I was a stepmother in ancient times, and I led my whole family to wealth.

Chapter 127 Jealousy

Dongfang Jin was displeased upon hearing this: "Why sell them indentures? Go find Brother Qi Rui and have him sign a long-term labor contract for them."

"The kind with household registration; once they sign a contract of indenture, they're considered slaves, which isn't good for the two boys."

One of them is already twelve. In ancient times, some families would have their eldest son married by the time he was fifteen.

Hearing about this relationship, she couldn't let him sign a contract of servitude. If he did, the entire Lingwu Village would criticize Gu Chenglin, if not her.

Once a person is registered as a slave, their descendants will be slaves for generations, and it is extremely difficult to regain their original status.

Anyway, her family needs people. There are already three members in the Jun family, so adding three more won't make a difference.

She has land and grain, enough to support a few people.

"Thank you, my dear wife. Back then, when my clothes were too small, Yu Mei's mother would always add a piece for me."

Every time this happened, Granny Gu would come to their door and point her finger at them, cursing them as childless and still clinging to him.

However, Sister Yumei's mother was the only one who would always stand up for me even when Granny Gu scolded me.

Dongfang Jin glanced at him: "Alright, if you want to help, then help. Don't play the victim. As long as they are good people, I don't mind taking care of them."

From now on, you should let the smaller one follow the stone, and when you go in and out, you should take the larger one with you.

Let him learn some knowledge from Brother Qi Rui whenever he has free time; you can train him to be our family's housekeeper.

In a few days, I'll have them train in martial arts with Stone. By the way, what are their names?

"The older one is called Shen Qijun, and the younger one is called Shen Qihui."

Dongfang Jin: It's a good thing we didn't give him any weird names. If we had given him something like "Dog Egg" or "Dog Leftovers," she would have had to come up with a name for him.

"Sister Yumei's husband also studied at a private school for a few years back then."

"No wonder, according to you, her in-laws are quite well-off?"

"Her husband's family has many brothers, and they are carpenters, so they do have some income."

I heard that her husband liked to read when he was young, but later the expenses became too high, and his brothers in the family also spoke up, so he stopped reading.

Back then, Sister Yumei's marriage to his family was arranged because her father-in-law and Uncle Yongqiang worked together as carpenters in the county.

Dongfang Jin was surprised. In ancient times, craftsmen all had masters, and they couldn't go out to work on their own without ten or eight years of experience: "Her father was a carpenter before he died?"

"Yes, in the village, whenever someone gets married and needs a cabinet, they all go to Uncle Yongqiang. He's very skilled."

Ruyi, [that Yu Mei your man mentioned has already had a heart-to-heart talk with the Jun family mother and daughter.]

This patron is really interesting.

She'll also get jealous easily.

Isn't that great?

A woman was swindled out of all her wealth by a man, leaving her homeless with her two children.

A man died and was kicked out by his in-laws, leaving him with nowhere to go with his two children.

This can be considered a case of sharing the same fate.

They also have common interests and can quickly strike up a conversation, which is normal.

Dongfang Jin looked at Gu Chenglin and said, "Isn't there an empty room in Aunt Hui's courtyard? Let Sister Yumei stay with her, let Sister Xian stay with Caiwei, and as for the two younger ones, let them stay with Brother Qi Rui."

Once they've gotten to know each other better, then we'll have her second son move in with Shi Tou.

Didn't Ma Wencai and the others send over extra cloth? Go and take some to them, and make two new jackets for each of them.

Ruyi said that the three of them, mother and children, were still wearing only a single layer of clothing.

It's so cold outside, it wouldn't be good to catch a cold.

"I understand, wife. I'll go arrange it right away," Gu Chenglin said as he arrived with a gloomy face but left with a big smile.

I just finished lunch and haven't cleaned up yet.

Aunt Gu and Yang Zhu each carried a basket and came in through the back door.

When Dongfang Jin saw them, she quickly called them inside and asked, "Have you eaten?"

Aunt Gu's face was beaming with a smile she couldn't hide. Dongfang Jin knew that the vegetables she grew had ripened.

"Have you eaten? I heard Meizi came to your house?"

Dongfang Jin was stunned...

Did the news spread that fast?

At lunchtime, Gu Chenglin said he was afraid of frightening her, so he didn't let Gu Yumei's mother come into the inner courtyard for lunch.

If Aunt Hui hadn't said the same thing, she might have gotten into a fight with Gu Chenglin.

Aunt Hui said that Gu Yumei and her family should wash themselves clean before seeing her.

Dongfang Jin knew they meant well, so she didn't pay any attention.

Gu Chenglin later said that he and his mother and two sons had been sleeping in haystacks all these days.

Dongfang Jin understood.

Aunt Hui was afraid they might have lice.

They were even more afraid that she wouldn't keep them.

Yang Zhu held Dongfang Jin's hand and said, "It's your Chenglin. He just went to my pig farm to get fertilizer and told my husband about it."

Dongfang Jin...

Has this man become a big mouth too?

"Yes, in Aunt Hui's courtyard."

Seeing her like this, Aunt Gu guessed what she was thinking and said, "Don't blame Chenglin. He and Sun Xing said they wanted Zhuzi to come and help make cotton-padded clothes."

"It just so happens that I ran into you while I was delivering vegetables, so we came together. Take a look, do you think this vegetable of mine is sellable?"

After hearing her explanation, Dongfang Jin understood that Aunt Hui and Sister Xian were indeed too busy to make cotton-padded clothes for the three of them.

According to Gu Chenglin, Gu Yumei's hands were so frostbitten that she couldn't make clothes.

It's only October, and the weather here isn't so bad that your hands would freeze.

Gu Chenglin didn't say anything, and she didn't ask.

Dongfang Jin lifted the cloth and looked at the vegetables in the basket: a bunch of chives, a bunch of celery, a bunch of cilantro, a few green peppers, a few long eggplants, and a few cucumbers.

"They can all be sold now, but a few more days would be fine."

However, this price cannot be sold by weight.

Aunt Gu and Yang Zhu were dumbfounded: "Not by weight? How much is it then?"

"These chives, celery, cilantro, and scallions are sold by the bunch."

We can't sell too much of these things now. At this time, only wealthy people buy these vegetables. Who among the poor can afford them?

Moreover, those people are particular about their meals; every meal consists of several dishes and a soup.

These things are just for decoration. A few stalks of chives, plus four or five eggs, and that makes a dish.

You don't need just one sprig of cilantro to garnish a whole bowl of soup.

These cucumbers, eggplants, and peppers are sold individually.

Dongfang Jin picked up a cucumber from the outer edge of the basket and said, "These things are delicate. Fourth Aunt, look, isn't the color darker here than the rest of this cucumber?"

"Yes."

"This is..." Yang Zhu asked curiously.

"This is because Auntie Si didn't cover it properly on the way here, and it got cold."

These vegetables are delicate; you need to wrap them in cotton paper.

You should also discuss this with Manager Xue: whether he will pick up the vegetables himself or if your store will deliver them.

If your family is sending it, you'll need to prepare not only cotton paper, but also two thick cotton quilts.

You're saying this doesn't cost money? These are all costs, and the firewood you burn also costs money.

Aunt Gu said in a simple and honest way, "We have plenty of firewood on the mountain here, it doesn't cost any money."

Dongfang Jin...

This person is truly incapable of being a shrewd businessman.

Too honest.

Yang Zhu sighed, "Auntie, people in the county buy firewood."

Aunt Gu was a little flustered. Was it really that complicated?

Why are you even preparing tissues and blankets?

So precious?

Pointing to the basket of vegetables, he asked, "How much should this cost?"

"Fourth Aunt, we're in business, and this vegetable is a unique winter treat. We've asked for more money, but we can't cheat people."

For celery, chives, cilantro, spinach, etc., you can use a rope or a stick to represent them.

Dongfang Jin picked up a stalk of celery, about a foot long. It must be said that Aunt Gu's family was quite skilled at farming.

These vegetables are grown so well, they're comparable to those grown in modern greenhouses.