in our village!”

“My schoolwork was first every single time, and my homework was always the best! If it weren’t for…”

She spoke, but suddenly trailed off, lowering her head and falling silent again.

Indeed.

If it weren’t for Chen Qiming, she would still be in school right now!

“If it weren’t for what?”

Tian Xiufen poked her head out from beside the stove and testily gave her a rap on the head. “Why does a girl need to study? Learn to do more housework, marry into a good family later, suffer less, and avoid working in the fields. Your father and I would burn incense and pray to Buddha for that!”

Xie Tian pouted in frustration.

She didn’t want to get married!

She wanted to make big money herself!

Just like her second brother!

Xie Zhao narrowed his eyes slightly.

In truth, Tian Xiufen’s mindset was extremely common in this era.

Back when he was studying at the county high school, there were forty-nine students in his class, but only seven or eight of them were girls. When the busy farming season arrived, they even had to pause their classes to go home and help out.

As a result, when exams came around, their grades couldn’t keep up, which led to the prejudice.

Girls aren’t smart enough. They aren’t cut out for studying.

In reality, society itself was unfair to them.

Xie Zhao patted Xie Tian’s head reassuringly, smiled at her, and silently mouthed, “Don’t worry.”