After taking care of the two time-consuming tasks that required advanced reservations, Shen Qing went to the fabric store.

She bought some gauze from the third and sixth floors, which she put in the bamboo basket she carried on her back.

After selling the second batch of brushes, her thoughts were increasingly far from fishing and shrimping. Due to the incident with Jiang Yu the previous day, the two of them hadn’t gone to check the traps, and today, she didn’t need to bring water buckets to “sell yellow eel,” so she carried the bamboo basket instead.

Making money was important, but the income from the marketplace couldn’t be neglected.

However, since the third and fourth brothers were focusing entirely on making brushes, that was also important work.

With silver and food in hand, she could consider other methods…

Before returning, Shen Qing entered the pastry shop.

The rich date-flavored date paste pastries, the sweet and soft osmanthus cakes, the sticky chestnut cakes, the sour-sweet hawthorn pastries, the fragrant mung bean cakes, osmanthus lotus seed cakes, and the crispy walnut pies…

Shen Qing waved her hand generously and bought several packs of each, watching the pastry assistant carefully wrap them in oil paper.

She was thinking that if dinner was delayed on the way back, she could snack to satisfy her hunger.

Before she had a storage cabinet, she wouldn’t have even dared to think about it, because although the oil paper was water-resistant, the summer humidity, especially with rain, would cause them to mold in just a few days.

Even if she stocked up, it wouldn’t last long.

Now with a storage cabinet where she could keep things and take them out as needed, even though it wasn’t big, a cubic meter would be enough for the occasional snacks.

If that wasn’t enough, she could find ways to resupply along the way.

The storage cabinet was useful, but there were still other more important things that needed to be stored.

If only she could get a few more… but she thought about it and focused on preparing practically and diligently.

Once back at Qili Village, she went straight to Old Master Jiang’s house to discuss things.

Old Master Jiang was wiping down the big knife he usually used for escorting.

Upon hearing that Shen Qing had arrived, he put away the knife and came out.

Shen Qing sat on a chair that Yuan brought into the yard, with Old Master Jiang and Jiang Ying sitting opposite her.

The large courtyard was crowded with various items, but despite the chaos, it gave a sense of comfort and reassurance.

Jiang Ying, beaming with joy, spoke first, “The two to three pounds you made yesterday—I took them as you instructed and gave them to the candy shop, the pastry shop, and general goods stores in the city. At least ten pounds were ordered! However, we were previously hesitant to make a large batch. The wheat supply isn’t enough yet, so for now, we can only supply small amounts. The earliest we can do large batches is in five days.”

No matter what, the fact that they had orders was a good start!

Shen Qing was very happy to hear that many merchants had placed orders.

With just over a month until June, time was tight, and every coin they could earn was worth it.

Jiang Ying looked around, saw no one else around, and lowered her voice, saying, “After I came back, I went to the carpenter’s house and ordered two carts. With the two carts at home, if a flood really comes, we should be okay. If not, we can carry some things ourselves. I’m just worried about Third Uncle and Fifth Uncle’s families. They only have one cart right now. As the saying goes, even a rotten boat has three pounds of nails, but with twenty or so people in their family, one cart won’t be enough.”

“We don’t need to worry about Third Uncle’s family. They’re selling tofu in two places. They’ve been borrowing carts from your family. After earning money, they’ll definitely buy their own. It’ll be more convenient for them to use their own carts,” Shen Qing explained.

“As for Fifth Uncle’s family, they don’t need to go to the city to sell anything. Their family members just need to work hard. They probably won’t order extra carts,” Shen Qing continued.

Jiang Yang thought for a moment and said, “No worries. I’ll talk to Fifth Uncle and ask them to prepare another cart.”

He then added, “With your help, our Jiang family now has a way to earn silver. I’m not worried about us. But as for the other families in the village… The Feng and Qin families can make a living by grinding, earning fifty copper coins a day.

With that income, even if they don’t eat well, they won’t go hungry. The Wang and Zhang families don’t get along with you, and the matter with Xiaoyu has made me disheartened. In the future, let’s just keep it as a matter of face. But what should we do about Zhao Hong’s two families?”

Back in Shili Village, Zhao Hong’s families hadn’t spoken, but they were diligent people, and as village leaders, Jiang Yang didn’t want to abandon them.

As for the Guan family, they were probably not short of money, but since three of them were elderly and disabled, traveling alone would make them easy targets.

They needed to stick with the village’s group.

However, Xiao Shan, the child, had mobility issues, and Guan Li and Xiang Xi didn’t know…

Although Shen Qing’s purpose wasn’t specifically to help Zhao Hong’s families, what Jiang Erye brought up was exactly what she had in mind!

Suppressing her excitement, Shen Qing spoke, “In just over twenty days, we’ll be harvesting wheat. Right now, everyone in my family is fully occupied. If we free up people to harvest ten or more acres, the silver earned from selling the wheat won’t compare to what we can make from making brushes.”

Harvesting wheat was a laborious and dirty job, and the whole family would likely be exhausted.

Both Jiang Yang and Jiang Ying looked at Shen Qing, thinking she was asking Zhao Hong’s families to help with the harvest.

But Shen Qing quickly changed the subject, saying, “I remember Zhao Hong’s families can fish, catch shrimp, and dig for yellow eels and mud loaches. I already have a shop supplying those products. It would be a shame to waste them. I can’t spare any workers to help harvest the wheat, so I was thinking of having them exchange the yellow eels, mud loaches, fish, and shrimp for wheat. But they’ll need to go to the fields and harvest it themselves. What do you two think?”

Once the wheat is harvested, it needs to be threshed, dried, and then milled into flour.

The marketplace’s grain is cheap, good, and varied.

The family now eats the grain bought from the marketplace, so exchanging fish and shrimp for unharvested wheat and then using the money to buy food from the marketplace is a win-win situation.

Jiang Yang and Jiang Ying opened their mouths but weren’t sure what to say.

Indeed, Shen Qing’s plan meant that her own family wouldn’t need to spare labor for the harvest.

Zhao Hong’s families could exchange their unsold fish and shrimp for wheat, something no farmer would refuse.

Crops and food are a farmer’s life—who would say no to more?

Soon, they realized that Shen Qing’s idea was indeed different.

Even though others might be tired, they would never be willing to trade their food.

Shen Qing, as a farmer, was doing this entirely for the benefit of the village!

Jiang Ying suddenly realized, “Shen Qing is helping those families you went to Shili Village to help. She’s repaying her kindness!”

Shen Qing continued, “Besides, I also want to collect some dried vegetables and wild herbs from the village, such as purslane, horsetail, dried plum vegetables, and dried fish. You’ve seen my family’s situation—Ah Bing can’t go out in the wind, Xiaoyu has trouble walking, and Xiao Shui is responsible for an important task and can’t leave.

Right now, we’re only able to collect wild vegetables when we have time, so I’m thinking of having Zhao Hong’s families bring over a few wild vegetables every day. As for dried vegetables, there’s no limit to the amount. If they gather more, they can turn it into dried vegetables and sell them to me. What do you think?”

Dried plum vegetables can be used to make braised pork or baked biscuits.

Other dried vegetables can be steamed with fatty meat or used in stews during winter, and they taste great.

Jiang Ying: … It’s confirmed—Shen Qing is repaying Xiaoyu’s kindness!